BEVs

[Jdsk]

It's almost certainly fixable. Start by talking to your potential installer and your local DNO.

https://support.myenergi.com/hc/en-gb/a ... -the-zappi
https://www.speakev.com/threads/ev-char ... ly.169618/

Jonathan

[UpWrong]

Renault 5 vs Hyundai Inster vs MG4 Urban:

I certainly wouldn't call the MG4 Urban small, or even the Renault 5, but they can all be had for under £25K.

[Morzedec]

For 25K I'd buy a bigger house in France!

[Carlton green]

For 25K I'd buy a bigger house in France!

Then all you need is to be allowed to (continuously) live in it.

Apparently rural property in France can be relatively affordable, but I don’t think £25K will buy anything much worth having. Your current home in France looks lovely; even if you could sell it and add £25K to buy a better place I’d say it’s surely better to just enjoy what you have.

I found it an interesting video but won’t be rushing out to buy any of them, indeed I’m wondering whether to replace my car at all. The latest model Spring appeals as both affordable and sufficient for the vast bulk of my needs, I think that one of those could be pressed into a lot of useful service … and one would likely see me out.

[Morzedec]

Carlton - no, we are not thinking of moving - I have no desire for somewhere with multiple turrets - but for those seeking a challenge, there is a largish terraced house (albeit needing restoration) in a Commune about 12km away which is currently on the market for - wait for it! - Eight Thousand Euros. Traditionally, youngsters moved away from rural areas into nearby towns where they rented apartments, but prices have crept up to such an extent that buying a cottage that has been empty for ages and renovating it has now become a sensible option. Yes, some travel costs, but over a few years the scenario is very cost effective.

And then, when the kiddies start to come along, they don't want to disco any more anyway!

Happy Days!

[al_yrpal]

Dodgy buying Chinese cars at this point. Online stuff says loads of problems, particularly with electronics which remain unsolved via very poor customer service. MG in particular. Guess they are having to build up a working service network...

Al

[Carlton green]

Dodgy buying Chinese cars at this point. Online stuff says loads of problems, particularly with electronics which remain unsolved via very poor customer service. MG in particular. Guess they are having to build up a working service network...

Al

That’s always been the case with items from overseas, you might not be able to get repair parts and that lack is more common than one might think. With regard to the Spring, which I believe is made in China, it’s sold by an established European company so that should help - we’ll see - and then there are reasonably adequate second hand Gen 2 Leafs available for sensible money too.

Carlton - no, we are not thinking of moving - I have no desire for somewhere with multiple turrets - but for those seeking a challenge, there is a largish terraced house (albeit needing restoration) in a Commune about 12km away which is currently on the market for - wait for it! - Eight Thousand Euros. Traditionally, youngsters moved away from rural areas into nearby towns where they rented apartments, but prices have crept up to such an extent that buying a cottage that has been empty for ages and renovating it has now become a sensible option. Yes, some travel costs, but over a few years the scenario is very cost effective.

Since we left the EU the chances of renovating an inexpensive property in France as a home to live in are effectively zero. I don’t think there’s anywhere similar in the UK - it’s all jolly expensive in overpopulated Blighty - and I’ve become too old for much of the work involved. Around here the building trades seem stacked out with work and can set their own price, it’s very different from when I was employed (engineering) when the customer and employer determined the price of a job.

[UpWrong]

Dodgy buying Chinese cars at this point. Online stuff says loads of problems, particularly with electronics which remain unsolved via very poor customer service. MG in particular. Guess they are having to build up a working service network...

Al

I've had no problems with my MG4 in 12K miles. I think there can be a tension between dealers and the importer when it comes to warranty claims. As with all makes, choose your dealer with care.

[Carlton green]

Dodgy buying Chinese cars at this point. Online stuff says loads of problems, particularly with electronics which remain unsolved via very poor customer service. MG in particular. Guess they are having to build up a working service network...

Al

I've had no problems with my MG4 in 12K miles. I think there can be a tension between dealers and the importer when it comes to warranty claims. As with all makes, choose your dealer with care.

That’s good to hear, and a good advert for MG cars too, but 12K miles is barely anything in terms of the mileage that consumable parts should be good for. I wonder how supported you’ll be when you’ve put another 50K miles on it and later after a further 50k miles. My small old European ICE car has covered such mileage without any issue getting parts, it all depends on the dealer network but I’ve seen folk off of the road for want of ‘foreign’ parts … and then there’s the (usually) higher price of parts from distant lands.

[UpWrong]

Dodgy buying Chinese cars at this point. Online stuff says loads of problems, particularly with electronics which remain unsolved via very poor customer service. MG in particular. Guess they are having to build up a working service network...

Al

I've had no problems with my MG4 in 12K miles. I think there can be a tension between dealers and the importer when it comes to warranty claims. As with all makes, choose your dealer with care.

That’s good to hear, and a good advert for MG cars too, but 12K miles is barely anything in terms of the mileage that consumable parts should be good for. I wonder how supported you’ll be when you’ve put another 50K miles on it and later after a further 50k miles. My small old European ICE car has covered such mileage without any issue getting parts, it all depends on the dealer network but I’ve seen folk off of the road for want of ‘foreign’ parts … and then there’s the (usually) higher price of parts from distant lands.

There are plenty of people on the MG forum with over 100K trouble-free miles in their MG4.

[UpWrong]

For 25K I'd buy a bigger house in France!

Then all you need is to be allowed to (continuously) live in it.

Apparently rural property in France can be relatively affordable, but I don’t think £25K will buy anything much worth having. Your current home in France looks lovely; even if you could sell it and add £25K to buy a better place I’d say it’s surely better to just enjoy what you have.

I found it an interesting video but won’t be rushing out to buy any of them, indeed I’m wondering whether to replace my car at all. The latest model Spring appeals as both affordable and sufficient for the vast bulk of my needs, I think that one of those could be pressed into a lot of useful service … and one would likely see me out.

Have you been reading reviews of the new Renault Twingo? It might be available new for under £17K, https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-revie ... go-e-tech/
Personally, I'd prefer the new Dacia Spring but the Twingo will be made (car + LFP battery) in France and will have the Google based infotainment system which reviewers compliment.

[al_yrpal]

To be fair if you look at any modern cars they are all packed with largely unecessary electronics and infotainment crap and its this stuff that many folk are bellyaching about. Its not just confined to electric cars.

Al

[UpWrong]

To be fair if you look at any modern cars they are all packed with largely unecessary electronics and infotainment crap and its this stuff that many folk are bellyaching about. Its not just confined to electric cars.

Al

Very true.

[Carlton green]

I found it an interesting video but won’t be rushing out to buy any of them, indeed I’m wondering whether to replace my car at all. The latest model Spring appeals as both affordable and sufficient for the vast bulk of my needs, I think that one of those could be pressed into a lot of useful service … and one would likely see me out.

Have you been reading reviews of the new Renault Twingo? It might be available new for under £17K, https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-revie ... go-e-tech/
Personally, I'd prefer the new Dacia Spring but the Twingo will be made (car + LFP battery) in France and will have the Google based infotainment system which reviewers compliment.

We’ll have to see what the future brings. What I’ve read is that the ‘26 version of the Spring will be available for a couple of years, then overlap with the Twingo for a while before being withdrawn from the market. The Spring’s planned withdrawal doesn’t make sense to me ‘cause Dacia will want to sell electric cars too, but maybe it’ll be swung by EU tariffs or something. I think the range of a Spring to be low, but for my use that lower range will but rarely matter (see below).
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/dacia/365 ... le-ev-land

The degradation of batteries is often discussed. A recent Which report suggests to me that average degradation is circa one percent per year, maybe it’ll be less for particular chemistries and use profiles. I’d expect a new BEV to last for twenty years; I can’t see me being around for another twenty years and if I eventually ended up with a real world battery range of just eighty miles that’d quite likely be tolerable (today I made a round trip of sixty miles, the previous long trip was two months ago and one hundred and twenty miles (round trip) with charging available at the destination). Tolerable is not what I’d prefer, but if necessary then an eighty mile range can be made to be sufficient enough to get me by.
https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/re ... __20260419

To be fair if you look at any modern cars they are all packed with largely unecessary electronics and infotainment crap and its this stuff that many folk are bellyaching about. Its not just confined to electric cars.

Al

Yep, a load of stuff we don’t need pushed on us by influencers, politicians and manufacturers. I don’t want virtually all of it and aren’t even bothered about having a radio in a car.

[UpWrong]

The new Ioniq 3 from Hyundai. Things are progressing. The 61 Kwh battery gives 304 miles range, and the weight is below 1600Kg, so 5 miles per Kwh is becoming more prevalent. What's interesting is that the range is 10% more than the Kia EV2 which has the same platform and battery. That shows you the value of aerodynamics: