EV Discussion thread

Spies

Arthurian said:

I learnt to drive in a manual car, and have driven manual cars for many decades, no problem. A few years ago, I had a driving lesson in an automatic, and it was clear to me that I should hang on to manual cars for as long as possible! I hated it, and I was clumsy when slowing down to join roundabouts. It felt very unnatural and difficult, and I expected the car to cut out at every junction.  Yet I rely on having a car.  Which EV would be the best for someone like me?

EVs drive way better than ICE automatics, it's very natural the way they drive and no silly computer deciding when you should change gear and more importantly no efficiency loss from the torque converter (as there isn't one!) 

Veteransaver

Arthurian said:

I learnt to drive in a manual car, and have driven manual cars for many decades, no problem. A few years ago, I had a driving lesson in an automatic, and it was clear to me that I should hang on to manual cars for as long as possible! I hated it, and I was clumsy when slowing down to join roundabouts. It felt very unnatural and difficult, and I expected the car to cut out at every junction.  Yet I rely on having a car.  Which EV would be the best for someone like me?

Most EVs don't have any gears whatsoever, so it is a very different experience to and ICE automatic. Acceleration is completely linear until they hit top speed. There's no "kickdown" or anything when you want to overtake, the wheels are directly connected to the motor.
Yes manuals can be more involving and fun, but for most of the time they are pain, especially in stop start traffic

ABrass

Krakkkers said:

Lexus UX300e

That was a one off prototype. That variant isn't in mass production and almost certainly never will be.

QrizB

Arthurian said:

I learnt to drive in a manual car, and have driven manual cars for many decades, no problem. A few years ago, I had a driving lesson in an automatic, and it was clear to me that I should hang on to manual cars for as long as possible! I hated it, and I was clumsy when slowing down to join roundabouts. It felt very unnatural and difficult, and I expected the car to cut out at every junction.  Yet I rely on having a car.  Which EV would be the best for someone like me?

FWIW I normally drive a manual but occasionally visit the US and have automatic hire cars. I always get used to it within a few miles, and I imagine you will too.

I was out there last week and was given an auto Ford Explorer. A bit of a change from my usual Fiat but I adapted. 20mpg wasn't great but fuel at $3 a gallon made up for it!

gefnew

Nissan drops support for the Leaf app on older models.
Nissan accused of dumping its electric car pioneers - BBC News

michaels

gefnew said:

Nissan drops support for the Leaf app on older models.
Nissan accused of dumping its electric car pioneers - BBC News

Usual poor quality BBC article firstly linking the issue to EVs (it is not EV specific) and failing to get a statement from Nissan over what the real complaint is - that Nissan are using the pretext of the phasing out of 2G mobile networks (due sometime after 2030) to turn off app support now with only 1 months notice.

silvercar

gefnew said:

Nissan drops support for the Leaf app on older models.
Nissan accused of dumping its electric car pioneers - BBC News

Never worked well according to a lot of users. And the newer Leafs only have an app for the top 2 models.  Don't think it a big issue, they are getting rid of something that performed badly rather than fix it. 

JKenH

I ordered a brand new 40kWh Leaf at the end of 2019. When I went to collect it I told the salesman that I wanted to make sure that Nissan Connected Services worked before accepting delivery. I spent 6 hours at the dealership while it tried to connect. I went home in a loan car. The sales manager took the car home (with my agreement) and spent several days trying to connect without success. After a week I took the loan car back and told the dealer I was rejecting the car. After a lot of huffing and puffing the dealer undid the transaction and gave me back my old Golf which I’d part exchanged. Two subsequent Leafs I purchased connected OK. 

silvercar

JKenH said:

I ordered a brand new 40kWh Leaf at the end of 2019. When I went to collect it I told the salesman that I wanted to make sure that Nissan Connected Services worked before accepting delivery. I spent 6 hours at the dealership while it tried to connect. I went home in a loan car. The sales manager took the car home (with my agreement) and spent several days trying to connect without success. After a week I took the loan car back and told the dealer I was rejecting the car. After a lot of huffing and puffing the dealer undid the transaction and gave me back my old Golf which I’d part exchanged. Two subsequent Leafs I purchased connected OK. 

They changed apps at one point. It’s the older app they are now dumping. I haven’t used the app once, so I’m not convinced it is essential.

CKhalvashi

To solve the issue of filling up, about 3 minutes including payment.

https://youtu.be/kkFGvkEJ0pM?si=w6djDwaChdkk3XAT

36.01l was inserted into the car at a Tesco. Other supermarkets are available. I will remove the video later.