Electric, Hybrid and Alternative fuelled vehicles - News and Discussion

[boxbrownie]

11 minutes ago, BR traction instructor said:

…and wrong again. The owner was a very competent chap who would certainly know how to set up the SatNav…why can’t you just accept that technology is only as good as the person that creates it.

 

BeRTIe

It doesn’t sound like it from your description.

 

But  OK your correct, and never wrong…..just like your mate 😉

 

“why can’t you just accept that technology is only as good as the person that creates it.‘
 

Or as good as those who operate it?

Edited November 28, 2022 by boxbrownie

[idd15]

Crikey, can't we have a new thread started like "My SATNAV Horror Stories" or "SATNAV for Non Map Readers"...! 🙃

 

Anyway I got to test drive a Polestar 2 the other week, great car but very sadly it just did not "feel right". Really, and I mean really, nice central display that is fully integrated with the drivers display which was utterly brilliant when using Google maps. Even showed us a new easy traffic-free way out of the Trafford Centre....Awww Boo! 🤪

 

idd

[Nick C]

2 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

As for the one that said it was “500 metres south of reality” on the A303 no doubt it was a new section of road (and there are plenty of them along the A303) and had out of date maps.

Nope, just a very early sat nav. It was the Andover to Amesbury bit, which predates the motor car...

[Ron Ron Ron]

4 minutes ago, idd15 said:

…….I got to test drive a Polestar 2 the other week, great car but very sadly it just did not "feel right". Really, and I mean really, nice central display that is fully integrated with the drivers display which was utterly brilliant when using Google maps. ……..

I liked the Polestar 2 when I tried it, it’s a great car to drive, but the cocooned, cockpit style driving seat, with the high centre console, wasn’t what I was looking for. I already have the use of my son’s BMW M4 for that.

The rear seat access was also tight and rear legroom a bit limiting.

It’s more BMW 3 series inside, than roomer crossover or small SUV.

The Google Automotive driver interface and fully integrated in-car system is superb.

Google maps and navigation is native to the system.

Rather than try and reinvent the wheel, Volvo and Polestar have left it to the experts to provide this tech (n.b. Volvo are gradually introducing this system across their range).

Renault have decided to go the same way and use a custom version of Google Automotive for their next generation of EV’s, starting with the new Megan’s e-tech.

Contrast this with VW groups totally cack handed attempt.

 

 

.

 

[boxbrownie]

Daughter has the Polestar, she likes it more than the iPace for range but misses the performance, I thought it was just very small inside, and that’s me from an i3 !

[idd15]

13 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

I liked the Polestar 2 when I tried it, it’s a great car to drive, but the cocooned, cockpit style driving seat, with the high centre console, wasn’t what I was looking for. I already have the use of my son’s BMW M4 for that.

The rear seat access was also tight and rear legroom a bit limiting.

It’s more BMW 3 series inside, than roomer crossover or small SUV.

The Google Automotive driver interface and fully integrated in-car system is superb.

Google maps and navigation is native to the system.

Rather than try and reinvent the wheel, Volvo and Polestar have left it to the experts to provide this tech (n.b. Volvo are gradually introducing this system across their range).

Renault have decided to go the same way and use a custom version of Google Automotive for their next generation of EV’s, starting with the new Megan’s e-tech.

Contrast this with VW groups totally cack handed attempt.

 

 

.

 

I found the interior a bit claustrophobic for me, which to be fair is perhaps a little over dramatic. Great car though. Noticeably more sure footed than my Leaf but less practical for my uses.

 

So hopefully there is a Cupra Born in our future, sometime, maybe, who knows when! 
 

idd

[johnofwessex]

I was once on the bridge of a ship sailing from Southampton to Poole.

 

The Satnav produced a visual display that the helmsman then followed

 

OOW to Helmsman 'What did you put in as a Waypoint'

 

Helmsman ;The Such & Such Buoy'

 

OOW We have just hit it

 

nothing was damaged!

 

But on Sunday I went to Nailsea and today was off to Tiverton, in both cases armed with no more than some basic directions and a good look at Google Maps before heading off.  Despite the fact that Nailsea doesnt hold with putting up signposts or street names on main roads didnt have a problem in either case.

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, johnofwessex said:

I was once on the bridge of a ship sailing from Southampton to Poole.

 

The Satnav produced a visual display that the helmsman then followed

 

OOW to Helmsman 'What did you put in as a Waypoint'

 

Helmsman ;The Such & Such Buoy'

 

OOW We have just hit it

 

nothing was damaged!

 

 

You don’t get that kind of accuracy with maps 🤣

[StevieD71]

Google Maps on Android Auto is what I use for navigation. It's more accurate than the Hyundai Sat Nav and has voice control too.

 

In EV news, after almost 8 months wait, my Leaf should be here witin the next week. I'm gettig rather excited now.

[Guest]

The Abarth 500 comes DCC sound fitted.

 

 

[black and decker boy]

Some initial thoughts on the Merc EQB:

efficiency and so range is really quite poor compared to my former Tesla Model 3. The Merc is currently averaging just 2.7miles per KW (so a max real world range of 181 miles).

 

The model 3 managed over 3.5 in winter and 4 or above in summer (so real world ranges 275 to 325miles).

 

I miss the Tesla super chargers - the sheer number of them and their charging rate. Gridserve are a pale amateur in comparison 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, black and decker boy said:

The model 3 managed over 3.5 in winter and 4 or above in summer (so real world ranges 275 to 325miles).

 

Which is Nissan Leaf territory.

People will start paying attention to EV economy figures before long.

[Hobby]

46 minutes ago, 30801 said:

People will start paying attention to EV economy figures before long.

 

Believe me, we already are...

 

And they are not quite there yet...

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Hobby said:

Believe me, we already are...

 

I'm too lazy to Google but can you find any quoted figures for miles/kWh on a manufacturer's website?

I've only seen figures in forums & social media about what people are finding their car does.

Edited November 30, 2022 by 30801

[boxbrownie]

56 minutes ago, black and decker boy said:

Some initial thoughts on the Merc EQB:

efficiency and so range is really quite poor compared to my former Tesla Model 3. The Merc is currently averaging just 2.7miles per KW (so a max real world range of 181 miles).

 

It’s odd the both Audi and MB EVs have such poor implementation of their systems that make them so poor, especially as BMW has some of the best efficiency, even in the behemoths.

 

Our i3 gives us an easy 4.5 summer and 3.8 winter, the bigger vehicle slightly less of course, but still far better than their German competitors.

[black and decker boy]

 

15 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

It’s odd the both Audi and MB EVs have such poor implementation of their systems that make them so poor, especially as BMW has some of the best efficiency, even in the behemoths.

 

Our i3 gives us an easy 4.5 summer and 3.8 winter, the bigger vehicle slightly less of course, but still far better than their German competitors.

Something else that baffles:

what the hell is all this under the Merc bonnet? It’s an EV!!!!!

 

This is the same space in the Tesla 

[Hobby]

24 minutes ago, 30801 said:

I'm too lazy to Google but can you find any quoted figures for miles/kWh on a manufacturer's website?

 

I've only seen figures in forums & social media about what people are finding their car does.

 

1. Nope and I haven't bothered looking (though I regard battery mileage range as more important than miles/kWh - I know i shouldn't but it's the easiest way to get an idea how far the car will go and so decide whether it'll be suitable) and...

 

2. Those figures tend to be more reliable than range figures on the manufacturers websites...

Edited November 30, 2022 by Hobby

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, black and decker boy said:

 

Something else that baffles:

what the hell is all this under the Merc bonnet? It’s an EV!!!!!

 

This is the same space in the Tesla 

I did say it was a useless implementation 😂

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

 

1. Nope and I haven't bothered looking (though I regard battery mileage range as more important than miles/kWh - I know i shouldn't but it's the easiest way to get an idea how far the car will go and so decide whether it'll be suitable) and...

 

2. Those figures tend to be more reliable than range figures on the manufacturers websites...

What’s handy with the m/KWh figure is if you go for a test drive, zero the display and drive like you normally do for a nice long hour test drive, it really annoys the salesman (we did this with the i3 from Exeter we ended up touring around Torbay before going back to the dealer, he kept saying “if you turn right here, it’ll take us back” 🤣) and at the end of the drive you have a good representation of what you will get, then it’s easy to find the range YOU will get from the battery.

Edited November 30, 2022 by boxbrownie

[Guest]

1 hour ago, black and decker boy said:

 

Something else that baffles:

what the hell is all this under the Merc bonnet? It’s an EV!!!!!

 

Someone at MB really likes pipes!

Tesla put most of that stuff underneath and round the back leaving you space for a frunk.

[Grovenor]

Currently (last weekend anyway) there's a Genesis chassis on display at Battersea Power Station. The motor and control gear at the front looks more complex than I expecteded but nowhere near the level of that Merc.

[Ron Ron Ron]

11 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

Someone at MB really likes pipes!

Tesla put most of that stuff underneath and round the back leaving you space for a frunk.

Don’t forget that the MB EQB, like the EQA & EQC are EV modifications of some of their ICE models.

GLB, GLA & GLC respectively.

There wouldn’t be anywhere else to put all the gubbins, apart from a now, empty engine bay.

 

I would imagine the new models (EQE, EQS saloons and their SUV derivatives) which are based on bespoke EV skateboard platforms, are radically different underneath. Although the bonnet (hood) on those, cannot be opened by the owner/ driver.

 

Audi’s original E-Tron  SUV is again, a modified Q5 ICE model, with really poor efficiency.

On the other hand, the Q4 E-Tron, is built on a bespoke EV platform, being a reskinned version of the VW ID4 and Skoda Enyaq, with similar efficiency and range to other similar EVs based on bespoke EV platforms.

 

Incidentally, the Ford Mustang E , although built on a dedicated  EV platform, also suffers from having a similar “plumber’s nightmare” of pipes and tubes, under its bonnet.

Sandy Munro’s tear-down of the Mustang compared it to a Tesla Model 3, with scathing remarks about the way the cooling system was designed and packaged.

 

.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Ron Ron Ron

[PenrithBeacon]

https://www.moveelectric.com/e-cars/new-vauxhall-astra-electric-arrive-258-mile-range-and-estate-variant

£36k for a supermini? Taking the mick.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

£36k for a supermini? Taking the mick.

 

Astra is a size up from a supermini. That's the Corsa.

Not that £36k isn't a lot. But it's a Vauxhall so you can expect discounts.

Comes in estate too which will be good news for those upset by the MG5's load-lip.

[Nick C]

1 minute ago, 30801 said:

 

Astra is a size up from a supermini. That's the Corsa.

Not that £36k isn't a lot. But it's a Vauxhall so you can expect discounts.

Comes in estate too which will be good news for those upset by the MG5's load-lip.

Yes, the estate announcement is very good! 

 

That article says £37k for the estate, compared with £27k for the IC version - so roughly a 10k increase, depending on the spec comparison - it's 114kW compared with 96kW, but obviously no mention of other specs (trim etc) yet.