Is their anyone considering the new Audi E-tron?

[yeoman]

Originally Posted by Haldex

A 3-ton SUV with a 300km range (in ideal conditions..) that takes hours to recharge and is dependent on a scarce charger network, with a base price (in France..) of 84K Eur. No, thanks. That's a bit steep (and pointless..) for a round-town toy. But to each his own, ofcourse.

Pardon my interruption but I feel obliged to point out a few things.
The Audi etron is not 3 tonnes in weight.
It weighs 2.5 tonnes.

Of course it take hours, , but so what,?A 7Kw home charger will charge it to full in 13 hours. and the rapid charger network will get you to 80% in 30mins(if you find one( yes these are scarce at the moment but so were navigation systems in cars until fairly recently.
I am not so sure a 200 mile real world range is a round-town toy, unless you live in a town the size that currently does not exist.

[isleaiw]

Originally Posted by jonnyu

No because: it's an Audi.
My customer experience was not the best at this brand. It always seems that Audi is doing us a favor when we buy one of their cars. It's simply a stupid mindset. That's not how I want to be handled as a customer and owner of a 50k+ £ product from their brand.

I agree with you, Mercedes is a bit meh and BMW just got way behind on the electric race.

I would wait for solutions from Volvo. They have only 1 full electric SUV planned for 2019, the XC40, but between 2020 and 2021 they will introduce 5 fully electric models in the segment.

Its a shame that you decide a whole brand is rubbish based on one retailer (who are not part of the brand - be like you deciding you didnt like Samsung TVs because Currys were crap...)

I have had all major prestige German brands now except Porsche (and I ordered one of those and cancelled it!). I have had good and bad dealers in each brand - if the local dealer is crap I will try one a bit further away if its the car I want. I bought my first Audi from a dealer 70 miles away because their service was good when I was looking (on line and email / phone comms). I then bought my second (current) car from them - even though in the meantime I had moved and they were 200 miles away. Service was still great and I imagine the profit margin a tad better.... Since a friend has bought an A3 from them as her local dealer was average, good on service but not competitive on price.

The first Volvo dealer I dealt with in 1996 was great. The ones since have not been as good but it wouldnt put me off a Polestar 2...

[taylora]

I don't get the fixation about charge times...

Do you sit and watch your mobile phone for 2 hours? No you plug it in and leave it and get on with something else.

With an ICE car doing a long journey I stop every 150 or so miles to pee/eat/drink so while I'm doing that the EV would be plugged in and after 30 mins back to 80%. For me it's definitely not a big deal. I do those kind of journeys a couple of times a year. Daily driving I rarely do more than 100 miles in a day.

Factor in free public charging where I live and work and I think I'll be saving £100-150 per month on fueling costs based on 12k miles per year.

In real terms for me, switching from a diesel V90 to a Tesla EV will result in a net saving of around £100 a month. The higher lease cost is offset by the fuel savings.

Oh and it goes like stink and runs silently all the time.

[yeoman]

Originally Posted by taylora

I don't get the fixation about charge times...

Do you sit and watch your mobile phone for 2 hours? No you plug it in and leave it and get on with something else.

With an ICE car doing a long journey I stop every 150 or so miles to pee/eat/drink so while I'm doing that the EV would be plugged in and after 30 mins back to 80%. For me it's definitely not a big deal. I do those kind of journeys a couple of times a year. Daily driving I rarely do more than 100 miles in a day.

Factor in free public charging where I live and work and I think I'll be saving £100-150 per month on fueling costs based on 12k miles per year.

In real terms for me, switching from a diesel V90 to a Tesla EV will result in a net saving of around £100 a month. The higher lease cost is offset by the fuel savings.

Oh and it goes like stink and runs silently all the time.

I am in agreement with you.
I have a hybrid XC90 and plug my car in every night, and if i forget, VOC will keep reminding me to do so via my phones notifications( I set my home up as a charging station so I always get continual reminder if its not plugged in.)

Electric is the way forward and its here to stay.I just wish Volvo would hurry up with theirs.

[isleaiw]

Originally Posted by taylora

I don't get the fixation about charge times...

Do you sit and watch your mobile phone for 2 hours? No you plug it in and leave it and get on with something else.

With an ICE car doing a long journey I stop every 150 or so miles to pee/eat/drink so while I'm doing that the EV would be plugged in and after 30 mins back to 80%. For me it's definitely not a big deal. I do those kind of journeys a couple of times a year. Daily driving I rarely do more than 100 miles in a day.

Factor in free public charging where I live and work and I think I'll be saving £100-150 per month on fueling costs based on 12k miles per year.

In real terms for me, switching from a diesel V90 to a Tesla EV will result in a net saving of around £100 a month. The higher lease cost is offset by the fuel savings.

Oh and it goes like stink and runs silently all the time.

Have you included electricity costs (when you do pay) in that saving?

For me, the worry would be not being able to charge when I stopped. Called at Watford Gap south bound a couple of weekends ago and I thought there was going to be a fight when someone nipped the wrong way through the car park to get to a charge in front of another car - meaning all then full....

In London, people are putting their cars on charge to get a free parking space and leaving for hours, meaning those who need charge cant get any!

[yeoman]

Originally Posted by isleaiw

Have you included electricity costs (when you do pay) in that saving?

For me, the worry would be not being able to charge when I stopped. Called at Watford Gap south bound a couple of weekends ago and I thought there was going to be a fight when someone nipped the wrong way through the car park to get to a charge in front of another car - meaning all then full....

In London, people are putting their cars on charge to get a free parking space and leaving for hours, meaning those who need charge cant get any!

Obviously the infrastructure here in the UK is well behind many countries in Europe.
It will rapidly improve I reckon in 12-24 months.. The beauty about Tesla's and Audi is that the navigation will automatically re-route you to the nearest free charging station I am told.

[Haldex]

Originally Posted by yeoman

Pardon my interruption but I feel obliged to point out a few things.
The Audi etron is not 3 tonnes in weight.
It weighs 2.5 tonnes.

Lol

Originally Posted by yeoman

Of course it take hours, , but so what,?A 7Kw home charger will charge it to full in 13 hours. and the rapid charger network will get you to 80% in 30mins(if you find one( yes these are scarce at the moment but so were navigation systems in cars until fairly recently.
I am not so sure a 200 mile real world range is a round-town toy, unless you live in a town the size that currently does not exist.

As I said- to each his own.

Originally Posted by taylora

Do you sit and watch your mobile phone for 2 hours? No you plug it in and leave it and get on with something else.

Umm.. no. But I can charge my phone on the go. And it's not like I have to charge it 3-5 times a day, on special charging stations which are far and apart.

Originally Posted by taylora

With an ICE car doing a long journey I stop every 150 or so miles to pee/eat/drink so while I'm doing that the EV would be plugged in and after 30 mins back to 80%. For me it's definitely not a big deal. I do those kind of journeys a couple of times a year. Daily driving I rarely do more than 100 miles in a day.

Cool, good for you. My prostate is good and dandy- I really need not stop every hour (150kms) for an hour to drain my bladder, eat, drink, get a massage or whatever. My daily driver is my scott bicycle or public transport. We travel throughout Europe and France regularly and do about 30K kms/yr, never stopping for breaks in under 400-500kms. Eg. we do Paris to Strasbourg - just under 500kms- in one sitting- usually under 4 hrs. With an e-tron it would take a MINIMUM 1 full charge midway- and with fast chargers being next to non existent outside Paris- that means the same trip would take 6-8hrs. Just an eg.

I do understand that A LOT of people buy cars just to commute to work and back, go to shopping and maybe do a single family vacation trip annually- but if my requirements were such- I'd buy myself a Renault Zoe (at 1/3 the price of e-tron) and fly (or TGV..) to my vacation destination. But that's me.

[taylora]

Originally Posted by isleaiw

Have you included electricity costs (when you do pay) in that saving?

Yeah, so based on doing ALL my charging at home (which I won't) 48K miles over 4 years on the right electric tariff will be around £1.2k. In reality I'll use free charging at work and in public car parks here, so I think it will end up about half of that. Diesel equivalent costs for a V90 doing 48K miles (assuming 45MPG average, £1.30/ltr) is £6.3k.

Originally Posted by isleaiw

In London, people are putting their cars on charge to get a free parking space and leaving for hours, meaning those who need charge cant get any!

I can see that being an issue there but up here the charge network is currently blissfully quiet. I think some chargers stop after a max time of 2 hours depending on the location.

The Tesla Supercharger network can only be used by Tesla's so shouldn't be an issue on motorways. They also charge you 35p a minute if you hog a charger when you're car is full and there are cars waiting to charge. The max time you would need a Supercharger would be 45 mins to get 100%, which is not recommended other than for immediate long journey use. For daily use 80% is the sweet spot between range and charging time. That should take 30 mins. Which is about the same time I need to stretch my legs, pee, have a coffee and another pee.

[jonnyu]

Originally Posted by yeoman

I am in agreement with you.
I have a hybrid XC90 and plug my car in every night, and if i forget, VOC will keep reminding me to do so via my phones notifications( I set my home up as a charging station so I always get continual reminder if its not plugged in.)

Electric is the way forward and its here to stay.I just wish Volvo would hurry up with theirs.

This is where you lost me in your thought process. You already have a hybrid solution, which is the only way to go for now during the transition period at least until 2022 or 2023.
A full electric SUV today is a high risk bet. It will still be a moderated risk bet in 2023 but at least you will have more advancements by then that will make the EV a more viable solution than what they are now.

Also, if you are a current customer from Volvo, and knowing that they will introduce technology like wireless charging in their future lineup, it may not be the best investment if you already own a PHEV solution right now.

Changing a PHEV for a full EV solution now may be considered a more trendy solution than an economical/strategical one.

[taylora]

Originally Posted by Haldex

Blah, blah, blah...

A 300 mile range EV is fine for me, not for you.

Peace man. I'm not right and you're not wrong. It suits me, doesn't suit you. Your money, buy what you like.