5 likes and 5 dislikes about your current EV/EVs

I think efficiency means cheap! Does to me anyway. Just an observation, initially I didnt think of the environment either, not really when buying the car either, my primary concern was the BIK benefits to be honest.

I assumed it was implied! 😉

I actually bought the Leaf to be environmentally friendly. The Toyota was getting progressively more rattly so I needed a new car anyway and decided to take the plunge on an EV to save on the CO2 emissions

Haven't looked back since 😁

Arguably the environment may have been better by keep my wife's Citroen going instead of us trading it for a big heavy ID.4, but again it was at the end of its lifetime and needed replacing

Been charging the cars off solar as much as possible so I'm happy my cars are having as little environmental impact as possible

Opel Corsa-E

Likes:

Electric - quiet, automatic, great take off from lights even for a cheap EV

Heat Pump & Matrix LED Headlights

Hatchback - still tiny boot but with back seats down and front seat down I could fit 3 x 2.4 meter wardrobe doors inside....just!!

Heated Seats and Steering Wheel - my first time with this, my mum loves it when I give her a lift!!

Physical Buttons for everything - old school, no haptic in sight!!

Dislikes:

Range on long journeys - trade off with the great price I got in 2020 just prior to second lockdown, top trim at bottom trim price, was a demo model for a few months

Lots of recalls, latest is an ECU vs Heat Pump recall, all fixed for free as within 3 year warranty still

No Spare tyre- got flat, tried repair with can of gunk failed, Aviva gave me and car lift from Newbridge to Dublin, recovery guy said they are best regarding no quibble, others only bring you to nearest garage. I ended up buying a half spare type and keep that in the tiny boot now as insurance.

SatNav, Android Auto, Entertainment Console - very typical of legacy automaker, I use a USB for music, gave up on android auto, use google etc for SatNav with phone holder. Bypass it for 90% of things except radio!

Future of Stellantis if I keep it

MG5 LR (taxi)

Likes:

- Front seat like an armchair. "Weight" of steering wheel just right. Very comfortable driving.

- 16" wheels so not super expensive to replace

- Screen embedded in dash so can't be ripped out by taxi passengers.

- I still randomly accelerate hard just for the fun of it

- Charging port is hidden behind MG badge at front of car. Nice & tidy.

Dislikes:

Like a lot of EV's, the software needs work.

 - Android Auto is the work of the devil (yes, I have a good cable)

 - Software is generally slow

 - Built-in sat-nav is pointless

Car won't remember a lot of my perferences so each car start is like starting an airplane. Eco mode ON, check. KERS 3 ON, check. Speed limit sign detector OFF, check. Disable Android Auto, check. Tune into radio screen, check.

IMHO car has design flaw in that rain water seems to be channeled into open window, even after rain stops. I'm not explaining it very well but I've never experienced anything like it in any other car. 

My MG5 is a working vehicle and I worry about how much, if any, stock the official garages keep in stock. And the MG5 is not old enough so that there are spare parts available in breakers yards etc.

Nissan Leaf 40 kW

Dislikes:

Nissan's lying claim that is does up to 270 km on one charge; not true.

Range is much lower than above figure. Not recommended to charge to 100% regularly. Only up to 80% - further reducing the sh*te range.

Range drops sharply in cold weather.

Range is sh*te if you use the heating.

High price.

Likes:

A lovely car to drive.

Great suspension.

Very good road-holding.

??

I RECENTLY SOLD THE F**KING AFTER PUTTING UP WITH THE SH*TE RANGE FOR OVER A YEAR!!

You dont have to use the indicators if you don't want too :)

Release the inner bmw driver!

no i dont think i would to be honest.. i really love the all wheel drive. i get they want to limit the hp as it probably has a big impact on battery but id have thought something like 50/60% be more than enough to start limiting it at.

Tesla Model Y RWD

Likes (have only had it since May 1st):

1. The drive is pleasingly smooth and sturdy - not as fast as the i3 I had before, but much more solid on the road
2. The whole keyless/cardless entry and starting/stopping is great
3. The car's size, both the interior and the boot, is great, really good for three growing kids
4. I love all the things that would be extras on other cars - the 5 heated seats and steering wheel, the glorious glass roof, vegan leather, etc
5. I also really like the steering wheel, the shape, size and feel are all very pleasing

Dislikes:

1. The lack of USS/the presence of Tesla Vision is pretty poor
2. I really miss CarPlay - the implementation of the Apple Music app on Tesla's OS is not good
3. The whole keyless/cardless entry has led to me leaving my phone in the (unlocked) car more than once
4. Too many controls are on the screen, as opposed to physical buttons (the glovebox, ffs)
5. Visibility through the rear window is awful
6. The turning circle is not great
7. It contributes to E*** M***'s bottom line 😭

Do people actually use a glove box? For what ? You have two massive cubbies right beside you, what do you need to keep in glovebox miles away from you 😁

Have opened mine twice in 4 years I'd say

Honda e (2022)

Likes:

1. The exterior and interior design - I still think it looks great on the outside, and on the inside I love the design and (most of) the materials used, very comfy seats, has screens everywhere but real climate controls. It's an interesting car with personality, I've long since lost count of the number of people who have approached me to talk about it.
2. The running costs - peanuts, did around 10k kms for the first 200 quid government electricity credit. Servicing, tax, insurance also very cheap.
3. The equipment - it's extremely well equipped for a small car; 360 cameras, heated everything, loads of safety tech, drives itself on motorways, etc. Camera side mirrors are brilliant.
4. The size - other car is a Volvo SUV so I wanted something small and nimble. Thought about something like a Fiesta ST in the past but couldn't get past the cheapo interiors most small cars have.
5. The drive - it has just over 150 horses but 315 Nm so it shifts quite nicely, rear wheel drive, has all round indy suspension and is generally just smooth, nippy and very comfortable. It's great around town but also on motorways.

Dislikes:

1. The range - this wasn't an important factor for me when I bought it but it is undeniably fairly low. It will do 200+ kms no problem in the summer but rainy motorway in the winter with heating on and 150 would be a struggle. It's a pity because it's very relaxing to drive on longer trips.
2. Some tech moans - The auto wipers even on the most sensitive setting are not sensitive enough, my Volvo is much much better. Similarly Volvo's active cruise is a bit better. And the Honda app is not available in Ireland which is annoying. The three settings for the heated seats seem to go from warm to volcano to surface of the sun.
3. Charging speed - it's not something I ever do but it will only DC charge at something like 50 kW max, so in reality 30-40.
4. The price - again, not something that bothered me personally, but it's fairly expensive now when compared to other new EVs. I'll pay a premium for design etc, but most won't.
5. No idea what to replace it with - I love it and will keep it for another year at least but have no idea where to go next. Was hoping Honda would make the Sports EV concept that they showed with the Urban EV concept (that turned into the e) but that's not happening.

I use the glovebox for stuff that lives in the car - wipes, eCars card, duster, etc. The cubbies are more for transitory stuff like water, keys, etc.

Regardless, the fact that the glovebox is opened from the screen is still a bad design choice, imo, even if you never used it.

Voice command

Tesla Model 3 RWD 2022

in order of importance with the most important in both categories first

Likes:

1. The reduction in running cost -- 400+ Kms for somewhere between €5 and €6 worth of electricity. That is less than the cost of a gallon of diesel!!
2. The tech -- the technology is excellent, from the cameras to the energy usage information and the navigation system (that said, I was coming from an 11 year old Merc).
3. The smug feeling that I'm doing my bit in reducing greenhouse gases
4. It's great to drive -- great handling, single pedal driving, acceleration, visibility, etc.
5. The lack of any servicing requirements. Other EV manufacturers insist on 'servicing' to maintain the warranty

Dislikes:

1. I bought the car before the current price reductions. I feared that the €5,000 EV grant would go at the end of 2022 (and, of course, I didn't know that Tesla would reduce the prices).
2. It doesn't feel as solid as my previous car (the 11 year old Merc). I suspect that is to do with the frameless doors on the Tesla which don't have the same solid clunk when they close.
3. The lack of a hatchback -- Of course I knew about that when I bought it and the boot is very big with the rear seats folded so it isn't an issue really.
4. The turning circle isn't great.
5. I'm struggling here as I really like the car and its been faultless in the 8 months and 8,000+ kms.

Ooh. I'd forgotten about one-pedal driving. That is something I thought I would never get used to, but after a few hours I knew I'd never want to go back 🙂

I hate the fact that there is no V2G on my Tesla MY.

Nissan Leaf SVE 2014

Seems as nobody has listed one of these yet, I will skip the Model 3 and go straight to the car that started it all for many of us.

Likes

1. Price. It was cheap to buy back in 2017 from the UK at £11,000 when the exchange rate was good.
2. Running Cost. Very cheap to run. Costs a couple of euro to fill up on cheap night rate electricity.
3. Tech & Spec. It has great tech/extras for a 10 year old car. Leather heated seats. Heated steering wheel. 360 reverse camera. LED lights. Folding mirrors. BOSE sound system etc etc.
4. Driving. It is so much fun to drive. The instant high torque and go-kart feel of the car is just a genuinely fun experience.
5. Reliability. The reliability of this car at circa 100k klms is great. Aside from needing shims after 1st NCT (common issue), the car has been no trouble. It's still on original pads!!!

Dislikes

1. Appearance. It's an ugly yoke and I have one of the nicer colours (Gun Metal Grey) and the higher spec with the extra chrome kit (mirrors and fogs) as well as the much nicer 17" rims. The funky headlights just make it look like an alien frog and it takes a while to grow on you.
2. Range. It's at about 75% of original battery capacity, so a range of 80-100km on average if you stay off the motorway. This is a limiting factor if you ever need to go outside the range of the car.
3. CHAdeMO. This is a dying standard and when most sites only have a single CHAdeMO connector (if any), the risk of it being broken is a further limiting factor on this car.
4. The APP. I haven't used it for years, because it just doesn't register anymore. I used to use it to pre-heat the car, or check the state of charge, but it doesn't work anymore.
5. Navigation. This is more of a general Nissan thing, but if using the Sat Nav in the car, from new, the maps are already 3 years out of date and the cost to update is madness. I think they stopped making the updates available 6 or 7 years ago anyway. I think there are hacks to get apple or android auto onto the car screen.

My dislike of over aggressive emergency breaking was fixed with a software update