Thanks for the info! As far as I’m concerned a ZS would be an ideal car for her - she rarely drives further than the local town and back, the tax would be tiny and we’d be able to keep it charged for free from our solar panels at home.
So far, however, I’ve failed to get her sold on the idea of an EV. The comment was ”the last thing I want is another thing in this house that only you have control of!” (The solar charging). She just wants another petrol car she can top up at will.
I’ve tried looking into plug in hybrids so both options would exist, but they’re expensive and limited in choice in the small hatchback size she wants, plus I know it would end up getting run on electric 90% of the time so it makes no sense to me to have the extra complexity and cost of the ICE part of the drivetrain to maintain. So for now, we are back to searching for an ICE car to get her through the next five years until she sees the light and will agree to an EV.
My conclusion for now is to let her have what she wants and I’ll change my petrol Audi for an EV in a year or so, when the cars in that size range become a bit more affordable. That will maybe make EVs seem a bit more familiar and less scary to her.
Thanks to all who have answered my questions on this thread.
Well, 2021 is most likely a 1.gen, so there is not very much to "control" it has no app.
In what sense does she mean, you have control, if you buy a charger that can be programmed to charge at the optimum time and she has the app, there really is not a lot to "control"
We have the 2.gen, both me and my wife has the app, both for the charger and the car, i have no more control over the car, than she does.
I even added a chip to the charger, so that she would be able to start it, if it loses wifi/internet connection and could not be "released" for charge by the app and i am not at home. (Just a simple mifare chip, that tell the charger it can charge). We have to have ours locked, it is facing the street and i dont want to risk, someone "sneaky" parking in my driveway when i am away or on holiday, charging "for free"
To be honest, if i were you i would try and atleast convince her to have a go in one, i bet, when she drives it, she will pretty quickly find that it is much easier, only 2 pedals, no gear selection, automatic parking brake, hill start assist so that it does not roll backwards when stopped on an incline.
No risk of stalling he engine, no need for her to even go to the petrol station, getting her hands dirty with petrol/diesel smell, etc.