Dilemma - stick or twist re vehicle choice

[interbear]

I have the 2005 Sprinter RV as my other vehicle, but as it's eight and a half feet wide it's less efficient than your modern VW, only getting 18 MPG, so I drive and even camp almost exclusively in the Model 3. I have friends who have a Model X for their travel vehicle, but the only thing that makes them better is the Free Supercharging for Life, and I missed out on that. Personally I would stick with the VW as I have used my Sprinter extensively, even treated it as a daily driver for years before I got the TM3. So nice to have all that functionality with you even if you don't need it, and at the high MPG you get seems a waste to get rid of it.

I consider ours useful even just parked out front in case we have a disaster or too many houseguests. We used the fridge to save the bulk of the expensive food in our fridge when our old one went out at the start of the pandemic. That was fun .

Why do you guys say MPG? Don't you guys use metric over there?

No chance of us getting rid of the VW camper van. And yes it’s still MPG in the UK, the rest of Europe use metric, we’re still stubbornly sticking to MPG

 

[looseend]

No chance of us getting rid of the VW camper van. And yes it’s still MPG in the UK, the rest of Europe use metric, we’re still stubbornly sticking to MPG

but our Gs are different than American Gs ...

 

[interbear]

Tebay Northbound and Annadale Water services are both getting SuperChargers so the M74 will become much easier when they arrive, can't do much about CPS being rubbish but we are just starting to see the networks like GridServe, Instavolt, Fastned taking an interest in Scotland.

That’s good to hear. Would definitely help with my regular journey.

 

[interbear]

but our Gs are different than American Gs ...

Yes that’s true. 1 imperial gallon is 1.2 US gallons. Just to further confuse us all.

Surprisingly really, I’d have thought the Americans would have wanted their gallons to be bigger than ours

 

[Casss]

Ooh let’s do tons next!

Then coinage, then ISO date standards

 

[Mrklaw]

Agree, I knew there would be an impact of the wind and torrential rain on the range but didn’t expect quite so much of an impact. Now I know so can plan ahead. On alternative M4 chargers, I’ve used Reading and Wokingham before. Getting to the Reading chargers from the M4 is a right pain.

That’s good to know, I’ve not used before - usually pop into membury for that section. Hilton park is probably a faff as it’s off the motorway too

 

[WannabeOwner]

Why do you guys say MPG? Don't you guys use metric over there?

Hehehe ...

Europe does. We failed to meet the deadlines to implement it ... repeatedly ... even back when we were in EEC, let alone EU.

At some point we taught school kids only Metric, ready for the big switch over ... then we never did, so they were stuck never having been taught the old Imperial units.

We went though a period where market stalls weren't allowed to write the Imperial weight measurements on fruit and veg price cards on their stalls ... which confused the hell out of the older generation of shoppers ... then we relented and allowed them so long as they had "both"

Now we've stopped caring about metric weights. My pesky SatNav is Americanised and tells me its XXX feet to the junction ... I need YARDS for that measurement. Why do Americans love big numbers? Thousands of feet to a junction, and hundreds of pounds for someone's weight - you need to use a bigger units You also failed to keep up back in 1824 when we standardised the size of a Gallon between Wine and Beer and you stuck with the Queen Anne 20% smaller measurement. So your cars' MPG is rubbish compared to ours because we have a much better gallon to start with

We pay for our Petrol / Diesel price-per-Litre (that came in when the pumps couldn't do more than £1.99 per "unit", and as rising Petrol price approached that "per gallon" they switched to "per litre"). But our cars do MPG. Road sign distances are miles, and car speed MPH.

Either irritatingly or quaintly British, take your pick.

 

[init6]

Why do you guys say MPG? Don't you guys use metric over there?

Yes and no.

Crazy Brits like to keep imperial measurement for some things. Reminds them of empire and all that

 

[MashinBenzin]

I had the same experience of bristol to Heathrow and return on a wet and windy December day. 93% consumed for 198 miles and that with nursing it at 54mph for the last 40 from Membury (superchargers full, tired and emotional daughter so didn’t wait).

Stick though. Your model Y is probably worth £35-40k, it’s not the right time to soak up the depreciation hit. Use that nice van more for the long runs.

 

[WannabeOwner]

return on a wet and windy December day

... and that with nursing it at 54mph for the last 40

My understanding is that whilst reducing speed will help with aero, the tires have to push the same amount of water out of the way for the same number of miles, so its a snag that can't be solved if range is tight - short of parking up and waiting for sunshine to dry the road!

 

[MashinBenzin]

My understanding is that whilst reducing speed will help with aero, the tires have to push the same amount of water out of the way for the same number of miles, so its a snag that can't be solved if range is tight - short of parking up and waiting for sunshine to dry the road!

It did make a fair old difference. Here are the three legs from Heathrow.

Heathrow to Reading services, variable speed limits 291 wh/m

Reading services to Membury, normal driving 410 wh/m

Membury to home, first lane cruising behind a HGV 253 wh/m

What’s stark is that the average speeds for each leg are so close. Hypermiling doesn’t really kill your journey time that much on a typically busy motorway.

When I left Membury the predicted arrival percentage went from 2 to 0 and it warned I wouldn’t make it. But I eked it up to 4/5% quite rapidly so didn’t have to invoke my backup plan of charging at my Swindon office.

ETA that the second leg has 530ft of altitude gained whereas leg three has an altitude loss so the wh/m difference is amplified. Nonetheless I only ‘saved’ the range by cruising.

 

[interbear]

I had the same experience of bristol to Heathrow and return on a wet and windy December day. 93% consumed for 198 miles and that with nursing it at 54mph for the last 40 from Membury (superchargers full, tired and emotional daughter so didn’t wait).

Stick though. Your model Y is probably worth £35-40k, it’s not the right time to soak up the depreciation hit. Use that nice van more for the long runs.

Thanks, appreciate the input. Sticking to the Model Y seems to be winning so far and is probably the right choice. Would probably be good for the van to get some long runs so I’ll try it on my next trip to Scotland and see what difference it makes in terms of journey time (no charge wait times or stops) and cost (diesel vs supercharging).

 

[Mrklaw]

Thanks, appreciate the input. Sticking to the Model Y seems to be winning so far and is probably the right choice. Would probably be good for the van to get some long runs so I’ll try it on my next trip to Scotland and see what difference it makes in terms of journey time (no charge wait times or stops) and cost (diesel vs supercharging).

make note of stops too - eg wee/coffee/food - how often and for how long (as they could be charging while you’re there). For us at least we now stop at least as often as we’d need to charge (if not more - the longer the trip, the more often we’ll stop towards the end as we get tired/fidgety).

 

[ItsBlacknWhite]

Stick. We‘ve run a Kia Niro Phev 4 years now and M3LR just over a year. I use the Phev now mostly for school runs (daily 24 miles), lads Sunday football (covered in mud ). Have to charge every school night unless M3 needs a top up. Cold weather the Phev petrol engine kicks to warm the car(takes an age compared to M3) while driving in electric mode, the petrol engine noise then annoys me. It revs higher than normal idle ICE to heat the cabin. Even when stationary at say a red light every other modern ICE is quiet but Phev petrol is idling loudly while in EV mode (Cold weather only). No pre-heating cabin/seats etc. (spoilt with M3). It’s a quality made car and smooth in EV mode (circa 30 miles local winter/36 local summer/26 motorway at 70). However after living with M3 for over a year its like going back in time and 2 steps back every time I drive the PHEV.

 

[interbear]

make note of stops too - eg wee/coffee/food - how often and for how long (as they could be charging while you’re there). For us at least we now stop at least as often as we’d need to charge (if not more - the longer the trip, the more often we’ll stop towards the end as we get tired/fidgety).

I have no issues with several 20 or 30 minute charging stops on a journey from South Wales to Glasgow. I prefer to stop, unwind, have a coffee and charge the car while doing so. No problem. Having to wait an extra 20 or 30 minutes to get a charging slot is a problem however. That’s what those building the infrastructure need to help us avoid.

 

[interbear]

Stick. We‘ve run a Kia Niro Phev 4 years now and M3LR just over a year. I use the Phev now mostly for school runs (daily 24 miles), lads Sunday football (covered in mud ). Have to charge every school night unless M3 needs a top up. Cold weather the Phev petrol engine kicks to warm the car(takes an age compared to M3) while driving in electric mode, the petrol engine noise then annoys me. It revs higher than normal idle ICE to heat the cabin. Even when stationary at say a red light every other modern ICE is quiet but Phev petrol is idling loudly while in EV mode (Cold weather only). No pre-heating cabin/seats etc. (spoilt with M3). It’s a quality made car and smooth in EV mode (circa 30 miles local winter/36 local summer/26 motorway at 70). However after living with M3 for over a year its like going back in time and 2 steps back every time I drive the PHEV.

Interesting to hear from a PHEV and Tesla owner, thanks. If I was to go this route the new Kia Sportage PHEV would be high on the list of options actually, I’d assume it’s a generation ahead of your Niro in terms of drive train tech, reviews seem very positive. However I can’t help thinking it would be a potential step backwards and that does concern me

 

[roadcred]

Interesting, thanks. I should indeed consider the “realistic” range of PHEV. I was looking at those marketed to do 40-60 miles so probably half that in reality.

I had a BMW 2 Series Active Tourer 225XE PHEV on the basis it would take me to central london and back a total of 26 miles on electric. It never used to last on even one leg of the trip. Returned it to BMW after 10 days! They claimed a 50 mile range at the time.

 

[roadcred]

Yes and no.

Crazy Brits like to keep imperial measurement for some things. Reminds them of empire and all that

Not crazy but eminently practical. All important measurements can be assessed by using the body. An inch is the distance from the knuckle joint to the end of the thumb.4 inches is the width of the fist. A foot is the length of a shoe. The yard is a normal male stride. 6 feet is the height of a human. The metric system has no practical basis. We had to change because computers were designed to work on the basis of 10 not 12. However mental arithmetic is markedly easier in imperial money and measures.

 

[FastLaneJB]

I think a good option would be the new Mercedes GLC. You can get it as a hybrid with either a petrol or diesel engine so fuel economy with a diesel should be semi reasonable you'd hope. It's got a claimed range of around 80 miles on electric so should you'd hope pull off 50 miles realistically.

Also of course remember that on longer trips for a reasonable part of it it's part engine, part electric so the fuel economy should also be greatly increased for part of that journey. Only once it's flat is it a regular petrol / diesel with the extra weight impacting fuel economy.

 

[WannabeOwner]

We had to change because computers were designed to work on the basis of 10 not 12

That seems pretty suspect! Binary, Octal, Hexadecimal and all that ...