gangzoom

Still more than happy to waste ££££ on cars (just a change in the fuel source). Also this thing has taken over priority.....am sure everyone whos got would agree, even with the lack of sleep/constant need for attention/getting to know all different types of poos very well up close and personal, they really are worth the effort . But thats a whole different topic!!

Houses should always take priority over any kind of spending on a car. Have you actually worked out in hard numbers projected costs of housing veruses other outgoings etc? I did this before I comitted to the new car earlier in the year as we also moved to a new house at the same time. On the face of it putting the money into the house instead of a car was the nobrainer option. But after actually doing the sums the actual difference in cost between running a much cheap car versus the new car was not enough of a difference to warrant going down the bangernomics route. But having said in the 24 months prior I did ditch the BMW 335i for a Leaf mainly for saving on running costs, and budgeted other out goings monthly almost down to the £ to build up savings. Only you know your financial situation and costs, but do sit down and get ALL your costs written down, so you can look at the big picture before making any decisions. Once you can see all the numbers in front of you its much easier to make a decision.

http://www.evo.co.uk/opinion/20539/for-the-modern-urban-crawl-the-relaxing-untaxing-nissan-leaf-is-perfectly-fit-for?_mout=1&utm_campaign=evo_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

When I was still looking at petrol cars a GSF was very close to the top of the list. My needs are a different though, family wagon first/most important tick box. So short list were things like F10 M5, XJR Supersport rather than 2 seater toys. Saw a couple of GSFs first hand at the Lexus dealer when they were new, and it looks stonking in person, much more interesting than the usual BMW/Audi crowd. Still surprised to see they are now going for £40K after just 12 months of been on sale, NA 5.0L V8, RWD, Lexus build quality, no one will be making these things again, add in remaining the factory warranty its alot of car for BMW 340i money!! https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-spottedykywt/lexus-gs-f-spotted/37285

Tesla need to get the 3 out of the door ASAP. There are plenty of people in my position with a Model 3 deposit now looking at a used S85 as they fall in price. If RHD deliveries don't seem likely next year this time, we might end up with a used P85 S . I also have half an eye on the iPace, if Jag can hit the £60K target price AND deliver a 90kWh near 300 miles range it could prove too tempting to resist.......Might even swap the X for it IF Jag can hit their benchmarks, but pricing is key. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motor-shows-la-motor-show/2018-jaguar-i-pace-electric-suv-revealed-plus-exclusive-autocar Either way it's an exciting time ahead, cannot wait to see what EVs come to market over the next 18 months. Model 3, used Model S, or iPace, I'll be happy with an of those to accompany the X......there is even rumours of an infinity EV based on next gen Leaf powertrain.

@ilogikal1 If you have nothing useful to add why post anything on EVs at all?......unless ofcourse you secretly love EVs but in denial

^ Based on current S/X conversion the base version should £27k after EV grant. Ofcourse depends on state of $/£ ratio in 2019.

Looks like Tesla is finally ramping up production on the Model 3. Might actually see one in the UK for 2019 after all https://electrek.co/2017/12/15/tesla-model-3-batch-configuration-invites/

^ Formula E battery packs are currently limited to only 28kWh and all come from the same company (McLarean at present), my Tesla has 75kWh, the new Roadster will have 200kWh. I believe the FIA are planning to allow teams to develop their own packs in the coming seasons. What controls the amount of power an EV can produce is not really the motor but the battery. The larger the battery pack the higher the voltage, so lower amps can be used to supply the same power, which in turn means less heat/more sustainable performance - as well as having more energy in the battery to start off with. If Tesla/Panasonic can go from 60kWh packs in 2012 to 200kWh pack by 2020 in a mass produced consumer market car, I can see 250-300kWh packs in motor sport in the not too distant future. I remember back in the early 1990s, a 40MB hard drive was seen as extra genet - not to mention expensive, these days we are looking at 4 Terabyte drives for <£200.

We have to wait and see just how much the roadster 2.0 weighs. How much does a 911 weigh these days? Sub 1500kg and low center of gravity would be pretty good around the corners.

I have to admit I no idea on the tech behind the Rimac not even its battery size, and actually Hammond was lucky to get out alive as lithium is rather an reactive element. The noise side clearly is never going to work with EVs but is simply a different experience. Driving anything quickly/on the limit takes skill and is clearly dangerous, which for me what its all about.

Is that the episode where Hammonds crashes the Rimac? Which actually only has about half the performance of the up and coming roadster. Maybe those three better keep away from EVs as clearly they haven't got the driving skills needed to keep one on the road :).

EVs cannot do continuous peak running due to the amount of heat generated from pulling stupid amounts of charge from the pack. The biggest story behind the Roadster 2.0(and the truck) is the battery tech Tesla is teasing. The current P100D has a 102kWh pack with 98kWh usable and weighs in at over 600kg. The Roadster is hinting at 200kWh usable in half the physical size. Pulling 400-500KW of power from a 200kWh will generate half the heat it does in a 100kWh pack. Which in turn mean sustainable high performance without heat issues. There is alot of guess work going on regarding how Tesla have developed a battery pack with such dense energy storage, let alone have it ready for mass production by 2019. 200kWh is enough electricity to power an average UK house for nearly 2 weeks!!! Am not sure I believe Tesla can deliver on mass producing such a battery. But Elon Musk put it down in writing, and given the fact his rocket company has achieved what NASA said as impossible I guess we'll have to wait and see.

30mph, I'm lucky to see half that in my trips around Leicester. Took me 45 minutes to go 7 miles today, would have just taken the pedal bike in the past but apparently putting an 18 months old on a pinion is not seen as responsible at nursery pick up . Noise is great in isolation, but when your stuck in traffic all you end up doing is making your self deaf. I realise part of the reason why I love driving EVs so much is when you are stuck in traffic they are simply so much more comfortable, no engine rattles, no temperamental gear box lurches at 5 mph, but when you do get a bit of open road your up to speed quicker than anything else. As for handling, I've not driven an equivalent combustion SUV, I doubt very much any would handle any better/worse than the X. Yes you feel the weight shift in corner but it's amazing how accurately you can place it, add in the instant torque and it's just as quick if not quicker (due to AWD) than my old 335i on flowing B roads. The roadster is a car not much bigger than the Elise, Tesla haven't announced any detailed specs but if they can keep the battery pack weight down and get the whole thing to come in around 1500kg, it'll be hell of a machine to throw round. You can see just how quick (and hard to control) a Lotus with a Tesla motor is when it's done by a man in a shed......imagine that but development from the manufactures. If you have any interest in things that go quickly I cannot see how you can ignore EVs. https://youtu.be/If09etyztl8

^ Gosh you must love EVs more than me, even I dont get excited about seeing another Tesla to the point of putting it on YouTube :). The noise thing I personally don't miss, but I also dont get the fascination of steam trains, slow, loud, cluncky, why people like sitting in one is beyond me. But plenty of people like that kind of stuff, which is fine. The pure acclerative force of the roadster 2.0 is something I cannot wait to experience. Having control of something that can acclerate at 1.4g at will is utter maddness, pointless, and probably reckless on public roads....Cannot wait to try one :).

First 40kWh Leaf deals/pricing is out. List is £26k and currently very little discounts. PCP deals are in the £350/400/month without including initial deposit. So second hand prices of 24/30 will stay firm for a while. Apprently Kia are doing good deals on the Soul EV, at £200/months. Similar range to the Leaf and suppose to be well made.

I've done 11k in our EV since March, with alot of those miles have been on roads like this. Trip to Scotland done last months and now planning an European drive this summer. I cannot stop driving ours depsite it been a family wagon, at this stage of my life families duties come first but one day I cannot wait to try the same drivetrain in a coupe. The price of the roadster is stupidly high but compared to a Veyron its actually vaguely attainable with alot of saving/man maths in a few decades or so. I dont know about you guys but the thought of owning something with the performance of a Veryron ia pretty exciting, till than the current EV will just have to do :).

Totally off topic but 100% agree

Actually I agree with this. If someone wants to steal the car they will do it. If they cannot get in one way they will simply find another. The keyless relay attacks are been done by organised gangs whom am sure will have no issues breaking into the house if they really want the car.

Tesla released a software update recently that gave the option to disable keyless entry. The thing is once your use to just walking up to the car and opening the door, adding in an addtional step of pressing a key to unlock is a real pain. I disabled it for a few days but have turned is back on. There is no easy solution around relay crime unless you introduce some kind of time stamp into the signal, but than your talking about a delay thats in nanoseconds which am not sure is even possible to detect with current tech. The balance between convince versus security is hard to get right. I can actually unlock/start my car from my phone without needing any key, my phone also has the banking app, email access, address details etc pretty much all my personal info, and its all only a keycode lock away. As the FBI showed last year breaking through security locks on phones is also very doable regardless of what manfactures say.

Am really glad we now have a usable garage, as the X is draws more attention than anything else I've ever owned combined. Just a shame you cannot feel safe enjoying owning something you worked hard for.

The technology behind these thefts were published all the way back in 2011, but no manfactures took any action/preventative changes. These thefts have been going for a while, and will only increase as cost of the equipment falls. Latest move is now to having low powered Bluetooth keys that send out a more secure signal. Easiest way to prevent is to keys in a metal box to block the signals. http://www.syssec.ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/infk/inst-infsec/system-security-group-dam/research/spot/332.pdf

Insurance compaines will try to minimise their cost first and look after their customers second. In a non fault claim its up to the third party insurer to resolve the claim to YOUR satisfaction and cover the costs. In my case Admiral was third party insurer. They started sending all kinds of rubbish when it dawned on them the potential total cost of the claim, at one point they even say they were going to close the case, not pay for any loan car and if I didnt accept their low ball offer I would have to contact the onbsman. This was when I was deciding if i was going for a new car order, and just after they formally accepted liabilty. In the end Admiral had to do what they were legally bound to do, pay for me to get back in a like for like car, cover my motoring costs fot 4 months whilst the new car was delivered, and I've just received a cheque for £1550 for the extra VED associated with the new car which my old car was exempt from. So don't get intimated by the letters, know your rights and remeber you didnt ask for any of this. Hope you get a good outcome.

Easiest way is to call RCI (Nissan finance) and tell them the reg/vin. The V5 should also say 'Flex' if it's a battery rental car. The other car to look at is the Zoe, should be similar/cheaper than the Leaf, but its a smaller car. Also sold with same battery rental scheme - RCI again is the people to call to check. If you need a number to call give me a PM, I think I got their direct line saved somewhere in my emails.

One other to add is avoid pre 2013 produced cars, as Nissan introduced a load of changes in 2013 including changes to battery chemistry and introduction of a more efficient heating system for the cars. Also avoid the base spec Visa cars, as these sometimes didnt even have a port for rapid charging. Also be careful of any cheap looking 2013+ cars. Nissan introduced a battery rental plan in 2013 to help reduce the cost of the car,but it means you have to keep on paying £70/month to Nissan to 'rent' the battery. If you don't pay they can in theory disable the battery remotely - though clearly there must be ways to stop that but as far as I know no one has tried it :). So your looking at buying used you need to make sure the price been quoted includes full ownership of the battery.