Back to diesel

[adiel]

I've covered over 5,000 miles in my MG4 Trophy since November, on mainly long day trips of between 350 and 450 miles, largely at motorway speeds over the coldest of winters and my charging 'down-time' has been 10 to 20 minutes maximum per journey. (i.e. the time I sit in the car charging rather than doing something else whilst charging - eating, toilet break, attend football game/show etc) My personal experience clearly bears no resemblance to others and our MG4 and ZS Long Range suit us well. We've owned a ZS EV Mk1, BMW i3, MG5 LR, and a Hyundai Ioniq Electric prior to our current EV's without any major dramas, even though some of these cars have a shorter range and slower charging times than our current EV's. It's all down to personal driving style, circumstances and whether you are a planner or not in my experience, so an EV won't work for everyone.

 

[farmer boy]

Bought mg zs long range last November,excellent car local journeys,charging at home easy,affordable.
Longer higher speed journeys 70mph,cooler weather the range is rubbish (most ev suffer with this),not fit for purpose for me(can’t even go to llanberis and back with heating on 70mph 170 miles)
Will wait until battery technology improves and then re look at it.

I have a ZS long rang and feel I jumped too soon, love the car but the infrastructure for charging
is not there, not repaired when broken very quickly .I have a home charger.
Went to Norfolk for a holiday and it was a constant worry to find a high-speed charger working, ie at least 50 KW.
Should have bought an HS PHEV.

 

[Lovemyev]

I have a ZS long rang and feel I jumped too soon, love the car but the infrastructure for charging
is not there, not repaired when broken very quickly .I have a home charger.
Went to Norfolk for a holiday and it was a constant worry to find a high-speed charger working, ie at least 50 KW.
Should have bought an HS PHEV.

Of course the longer holiday trip to Norfolk would have been less stressful in the PHEV, but only because of the lack of working chargers on route for your car.
I don’t think many would argue against that fact, but the focus here is on that one special trip.
If you are carrying out a lot of longer trips or holidaying a LOT, then the PHEV will be a less stressful option of course.
We are back to the “suitability / user” case for EV motoring.
As you say, you love the car and it is very capable of carrying out the longer trips / holiday requirements, but it’s the lack of faith in the infrastructure is the problem !.
Some people who are considering putting a toe in the water with regards to the move towards an EV may try a PHEV first, this is what I did.
But after driving the PHEV for a very short time, I knew my next car would have to be a full BEV.
We had the PHEV for four years and it was a great car, but it is no match against a full EV trust me !.
Once that short range has depleted, you are carrying a lot of excess weight on longer trips, then your returns on MPG is not as great as you may think.

 

[DangerousDoug]

Bought mg zs long range last November,excellent car local journeys,charging at home easy,affordable.
Longer higher speed journeys 70mph,cooler weather the range is rubbish (most ev suffer with this),not fit for purpose for me(can’t even go to llanberis and back with heating on 70mph 170 miles)
Will wait until battery technology improves and then re look at it.

I would advise to take the long term view. Both my wife and I have been driving electric now for 3 years (first electric car was an MG ZS EV Mk1 (160mile range at best), then I replaced my well-loved Volvo V70 diesel with a Kia e-Niro (270 miles range) for longer journeys. We've just replaced the ZS EV with an MG4 (210 miles range over winter - looking forward to better figures in summer). So we've lived through the bad years of charging infrastructure and I've noticed a very great improvement in public charger availability and reliability in the last year or so. Also, we've seen a spike in electricity prices due to the Ukraine war (and fuel prices too), but we're also seeing unprecidented levels of investment in wind and solar - particularly wind - in the UK, which is driving down generation costs for the longer term. I confidently predict that in 3 years' time you'll be seeing MUCH lower electricity costs combined with much higher fuel costs. If you're able to charge your EV mostly from home, then the economics are already compelling (we pay < 3p per mile for most journeys) and will continue to trend downwards. This means that over time the resale value of EVs will hold up, whereas those of ICE cars will crash (we got back a good 2/3 of our ZS EV purchase price at trade-in for the MG4, at a time when there was a glut of them in the dealers). Of course this doesn't even mention the fact that driving ICE cars (particularly diesels) is poisoning those around us, especially if you're driving in urban conditions. In the past we surpressed our conciences regarding this poison, as there wasn't an alternative. Now there is, so there's no excuise any more (I loved my V70, but came to this conclusion a while back). So for us there's absolutely no going back!

 

[Bodgerx]

I have a ZS long rang and feel I jumped too soon, love the car but the infrastructure for charging
is not there, not repaired when broken very quickly .I have a home charger.
Went to Norfolk for a holiday and it was a constant worry to find a high-speed charger working, ie at least 50 KW.
Should have bought an HS PHEV.

It was a constant worry, but was it a constant reality?

 

[John Sauve Rodd]

MG is not representative of all EVs. If you are going back to diesel on that basis then you have the wrong impression.

On the range aspect, there's all sorts of counter arguments and experiences that contradict yours, but hey, it's your choice, and your mind sounds made up.

My last ICE car, a French diesel, I had for 60000 miles; some maths with the V5C and I calculated I'd produced 12 metric tons of CO2 not counting any Nitrogen gases; this is why I will stay electric for the rest of my days. Most car journeys are short and recharging is easy (home) however the public charger n/work in the UK is poor and so long journeys are v difficult. But at the end we are, one BEV at a time, helping the towns and cities be less polluted.

 

[MikeN]

When deciding to go full EV, then consideration much be matched carefully against the usage needs of the owner for them to work successfully for 99% of the time.
If I was conducting journey lengths that required me spending £130 - £140 on external charging fees, then I would never if considered one in the first place TBH.
The highly inflated costs of charging on the move on a regular basis, has cancelled out the cost savings over fossil fuel.
We cover about 10,000 miles a year in our ZS EV Gen2 and its range capacity suits us just fine !.
We never charge on the move and the cost savings over a fossil car has been very very rewarding.
If I wanted to take a really long trip a couple of times a year, then I am prepared to pay the extra cost of public charging.
So, am I limited - NO.
The other 50 weeks of the year is massively cheaper than using a fossil car.
This is because the car matches my usage case for at least 95% of the time.
If you are pounding the motorways on a regular basis, racking up thousands and thousands of miles, then an oil burner was a better option in the first place .

Fully agree with you. Must do your research before you buy.

 

[gazzaw]

I'm not sure what you people are doing but I have a 2021 zs with a range of 150 miles and I regularly do longer miles. I've just been away for 4 days and covered 280 miles. Charged up fully before I left and topped up once on a fast charger at a cost of around £35 in total. If I'd had the 290 mile range facelift model one full charge would have done me for less cost as I would have filled up at home. So not sure what's occuring here. Also DominicGrimes what's the no DAB all about? Are you in the Orkneys?