Agree with you, the HUD is brilliant, came as standard fit on my ID.3
1 Like
Indeed, I found it worked extremely well on my motorway trips and it really made cruising so easy.
.sjb
1 Like
Now active cruise on our BMW i3 is not totally reliable. Basically the camera that senses the proximity of another vehicle you are approaching gets muddled by rain or bright sun and responds by turning the cruise control off. This might not matter except being an EV, the regenerative braking immediately slows the car down regardless of being in the fast lane or whatever.
I have had active ( radar controlled) cruise on my 2 previous cars, but tended to turn it off. I found that my progress was dictated by those in front of me. Having turned it off forces me to keep alert. Eyes on what is behind, was is coming up etc and forcing you to take charge and make decisions in time. I get to my destinations far quicker than with active cruise control. I can see why some may like it, but not having now is no loss to me.
3 Likes
Havenāt driven for just over 5 years due to eyesight problems fortunately retired so no great problem.
I used to drive 30,000 mils a year plus but whilst my company vehicles had cruise control and the like I came to the same conclusion as yourself and never used it.
2 Likes
I like cruise control as a way of making sure that I donāt go too fast, especially on long drives or on long lengths of road which is speed controlled (eg 40 mph) but doesnāt look like it should be. And on average speed sections of road.
But I prefer to turn it off myself rather than have the car just turn it off itself.
Very near to pulling the plug on an Kia EV6 standard spec model. The one I did the 48 hours test drive in which has about 3.5k KM on it at a ā¬6k discount to new. Comes with 0% PSP and a free charger.
I notice there is a new facelift due shortly (for 251 registrations in Ireland) that has a few cosmetic changes but a larger battery. Probably wonāt get finance (which I donāt really need just itās handy as I can leave my cash on deposit at 3%) or the charger and perhaps it will be slightly more expensive. Iād be interested in your views on the new facelifted model vs the current one at the discount outlined @Bluesfan (and anyone else).
.sjb
1 Like
Keep reading about second hand EV prices dropping more and moreā¦ā¦ā¦canāt you push them harder on that 6k discount?
1 Like
Still love mine. Had it at the dealer for a service last week and they said the new one will be maybe 4-6 months from order to delivery. I wasnāt looking to change anyway but the new styling is a bit dull I think. More range would be nice but never really been an issue. I will be doing less long journeys now as not travelling to see my parents 300 miles away every few weeks.
We will look at the Kia EV3 as a possible replacement for my wifeās i3, probably next year. She likes the idea of another Kia with familiar software etc. She drives mine when she can!
Bruce
2 Likes
Hi SJB,
The pre-facelift EV6 is a super car. The post facelift car has about 5kWh more battery capacity, so about 20 miles more range, if that matters to you. We noticed the 70miles extra range when we went from Skoda Enyaq iv80 to Tesla model Y but Iām not sure 20 miles makes much of a difference to how you would use the car. The post facelift cars also have a slightly more sophisticated suspension and damper set up, so ride quality may have improved as well.
A 6k discount off list for a demonstrator is not generous. I would also want a smart charger like an Zappi (or equivalent) over a dumb Ohme charger too. We use the chargerās smart features a lot.
Every traditional car maker is having to try really hard to sell its EVs, so bargain hard. Those long waiting lists for new EVs are melting away, now that customers are having second thoughts due to inadequate fast charging infrastructure for those who drive long distances.
If the choice is between these 2 EV6 cars, Iād probably take the new one for the facelift and bigger battery. The dealer demo car will instantly fall in value when the new model hits the streets.
However, Iām not sure I would buy either car now.
The latest reviews of the Kia EV3 with big battery are stellar and itās a lot less than the EV6. The EV3 is smaller, so easy to park & manoeuvre, yet very big inside. Unless you need the extra space of the EV6, I would wait to test drive an EV3 before deciding. Kia has put a lot of work into seat comfort too, so worth checking out these new seats as well.
With the EV3, be careful to check which specification has a heat pump if you plan on doing long journeys when itās cold in the winter. This may or may not matter to you though.
Hope this helps, BF
1 Like
Really helpful, thank you, yet again for your time and knowledge.
As my late father used to say a ālet the hare sitā policy may be my best option at the moment. Although having said that the momentum of the process can carry one along as well.
My wife has mentioned that a smaller car (with comfortable seats) may be better suited to our needs so I suppose it would be churlish of me to insist on the EV6 without test driving the EV3. Then again we have both driven the EV6 and enjoyed the experience and again today when I test drove another one it just felt so easy to drive.
May I also ask what is your take on mileage on a used electric vehicle? I have an understanding of what mileage on an ICE is acceptable and the likely max mileage for a particular engine size. However for a used EV6 I donāt know the whether 40k miles vs 20k miles is a big difference where for an ICE car (above 2L) I wouldnāt worry too much about this differential.
.sjb
Hi SJB,
In the good ole days petrol engines were either designed to last 150k miles (most manufacturers) or 250k miles (Mercedes, Volvo, Jaguar, some BMWs). Determining aging by mileage was relatively easy.
With EVs, itās not so simple. What really matters is the state of health of the battery. This is expressed as a percentage and is the current battery capacity divided by its original capacity. By way of example, if your car had a 100kWh battery and it can currently store 90kWh, then its state of health is 90%.
Car makers say that a battery has reached the end of its first life when the state of health has fallen to either 80% or 70%. Which number depends on the manufacturer. The degradation starts very slowly then accelerates as it takes hold, so a fall from 80% to 70% will happen much more quickly than a fall from 100% to 90%.
Now battery aging is affected by several factors, with mileage not being the most important, so there is only an indirect link between mileage and aging. More important are temperature and normal charge level.
If someone has a higher mileage car but they have charged it at home at 7kW and stopped charging when the battery is 80% full, then that battery should last for many 100s of thousands of miles, perhaps up to half a million.
On the other hand, if another owner has owned a car in southern Europe where it is often 35C+ outside, always fast charged it (generating a great deal of heat in the cells) and kept it topped up to 100% all the time, then this lower mileage car will degrade the battery within about 100,000 miles or less. Field reports indicate that Kia batteries are more susceptible to premature aging than say Tesla batteries because of the way that the battery management systems (BMS) work and the control limits that are used.
TUV Rheinland in Germany has launched a battery state of health test. They may offer this service in Ireland. Alternatively, the car itself may tell you how it has been used over its life - the Tesla app has this information.
Sorry for the long answer. I could say to simply think of it as equivalent to a petrol engined car. Thatās the easy answer but the reality is more nuanced than that. As a start, try to find out normal max charge level (80% or 100%) and how much fast charging has been done. These are more important than pure mileage.
Best regards, BF
3 Likes
The old models will likely be difficult to shift once the new one has launched, discounts could be better. Dealers often have monthly targets to hit, waiting to the last week of a month can some times be beneficialā¦ā¦ā¦more likely to discount. I am lucky as an ex Ford manager that i lease, or can buy the car once it arrives. A Ā£44k Kuga St line X PHEV, i can buy for Ā£26k with zero miles on clock, and that is still higher than a dealer pays. So they have plenty of room to discount. Not sure how many Kia dealers there are in Irelandā¦ā¦ring around and haggle.
Very interesting comments Bluesfan. I read/ saw on youtube recently comments to the effect that it is not easy to find out the condition of the batteries in individual cars either in your ownership or, perhaps more pertinently to this thread, when considering purchasing ex-dem or used. Perhaps there may even be an issue with new cars if they have been sitting around for several months? Essentially this info should be provided for every car offered for sale and this is not readily avaliable.
Peter
1 Like
Interesting, thanks Bluesfan.
At 5 yrs+ old our i3 doesnāt obviously show falling range from new (altgough it is hard to be absolutely precise) which may reflect the usage and charging factors you indicate.
The EV 3 does look like a good package, but as a new and likely popular model I guess discounts may be minimal. Delivery times may be long too, and sometimes they push the high spec models first too.
Bruce
Interesting info, BF. Thanks for posting.
1 Like
When an EV is serviced ( and, they dont do much) they shoukd check and note the SOH of both the HV traction battery and the 12v auxiliary battery. My main battery stills shows a SOH of 100%, but the 12v was at 60%. Car is 4 years old.
1 Like