Which EV would you get?

[icowden]

Pug Rifter or Citroen Berlingo tepee?
Boxy buses but do the job!

There are a few e-berlingos in the £11k bracket on autotrader. Peugeot e-rifter is outside of @BrumJim's price bracket.

 

[chris-suffolk]

There is probably one close than you think. Whereabouts is the village? I've found chargers all over the place.

Supermarkets are good usually.

Also - your mum likely has a power socket somewhere. You can use a granny charger and just drip charge. It's slow, but we do that regularly with my in-laws and usually get about 50% of the range back over night.

Drip charging would be fine, except the extension lead down the garden and across the road, as she can't park on her side - might not be the best idea I feel.
Out of interest I thought I'd look up chargers close to her - i.e. within 5 miles.

- 1 in a hotel - patrons only
- 1 in a golf club - members only
- 2 in a private country club
- 1 in a farm shop, not in the evening when we would arrive

So, all-in-all I'll keep the ICU car thanks. May cost more, but at least it works

As an aside, I live in a small town - approx 6000 people - no charging point within 5 miles, despite us having 3 public car parks and a supermarket. Infrastructure has a long way to go before it is fit for purpose.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Not sure what your price point is from that range.
I've just been looking at the Geely EX5 which starts at £31990 and has a decent amount of boot space with the seats down.
Absolutely loaded with tech.

There's also the Jaecoo E5 and Leapmotor B05 that might be worth a look.
Not sure why all these Chinese models are "5".

I couldn't envisage going down the Chinese route - I'd worry about spares, warranty claims and the service network.

Also, names like Seal & Sealion bother me - as well as buildyourdream emblazoned across the full width of a tailgate.

Call me old-fashioned.

 

[BrumJim]

I couldn't envisage going down the Chinese route - I'd worry about spares, warranty claims and the service network.

Also, names like Seal & Sealion bother me - as well as buildyourdream emblazoned across the full width of a tailgate.

Call me old-fashioned.

I can imagine that there will be a few Chinese companies that don't make it, but this fear seems very reminiscent of the Japanese invasion of the 70s. Although some made it bigger than others, I'm struggling to think of a Japanese car manufacturer that went to the wall.

When I was in China, BYD had a great reputation, so would expect them, at least, to survive.

But I am avoiding the GWM Funky Cat, despite the name.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I can imagine that there will be a few Chinese companies that don't make it, but this fear seems very reminiscent of the Japanese invasion of the 70s. Although some made it bigger than others, I'm struggling to think of a Japanese car manufacturer that went to the wall.

When I was in China, BYD had a great reputation, so would expect them, at least, to survive.

But I am avoiding the GWM Funky Cat, despite the name.

The Chery brand seems to be taking off locally (Kendal dealership), seeing quite a few of the (ugly) things on the road.

I just know I couldn't make the leap myself.

 

[Tenkaykev]

My Lucky Goldstar TV became LG, and I used to have a stereo manufactured by the Japanese Victor Corporation.

 

[Mike_P]

A car is a bit different to a TV. There were reports of insurance issues with Chinese EVs. Insurers wary of spares being available.

 

[fossyant]

My lad is a truck driver and knows of a large compound full of cars needing accident repairs - spares are in short supply for many of these Chinese cars. LED headlights - hugely expensive !

 

[icowden]

Drip charging would be fine, except the extension lead down the garden and across the road, as she can't park on her side - might not be the best idea I feel.

OK - fair point!

Out of interest I thought I'd look up chargers close to her - i.e. within 5 miles.

- 1 in a hotel - patrons only
- 1 in a golf club - members only
- 2 in a private country club
- 1 in a farm shop, not in the evening when we would arrive

Also fair enough. Still puzzled as to where she lives though that has so little infrastructure - I've found chargers in pretty unusual places on my travels. The one in Ashbourne was probably my biggest surprise.

As an aside, I live in a small town - approx 6000 people - no charging point within 5 miles, despite us having 3 public car parks and a supermarket. Infrastructure has a long way to go before it is fit for purpose.

Again, you don't really give a clue as to where you live but most medium to large towns in Suffolk have at least one fast charger. I'm in Walton on Thames in Surrey. There are no fast chargers yet in Walton, but there's one a Lidl in Hersham, one at the petrol station down the road, another couple at the BP at Hampton Court, more at Morrisons in Weybridge.

We had a holiday to Hartland Quay in Devon. Very much nothing around there, but I drove the 16 miles to Bideford, got the food shopping and left the car on a fast charger at Morrisons (they had 6 of them). Full power by the time I finished shopping. On the second to last day I drove from there to Brighton - stopped at a lovely farm shop while we had lunch and then found another carpark with a destination charger in Brighton.

 

[icowden]

I couldn't envisage going down the Chinese route - I'd worry about spares, warranty claims and the service network.

Why? Geely might be a fairly unknown Chinese marque but they own Volvo, Lotus, Polestar, Zeekr, LEVC and Proton

Leapmotor is owned by Stellantis who also own Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel, Vauxhall, FIat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Maserati, CHrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.

Omoda and Jaecoo are owned by Chery - they also have a 50:50 ownership of Jaguar Land Rover.

None of these companies is just going to go out of business.

Also, names like Seal & Sealion bother me - as well as buildyourdream emblazoned across the full width of a tailgate.
Call me old-fashioned.

BYD are quite expensive.

 

[icowden]

. LED headlights - hugely expensive !

I find that hard to believe given that just about every new car has them.

 

[Mike_P]

I find that hard to believe given that just about every new car has them.

Typically a specific shape per model hence the price goes upwards quickly