EV's
So the Mrs got an E-Golf. Fully electric as a lease car through her company. I didn't get involved in the decision making etc. In part it was because her car was end of life having had the cat stolen from under it at the station but it was pretty tired.
I didn't really think too much about it. However having now driven it a bit it's an absolute blast. It's not like driving a car. It's like your driving an RC Tamiya car from back in the day but your actually in it. It really shifts. The initial get away is not amazing but the 10-15 to say 50 mph is dispatched in an instant. It's the instant torque which sets it apart from a petrol / diesel. Its really quiet refined and smooth with no gear changes it's just seamless. Being the mk 7 golf its good on the inside as well. From the outside its boring as fk to look at. It has a few modes and one which you can recover energy when decelerating - I think enables the motor as a generator something like that. But its almost like you've go the brake on at like 40% when in this mode and off the throttle. You barely need to brake. It's kind of fun seeing if you can drive with no braking whatsoever. I'm sure it will be the culprit of some accidents as I don't think the brake lights show but the deceleration is more than expected. Whilst it's doing the same thing as driving a conventional car its that different that it's just fun and exciting.
The whole range and charging thing still has to be worked through. Really drops if you have the air con on. Just getting used to it. For the most part it's just going to be used for local stuff so thats probably ok.
The e-Golf will be no more from next year as VW will only be making EV's which are specific by design i.e. the wont try and fit an existing petrol / diesel model with electric power, more the will be specific electric cars of their own platform.
Probably many in the forum will not have interest in such a car - and TBH I didn't before we got it. Now I just find myself taking it out most of the time as it's just a complete hoot to drive. It's really easy - steering is super light and for local point an squirt driving it's very compliant in the suspension but still stiff enough to have a little fun. You can easily get the wheels to spin up on a slightly damp surface. Not sure if it has some diff trickery in there.
EV's are probably early on in their life cycle - charging and range is all the thing.
I think if a manufacturer can come up with a way by which instead of charging the battery you swap the battery for a fully charged version at a - cant call them petrol station - 'Energy Station' then there is the game changer. It would be like back in the day where you had the Tamiya RC cars and instead of waiting for that charge to happen you have a few batteries on chargers and you just swap out the battery -boom you are off and racing again. Many issues to get over as I'm sure the batteries deteriorate over time.
Hold on to your Scoobs - they will become rare and exotic classic's in a matter of years.
Word.
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