Thanks Tim, that’s good to know. I’m assuming it works in mainland Europe too. We are with Octopus so will be able to charge it at 12p per kWh, and when it’s sunny we will be able to use the solar.
We have an Audi A3 at the moment, which is really nice to drive. The Megane is of course not as good, to drive but it’s far from bad and is more than acceptable. As it was designed as an electric only car the battery is a thin sheet across the bottom, which makes it very stable. And while it’s far from the most powerful car, it feels very nippy when you put your foot down in sport mode.
What could possibly go wrong?! I just love the idea of using the sun to charge it when the weather gets brighter. We only have one car so there will be no petrol backup, so we will need to plan well.
I believe it does - have seen other people saying they have crossed Europe with it. The main network in Europe is Ionity which also has a few round the uk. Very rapid chargers and usually plenty of them. We will use their chargers at Carlisle to and from Edinburgh this weekend
Thanks Tim. I’m signed up and ready to go. I’ve ordered my Electroverse card. All I now need is the car. I really do like this helpful aspect of the Forum. Real life experiences are so helpful in deciding the way to proceed.
Before you go off on any long trips, I suggest you have a practice public charge. There is nothing worse than struggling with a new charger that you haven’t been to before and really needing the charge.
(I gave my wife my Electroverse card when she was away for the weekend and she phoned me cos she couldn’t get it to work. She moved to the neighbouring charger after a couple of attempts and was fine - but I knew that was probably the case after I don’t know how many charges. My wife and I between us have done around 100,000 electric miles over the last 9 years but it is still frustrating when things go wrong)
Id recommend you try using the abetterrouteplanner app / website to help pre-plan routes. I find it really useful. They also do some sort of carplay integration however I found that to be less useful, lots of bugs. But the basic app is fine
Thanks for that. I’ve looked in the Electroverse app and that does the same. It may be that I can integrate it with the car display, as Renault is allegedly compatible.
Hi HH,
for travelling across continental Europe, we have found the Chargemap app & payment card to be very useful.
It may even be worth getting the (whisper it) Tesla app, as Tesla struck a deal with the European Commission in which 1 in 4 Tesla Supercharger charge stations are useable by all makes of car. After using multiple fast charge networks across UK, France, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, we have found the Tesla Superchargers to be far ahead of anyone else’s in terms of reliability and ease of use.
My favourite app is WattsUp - shows charger locations using the network logo so you can (once you know what is good and what is bad) home in most quickly on your favoured charger. Works with CarPlay and i have used it to tell me where the nearest alternative charger is when one wasn’t working. It will navigate you there.
Haven’t tried decently but I hated a better route planner the couple of times I tried it
I scrolled back and saw that your BMW is the i4 E40. Could you say a bit more about how you find it as I am considering going EV and the i4 and the Polestar 2 are the front runners. I currently have a BMW 330e which I really like, so the i4 is a logical step. It is costly though.
I can compare to the Tesla model 3 which I had before. I didnt drive a polestar but I have friends who run them at work.
My choice was limited to what I could get thorugh sallary sacrifice at a reasonable price. On our scheme at work the BMW was cheaper than the tesla by £200/month and slightly cheaper than the polestar.
In the year we have run the i4, I have had no problems at all. Its fast without being silly, the power comes on progressively. Very quiet indeed, far quieter than my old tesla. The handling is very BMW like in that it inspires confidence and can be provoked on the throttle. Its heavier than a normal 3 series and you can feel the extra weight in the corners where it can sometimes want to fall over itself when trying to drive aggressively. Id recommend you test drive one to see if you can get on with it.
Range seems similar to my old model 3 long range, the charge rate is slower than the model 3 in theory, but I think in reality it doesnt take longer to charge as it seems to hold a higher charge rate for longer.
I am considering keeping the car at the end of the lease.
My friends with Polestars like the car, but have had problems with the software and app.
Thanks, that’s very helpful and echoes generally what I have read, although I hadn’t seen anything about those Polestar problems. The principal advantage of the BMW over the Polestar, according to reviews, seems to be the ride. I don’t think I would have a problem with driving the BMW as the issues with the weight are present in my hybrid 3 series saloon. I have driven a diesel version and the difference was striking. At least with the i4 there is no petrol engine to carry round as well. I’m retired so I cannot get the tax advantages, so I would be buying second-hand. I wouldn’t consider a Musk car!
My Tesla was in the garage being repaired roughly every 2 months over the three years I ran it. The i4 is in a different league for quality, and comfort. I really like the handling. But you really need to try both and see what you think.
The people complaining about the polestar to me are software and security geeks, their expectations may be higher than the general population :).
We had been looking at a new car for my wife when my her octavia expired. We had looked at the hybrid BMW’s (5 series) and Mercedes (E class) and what struck us most was the impact of the battery on the space in the car. The boot on the 530e and the E class merc’s we looked at was severely compromised by the battery. It’s one of the main reasons we bought the Kia. Also we didnt want to have the complexity of a hybrid system and the resultant compromises which go with it. For us we decided it had to be either Diesel or full EV.
The other car we looked at was a Mercedes EQE, they were heavily discounted at the time and have rather odd packaging. But were fundamentally a nice car to drive around in. Not sure if the deals are still available.
