Let's talk about EV's

[Fraufruit]

I'll start. We've had ours for 2 years now and it is at the shop for 2 year inspection. For those who don't know, it's a Hyundai Ioniq 5.

This morning, they are doing a 2 hour updadte to the ICCU (integrated charge and control unit). We never had problems with ours but it seems that some people did.

After 2 years, we still have full charging capacity. That hasn't changed.

What's funny is that Himself's phone has been beeping every time they open a door, raise the hood, etc. He has a pretty good idea of how many hours they can charge for labor.

All in all, we love the car and he says he'll never go back to ICE.

How is everyone else's EV's doing or any questions from those who are thinking about buying one?

[Alberto]

I do fancy one but I'm too cheap and would probably never buy one.

[Fraufruit]

I do fancy one but I'm too cheap and would probably never buy one.

That makes perfect sense considering how little you drive, if memory serves.

[JanxSpirit]

Another company joins the fray:

Beyond smartphones: Xiaomi’s SU7 EV aims to take on Porsche and Tesla

su7_4.jpg (58.81 KiB) Viewed 2466 times

Xiaomi has revealed its first electric car – and no, it’s not an SUV. Called the SU7, it’s a low-slung sports saloon that’s more Taycan than e-Tron in its execution. It’s not a surprise though; the SU7 comes over a year after the tech giant announced plans to join the automotive space.

Unveiled in Shanghai earlier this week, the SU7 (SU being short for Speed Ultra) will spearhead a £8.9billion push into electric cars for the smartphone maker – and there are big plans ahead: ‘By working hard over the next 15 to 20 years, we will become one of the world’s top 5 automakers, striving to lift China’s overall automobile industry,’ said Xiaomi Chief Executive Lei Jun, speaking at the car’s reveal.

The SU7 will be available in single or dual motor variants, with the top all-wheel drive model getting 475kW or 664bhp of power. That’s good for a 0-62mph launch of just 2.78 seconds and top speed of 165mph. Dynamics aside, the top SU7 looks to be competitive on paper, then. Range will vary between 415 and around 500 miles depending on the spec.

Xiaomi also says the SU7 will have autonomous tech similar in performance to Tesla when it’s released.

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/ ... iaomi/su7/

[murphaph]

I'm watching the price falls in the Megane etech with interest. To be honest I would never buy a new car. The rule of thumb in Germany is that a new car loses a whopping 25% of its value in the first year. After that the depreciation tapers off dramatically to around 6% per year. For this reason it'll definitely be a Jahreswagen for us but using Autouncle it's almost frightening to see how EV prices are dropping. Used EVs are clearly very difficult to sell at the moment. We are still in that changeover phase, where EV developments are so rapid that many people are holding off and holding off, prefering a "cheap" ICE as a transition to that EV that they do want to buy, but just not quite yet.

Take the Megane and the Scenic as an example. Both cars based on the same platform but the Scenic has a WLTP of 650km compared to the 450km of the Megane. That's solely down to increased energy density in the battery as the motor is the same.

[Fraufruit]

Good points, Murph.

For us, the difference between 450 and 650 WTLP isn't interesting. We need to stop and move around, use the facilities, grab a bite and/or a coffee every 300 km. or so. With a charging time of 18 or 20 minutes, that is perfect for us. We are old.

Having said that, we aren't traveling in the nether regions where little or no charging is available.

[circuits]

The charging card thing is still a Wild West situation if one is budget-conscious. Prices, terms and conditions still fluctuate a lot - one card may be attractive for a period of time and then suddenly the prices will increase.

I don't pay for any charging card subscriptions but instead chose to pay 15€ for one month of the Cupra Easy Charge (aka VW Elli, both of which are open to anyone and can be cancelled anytime) when I'm going on a trip:

AC 0,54 €/kWh
DC 0,73 €/kWh
Partners 0,50 €/kWh
(Ionity, Aral Pulse BP, Ewiva, Audi charging hub)

On Thurs/Fri I just drove 1500km and it cost me 119 euro for power plus the one-off 15€.

[Spide]

There is a reason EVs are dropping in price. Safety, cost, charging times. And that has nothing to do with the fact that it will be impossible to get the infrastructure in place so support high level EV use.

I wouldn't like to live in an apartment block with an underground car park full of EVs.

Oink.

[circuits]

Safety? Nope, that's not at all true. EVs are now the top ranked safest vehicles according to NCAP, the European crash test agency.

Infrastructure has been great for me so far in Berlin and for my EU travels within 1000km. And no, I can't charge in my underground parking spot.

[Eric7]

Reuters reports that Tesla have dropped plans for their low-cost model in the face of Chinese competition:
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos- ... 024-04-05/

Musk counters that "Reuters is lying (again)."
https://nypost.com/2024/04/05/business/ ... mpetition/

Oh well, at least there's the hideous Cybertruck... which won't be on sale in the EU without some major changes (the frunk chopping fingers off is a big no-no)!

An amusing review:

[Fraufruit]

They have slashed the prices of the model Y in the U.S. because they have way too many to sell.

We rode home from the airport in one last night and it was the roughtest, hardest ride I can remember. Himself had a friend who bought one of the older one and had to have all the shock absorbers changed out at his own cost.

[yesterday]

EV adoption, has slowed down, is this just a temporary things or will EV becomes less and less popular ?

What impacts will it have on German EV production, on firms like Tesla, VW etc.

It seems to me that we are at saturation point now, people who have made the jump, have now bought, the rest are sticking to ICE cars, what may haven to the proposed ban on ICE cars in the future ?

Maybe its still too early to know.

[Krieg]

Tesla share price has been on a free fall for a few months already because it is bad news after bad news. It went from 257 EUR in September to 135 EUR right now and it is still falling. It does not help that Elon basically became insane, supporting all kind of weird White Power politics, and specially the big mistake was alienating the lefties who have been the ones buying EVs. The Cybertruck has been a circus.

I think the general situation with EVs is not good, most people who wanted one already got one. The subsidies were kept for too long and the price was artificially inflated because of them, and most of the remaining people won't buy an EV if the price is not the correct one. The next phase I guess will be the "smallish EVs" (in which Tesla won't be part of, another bad decision from Elon), so a big amount of 20k-28k small EVs will be sold but after that we will be again in the same position, if the price does not go down people won't continue buying.

Probably the one that will profit from all this is China, unfortunately. BYD might invade the West with their cheaper EVs if we continue failing to provide what people want.

[Fraufruit]

I've talked to some people who are just waiting for their ICE's to die and will then buy an EV.

The charging infrastructure in the U.S. is total crap. That's one of the main reasons why many are waiting to buy one.

But yes, the first wave of folks who wanted one will be looking for their second one in a few year's time.

[Eric7]

Some great bargains to be had at the moment, with prices set to fall even further.

There definitely is this concept being circulated that EVs are disposable cars and that the batteries will just stop working.

I think the problem is partially down to the very high cost of replacement batteries and partially down to the fact that the technology is constantly progressing. Few people want to buy an expensive car that is worth much less when the new version comes out in 2 years which can drive twice as far on a charge.

I feel that the batteries stopping working (or only having a feeble SOH) isn't really an issue. Even with 70% SOC after 8 years, the car is more than useable. I also expect independent repair shops to appear, which will replace individual cells rather than a whole battery pack.

A nicely specced Audi e-tron (get the 55) can be had for silly low money compared to an equivalent Q5.

[Fraufruit]

"I also expect independent repair shops to appear, which will replace individual cells rather than a whole battery pack."

This is already the case for many EV's but the naysayers keep spreading lies about having to replace the whole battery for several thousand dollars.

[Eric7]

But yes, the first wave of folks who wanted one will be looking for their second one in a few year's time.

This could be where it falls apart a little bit....
The 2nd hand prices will be lower than for a comparable ICE car exactly because the new cars which are available are technically more advanced.

[Eric7]

"I also expect independent repair shops to appear, which will replace individual cells rather than a whole battery pack."

This is already the case for many EV's but the naysayers keep spreading lies about having to replace the whole battery for several thousand dollars.

The Taycan is apparently €40k

[Fraufruit]

Here's a link about replacing battery modules or cells as well as recycling batteries.

https://reneos.eu/case/how-battery-repa ... -batteries

[Fraufruit]

This is an article on recyling EV batteries. I found it very hopeful and informative -

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/battery- ... 04604.html