Richard In the interest of being absolutely honest with you and everyone else I’m pretty shocked at the range. It’s nowhere near where I thought it would be. Its actually shocking tbh. I’ve had the car 3wks this coming Wednesday and I’ve charged to 80% 2 times, each time it says I have approx 250-265 miles left. The cars currently on 321 miles. Just to give it context the 2 times I’ve charged it cost me £28 and 30. I cant recall the miles per kw its on but I should definitely think I’d get more that 321 miles. The more I live with it the more I seem to contradict myself at the moment. So this is my current pros and cons list now that the novelty of the car has worn off. Pros Personally love the look of it especially with the bigger wheels Quiet Cabin *Lovely to drive – very smooth and holds the road superbly even with the upgraded 21″ alloys Decent gadgets considering it’s the base model. Cons Ride Height not much better than a standard saloon – I can from a Tiguan R Line so struggling to adapt. The adjustable steering wheel is woefully inadequate. Does not rise anywhere near as high as other cars I’ve had, even other VW’s – can see many folk struggling with this tbh The seating position just isn’t comfortable for longer journeys – felt OK in my 5 mile test drive and for 20 min journeys but we went to Leeds in it 3 days after I got it and in truth my shoulders still haven’t recovered. Hence the astrix above. Came from a tiguan so getting in and out of this is something I actually dread. This explains why it’s on 300miles in 3wks Inc a round trip from Leeds from Manchester. Normally with a new car you look for excuses so you can whizz about in it but with me I seem to be putting things off. The whole move to electric is an absolute no no for me in hindsight. I got the car so quick that I’m still waiting for the home charge install and the public network just isn’t disabled friendly. The bays you park in to charge just aint wide enough to get out if another car charges next to me. Its a ridiculous situation in truth. And on top of all this I’m still wounded that I paid 7k as an AP. I Justified this with “its a 52k car” but its not a 52k car it’s a 30k car at best that is being priced at 52k. Most of the cons are my own fault as I saw the car and wanted it. The test drive was inadequate but in hindsight I let my heart rule my head because I didn’t think about the bigger picture of Charging, my own mobility needs etc so I have been stung through nobody else’s fault but my own. Going to persist with it for a few months and if things don’t improve will speak to motability about a change or to even cancel and go private. Already spoke to them today and they have been very supportive in truth. Let’s see what happens
Nas – Thank you for providing a balanced review on your experience of having an EV (and in particular the ID5) as a disabled driver. Hopefully others will take your comments into consideration before ordering and not just get carried away by the cheap AP, which sounds as though it’s cheap for a reason!
I had an EV for a full day day recently (BMW iX1) and even though I like BMWs, and love our current petrol X1, it wasn’t for me and I’m glad to have been given the chance to try it properly. The engine in our 2.0i petrol X1 is whisper quiet, so I didn’t benefit from the quiet drive that EV owners talk about (as I have that already) and the stated range, which is already around half of what I actually achieve in the petrol X1, plummets when you drive it ‘normally’. I also didn’t like the way that it drove and found the fact that the car feels like it’s braking when you take your foot off the accelerator to be quite disconcerting.
When anyone gets a new car, their feedback is generally very positive to start with, as it is generally more modern and with better tech than their previous one and people are understandably excited. It’s only when you live with the car for some months that you begin to get a more balanced view. In your case, you have major concerns and issues already and this says to me that the car isn’t right for you.
In situations such as this Motability are usually extremely good. If you explain that you were only given a short test drive and are finding a number of significant issues with the car (actual range, difficulty charging, access / egress problems, driving position etc) then I think you will find that they will let you hand it back and get a different car. I wouldn’t mention the fact that the AP has been slashed, as they may get the impression that you are making up problems because you feel ripped off. If they allow you to change you will get a pro-rata refund of the AP that you paid anyway, so there’s no need to mention that. You may lose the £1k that you paid for the upgraded alloys, as the cost of optional extras aren’t usually refunded with an early termination, but in your situation this may be a small price to pay. Good luck.