MG ZS EV Review! Cold weather range test GONE WRONG!
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- Опубликовано: 9 дек 2021
- It’s time to review the MG ZS EV with a cold weather range test! Let me tell you, this video did not go according to plan! By far the most frustrated you will see me in a video…
I’ve had the car for over 2 months and for local driving it has been brilliant but what happens if you drive a car with 140 miles of range over 200 miles to Wales in the Snow ?! What happened was definitely the tale of two halves, the journey there and the journey back. I am a fan of EVs and really wanted things to go well but sadly they didn’t and I ended up losing it in a major rant !
In addition to the MG ZS EV’s range we also take a look at the how long it takes to charge, the cost of charging, range anxiety, public charging stations and the future of owning a EV in the UK.
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What do you think about the EV charging situation in the UK ?
My Fiat 500e is on its way to my dealer for uplift next week but I will only be home charging and staying within my range profile of about 80 miles return with no long trips - ever. As I don't even have a smartphone, these public chargers are currently as much use to me as a chocolate teapot. Therefore, I agree that they all need to be converted to accepting payment by debit/credit card like a conventional petrol pump. (BTW, great video, Pedro!)
The new thing is charging hubs, hopefully popping up in the next year or so? Where there are approximately 10+ charging stations, depending on location (with separate Tesla bays 😁) and food n drink facilities.
So, yes, at the moment it's not good enough but within the next 5 years or so should be much better. I'll be waiting until the network improves before thinking about making the change.
It varies hugely depending on the route being travelled.
One of the reasons why I now have a Corolla Hybrid with a 500 range . For me to go to Somerset from Essex twice a month would need some planning in a non Tesla EV
I own this MG in Israel, so cold is a non-issue however whatever charging Infrastructure in the UK, it's much better then what we got. I bought this car knowing all of this. I use the EV as much as possible on daily driving tasks and have a gas car when I need to drive far.
Thank you for convincing me NOT to buy an EV. We live in ridiculous times.
You can use tesla super charger in non tesla car ... things are better now
Still absolute crap though. Thankfully the fad is dying.@@nepaliman5716
@@nepaliman5716my Toyota Camry would drive that 400 miles round trip without worrying about stopping at all and end with 1/4 tank left - I can’t see how people justify wasting so much of their time charging - time is the most precious currency you have in life more valuable than any money in the world as you can’t ever get the time back after it has past - teslas and others are very pollutant and lowering co2 kills plants
@@nepaliman5716 so i am sat here in my petrol hybrid looking at a range of 506miles on my tank with my aircon and heater on looking at a 6 hour drive from bristol to Berwick-upon-Tweed which is 352 miles away and might stop for a quick pee on the way as we are in a bit of a rush now and dont say plan ahead as this was unplanned ...... so convince me how a to make a 6 hour journey easy in a milkfloat, incidentally did Bristol to Edinburgh filled up with £51 of petrol and rolled into Granton with 1/4 of a tank left it cost £36 to refill to get home
so convince me how these environment killing batteries are better ?
So let me get this straight, you cant drive over 65 mph, you cant have the heating up to a comfortable level in winter or the air con on in summer when you need it, you have to plan your stops to 'electric up' carefully, have multiple apps on your phone for the various charging points and every long trip means high stress levels. Your making EV ownership look very attractive.
And don't put the lights on
I own and drive an EV here in Norway, and pretty much everything you said here is simply not true. The only thing you're right about, is the need for multiple apps, but that is also changing, because all new charging stations are now required to accept debit/credit card.
All that to try save the planet .
I own an ev, and the range is always shorter than advertised, and that gets worse over time.
And If you go 70mph or more your range will decrease by 30/40%
@@hadtopicausername with respect, that's exactly because you are in Norway, and this report is the state of things in the UK. Norway has massively more take up of EVs and the infrastructure to support it.
"Sorry family, that we missed our flight/ferry, there was a Tesla stealing the only fuel that we could use and my app didn’t work because the phone network coverage was bad”, said no ice driver ever 😂.
Great video highlighting another serious problem with EVs, I know people who can’t even deal with a smart phone, let alone ‘apps’ on a device.
So owning an EV is brilliant.....apart from the anxiety, stress, anger and time wasting on every journey. Sounds wonderful! Can't wait!
Well...to be TRUTHFUL and ACCURATE....(often in very short supply on RUclips...!) the anxiety, stress and time wasting only occurs under certain conditions!
Obviously, if you can complete your journey on one charge then none of the above applies!
If you find a rapid charger working - and with no queue.....then none of the above applies!
Etc etc etc ......!!!
Worth pointing out that the VAST majority of car journeys are under 30 miles....which does swing the argument a LONG WAY in the other direction.... doesn't it...!!
Obvious BIG sticking points:-
Nowhere NEAR enough public chargers.....
People who can't charge at home ....
Friend of mine who is a real green enthusiast bought one. Couple of years later couldn't get rid of the bloody thing. She upgraded to an ICE car.
Fine on short journeys. Total nightmare on long journeys.
@@andymccabe6712
That's a lot of ifs.
@@andymccabe6712 Costa do well out of it, that's for sure.
@@rob5944 Cost you as much for coffee and cake as for an electric charge and who needs all those extra calories?
Imagine that journey with a family, kids sitting for hours in some godforesaken garage. Brilliant.
😳😳😳
'Hours' is somewhat over dramatic don't you think? It was one hour but it should have been shorter because he chargers more than he needed and also to a high state of charge when it would be quicker to have a second stop (unless the car is waiting for you to finish doing something else)
I have a bladder that needs frequent relief enough said....
Wouldn't happen. Most fast chargers have you topped up in around 40mins. A 40 min stop every three hours or so is a sensible minimum for toilet, refreshment and rest breaks. I know some people boast of driving for 9 hours non stop but that is dangerous and really stupid. Generally speaking a charge stop would not be noticeable.
I have the same model MG ZS EV and wen I connect to fast charge station I charge 45 km in 10 minutes.
So last time I had a long trip, must drive 47 km
Battery say 30 km left.
So i stop to fastcharge station for 10 minutes and drive home easy.
Ad I charge up to 100%
And yes , a bigger battery is no luxure.
But wen i compare with my Yamaha motorbike with 16 liter In the tank i need to tank every 160 km... IT is faster yes but need to stop more :)
This has confirmed my thoughts about these vehicles. 18 miles of range with a clear road anxiety, 18 miles of range and congestion, I just don't know how I would deal with that stress.
congestion means you'll be going slowly right behind another car, using next to nothing. My range doubles in London when I'm doing 20-30mph if you're lucky!
@@JohnSmith-vz8pc How do you react in the winter when you’re stuck in traffic and it’s cold and the next charging station is conveniently close but your wait time is an hour because everyone else is waiting to charge also,?
@@lv4077just turn off the heat, heat will be a luxury,,
I sure would like to buy one of these for my 'ex-wife' .
You know, as a goodwill gesture towards her.
@@luckyguy600 Put a 75 foot extension cord in the trunk for emergencies.
I could never get my head around planning in a one hour charge stop on a journey when we've been so accustomed to filling up a petrol car in five minutes. It just seems insane and a step backwards.
On my trips to Poland , I can drive all the way across germany , without refilling ! Good old diesel !
@@anthonybrooker2702 I have a range of up to 1300km on a full tank, 45 liter Diesel. And all the Filters and additives needed for being able to drive anywhere.
The five minutes would include a bathroom visit. My Volvo V90 takes 50 liters in less than 2 minutes
EV owner from Norway here. The biggest limiting factor for me on long drives is my bladder and the fact that I get hungry. I need to stop to use the loo and have a bite to eat, long before my car needs to charge. By the time I'm done taking care of my own needs, the car is back up to 80 % charge and ready to go for another stint. Of course, our charging infrastructure is _way_ better than it is in the UK. 50 kW chargers are considered to be pretty darned slow here.
@@niebuhrsongs Well I have to pay also, normally by the tank (And getting a "receipt" by that, after filling! And I don't need to own or bring a "Smartphone" to be able to do it, just a Credit- or Debit Card (As a fact I don't have a phone at all!)), and I add a small amount of engine oil in the tank also, for extra lubrication of the fuel pump from the inside, as the diesel fuel has still less contend of oil in it (An advise from a former truck and fuel oil driver!). Also an advise from Danish Motorists Org. FDM. Finn.
Proof that EVs only work if you don’t use them.
Stuff that, I couldn't imagine dealing with range anxiety on top of all of the other issues of modern day driving, ie traffic, road range nutters!
I've had a similar experience. Corsa E with 209m range , I charged it all night, in the morning 196m range on dash, well it was a cold October night. I needed to go 44 miles and back 88miles total. Drove in Eco mode 40mph max to get there. Had planned a detour to a charge stop, if it had looked like not enough power to get home. Had 130m on dash so just headed home. I think it was the 5 miles uphill at the start of my journey home that did it, because when I realised that I had taken the wrong turning I started to panic, did not know if I was going to make it home. Eco mode did not go over 30mph, no heater, feet frozen. I was only a few miles from home when it looked like I was OK, so I was able to go as fast as 40 mph the rest of the way. So it's more of a pop to the local shops car now, any other journey I'm in my C4 diesel, with the heater on and no panicking. I want to be Eco friendly, but I also want to enjoy life, so I have to say drive a diesel take the stress out of life and be happy.
🤣🤣🤣
What a palava..!!
Quite agree, diesel is the way forward, I don't give 2 f~cks about about eco friendly nonsense.
😂😂😂 Sounds like the ideal car for a masochist
My uncle recently hopped on the EV train. He'd been really keen on it and got a Hyundi Kona which has an 180-300 mile range. We recently did London to Birmingham which was ~120 miles one way, so ~240 miles total. We were having to be careful the entire way. It was quite a humid day so I asked to turn on the A/C. He sheepishly mentioned if we did we wouldn't make it home. I remember just turning and staring at him. I had offered to drive my Octavia TDI VRS there and back, which can do ~450-500 miles on a tank @ about 45 mpg while being a little bit naughty and having the A/C blasting on low the entire way.
Anyone who has used a smartphone or laptop for a year or more knowns how badly the batteries degrade too. EVs are horrendous. My uncle is much less keen on evangelising now and only mentions the fact he doesn't pay ULEZ and the running costs are lower overnight. I doubt he'll be happy about the new taxes coming in lol.
I am 63 and will never have to drive an EV in my life time. BRILLIANT just ordered my new diesel car.
Loving your videos, you are totally convincing me to carry on using petrol or diesel cars for as long as I can. 👍
One of the most honest, realistic to real world life, reviewers out there. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Ian 🙏🏻
Many years ago I had my V8 petrol car converted to LPG, at great cost I must add. The constant planning required to build into a journey the LPG fuel stops was a total pain, although I didn’t have the added issue of rang anxiety experienced with EV’s. I had a reserve tank of petrol, although this had to be used and replaced.
Travel into Europe and I recall having to invest in a collection of adaptors.
When, after 3 years I sold the vehicle, I hadn’t recouped my costs and therefore the conversion was a failed experiment.
I went with the recommendations of the government of the time and I vowed never to repeat the exercise.
Having watched this video, I will be continuing with my 280 bhp diesel, which returns a smidgeon over 40 mpg in economy mode and at present there is fuel to be had almost everywhere with a five minute fill up time on average.
I’m in my twilight years and no doubt will go electric eventually……with a remapped mobility scooter.
Well said that man. And let's not forget that many people went diesel around 20 years ago because the government blackmailed us into doing so with scary stories about what petrol engines were doing to the environment, hell they even gave us cash incentives. De javu?
@@sambrooks7862 Haha this is what i've been saying. It's funny how people don't learn the lessons from the past. EVs are just Diesels version 2.
Just as diesels were promoted as the solution in the 90s and early 2000s, and now they're being vilified, here we are repeating the cycle all over again for electric.
I had a LPG car which was bought factory converted (Vauxhall)
I could get over 300 miles from a tank plus have petrol as back up as well.
If I could have bought another one I would have but the government sort of killed off a workable idea.
Filling time was similar to petrol, none of the long time for the EV cars.
If EV cars weren't being forced onto us I doubt many would sell, I can see them being ideal for cities and a short regular commute.
Long journeys I suspect they'll just be a complete pain.
I had a v similar LPG experience to you with a Jeep Cherokee. The extra faff after the government pulled it’s LPG discount killed LPG really. Shell and BP stopped their LPG expansion immediately and made the whole thing more trouble than it was worth. With EVs it’s far worse, not only the limited charger network but charging time, wait to get a free charging point. It sounds absolutely horrific.
My £1,300 Mercedes E320 Diesel Estate does 47mpg and has done 34,000 miles there has only ever been no diesel, once in a French Total station. If I drive at 65mph on cruise control I get 800 miles of range.
Maybe I should spend £40,000 on an electric car. Oh. And living in Central London I have several routes around Town missing the ULEZ cameras, save for leaving the ULEZ area which seems watertight.
I'll stick to my V8 diesel Landcruiser. 1000kms from one fill, no range anxiety , I get 600kms with a 3tonne caravan on the back. Greetings from Downunder 🇦🇺
What most people don’t know is that the earth contains enormous amounts of methane. Deep in the mantle, under tremendous pressure and temperature, some of it is converted into long chain alkanes, such as octane.
You know where this is going, don’t you?
It’s renewable car fuel. No wonder they don’t want you to know about this.
have you seen the range when people tow the US style caravans which I assume yours is like? 100miles. Absolutely ridiculous. utter nonsense.
Yes but you have a 100 litre fuel tank that probably costs you £130+ to brim when the low fuel light has warned you. With the 3 ton caravan I suspect you even have an auxiliary fuel tank because I can’t see you doing more than 18mpg at best which would take you 400 miles/640kms at best with your standard 22 gallon 100 litre tank.
@@hedydd2 have you guys think of emergency? If you got home with 10% charge. And your wife got an accident immediately and you need to go to hospital 30km on the way. How you would charge?.😂😂😂
@@tommyking626 I agree with you 100% which is why all my vehicles are diesel with tanks that when full will take me an easy 600 miles/1000kms before a refill and I can refill from the 7000 litre/1500 UK gallon home fuel station which is only 15 yards from my front door.
Reminds me of my days as a young driver only having a couple of quid for petrol and worrying if I’ll get home. 😂
This video is the most relevant to potential purchasers of an electric car that I have seen. We are most interested in "how far can I go before it won't go any farther", than how fast it accelerates, how many cupholders it has, the quality of the plastics it has, or its aesthetics. Thanks to Peter for addressing this most important issue.
My pleasure 👍
Moral of the story: but a Tesla regardless of your opinion of Musk. They’ve already got this problem sorted out in most places.
Not for me for sure,
May be in ten years.
@@RionPhotographynah better off with petrol and save yourself the time and money 🤷🏻♂️
Good comment 👍 whenever I mention I'm not ready for an EV yet, owners always go on about instant torque and how quiet etc etc, but my gripe isn't with the cars (I love the technology) but the infrastructure here in the UK. I've seen so many videos now of people stressing at charge points while in the background people quickly fill up with petrol/diesel and are on their way in minutes it says all I need to know about it.
I was watching a very short clip of s cobalt mine in Africa, the Congo I believe, I was so uplifted. Those children digging that cobalt by hand, literally by hand, were gainfully employed and so were the armed guards standing over them. I was doubly pleased that it was raining so hard because it appeared that the mine owners had somehow forgotten any masks for these kids to protect them from the highly toxic cobalt dust. But everyone there was happy that's the main thing. I wondered if they were thinking how much they were saving the planet, and as they looked around at the miles of mud and toxic runoff where once there was lush green forest and wildlife I could just imagine them thinking "I must dig harder, I must do my bit to reduce range anxiety.
Yes I can understand it is heart warming knowing the whole world is with us in stopping global warming, good the kids are gainfully employed just wait until China comes on board they will have jobs for life, however long that maybe bless their little muddy faces.
I always wondered there isn't more publicity about this in particular why the oil industry hasn't pushed this more. A bit of research showed me that it turns out cobalt is Used in refining oil. Also tech firms don't want to talk about it because the majority of production for batteries goes in all the gadgets they produce and make artificially obsolete so we have to replace them every couple of years. Apparently there are now some batteries that don't use cobalt but there is a price to pay in efficiency and cost.
It's like building sand castles - kids love it. F'ing disgraceful, concentration camps without the barbed wire.
I read this after ranting myself on same subject......its an absolute disgrace.
@craig woodward All true. Oil doesn't have to be refined with cobalt, it's just one of a few ways. With batteries then it's not just Cobalt, have you seen a Lithium mine recently? For my part, after seeing the state of cobalt and Lithium production I've not upgraded my phone. A small thing I know.
I learned three extra things from digesting this information;
1. Instead of investing in evs, we should invest in the coffee they serve at rest stops.
2. Between the coffee and anger at being late, the fighting at the charge parks over spaces should be quite entertaining.
3. The young people that are in the schools today are never going to be able to figure out the math involved in doing even the simplest trip with all the variables.
Last week, I drove a similar distance- in my case Liverpool to Swansea. The time spent driving was similar. But on the day I went to Swansea, I worked on site for 6 hours. On the day I drove back, I worked for 10 hours before travelling. An EV would just mean more days away from home in hotels.
Very informative review. The thing that struck me was you were on your own, imagine what it would be like with a car full of people.🤯
More weight surely means less range
And luggage 😏
Or a woman on her own.
Add 3 children then??😉
Or the wife.
As annoying as it seems, the Tesla driver was perfectly entitled to use any non-Tesla charger they wanted to use, it's just the way it is. Your anger needs to be directed purely at public charging companies, not other drivers. I totally agree about the app situation. Things are improving, I always just aim for Gridserve, Instavolt or Osprey chargers when on a long journey, cos I know they are all pretty reliable.
As an EV driver of a non-tesla car, I do get the frustration, but the Model3 was just as entitled to charge there as you were. Just they have the additional option of the network which is what they can count on. If there was a supercharger station there and a few others, then ofc they would use the Tesla one.
Agreed to push the issue to get the current ones better maintained and also more reliable and have better up-to-date charging info on when they are available. Having at least 2 points everywhere is great. I usually only now filter to Gridserve, Podpoint, instavolt and lately Swarco (DD to setup but until BP Pulse, no monthly fee).
Also BP Pulse can just PAYG with an account and not have to pay the monthly DD.
I've never had any luck with instavolt.
I think what he means is tezla driver’s are pin dicks.
Absolutely, but as a Tesla driver, I will make a mental note under etiquette.
In same way I would like hybrids not to block chargers as they have their own network, petrol stations.
Even as a non-Tesla driver (yet) this is why, for people who appreciate tech and can afford it (or need it for work) we strongly recommend Tesla’s. Im on my second short range (non-Tesla) EV but thus was a deliberate decision, partly I’m waiting for model Y to arrive in UK and partly my money can work harder in the mean time. I don’t watch all his output but saw the Audi etron (I think) and surprised he went for the MG (by chance same as my second EV)
This takes the fun out of driving to a location more than half the range of the vehicle. Driving is stressful enough without worrying about range.
And you drive on the wrong side of the road as well. Challenging to say the least in a Petro Vehicle, and downright dangerous in an EV one. lol
You hit the nail on the head during your rant. They don't want you travelling large distances. They want to keep you local.
This video was hilarious. Watching you getting stressed about range, the weather, charging stations and other EV users was brilliant. I think I'll wait until the whole process is as easy as drive in, fill up, pay and drive off. Only problem is I hadn't planned on living that long.
Check out the cars with change over batteries. It's the only way to go. Till that time. EV's are city cars only in my view.
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@@abbersj2935 first time out for EV was in 1890 and yes they wear in city vehicles for women Or short rout deliver. The object that killed them was the electric starter. Electric starters made it possible for women to drive a car that could go anywhere. So they stopped driving electric vehicles.
@@thomaslemay8817 Yep, and people used to walk to work or the rich rode horses. What's your point? You seem to young to remember battery milk floats. The idea of EV's is not bad it's the present implementation. Only cultists can't see that, and it will hamper better ones being made.
I'll stick to my ICE then wait for hydrogen. Driving should not be a major technical and planning challenge on each occasion.
Do you judge all cars based 1 vehicle ? Muppet
You’ve pretty much proven exactly what my thoughts were. I’d love an EV - BUT only for short journeys as the current infrastructure (lack of) and crazy app requirements just make the thought of any sort of long journey a nightmare. Even if you do have all day with no time pressures to get where you are going. As well as range anxiety, I’m sure I would get charge anxiety if anyone was queuing up behind me - do you sit it out to get the charge you need or cave in and know you’ll need to stop again? And what of emergencies, I would never want to be reliant on an EV only and not have an ICE to hand just in case I just had to get somewhere (e,g. A child to hospital) and had little or no charge. So the only way it will work for me currently (no pun intended) is to have an EV for local trips, charged at home each night, and an ICE available when needed. EV only is a long way off for me.
We are going electric soon. We will not buy a car with less than 200miles of range. We will not buy an electric car which will not rapid charge. We will not let the charge fall below 50miles range before planning a charging stop. All advice I have from a friend who has driven electric for a few years and who has not had a problem and is very happy.
If you genuinely do regular long trips then a longer range EV will be better. The MG has a mid size battery. The newer car has a 72.6 kWh battery as opposed to the 44.5 kWh in the car Pete was driving. I had a Kona EV for 2 years and never needed to use the public charging infrastructure once. Even on weekends away.
That’s not to say the public charging network doesn’t need improvement. Pete is absolutely spot on when he says the use of apps is just data capture. Luckily the network is improving and expanding rapidly. Although the installation of new chargers may appear to be slowing there does now seem to be a push from charging companies to replace out of date and broken legacy units, so the network should get much more reliable over the next 12 months. And utilise tap to pay card payments.
@@matpat2636 Nail hit squarely on the head. Many thanks
@@Cardifftoyboy1 but if you won't let the charge go below 50 miles you won't have a car with 200 mile range then, only 150 which isn't far off what ped has with this trip.
And that Mick is a statement well said. Also that the so called experts who say its best to NOT use all the batteries capabilities but to keep the battery at between something like 50% to 80% so as to prolong the life of the battery itself.
So by distinction the fella above needs a car with at least 400 miles range if not 500 me range.
Now that's getting silly or is it.
Great video, like so many about EV trips. My TDI Audi could do this trip there and back with plenty of fuel remaining, no stress no planning, getting apps, the lottery of, is the charge station working/available. We are a VERY long way off this electric transport actually being a reality. Charge at home use for local journeys, great but I’m sticking to the 600 mile range of my oil burner.
Yeah also don't forget, there are a lot of people without the possibility to charge at home, what the heck you do if... IDK, live in a flat?
You have highlighted many of the problems I encountered while driving My Zoe EV. eg. Refuelling a petrol car with 150 miles of range....less then 10 minutes. Most EVs need 1 to 2 hours at cost. I also found getting an App that worked difficult, charging dropping off line, the variety of charging plugs and quite often the EV bays being used by ICE cars.
Imagine an road accident closing the road and having to do a substantial detour, or just roadworks making a detour necessary.
You'd be equally screwed ,should a rogue workman ,clipped an electric cable .......
That question came to mind the last Australian summer. I was driving my diesel on the one hour journey to a popular beach destination. A traffic accident had closed the multi-lane highway. Traffic was crawling or stopped in the sweltering temperature. The one hour journey took three hours. I was so glad I wasn’t in an EV.
Great vid thanks, you have just confirmed my decision to stick with my diesel cars for as long as I can.
Made me get range anxiety just looking at your video!
After watching countless EV and Hybrid videos decided to buy 2021 Toyota C-HR with just 10k recorded miles.
Reason being Toyota's great reputation. Now have the joy of economy, low depreciation, no range anxiety, devastating depreciation, car still in warranty.
If same car was a few years old, (especially pre-COVID) would not know if battery had been having massive deterioration due to lack of use or had cooked in the sun or frozen in the winter, I'd have further concerns of shelling out £3000 - £5000 for a replacement battery. And that's on a small Hybrid battery!
A car dealer I know has had a low milage Tesla for sale on his forecourt for 6 months and had only one crazy low offer. He has great reputation and high turnover of cars but this has zero interest.
Porche dealers are refusing to buy back their own electric vehicles, again because of no demand.
Thankfully never have to worry about poor infrastructure with few expensive charge points plus queuing in freezing weather with the same thought of having been duped into buying a Timeshare that can never be sold and being burdened by yearly nightmare bills coming in...
Now know the secret to bring on heart attack and kick early in aging!
This completely has made up my decision never to go electric. Wouldn’t it be easier in a conventional vehicle, a lot less stress
Sitting in the cold for an hour sounds like fun. I guess if you're really tight an ev might be preferable. I prefer to pay a bit more on fuel and get where I'm going with the heater on.
Yeah if you're really tight spending twice as much as an ice to save a few quid round town then cost the same on a run (so long as you don't mind sitting freezing at much lower speeds) sounds like a great idea.
I've got a plug-in Kuga. It does all my running about on electric but then actually works when I want to go somewhere. Its a bit like owning a car...
I always run my heater or air con I drive in comfort. I would only go back to a ice car if I was forced to. If I won the lottery I would not buy an ice car. EV just drive better and quiter and leave you more relaxed. I guess its horses for courses.
A bit more? Under £8.32 for 300 mile (real world range) charge? I used to spend £70 a week for 400 miles in diesel lol
Whilst using a rapid charger you can leave the car in ready (running) and have the heaters on. You could even have them full blast to pre heat before setting off again.
The problem with evs is there's many a time on a cold wet night when you just want to get home and not fk about getting a charge for the last 50 miles.
Absolutely right. The state of the public charging network in the UK is shameful. In particular the almost complete lack of Ultra high speed (350 kWh) chargers in the North of England, on the A1, M6 and in Scotland, is a disgrace. Where is the UK Governments integrated, coordinated, long term plan to transition to EVs by 2030? They are simply not taking the issue seriously, it’s all spin and little substance.
I recently took a trip to London from Co. Durham. One of the M1 service stations had ALL their chargers switched off as they "couldn't handle the load on the service station supply". We had to go off the M1 to find a charger. Coming back up we pulled in another and it had 2 bloody charge points. Luckily we got in when one was empty but as we were really low we needed almost a full charge. By the time we left there were 2 other EV's queuing for one of the 2 charge points..........
Great idea ! Here's the catch, get private companies to provide what you envision, and pay their ROI ? Then you'll pay probably more than petrol or diesel for the same journey ? I'd suspect that like all electric heads you expect the .gov to help out with taxpayer gelt in the name of planetary Emergency' ?
@@kevak1236 and you think EVs are the future? lol. This is going back to the horse and buggy days where you need to keep stopping to water the horse
You have unrealistic expectation. It's taken decades to establish the current network of fuel stops and you want that to magically convert overnight into EV charging stations where each vehicle spends 1 or more hours compared to five minutes to fill up ? You are dreaming. The real estate cost alone is prohibitive. Are you prepared to pay rent on your bay while you charge ? All the drive-in theatres have closed and sold off to real estate development and you dream of a field of charging stations ? Ain't gonna happen. 120 mile range is a joke. I get 800km easy out of my Vito.
If you think it’s tough getting a non-anxiety-inducing charger network in the UK, imagine what it’s like in Australia with a smaller population to provide the revenue and a far larger country. Impossible probably with current technology to have chargers everywhere they are needed.
Thirty years driving and still enjoying my trusty petrol vehicles (with the odd diesel thrown in) Big Nissan fan btw.
Visiting family (from Devon to Bolton,4/12 hours, and night-time only!!) these trusty little chariots never miss a beat!
And yes, I look after them too!😊. I did feel for you, what a faff!! Great Video, but as far as electric goes, you convinced me even more to stick to just charging my phone..... and replacing a light bulb at home
I've got a e-Golf and its got a range of about 125 or 140 on a good day. I can say for myself BP charging is a nightmare. So often have I had the app not work, or the actual charger stop working or actually right now my charging cable is stuck in a BP pulse charged and I'm waiting for it to be delivered back to me. When they work, they're great, when they don't they are a pain in the ass.
Most successful long drive I've had is from Milton Keynes to Birmingham and back in a day. 140 miles and I had about 15 miles left on the battery. Drove only in eco and was driving conservatively. Had the car for 4 months and loving it so far!
Great video Pete, I think i will be sticking with petrol/diesel for a good while yet. I can't imagine going on a family trip and keep the children entertained while waiting for it to charge.
Who are all you people taking children half way across the country and can keep them entertained sat in the back of a car for 8 hours, but absolutely cannot keep them entertained for 8 hours and 40 minutes?
At least when you're waiting for a charger and then waiting to charge it the kids won't be whining "are we there yet" when it's obvious the car is stationary.
@@PippetWhippet what sort of life you leading where you trade in a vehicle that refuels in 5 minutes for one where you need to queue up and then wait 40 minutes?
Great video, You have convinced me not to give up my 5 Series BMW Diesel-590 miles on a full tank and no stress. I value the planet but could not deal with the stress of finding a vacant charger.
@Paul Johnson. At least your not responsible for 8 year old african children digging the minerals for your battery out of the ground with the bare hands..
@@kerrybayton2954 something of an exaggeration, the kids you see “digging” with their bare hands in South Africa are gold panning, and hands are still the best tool for the job, whether you be a child or adult. The other point to consider is that no car is devoid of child labour, your microchips and electronics, soft touch plastic and leather, fabric and steel, aluminium and alloys all are made in China with sickening working conditions, child labour - the works. Your catalytic converter is stuffed full of platinum, your engine is polished with rubys, your fuel is extracted in the Middle East. I’m not denying that child labour made my car, but you don’t seem to understand how many people were exploited for yours. Over the lifetime of the car, thanks to your need for fossil fuels, I wouldn’t bet on yours being less cruel.
We are a 2 car family so having one EV hasn’t been a big deal. Sure it would be better to be able to take either car on out of town trips but it’s also pretty cool to save about half on cost per mile and the EV is dual motor so the performance makes it fun to drive. Now if KWH prices go up and gasoline goes down it could negate any savings per mile.
I have to drive between 220 and 300 km on a regular basis. Last week temperatures were between -10 and -25 c so no heating is not an option.
A few years back we had friends charging their model S at our cabin. Their range at - 20 was actually worse in the morning. (We couldn't let them have more than 10A without blowing one of the houses main fuses).
I rarely see any EV here driving fast...
Great video. Thank you.
Exactly why I will not be going all electric. Perfect description of the stress involved in driving an electric vehicle in the UK currently. I do not want my driving experience to be like this.
Don't you think that might be the plan?
For those of us with off road parking and a garage, charging will be relatively simple for local driving at least, but what about the hundreds of thousands of homes in towns and cities with no off road facilities, they are not going to be able to leave cables trailing across pavements to charge their cars assuming they can park outside their own home in the first place. Unless the supermarkets get on board and provide each car parking space with a charger along with public car parks etc Gov policy for all electric cars is a bit of non starter. Perhaps Boris will pop around with a pedal charger to huff and puff your battery up to full charge, after all, the way he is going he will need a new job to support his ever growing family.
Good point.
Many countries that have adopted electric cars, there homes have off road parking.
A third of uk motorists don't have a driveway so will be 100% reliant on public charging points which isn't viable because you can't plan a journey on the assumption that when you reach the charging station there will one be available when you get there, you could literally be late for your own funeral!
*Quite agree with all your comments, a few years ago did consider buying an EV as were stated to be the best thing since **_sliced bread_** however now so glad I opted instead to get a Mercedes (W247) B200 CDi AMG 8 Speed [Diesel] with 81 miles on the clock (ex Demo) with all the latest tricks etc - and got a massive discount of nearly £10k from list price. This has absolutely amazed me, so so quiet, incredible range and over 35 mile journey (A6/A46) to Newark in Eco Mode [Freewheels when lifting throttle] did nearly 90 mpg - hit traffic near end. This car will no doubt still be running in 20 years time and still giving good sensible practical use. I don't make many journeys outside most EV's Range, but during summertime take generally a trip every week of between 150-300 miles Cotswolds, Wales or Cromer - I start to RangeAnxiety when see only have 60 Miles left in tank and warning light comes on !*
Thanks for enlightening us to forget to contemplate such amazing technology. We don't need the headache
I feel your pain Pedro. I'm a company car driver and there are huge financial benefits to have a full electric car but the range just isn't good enough, although it is getting better. But the infrastructure is just not good enough. Fully agree with your review. Why or why do we have to have all the different apps and payment methods, why not just have contactless. I tell you why, Data Capture....
Get a Niro plugin Dan. Company pays full whack mileage for petrol, you can get away with a large chunk of it in EV if you keep the car charged up. Depends on your situation of course but works for me 👍 Fuel bill cut from £320 to £50 I still get all mileage at full rate, if I went full EV rate would be a fifth.
Excellent review thank you. My wife has an identical MG ZS EV to that. Never an issue in the 50-100 mile bracket in range of home where we just top up every day or two. Took it recently from West Wales to Salisbury. We adopted the stop and charge every 60 to 70 mile - Splash and dash! It did work well and there was a BP Pulse on hand at the hotel which again worked like a treat. The return trip was much more eventful with the one Gridserve charging point on the Aust services M48 taking 20 mins to even accept the charge. The next BP Pulse planned was taken by an ID3. Pushed the range and then went to the reliable and fast chargers at Swansea West which are now Gridserve, the key is having backup chargers available in range all of the time. It worked but justifies why I am waiting delivery of a Tesla Model 3LR to visit my wife’s family in Scotland. I dread to think of a 400 mile trip in the MG 🤣. And I won’t clog up non Tesla points with the new car ok 👍
You sound like an experienced EV driver. Splash and dash keeps you moving. I'm doing a Kent to Bulgaria trip hopefully in 2022 (Waiting for Covid to have a breather).
Just moved out of Tesla. Before the emergence of M3, my Tesla S was great. Now almost half of Superchargers are full. Much more of a problem than you think. Unlike non Tesla chargers, the next SC can be over 50 miles away ie too far to drive to in most circumstances. When it's full, there is no law or order as to who will get the empty one slot. Its so stressful.
Just traded my MS for Audi Q4 etron. Having done close to 200000 miles of EV driving, I know that there is now always a fast charger about 1 to 3 miles away. Far less stressful.
I hope your wife's family doesn't live in the Highlands. There is no Tesla infrastructure north of Inverness, £45k upwards as well, money well spent ?
@@stevezodiac491 fortunately not that high up and just south of Glasgow with a supercharger 20 miles before their place. I am also in the lucky position of a company salary sacrifice scheme so it therefore becomes a very attractive proposition for a number of reasons.
@@71Hamed , but the model 3 is CCS and you can charge at Tesla or at any charger that supports CCS. Now you've got both? How is the Audii? Now there's more choice I'm trying to work out what to replace the Leaf with?
Remember when you used to jump in the car to go on a trip with a feeling of excitement to escape the rat race and get away from it all? You probably weren't thinking 'Hopefully it won't be too much of a nightmare'.
Thank goodness my husband found this post! Thank you for this… 🙏
Glad it was helpful!
In July 2019 I had the option to buy an MG EV or a used Mitsubishi outlander Petrol. Your video confirms my decision to buy the Outlander. Minimum range 250 miles and over 300+ on a journey. Having to have a degree in mathematics to calculate range and time and anxiety values made the choice for me. Factor in the 20% / 80% figures to maintain the health of the battery and it was just not viable and never will be. The only way they will get me in an EV will be when they tax me out of an ICE. However, what is not taken into account is when everyone is driving an EV the revenue for the taxman will drop off the cliff. So other taxes will hit the EV market and make them no cheaper to run than an ICE now.
Shmee had the same trouble in a Porsche ev !
You dodged a bullet there by not buying a ZS EV, I had one for 8 months and was never so glad to get shot of it, full of faults and foibles and I traded mine in for a pre-reg Outlander PHEV. The MG isn’t’ in the same league.
Ha, 250 miles. I think I would have range anxiety at that! Topped up my diesel C class and drove 250 miles last week and it is still near 3/4 of a tank. Range is a good 700 miles on £80 of fuel. Wow that would cost you near £250 to do the same! Tax is £30 per year too!
Excellent summary sir , i am fitting a hydrogen on demand system to my car !
@@grolfe3210 Hi. Yes, many years ago I wanted a diesel and eventually did buy one. A Kia Sorento, a lovely car. Drove it from Maidstone to Brittany [ via Eurotunnel ] and arrived fresh as a daisy. My only problem was the day I picked it up I filled it with Diesel and spilled some on my hand. I then put my finger to my mouth and had the taste of Diesel in my mouth for days 😝
Interesting video, giving an insight into what its really like. Its going to get a lot worse before it gets better, imagine when there are 10 times as many EVs on the road. Up to now it sounds like a good second car for local use. Today the AA anounced that the cost per mile for a small electric car charging on a fast charger is now 16p per mile as opposed to 14p per mile for petrol. It would be interesting to know how much it costs to charge your car overnight at home by contrast to a fast charger when you don't really have an alternative.
50kW will cost you about £2 and realistically take you 100 miles in the worst conditions, so 2p per mile on winter dropping to 1.4p per mile in summer
@@PippetWhippet love to know who is your energy supplier at those rates. :)
@@Fanakapan222 Octopus intelligent have EV tarrif with 7.5p/kwh for 6 hours every night.... It really is dirt cheap providing you can get a home charger.
@@feline-fox Need to add in the cost of getting an uprated line out to charge your chariot in a few hours. Then, as I understand it, Octopus, not being a producer of electricity themselves, rely on buying and selling when the generators want to dump load, thats why its so cheap. OK in the clement months, but those few weeks a year when it gets cold and the wind dont blow, or when EV adoption reaches enough volume to eliminate night time surplus ? I wont go into what happens when your branch of the grid reaches a number of EV's charging so that what could just support households with an 80amp fuse, has to be upgraded. Get it while you can. :)
@@PippetWhippet It costs me over £2 a day just to sit in the cold with computer and TV screen on, watching RUclips, watching films or playing games. My heating consists of an old sleeping bag topped up with a fur throw to cover my legs. I tend to live on sandwiches so as not to use the cooker, and only boil enough water at meal times to make a cup of tea. Gas central heating scares me to death just thinking about using it, so I expect that one day I will be found dead in my chair with icicles hanging from my nose.
Once or twice a year wife & I visit relatives in my 2006 Dodge Ram diesel pickup truck. 400 miles door to door. When we arrive I have a little over half a tank of diesel fuel left. 900 mile range in one fillup. Will someone explain to me what all this range anxiety is about?
My wife and I have a Tesla Model 3 and an MGZS EV. The MG has never been out of town and it's efficiency is not great so I would not take it on a long trip (although many do). The Tesla on the other hand is an absolute joy to roadtrip. I have done a 400KM trip several times, one charging stop at a Tesla supercharger for 10 - 15 minutes max, not even time to finish my takeaway coffee and we're off again. Buy the right car for your use case. (P.S. The MG is an ICE car platform, not a ground up EV and it shows).
WOT ABOUT PRICE??? MOST PEOPLE CANNOT AFFORD A TESLA
Lots of second hand ones around now as owners upgrade to the refresh Model 3.@@1autocadman
Great video, points out why not to go electric atm.
Imagine if the roads were full of evs and then imagine the back up of cars trying to get charged.
Cheap? with the extra journey time, plus snacks, plus the stress & inevitable ev taxing in future, the picture becomes cold and gloomy.
That’s it bingo. And that’s why EVs are not the future. There’s only so fast you will ever be able to charge: they can’t change the laws of physics. Unless they discover a different battery type.
I totally agree with you, contactless payments when charging an electric car is a must. I would worry myself sick having to go through the procedure you have been through on your journey. As for downloading so many apps, well what would happen if your cannot get a signal or don't have a smart phone? What a great car that MG is.
Great video!!!! You helped me make the decision as to buy an EV or not. I'm going to hold off for a few years until things get better. Who needs the kind of stress that you went through just to drive s couple hours from your home. At least with a gas car you know for a fact that there are going to be many gas stations with many pumps available all the time. 5 minutes in and out! He's something else to think about .... What happens if there's an emergency and you don't have the time to do all this trip prepping? Again, great videos!!!
I’m astonished at how few people have ever heard of a chap called Svante Arrhenius.
A Scandinavian scientist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he noticed some interesting things during his life. His disciplines covered both physical and chemistry, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1903).
Ironically, given what else I’ll tell you about him, he was one of the first people to hypothesise that CO2 might drive warming of the atmosphere.
But his main contribution to science broadly is that there is a particular relationship between temperature and the rate of chemical reactions.
For every 10 degrees centigrade increase in temperature, a chemical reaction happens twice as fast.
This is true of all chemical & indeed biochemical reactions.
It works the same the other way. For every ten degrees decrease in temperature, a chemical reaction goes half as fast.
It’s true for larger temperature changes.
For example, if a reaction happens at a particular rate at 5 degrees centigrade, then at 35 centigrade, it’ll happen 2x2x2 = 8 times faster.
But it’s true the other way.
A given reaction at 35C will happen 0.5x0.5x0.5=0.125X or one eighth as fast at 5C.
That ladies and gentlemen is the underlying reason by BEV performance is appallingly bad in winter in the English Midlands compared with high summer in the Med.
No technology is going to make the Arrhenius equation go away. It governs all (bio)chemical reactions.
I recall the first time I heard about battery EVs, mentioning to my wife that so long as we live in U.K., I’ll never buy one. That’s not changed.
I hate the idea that your vehicle is potentially controlled remotely by an algorithm that grants permission for your vehicle to allow charging.
If for any reason, it’s decided that it’s undesirable that you be able to travel, it won’t work.
With petrol on the other hand, you can not only fuel your cars tank up, but you can fill some fuel containers in the boot / trunk & use it to fuel any petrol engine. Anonymously.
Totally agree, the app/RFID card/charger unreliability/ having to register cards/needing a smart phone.....is utterly ridiculous and MUST END!
I could not handle the anxiety, i am sticking to petrol for a long time !!!
Great video and thanks for the insight. It must have been so frustrating sat at that ‘ranting’ station looking at people come and go in your mirror as they filled up and headed on their way.
It has been known for a long time that temperature DOES affect batteries.
The same discussion goes with PV owners with battery.
I'm a renewables freak, but by no means am I convinced about EVs, too many things that need to be fixed first in various ways.
Great video, Peter. I think that that pretty much sums up my misgivings that I have about purchasing an EV: the shite situation with a gazillion different service providers for charging and the length of time that an intermediate charge takes. Until such time as technology exists to get charging time down to around 10 minutes, I am not interested thank you very much! Keep up the good work!
Can one imagine trying to undo all the different charging scenarios created to streamline the system, whilst being further into the mire henceforth. The Tesla charged at the normal point... because he could! And so it will be. 32,000,000 cars, #chaos.
Would have loved to see your range anxiety if you had used your heater to keep warm. Once did a long winter journey without heat and it was not enjoyable.
My own reservations about EVs revolve around range and charging times, and I assume that those are the major points for most people. I believe that these details need to be included in your videos, as you stated, you lost the will to live with the frustrations you encountered on the return journey, I personally would not want to be in that position.
As it is now, driving an Octavia 2.0TDI, I fill the tank, drive until it's down to a quarter full then spend 5 minutes filling up at the next fuel pump I come across. I am looking for that kind of freedom from any EV and not yet seeing it. With my present vehicle I could, as an example, drive from Tonbridge Wells to Carlisle and still have enough fuel to get more than halfway back again, no range anxiety, no delays at the pumps, no apps to download, no worries about the charging station not working and so on.
I completely agree. My last diesel got between 600 and 650 miles to a tank on the highway (20 mpg at 70 mph). Hopefully the larger tank in the factory order that I am waiting for will translate into more range. At a commercial pump I could get 30 to 35 gallons into my previous vehicle in about 3 minutes. It may take 5 with the 48 gallon tank.
@@rich7447 The Octavia is remarkably frugal, I easily get over 50mpg on any trip over 8 miles, and the best I have ever recorded was 83.3mpg over the course of a day trip.
@@GSD-hd1yh I can't go that efficient. Anything that is going to be able to move 3,500 lbs of payload or tow 13t is just too big to get that kind of mileage. I'm replacing a 6.7L inline 6 diesel with a 6.7L v8 diesel. Expect about the same mileage, but more capability.
@@rich7447 Agreed, a large vehicle with a large capacity engine just cannot get the same mileage as a family car. Now I wonder if that V8 can be shoehorned into my engine bay? FYI - normally get around 35mpg towing a caravan.
@@GSD-hd1yh We wouldn't be allowed to to a caravan with something like that here in the US. Tow ratings are lower here for the same vehicle and most cars, mini-vans and sub-compact SUVs get a rating of "not suitable" or "not recommended".
The 20 mpg highway that I got on my old Ram (L6-6.7L) was us gallons, so about 25 mpg imperial. However, that mileage dropped to about 12 mpusg in town. The good thing was that it stayed pretty consistent for highway mileage even with a 14,000 lb trailer (about 18 mpusg).
It would be great to see someone try to get the v8 into your engine bay. You would need to start with a front suspension upgrade since the Powerstroke V8 weighs 1,100 lbs without fluids or transmission. The regulations here make it very difficult to run diesels in vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight of under 8,500 lbs. That's about the empty weight of the truck that I ordered, so the engine weight isn't an issue.
The Octavia looks like a nice vehicle. We don't get all that many car options since cars only account for about 20% of new vehicle sales.
Well said, amigo!! Well, I drive a Renault Zoe. It gives me 190 miles in the summer, and 125 miles range in winter. I only use public charging stations and always try to get to my nearest Instavolt charging station in North Weald Bassett. At least I know my summer and winter ranges, and know exactly which charging station I like to use.
Thank you for your most interesting video. While I am a fan of EVs you have convinced me that now is not the time to buy one. You have replaced the pleasure of driving with endless anxiety and range worry. My petrol burner will do another couple of years, and without the EV stress so will I.
I just love watching these EV clips, and the problems people are having, love it.
What a real man battling across the the UK in his mg electric. Yep we certainly bred them tough.
He's driving in 0 degrees Celsius weather, or 32F, which is about 50F warmer than the cold we have in Minnesota winters. Imagine the effect on the battery of that kind of cold with heat, defrost, lights, and wipers on, with friction from snow decreasing mileage even more?
It was nice to see that charge point working as I know the one you were on
If you think your range anxiety was bad on your way to Wales just think what it’s like having a EV van and you don’t know where your next job is until your electronic device tells you, no time to going for EV points you just got to go and pray
Every EV point should be on less than 4 chargers minimum
Motorway services should have minimum of 20
I work in and around the area where you made your first stop I now spend more time looking for chargers that 1 have no one on them and 2 that are not broken and I’ve got 4000+ miles on my company van since 9th December 22 my work capacity has 1/2ed I need to use public chargers some times twice a day
This is why I'll never have an EV, pain, stress and anxiety.
Can you imagine what it would be like if everyone had to stop for 40 minutes instead of 5 at the 'pump'? Charging stations will have to be 5/6 times the size of petrol stations.
Ped, the charging needs to be sorted out, as you say it makes it so uncertain. However, you were failing to charge about a mile from my house, and we have loads of charge points near by. I don’t know which app you used but 100m from where the Tesla blocked your space there are 4 chargers at the Aldi you drove past. You turned left towards the BP station but had you turned right you would have had access to around 20 charge points at 2 pubs, a supermarket and a shopping centre. 2 miles from the final BP charge point is the rapid charger you used with the Polestar 2 earlier in the year. But if you didn’t know, you didn’t know and if the tech can’t help you out then you’re stuffed! The one thing Swindon does not have is a Tesla charging station!
The ZS EV was on my short list (with 2 petrol cars), but imagine all that stress with the wife and kids all in the car
When I go out on my Kawasaki Z1000 I tend to look for a refuel at around 150 miles ( as it's tank is not that big) but the obvious difference is 5 minutes max at the petrol station - electric vehicles are never going to make sense unless they are capable of 500 miles otherwise you will always need a second vehicle with an ICE for those important longer journeys.
The problem is the same in Australia, I did a trip in our MG ZS EV the other week to the snow at Perisher, south of Sydney, 510kms or 316 miles.
The first stop at Mitagong was faulty, the second stop at Suttons Forest was faulty, luckily made it to Goulbourn, made it to Canberra, made it to Cooma, Jindabyne was faulty.
Most of these major sites between Sydney and Canberra only have 1 charger.
The ZS is great car for around Sydney and taking the kids to school but these long range trips are just not realistic at the moment
There needs to be better planning and more infrastructure if there is going to be a larger number of EV's out there.
I agree - an EV (in Oz) is fairly efficient for short trip city driving but is not viable for longer trips (unless you have tons of time to manage charging). My Mazda 3 has a range of 800+km in freeway conditions - with a/c or heater running - regardless of the weather.
IMNSHO, the underlying problem is not just infrastructure - it's the fundamental nature of EV charging. Even if there were oodles of charging points, the fact that it needs 45mins + in order to add 160-200km of range makes longer trips very unpleasant. You also can't add enough charging points to cope with peak holiday traffic volumes....
In addition to that, the logic for moving to EV's (i,e. produce less CO2) is not working out. An EV consumes an enormous amount of energy to make (tons of dirt have to be shifted in order to mine a tiny amount of lithium), and they are quite frequently charged at times that our electricity grid is powered primarily by coal or gas.
My sense of things is that Toyota has it right with fuel efficient hybrids.
When car makers bring out cars with at least a gigawatt battery than can handle at least 400 miles of range and charging takes a few minutes to 80 percent then I’m in. Otherwise forget it.
I feel your anxiety! I've hired an electric car, for 3 days it's fun to drive and cheaper to get about as electric are cheaper to hire. I live in France, I am with 2 charging networks (jillions more exist..) and yesterday this was me. 4 chargers and the car, an MG ZS EV just wasn't getting it. Start charging, terminated. In France you can use your credit card. The 5th attempt, each time a different charger, I tried the Shell card and bingo. I've driven from Lyon to Chambéry to Grenoble and tomorrow back to Lyon. Light dusting of snow on the ground .The good thing in France, chargers are nearly everywhere. But the incompatibility thing is a real problem. I was considering ringing the car rental to tell them to come and fetch me.
Great video, watching your videos about electric cars have opened my eyes to the pitfalls. I’ve got a Clio hybrid atm and I absolutely love it. I don’t travel that far day to day but I do go to to Southampton, travelling from Swansea 3 or 4 times per year. Owning an EV about town would be great for me, but I would have terrible anxiety travelling to and from Southampton.
Absolute madness. I have an ioniq EV and in cold weather it is stressful. Summer gets 175miles and winter 125miles. What a wonderful future
Ouch 😣
And that’s when fairly new, imagine 600 charge cycles in and only having 80% capacity ….
The future is what people want it to be, stand up for your freedoms
What a waste of money…Evs are for the rich…and easily manipulated 🤣
Massive respect to you for sticking with it!! I honestly don't think I would have the patience. Just imagine if you had to rely on this vehicle/service network in an emergency?,
You just couldn't take that chance .
A hell of a lot of problems and issues to iron out with this mode of transportation. We've been panicked into getting in board with this , when in reality we are light-years away from having a truly efficient network of plugin points for the consumer.
10 apps ? - absolutely ridiculous.
Ped has the patience because it's basis for RUclips content but in the real world..... Why be panicked? Drive what suits you.
All very interesting. I'm English but I have lived in America for the past 33 years. I sold everything and moved back to Europe, Mallorca to be precise. I bought my first Ev car here - a Fiat 500e, 2021 - for one good reason: Mallorca has free charge stations for Evs. It has turned out to be a good decision with one major problem: the charging stations are very unreliable. There are 8 charge stations in the town where I live, currently, there are 3 working. One dual charger has been out of order for 6 months! I don't drive much being a retired chap, so all is good for the 3,000 km I have done since getting the car at a total cost of zero! However, I am moving to Oropesa del Mar on the mainland next week so my Ev car adventure is about to change. The bottom line: love the car, but be aware of its limitations.
The way to get the best range on a main road is to find a truck/van/MPV going about 60mph, and tuck in as close to it as you dare, in its slipstream. turn the heating to "LO" and the fan off, if the windows start misting up, crack the front windows open slightly. This can easily halve the displayed consumption because more of your drag will be gone, even better if there's another vehicle to your right going a similar speed, as the car is sucked along in the wake.
With the latest advice regarding ev batteries, keep the charge between 20 and 80%, doesn't bode well for longevity, or range. On top of that, had there been a queue for that charger at the Esso station, you could have been waiting for several hours.
I suppose it is exciting and your exhilaration when that charger was free is easy to see. This EV phenomenon seems more like every journey outside of the local environment becoming an new adventure, which will appeal to some, as opposed to it being any where near a practical solution for most people's needs.
Had a BMW i4 for 10 months.
Now back to a petrol V6 3.2l bestie .
That on long journeys is quicker and now cheaper than an EV .
The only thing I miss is the pre heating for cold mornings
Was feeling a bit down,watched this cheered me up no end 👍
😂😂😂
As this contradicts my experience of driving an EV over 19,000 miles in the last 9 months, I thought I'd try, as best I can, to replicate the journey you did on A Better Route Planner. My route goes from Goodwood Racecourse to Newtown, Powys, which is my best guess. Total is 204 miles (one way) and, assuming you start at 100%, go the national speed limit where applicable and have the heating on :-), one charging stop arriving with 38% for 30 mins at the charger (instavolt x2, I've always found these very reliable) and arriving at your final destination with around 11%. Assuming you charge to 100% at your destination (as you did), you charge the same way on your way back with slightly different numbers. This is all based on an MG ZS. Journey time 4.5 hrs including charging. Looking at costs, if you didn't home charge at the cheap rate and instead paid around 0.15 per kW, that would have cost you around £5.82 (depending on the efficiency of the car which isn't mentioned). I assume charging at your destination was free and in my calcs the max, cost of public charging would have been around £15 combined for both stops. Total for 408 miles is around £21.00. No idea of the efficiency of an equivalent petrol/diesel MG but at current prices I think the ICE costs would possibly be double the EV cost, probably more. People will say my comments are theoretical but ABRP is how I look at my journeys and it has proven reasonably accurate so far. I'm driving to East Anglia (and back home) this week in a single day (400 miles) and Belfast and back home (with an overnight stop), via ferry Cairnryan/Belfast (590 miles return trip) later in the week. I have no worries or anxiety about charging at all. You need to do it regularly and for real to understand it and in my humble option, even though the MG could have worked, it was the wrong EV for that job. If I were driving my car, it would (most likely) have not needed public charging at all and just charged at the destination. The total cost for me, on cheap rate, at home, would have been about £4.20 with free destination charging. When I travel to East Anglia and stay overnight (destination charger), that is exactly what I do and that is what it costs.
Even if you can find cheaper charging, the uncertainty and much longer journey times make it just not worth it on long runs. My EV stays on the home umbilical charger range all the time now because I have learned my lesson and have an alternative with a 600 mile plus range that can be immediately recharged on a reliable network of fuel stations.
@@stevezodiac491 Not really, I have just got back from Norwich, just under a 400 mile round trip in one day and a 3.5 hour meeting. Google says 4:15 each way without stops, 8hrs 30 minutes total, it took me 4:15 plus a 35 minute charge (I had my lunch during the charge) to get there and 4:40 back plus a 15 minute charge (had a coffee) to get home. It took longer because there was an accident causing a detour and I had a 20 minute nap in a lay by (it was an early start and I'm getting old lol) - so including charging and the detour/nap my total was 9:45 including charging. 75 minutes of extra time (compared with Google without any stops) but only stopping for 50 minutes for charging (during one stop I had lunch, the other a coffee, both of which I would have done if travelling in an ICE car anyway) so, in my opinion, it didn't take any longer. That also includes 19% charge left in the car when I got home which, in charging terms, could have saved me 5 minutes on the charging time, if I had not wanted more "in the tank" than I would normally have (10% when I get home) as I need to be full for tomorrow morning when, over the next 2 days, I will be doing over 600 miles in the EV..I use my Audi ECS card which covers 19 different charging companies. Today, the chargers were Instavolt, both times, 8 chargers at this location (I stopped at the same place twice), on the first stop I was the only one charging until an MG arrived, on the 2nd stop, nobody else was there so I was on my own. These chargers worked first time and I got between 80kW and 88kW throughout the charge. I have a 450bhp V8 convertible if I want to use the expessive fossil option, but as my daily, the EV works just fine and that is my point. It may not work for you, but for me it is the best daily that I have ever had, and by that I mean all aspects of it, charging, comfort, cost etc
Brilliant review. I think it’s important to have honest reviews like this even if there’s a negative side.
Anyone looking to buy an electric car, needs the brutally honest information to make a proper decision.
As you say round town and short journeys they’re perfect. Anything other than that, there’s just too much that can go wrong. Lots to be done to make this more viable for people.
Thanks 👍
Totally agree. You’d be shouted down by the Fully Charged crowd with a review like this. They tend to ignore the inconvenient truth that affects us ion the real world.
Yes like making them affordable to working people. .
There’s a positive side of EV’s?
I’ve just spent the weekend in Crewe, 190 from my home. I have a 19 plate Suzuki Swift, there and back on less than 3/4’s of a tank.
Saying you only paid £7 something for power isn’t the true cost, your coffee and food should be added, along with your time (time is money), then you hope to use someone’s power to charge up again.
I had a similar experience of lack of app in my new Fiat 500e in Australia. I decided to go for lunch 240km return trip with car showing 260km range. When I got to the charger I had hoped to tap my phone to pay but had to load an app and then enter my credit card details. Well I didn’t have the details as the credit card was at home and my iPhone wallet does not display the details. No charge for me and Got back with 29kms left.😊
Such a genuine review! Your anger and frustration came through so well and superbly demonstrated that the infrastructure and processes for chargers is just not there for us here in the UK yet. I like many have considered an EV but it's the longer journeys that begin to make life more problematic than it needs to be. I can see the logic for an EV being used on short local journeys, (if you have a means of charging overnight at home) but it seems too much faff, in addition to all the current traffic issues we have here,for the longer ones. For those that have to park on a street somewhere or live in a tower block, its never really ever going to be an option. I think I'll wait for the Hydrogen technology to kick in!!
Thanks 👍
Whilst I understand your frustration (been there myself in my ZS on a cold dark night), I think half the problem is people related. Whether selfish EV owners who block chargers for a disproportionate time (charging to 100% rather than 80 when there's a queue waiting), or others that use charge bays as parking spaces when not charging at all, or ICE drivers who block EV owners getting to their fuel supply. Sure the infrastructure needs to improve, but so does the consideration of EV and ICE drivers alike.
Yes, all in all, there are multiple ways EV charging can fail.
Why object to people charging to 100%? They may have long way to travel and are glad they found one that works......
@@robtheplod there is the horrid feeling that you are stopping someone else charging! It’s like a guilt thing. I was a passenger in an EV where our driver felt panicked by the car waiting. He moved even though we then had to stop elsewhere.
In my life I know I do not have the patience to hang about waiting to charge it! I don’t want coffee’s, all I want is to be on my way.
I believe that biofuel or hydrogen will be developed with filling up available at all garages.
Then there is still Australia, India, China, the US and the UK, to make them halt using coal etc to produce electrIcity! Until then EV travel here makes no difference at all. None.
@@nickrichardson7451 here in Oz we are looking at hydrogen, a few hydrogen stations are being built.
It's a better option for us as the long distances we travel and the infrastructure for hydrogen is readily available. But it'll be a little while yet til it's 100% ready and in the meantime diesel gets us ranges of 1000km.
The electric car genre should make us good readers with all that waiting. A good book is what you need.
I have the KIA Niro EV, it is excelllent!
A heat pump is critical for EV’s, mine will take 3-4 miles off the range if I have the heater on.
Great review and clearly highlights the main issue of the charging network - or lack of it. The Tesla drive was doing what any EV driver should be able to do and use the available chargers, so don’t pick on him but the public networks. This must improve before we can swap to EVs other wise we willl end up fighting for charging points
Precisely, his attack on the Tesla driver was an attack on the symptom, not the cause.
Sorry, but I agree with the OP, the Tesla should use the Tesla infrastructure. It's pretty bad form to hog up a _single_ charging station.. If there were a few stations, then it wouldn't be too bad, but to hog a live station..nope.
For years Tesla has not allowed non Tesla's to use their infrastructure with the great unwashed, so why should they be allowed to use other chargers?
If they open up their network, fair do's, but until then, they should stick to their own.
@Tesla Power who mentioned anything about hating?? It's a wildy unreasonable leap to to assume that someone who doesn't 'like' something, or who considers something to be 'bad form,' *hates* it.
I fully appreciate that in some areas there are no Superchargers, and that Tesla owners are forced to used public chargers. The very nature of them being public means that they can be used by anyone, and it would be puerile to assert otherwise.
That being said, it does not mean that I have to like it, or even consider it fair.
Once Tesla fulfill their long overdue promise to open up the Supercharger Network to all EV owners, then the playing field will be leveled out.
As a fellow EV driver, I'm sure you're well aware of the unwritten etiquette that we all try to follow, ie, not leaving our cars connected after they have finished charging, not charging at the same stall as someone who is currently charging if there are other stalls to choose from, and the list goes on and on. None of them are rules, but responsible owners try their best to be considerate of others, and, speaking frankly - *if* there is a SC nearby, it's pretty poor form to hog one of the paltry few working chargers with a Tesla.
*You* may well be one of the majority of Tesla owners who uses the SCN wherever possible, but it gets really annoying when a Tesla is charging for hours and hours at the only working charger and there are SCs nearby. You'll probably never understand/experience it being (I presume) a Tesla owner, but take it from me it's really _really_ annoying, hence the ire of the OP.
So, NO hate, just frustration.
@@yggdrasil9039 Yeah that rant was a bit out of order imo, Tesla driver has as much right as anyone else to use it,
@@michaelgriffiths2957 Hogging a single charger? He's entitled to use it like everyone else,
Brilliant review. Staying well clear of an ev for the next few years, until charging structure sorted and as convenient as a petrol station
So, the good trip was with anxiety, cold feet without going faster than 65 and 1 hour of pause in between... Yeah lovely
Another MacMaster! With all the HUGE hassle associated with electric cars I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole. You said the reason: 5 minutes to fill up an ICE vehicle; one hour to get enough charge for an EV. Plus, petrol stations usually have several pumps, all working, whereas charging points are not infrequently out of order. And charging for one hour hogs that charge point for everyone else. Imagine if a petrol pump was so slow, you'd need an hour to trickle in enough fuel. No, EVs are not (yet) fit for purpose.
You've summed up the situation perfectly. I've been EVing for five years now and long journeys have been a very mixed bag. My early days were a story of lack of chargers and unreliability when you got there. This improved quite a lot over the next few years and I honestly expected things to keep improving. They have gone backwards recently though, and you have highlighted all the points. Not enough chargers (EV take up is massively outstripping the growth in the charger network), the stupid need to have a different app or card for seemingly each charger you come to, and they seem to be returning to being unreliable again. Top it off with things like; you won't have a signal to sign up for the app, it will be raining and cold and dark! EVs have so much going for them, they instantly render ICE cars as clunky and old fashioned when things go well, but will shorten your life considerably when things go pear shaped. And things can turn from rosey to sh1t in the blink of an eye. I'm rapidly changing my tune from massively optimistic to sadly unsure about electric motoring and, as you point out, it's not the cars, they are fantastic, it is entirely the infrastructure at fault.
Mate: there will never be enough public chargers which is why EVs are not a practical future. 8 pumps 70 cars an hour. 8 chargers…..8 cars? No business is going to install enough for the patronage
Lithium is not the answer. EV can work if they could match their ICE counterparts but, they can't. So whilst old and clunky, ICE is still better than EV at the moment.
@@7s29 Battery EVs are where petrol was at first. Look at how far it has progressed in only around ten years and look at the realistic battery types and technologies about to be launched. I would estimate that around 60% of drivers would be well served by current EVs and the ones that aren't are only out of it because of the cost of purchase. The forecast for cost parity was around now, though world events have delayed this. I readily admit that the infrastructure (in the UK) is not progressing as fast as EV uptake and so it is actually getting more difficult to get on a public charger immediately. This needs to be sorted out by the government or the transition is in danger of stalling. All of the well worn arguments against EVs have been debunked time and again but still they are brought up in arguments against them. I despair when I hear about how we will run out of lithium or the grid will melt or how an old ICE car is somehow better than an EV despite requiring fuel to be burned or how generating electricity is as bad as burning petrol. All wrong and easily demonstrated to be by an honest researcher but still they are brought up. To say that ICE cars are still viable is like remaining drunk so you don't suffer a hangover.
@@timsmith5339 sorry. 100 years ago you could decant 40 litres of liquid in exactly the same time as it takes to decant 40 litres today. Hence why a liquid power source (petrol) is unbeatable no matter how you slice it. The only change in those 100 years is the method of delivery. ICE’s did not need governments or councils or indeed cars parks or businesses to instal petrol pumps, it did not require taxpayers to fund rebates or tax benefits , unlike EV’s. EV’s are being propped up with all that plus threats and mandates. Hardly indicative of a robust tech. Oh and there’s always an upper limit to how much electricity you can shove into a battery in a fixed period.
@@xr6lad I was referring to the lack of infrastructure really. It took some time before you could get petrol easily and reliably. As far as subsidies and mandates go, yes, EVs need those to get a foothold. I would say that they are being withdrawn too soon. They aren't an indication of electricities unsiutability or lack of robustness, they are an indication of what it takes to encourage us, manufacturers, and the petrochemical industry to change from the well established and entrenched status quo. It takes a big push to get people to change even when it doesn't actually require any effort. If you throw in big money, you can see how big the struggle becomes. I am quite surprised we have changed as rapidly as we have. I have been wanting to see us move to a more sustainable way of living for decades and genuinely thought that movements like Greenpeace were banging their heads against a brick wall. I'm glad and relieved that I was wrong. The world is changing for the better and as the benefits become increasingly obvious to even the most stubborn, they will be glad too.
Completely agree, I had a similar experience driving my eGolf to Liverpool from Bristol. 8.5hr journey, because I was waiting at a single charging stop for 2 big battery cars to finish charging. Not their fault, just the fact there was only 1 post available at both stops so I had to wait. I've now bought a tesla and no more worries. Electric cars are amazing, the charging infrastructure, not so
But what if your budget didn't stretch to a tesla, like most of the population?
My 22 year old Audi A2 tdi does 70mpg and over 500 miles on a tank. £35 annual road tax, heated seats and a hot heater. All aluminium so no rust and superb in the snow.