Did they actually perform an overtake or were they in lane 1 for the last 5 miles say and at some point lane 2 was going slower?
1 Like
Not illegal, in that there are permissible circumstances e.g. within speed controlled zones, where flows may dictate uneven speeds between lanes, but if itās deemed an undertake is ācareless drivingā (or worse), then penalties may arise (as you outline).
2 Likes
That sounds like the blind spot sensors on the mirrors detecting something was too close. It can whip the steering from your hands to āget you out of dangerā.
You are probably better with it turned off.
1 Like
Perhaps the car is clever enough (!) to know there is space to swerve intoā¦
Maybe safe enough on the M27ā¦
who knowsā¦
Perhaps trust the ājelly blobā behind the wheel rather than the car gizzmos, and keep an eye on the mirrorsā¦
Paul Ripley (had a column in Daily Telegraph decades ago) used to advise to maintain a āsafety cellā round your vehicle, which is hard these days as often (usually) someone moves into your safety cell on UK motorways (because they do not maintain a āsafety cellā round their vehicle). And of course most traffic (notably not professional drivers - lorries, coaches and police for example) maintains position in the centre lane (or outside land on dual carriage way) as their rightful place to be, regardless of electric power or petrol and diesel vehicles.
And it used to be the case (some years ago, it may still be the case, long time since I visited) that in South Africa traffic can pass slower moving vehicles on either side (under or overtaking!) which might ease a lot of congestion here on UK motorways and dual carriage-ways, and might encourage a bit of mirror looking by drivers (jelly blobs!).
1 Like
The most unreliable component in any carā¦ the nut behind the steering wheel.
4 Likes
Test drove an Hyundai Inster this morning.
It really is Time and Realtive Dimension In Space-ish like. The height gives it quite an airy, roomy feel. The controls are similar to my Kia EV6 with 3 levels of regen and one pedal driving. Impressively solid on the road does not feel like a small car at all. It has a bit of character and I can certainly see its attraction. Itās actually priced very competitively in Ireland coming in at about ā¬25k (Ā£21.5k) for the 49kW battery with heat pump. I sat in the back behind where I had the driving seat positioned and the room was quite good too. It will fit 4 comfortably. It certainly ticks a lot of boxes as a second car or a primary car for younger folk. I think my daughter would love it.
I did think that there was a pull sometimes like in my Kia when lane keeping assistant is active but this was at slow speeds and there was nothing showing up on the display so Iām not quite sure what exactly was happening. Iād obviously have to try and find out what was occurring here and find out how to turn it off. A lot of beeps which the agent did not know how to turn off. I turned off the speed warnings by pressing and holding the mute button and he said that was great to know!
The only real negative for me - on once again a ridiculously short test drive - I asked him do many people actually buy a car after a 25 minute test drive and he said about a third buy without any test drive at all .. the mind boggles.
The seat. No lumbar support. However if I hadnāt already decided that keeping the Golf is the best option for us (or if the Golf needed major repairs) Iād certainly take it on a much longer test drive and manipulate all the seat movement to see if I could get some level of comfort. It should allow the seat to be quite high and this can negate some of the pressure on my back. For me and especially at the Irish prices this is a better bet than the R5.
I think as new EVs arrive on the scene that attract me Iāll take them out for a test drive. The R4 is certainly calling me as I have great childhood memories of both my brother and my aunt driving me around in one. Iāve always loved them. Thereās no holiday Iāve spent in France that at least one picture isnāt of a R4! From videos Iām not completely convinced it is as close to the old R4 as the R5 is to its predecessor.
.sjb
2 Likes
The Renault 4 has a different wheelbase on each side due to the suspension design. 
I believe this makes it unique in this respect.
IIrc the Renault 4 ICE was set up like that as well according to James May. Although I could well be mistaken
I meant the orginal R4.
2 Likes
I found this one of the more informative and believable pieces on battery life.
Interesting that companies repurposing or recycling car batteries are having issues with poor supply as batteries are having a longer working life than expected.
.sjb
3 Likes
My Tesla Model 3 has now done 65k and is 4 years old in December. Iāve noticed no real drop in performance and you can now do a battery condition test on the car, itās still showing 95% of itās original capacity.
3 Likes
Weāve just charged up in Beauvais, France, for under ā¬0.28 per kWh, which is the cheapest weāve found so far. 38 minutes to add 35kWh, giving enough time for a quick whizz around the huge Carrefour over the road.
3 Likes
When I fail the next licence renewal exam (probably through essential tremor), Iām thinking of getting a Mobilize Duo. No licence needed - Plugs into house socket & can be financed on yearly lease. Reminds me of the 2CV we enjoyed so many years ago.
Vroom vroom - a Benidorm scooter for this century 
1 Like
At over 6 years old when we sold it our BMW i3 did not show any convincing reduction in range from new.
Bruce
3 Likes
There have been enough EV cars around for 10 years or so and many miles to know that battery degradation is not an issue for the lifetime of an electric car. Cars come with 8 years warranty on batteries. All that does not mean batteries canāt have faults, anything made can fail of course but the chances are low.
After much deliberation, review, youtube vids in our household and test drives of course we have come to a choice on a new EV to replace the Leased MG ZS EV we have had for nearly 3 years. The outcome of all that has been to place an order for a Skoda Elroq for delivery in November. It should suit us just fine.
6 Likes
Anecdotal but perhaps illuminating: we got a cab home the other night. Our driver was the very satisfied owner of a Tesla Model S. It, had, he quite proudly announced, done 340000 miles.
1 Like
I have come across advice in several places about turning off regen now and again to, as far as I think Iām understanding it, effectively clean the brake pads. Again IIIC the regen while being very effective in increasing the longevity of the brakes can, particularly if one is using one pedal driving a lot, mean debris can build up on the brake pads that isnāt being cleared off by the natural friction of their usage.
Itās all quite vague though.
Does anyone here have any definitive knowledge or recommendations about this?
Iām a big fan of using regen and whilst I only use one pedal driving in heavy traffic the brakes are probably used minimally for the final stop from 10 ā 0mph.
.sjb
1 Like
It seems sensible to use the brakes occasionally if you do a lot of driving with max regen ie one-pedal mode. You can often go a fair few journeys without using the brakes and the discs might corrode a bit. Low speed use should be enough I reckon.
I have a feeling our old i3 actually did an automatic ābrake cleanā where it applied them intermittently for this purpose, but not sure either of our Kiaās do this. I have never noticed them feeling or sounding rough when braking to suggest this is a big issue though.
Bruce
On the whole I think it is good to give the brakes some exercise rather than relying on regen all the time.
The only problem I have had with our MG ZS EV is the rear brakes. At a mere 14000 miles the calipers, rear pads and discs all needed replacing seemingly all seized due to lack of use. I saw the old discs they were a scored rusty mess.
I see that VW Group favour using drum brakes in the rear of their EV cars this may well be a good idea and give less trouble.
2 Likes
Thanks SJB for the video, which is certainly of interest and clarifies some issues around batteries. However, although it alluded to battery temperature management in more recent cars, it didnāt answer a question that I have - perhaps someone here has some insight into this.
I have a BMW (i4) and there are two terms used by BMW relevant to battery management and temperature: climate control and battery preconditioning. I am guessing that other vehicle brands will have similar arrangements.
Climate control can be used as a setting in conjunction with setting battery charging. So, for example, the car can be plugged in and set to charge at night to 80%, with climate control set for departure at, say 08.00. The cabin of the car will then be appropriately warm in winter, or cool in summer. My question is whether the climate setting has any implication for the battery. For example, given I am retired and donāt set off every morning for work, should I set up climatisation for departure on a winterās day when the outside temperature is 40F.? Given the car is not charged every day and therefore not plugged in to the charger in such circumstances, such warming/cooling would use the carās battery.
Battery preconditioning in the BMW is set up via the āNavigationā system and is turned on when the carās journey involves stopping at a charging point. I believe this is most relevant for higher rates of charging when optimum battery temperature is important.
Can anyone throw any light on my main question?
Thanks.