Swap GTi plus for an electric VW

[Andy Beats]

True, more capacity will mean people want faster charging at home.
I did look into cheap overnight electricity, but there was something about the other part of tariff that meant I was going to save nothing.
It was along the lines of the normal rate/standing charge being higher and nullifying the night saving.
I used to charge almost exclusively at home, but a P+R opened near my work with a whole bank of ignored chargers.
Public charging is free in Scotland, so I used to sit there for 20-30 minutes every other night on the way home.

[barrywi]

I only have electricity at home , no gas, and use storage heaters so am on economy seven anyway. It is a no brainer to charge at home unless the incoming cable melts with the extra load. Still early days and am waiting for more info from VW to see if the sums add up and if it makes any sense.

[Andy Beats]

Just seen that Audi have released PCP figures for the Q-tron.
It's a poopload of money (+£700 per month), but it's around the same figures as a Q7 would be and in-line with what a £70K car should be.
So if you look at it from that point of view, the fuel savings over the Q7 should make it a no-brainer to go for the Q-tron.
Not that fuel savings are probably high on the list of anyone buying a £70K car.....

[alexperkins]

10k miles in our Q7 now and 35 mpg lol. 3.0 V6 TDIs dont half guzzle the juice, albeit its quite a respectable figure for such a big vehicle!

Would possibly consider electric next time, but considering its the same money its hard to know what the better choice in (taking the environmental aspect out of it). Something about engines and V6 powah that electric just doesnt give...when you are a petrol(diesel) head

[Andy Beats]

10k miles in our Q7 now and 35 mpg lol. 3.0 V6 TDIs dont half guzzle the juice, albeit its quite a respectable figure for such a big vehicle!

Would possibly consider electric next time, but considering its the same money its hard to know what the better choice in (taking the environmental aspect out of it). Something about engines and V6 powah that electric just doesnt give...when you are a petrol(diesel) head

Ignoring the green issues, there are huge performance attractions for going EV.
No ICE engine has the instant acceleration of an electric car, it's totally addictive.
Floor it, they go, no drama, no noise, no fuss.
Then you have the silence, depends on whether you can live with that (I've never liked noisy bikes/cars, I prefer to do my speeding without announcing it ...)
Then you have a lot of cities announcing low-emissions zones in the very near future, meaning your Q7 would have to be parked up and take...cough....gag....spit....public transport.
Really, honestly, anyone driving a new ICE right now should really be thinking about making it their last....

[Andy Beats]

Out of interest, has anyone watched the Pikes Peak electric car video?
It holds the record currently.
Watch it, it's stunning to see the speed when it's mostly only air and tyre noise (although it is fitted with an annoying siren to warn spectators).
The comments from the various people filming it are funny and NSFW.
Shock and awe.

[alexperkins]

The instant acceleration takes some getting used to. My wife used to hate the feeling in the i3 - compared it to a tube train lol

As for silence, thats a tough one. I've almost ran people over that arent paying attention as they dont see you coming at low speeds - difficult call on this point.

Haha yes, but thankfully I don't live near a city and a have a nice low emission A3 for the other journeys

[Andy Beats]

The instant acceleration takes some getting used to. My wife used to hate the feeling in the i3 - compared it to a tube train lol

As for silence, thats a tough one. I've almost ran people over that arent paying attention as they dont see you coming at low speeds - difficult call on this point.

Some Leaf owners use the ECO button to dull the acceleration, I never felt the need.
With regard to pedestrian protection, new 'noise generation' regulations are coming in that will mean a sort of 'white noise' will be produced up to 20mph.
I believe it won't be able to be switched off, like the current noise generation in the Leaf can.
After 20mph it's deemed tyre noise takes over and no need for artificial noise.
Which is good, because surely part of the benefit of EVs is less noise pollution in urban areas?
If they were all making artificlal noise in 30mph zones, there'd be no gain at all.
As someone who lives near a bloke with a Subaru, I can't wait for the day these noisy buggers of ICE cars die.

[alexperkins]

Our neighbour had a subaru with a MASSIVE exhaust. He scrapped it last week...peace at last.

[barrywi]

Guilty as charged your honour!
When I was twenty.....in the last century, my first car was an 850 mini in green with a white roof. I fitted it with a Cooper front grille ,left off the rear bumper ( not sure why) and my brother welded on a three inch pipe off a lorry exhaust at the tail end. It sounded fantastic and nobody knew it was not a proper Cooper. I wish I was twenty again

[Andy Beats]

When it comes to noise, my desire to go about my motorbike or car business as quietly as possible was vindicated many moons ago when mates were stopped for speeding.
The police told them they were actually packing up to leave, but decided to hang around when they heard them coming for miles.
Suddenly my standard exhausts weren't quite so naff.

[RUM4MO]

Sorry my fault, I did not word my questions too well, I already have single phase 40 amp supply to the garage, supplying a lighting circuit and 13 amp sockets, so if adding a dedicated 32 amp single phase, or at least having an EV fast charging system hard wired to my electrical installation, I'd need to upgrade everything.

I'm probably too old to start liking 3 phase supply in my garage - maybe!

[barrywi]

Does anyone know how you get a three phase supply to your house.

[Griff74]

Does anyone know how you get a three phase supply to your house.

It ain't cheap, a couple of grand I heard and then only if the supply in your road is set up for it\has the spare capacity, you would need to speak to your supplier.

[Andy Beats]

Sorry my fault, I did not word my questions too well, I already have single phase 40 amp supply to the garage, supplying a lighting circuit and 13 amp sockets, so if adding a dedicated 32 amp single phase, or at least having an EV fast charging system hard wired to my electrical installation, I'd need to upgrade everything.

I'm probably too old to start liking 3 phase supply in my garage - maybe!

Not sure what all this means.
When podpoint installed my 7KW charger, they installed a fair bit of extra 'gubbins' in the fuse cupboard, then very thick cable into the garage.
I can take a photo if you like.