Had really wanted a second hand Mercedes GLE350 (I fancied the three litre diesel rather than the 2.1) it just seemed to be that the exact spec I wanted was out of reach, for various reasons. The GLC was next on the list (again second-hand), where it would appear the bigger engine models are to be avoided due to the 'crabbing issue'. Both really nice looking cars (imho) but then I noticed the EQC range and started looking at them on the internet.
Popped up to F*rds of Winsford who initially had sold the one I wanted to look at (my fault, should have checked before I left) then couldn't find the other one that was supposed to be there. No matter, they got another one in and we arranged to go and try it the following weekend. This turned out to be a massive mistake and waste of time/fuel, as the salesman was clueless about them and tried to put me off buying one. This intensified when he realised I didn't want his mega money PCP scheme, so we were fed probably half an hour of lies/nonsense/very hard sell from him and his manager. Had a test drive, loved the car but cannot forgive hard sellers and pushy people (they were honestly awful, clearly just wanted finance commission) so looked round on the internet and found this...
It's a better spec than the FoW one ('Premium', as opposed to AMG) and first impressions are very favourable. It's blooming lovely inside, seems to drive beautifully and has a great spec. Haven't got a charger at home (I know, I know) but we go into town two or three times a week so thought I'd charge at one of the shopping car parks.
So far (one attempt) it didn't go well: two or three of the chargers (they have loads) didn't work, the internet access was patchy (which effectively ruled out using the app) and then the charge was so slow. It'd do if you were desperate for a few miles of charge, but it was estimating something like 7 or 8 hours to full charge from about 30%. You've obviously got the parking fees on top of that, so to me it didn't really make much sense unless parking there anyway.
Yesterday I tried a super fast charger up the road. Bit fiddly to work, but I rang the company and they were very helpful. The lady estimated 40 minutes from 35 mile range showing to full, so parked up (they have cameras) locked it up and went for a long walk with the dog. It took 72 minutes to 98% in the end, my son says they are a slower rate up to something like 40% charge, then ramp up until they hit 80% and then slow down again. It would seem it's best to charge them to 80% and then do it again when it hits about 40%, I think.
Not going to be massively inconvenient as we don't go especially far (except for holiday once or twice a year, and a couple of trips to London) so hopefully it'll work out for us.
Obviously some of the haters have been at it 'It'll catch on fire/not a proper car/trains full of lithium juice are exploding every day/yadda yadda yadda' but I bought it because I like it.
Popped up to F*rds of Winsford who initially had sold the one I wanted to look at (my fault, should have checked before I left) then couldn't find the other one that was supposed to be there. No matter, they got another one in and we arranged to go and try it the following weekend. This turned out to be a massive mistake and waste of time/fuel, as the salesman was clueless about them and tried to put me off buying one. This intensified when he realised I didn't want his mega money PCP scheme, so we were fed probably half an hour of lies/nonsense/very hard sell from him and his manager. Had a test drive, loved the car but cannot forgive hard sellers and pushy people (they were honestly awful, clearly just wanted finance commission) so looked round on the internet and found this...
It's a better spec than the FoW one ('Premium', as opposed to AMG) and first impressions are very favourable. It's blooming lovely inside, seems to drive beautifully and has a great spec. Haven't got a charger at home (I know, I know) but we go into town two or three times a week so thought I'd charge at one of the shopping car parks.
So far (one attempt) it didn't go well: two or three of the chargers (they have loads) didn't work, the internet access was patchy (which effectively ruled out using the app) and then the charge was so slow. It'd do if you were desperate for a few miles of charge, but it was estimating something like 7 or 8 hours to full charge from about 30%. You've obviously got the parking fees on top of that, so to me it didn't really make much sense unless parking there anyway.
Yesterday I tried a super fast charger up the road. Bit fiddly to work, but I rang the company and they were very helpful. The lady estimated 40 minutes from 35 mile range showing to full, so parked up (they have cameras) locked it up and went for a long walk with the dog. It took 72 minutes to 98% in the end, my son says they are a slower rate up to something like 40% charge, then ramp up until they hit 80% and then slow down again. It would seem it's best to charge them to 80% and then do it again when it hits about 40%, I think.
Not going to be massively inconvenient as we don't go especially far (except for holiday once or twice a year, and a couple of trips to London) so hopefully it'll work out for us.
Obviously some of the haters have been at it 'It'll catch on fire/not a proper car/trains full of lithium juice are exploding every day/yadda yadda yadda' but I bought it because I like it.
