The reason I ask is that my son has recently got a new Audi Q4 E tron fully electric car, ordered unseen as it made sense BIK wise.
He ordered the largest battery/least powerful version, which according the WLTP figures should have a range of approaching 300 miles, and although he accepts this figure is optimistic the real range, driving normally, using things like lights and stereo, is an unacceptable less than 200 miles, in fact one memorable trip was 165 miles before it needed charging, which took over an hour due to charger problems. This means a regular 5 hour round trip in a diesel car takes over 8 in the Audi. Daft.
I wonder how many people get these cars without realising the reality of using them.
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Like your son, Iām lucky enough to ātry before you buyā via access to company carā¦ the BIK advantage is large, but has to be short livedā¦ govt canāt afford to give tax breaks to better paid (generally) employees; seems completely ar$e-about-f@ce in reality.
Iāve always summarised my current use of TESLA M3 as āamazing technology - average carā, ignoring the ridiculous acceleration performance of full EV. Chose TESLA due to their charging infrastructure (speed, location cost - yes TESLA charging is generally lower cost than other publicly available networks! Another ar$e-about-f@ce situation - get it regulated govt!
Before choosing full EV, I sat and looked at my journeys over the previous year (normal, not C19 impacted) and though Iād be OK using EV for vast majority of journeys; turns out itās been OK for 100% of journeys IF you PLAN and like coffee/pee breaks 
I can also work in my car while charging, thanks to updated technology, so where I do sometimes return home later then previously, I donāt need to spend an hour in the evening workingā¦ I did it already!
Original range of TESLA was 253 milesā¦ after 2 years I cannot cram more than 219 miles into the tankā¦
I probably drive the car slower than any car Iāve ever owned, to preserve range - surely thatās not a bad thing though? I get my kicks on track with 27 year old NA.
Would I buy one personally? Not until thereās no choice, or the economic position created by govt/legislation means thereās little difference between EV and ICE ownershipā¦ many seem to suggest weāre already there (interesting watching Fifth Gear Recharged series recently, and their comparisons of costs)
On a sunny day, which car comes out to playā¦ I think you can guess 
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I been working with, building and using E bicycles since '18 I have perhaps 37 built for friends and contacts most of them are or were cyclists till they hit health issues or age issues, my case in point both hips are titanium now, yet expereince has shown me that range on any battery powered machine is directly relevant to weather, wind and coldā¦ that ime has for me moved the range back 25%. and being a forum user youāll realise iām also a car guy, ex competition, ex 1000 mile a week manager for various companies, over a million and a half miles drivenā¦ EVāS wonāt work in the real world, ideal for city use, no use at all in rural environs, and proven no use efficiently as high miles back to base daily drivers vehicles. the infrastructure is available in big towns and cities, but these idiots in Westminster, donāt really realise how the rural world works, nor it seems do they care, people who arenāt real ādriversā who just drive either show off their latest model or to move 10 miles across town to visit somebody will get along fine and it keeps the air clean.
.I have a good friend ex MP living in London since the early 80ās, very successfull, fishes and shoots, lives near Belgravia, we have had conversations about London and car use or ownership, and as someone who cut my teeth in NORF London beside the Met Police training ground, and owned a car for a few years with an Irish reg I was constantly getting tickets for parking outside my flat in Ladbrook grove area, they had brought in the money maker getting car owners to pay for street parking, must have been ā73,so I knew the issues he spoke ofā¦ its no use unless you need it have it off the street and with such a brilliant public transport system why would you use other than a taxi and hire a car when you need to go countryā¦weā'll no doubt see, but i would think that some of the major players are having back room discussions in light of Russiaās antics, electricty availablity, fuel cost and battery sourcingā¦ i think hybrids may be useful certainly amongst the rural population, yet so far they seem to have very little range at all, i think because they cannot think outside of city environsā¦ apologies for on and off topicā¦w
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I have a Kia Niro on a Salary Sacrifice Scheme via the NHS. Gotta say I love it. We charge at home and have yet to use the public charging network in anger. Car does 250 miles on a full charge which is plenty ofr us. Our daily commute is 36 miles (18 miles each way) and this car is saving me a small fortune. I cahrge at off peak times and get my leccy at 5p a kW/H. A months charging is costing me Ā£19.00. Do your research, if it works for you then go for it. I have an Abarth 124 Spider for my kicks
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Iāve got one and have had it since January 16.
To answer your question, initially everyone who bought one knew what they were getting into and the limitations. The early adopters.
Now EVs are more mainstream, that has very much changed.
For a day to day car, it canāt be beaten, but like anything in life do proper research before taking the plunge.
The WLTP is a fantasy figure, much the same as an ICE car company claiming something will do 70mpg.
Depending on use, itās always going to be lower and in some cases, by a lot.
If youāre thinking of an EV and you think you may regularly need to do the claimed range in one hit, itās not the car for you.
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I have an Audi Q4 E-Tron 40 as a company car.
Iāve had it for 3 weeks and so far done 1400 miles.
The advertised range is 316 miles.
When I fully charge it, it says the range is 250 miles.
I have the heat pump in mines.
The range is always less in the winter when the temperature is lower.
I do find with my car that if I drive it fast, the range reduces quicker than the miles actually driven, however on longer motorway journeys I can drive 40 miles and the range barely decreases.
When I select drive, I can choose D or B.
D allows the car to coast and it can coast a fair distance without reducing speed.
B is totally different and in B mode when you take your foot off the accelerator you get a lot of regenerative slow down similar to engine braking in an ice car.
On longer motorway type runs I use D and on country roads I use B to take advantage of the regeneration when Iām accelerating and de-accelerating more.
Im lucky as i have a rapid charge point a few minutes from my house which is free and I use it when i take the dog for a walk.
Ive only used Ā£20 of my own electricity for my 1400 miles.
Even when using my own charger though, So far itās working out a lot cheaper than my previous octavia diesel to run.
My Skoda was claimed to return 70mpg but the average over 5 years and 150,000 miles was actually 49mpg.
The next generation evās will have solid state batteries and provide a range of 400-500 miles and a 20-80% charge in 10 minutes.
We are on our 3rd EV. I3 in 2015, Kona in 2019 and an ID.4 GTX (AWD one that is the same as the Audi under earth) for a few months. Kona was easily the best Miles per KWh, 66 battery and regularly got over 250 miles, but too small for us as a family. ID.4 does about 210 at this time of year. We do about 130 miles a day with school, work and running around.
Range can vary massively depending on time of year, type of roads and driving style. Driving ID.4 in sport and on motorways at 80, Iād get it down to 180. I recon in the summer on A roads in eco Iāll probably see close to 250.
Donāt charge much away from home, so I see the advantage of it being fully charged every morning and not having to fill up twice a week. But thatās how we use it. I have already done a few trips in the new one where I have charged out and about and I can tell you the difference now compared to 5 years ago is massive. Few time Iāve charged the id.4 on a public charger Iāve got from below 20% to over 80% in the time itās taken me to grab a coffee and use the loo. 5 years ago finding a working charger and then navigating the payment method (if it worked) was a very stressful thing.
WLTP ranges mean nothing IMO.
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Itās worth bearing in mind that fuel costs are only part of the equation, depreciation being the largest cost of car ownership. Iām staying with my little ICE, 22 year old car for now, despite having had a car charge point in my garage for over ten years.
Over the last eight years since I bought this car itās cost me very little to own. I worked out that if it had failed its MOT test this year and I scrapped it for nil return it will have cost me Ā£1.99 per week in depreciation. Seeing that it passed, itās probably worth almost the same as I bought it for!
Iām penalised by a Ā£170 vehicle tax because it falls outside the new system of the exhaust emissions related scheme, although it has the same CO2 output as a more modern petrol engined car which would be Ā£30, but it has only cost me Ā£94 to insure this year.
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Had my Mercedes EQA250 for a couple of months now. Previous to this, daily drove an Alfa Romeo Stelvio 280. To say it was thirsty was an understatement. Mid to high 20MPG at best even on Motorways, using cruise control etc.
I was spending close to Ā£200 a month on fuel. The recent fuel shortage and the steady rise in fuel costs were the final nail in the coffin for ICE as far as I was concerned.
I did my research, insurance quotes etc, how much to charge and how often Iād need to charge and going electric was the only option for me. The insurance on the Stelvio was around Ā£480 per year, the tax alone was Ā£500 for the year. Iāve now got my EQA comprehensively insured for Ā£240 for the year and obviously Ā£0 tax. Iām not paying to refuel, and a full charge costs me Ā£15 if done at home through a wall socket, as opposed to Ā£100 for a full tank of petrolā¦
I put the EQA to the test a couple of weeks ago and did a long range run from Worthing to Rhyl, a good 290 miles. Mercedes claim 250 mile range, I got approximately 195/205 real world range. On a full charge, the car predicts two ranges, one with current driving style, and one with everything turned off and driving like a true eco warrior. Both of which display nowhere near the 250m claimed range. The absolute maximum Iāve seen it predict is 235m.
The journey I made on a decent run can be done in around 4h55m, I managed to do it in 6h10 with a rapid recharge half way. I could have shaved 20 minutes off if I had followed the in car route planner, but opted to wait the extra 20 minutes to get a full recharge. Iād normally stop on a long slog like this anyway, so in reality, I did it in pretty much the same amount of time I would do in an ICE vehicle. I never once worried about range. The on board route planner constantly updates considering traffic and weather, and picks the most appropriate, and quickest available charging station on route to minimise down time.
In my honest opinion, being a bit of a self confessed petrol head (does owning 3 Alfa Romeos and an MX5 grant me this title?) - going Electric has more going for it, than against it. Though saying this, the amount of charge points in the UK are on the rise, but the amount of them that actually work? Quite lowā¦ In Rhyl and surrounding towns, there are only a handful available, but only ONE worked. The infrastructure just isnāt quite there yetā¦
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That is actually a pretty good comparison. A 2% remaining for the audi vs 24% for the Tesla - i suppose they pulled out a genny to charge the audi 
Mind you one is 100k vs 86k, not pocket money by any means.
My wife wanted to test the electric world, so to speak, before committing to full electric. She thought the hybrid route would be best and see what happened. As some will know my own car is an '08 2.0 litre Sport MX-5, which one does not generally buy for an economy run.
She opted for a Seat Leon 1.4 DSG Hybrid with a claimed range in electric mode of 30 to 35 miles. Using a three pin wall-box costs around Ā£2.50. The cold weather usually has this around 28 miles, but on the whole it covers local runs quite nicely.
Generally speaking though we will always start with the hybrid mode if going further. A recent run to Skegness for a charity appointment, around 170 miles return trip, used up the battery, and delivered 83.4mpg. The computer also suggests since the last refuel, which was 14 hours and 49 minutes ago, having covered 441 miles in that time, the car has done 94.8mpg, and the petrol tank still has an estimated range of 145 miles remaining.
Without electric power, which will happen on a long run, and without a recharge, then the 1.4 engine will do between 45-50mpg.
For us having a hybrid works, but we are both retired, and do not cover the sort of miles we used to beforehand. Nevertheless, I still reckon it would work as a regular commuter providing the battery was kept fully charged overnight, when bearing in mind the mpg returns. And as another member has already said, weekend driving will usually mean the MX-5 anyway, especially if the weather means the roof can be dropped.
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I have had my Tesla Model 3 Performance for 2yrs now, 29k miles
Range on dash shows 312miles but I soon learned to ignore it and now show it in Percentage.
272miles from 1 charge is the furthest I have gone and the car had 20 left showing but I was 40miles from home and passing a charger so I stopped.
Tesla for me is the only viable EV because when you combine the Tesla Chargers with all the other independent charging stations itās fine and I dont have range anxiety anymore.
Butā¦ā¦
As more and more EVās are now on our roads in the U.K. the infrastructure has not kept up and now I am beginning to see that when I arrive at a charger there might not be a free plugā¦. 90% of the time there isā¦ā¦. But 10% of the time I am waiting.
Summary. I am keeping my Model 3 and my wife has ordered a Model Yā¦. - my DIY Turboād NC will be our backup car
and by the look of things and price of fuel you will have to convert it to run from vodka and related spirits 
As long as I can do the long straw mod
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Only 10% ? Where I am, they are either broken, or always in use. My local supermarket has ONE charger, and itās brokenā¦ has been for months. Iāve contacted the store on both corporate and local levels and they just say they are getting round to it. Even if it was serviceable, one charger to provide quite a large area, with a fair few EVās, isnāt good enough really.
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I mean 10% of the time I have to waitā¦ I have found the Tesla Superchargers usually are not broken and usually have a free spot. I have done 30k miles in 2 years so not shy at the travellingā¦
A quick update on the last post, which for me anyway suggests the benefits from having a plug-in hybrid.
Yesterday I had to go to the hospital in Worksop, via the Doncaster Lakeside shopping centre, which meant using the A1 for part of the journey from the M18, but returning through Bawtry back to Doncaster. All told a trip of 1 hour and 6 minutes, and 37 miles.
I used electric to get to Worksop, and with the remaining battery charge switched to hybrid to come home. The on-board computer showed the car delivered 193mpg for the whole journey, with no discernible movement on the fuel gauge.
I understand electric or hybrids are not everyoneās cup of tea, and on a longer trip, say to our friends in Reading when the battery will be exhausted on the first leg, the consumption will probably be circa 45-50 for the return trip, not be as good as the petrol 1.5 Arona, which the 1.4 Leon replaced.
But, with just the odd occasions, most of the carās trips are relatively short, so using electric in the manner indicated above should pay dividends. And the car is pretty quick too, although I love my own MX-5, even if it does go through the fuel tank at a quicker rateā¦
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Hybrid certainly seems better than a full EV in my opinion.
As we all know itās the lack of a proper infrastructure at present.
Iāve always been curious to know why any āHybridā does not recharge the battery pack when it switches over to the petrol engine. Or have I missed something somewhere?
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To a small extent it does, as the car uses as KERS type system to put a charge back into the battery every time the driver (or the car) brakes. It is not much. but it helps to briefly power the car through the next corner that the brakes had been used for. It does not, however, recharge the battery to any greater extent. I suppose for the engine to do that it would use more fuel for it to do so?
I cannot speak for other hybrids (or EVās), but the Leon has an on-board camera that more or less can take over from the driver if allowed to do so. When approaching a corner, if it decides the vehicle is travelling too quickly, it will brake the car without the driver doing anything. It is the same when approaching a lower speed limit, so I suppose anyone caught speeding would not have an excuse, as the driver needs to over-ride the system by using the accelerator.
Put it this way - it is a different style of driving to say the MX-5, and it can take some getting used to. A lot of magazine testers have commented how they would prefer the car to do less for them.
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