EVs - Test Drives and Impressions of NZ Available Models

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#3123764 5-Sep-2023 10:24

alasta:

Climate controls should not be buried in a touch screen interface. It's something that Peugeot tried years ago and got slammed for by motoring journalists because it was a terrible user experience.

Maybe that's because Peugeot couldn't make a climate control system that can keep a set temperature properly? My car with its climate controls in the touch screen does, so I have rarely needed to adjust it since setting the temperature to 22c when I first got it.

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Dingbatt

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#3123766 5-Sep-2023 10:34

Test drive thread?

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sultanoswing

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#3123857 5-Sep-2023 14:25

Dingbatt:
Test drive thread?

When I test drove an Enyaq, I can see how fiddling with electronic controls could a) take some getting used to and b) potentially be more difficult and distracting than physical controls.

This is perhaps moreso given most of us are right handed, and with RHD drive cars, we tend to use our non dominant hand for the fine motor skills required to operate the touch screen.

Voice activated, a la Knight rider, would be easier, but need to be reliable.

At least that was my test drive experience.

sultanoswing

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#3145117 10-Oct-2023 21:31

Not so much a test drive, as a new owner's driving impressions of the Skoda Enyaq coupe which just arrived yesterday!

Smooth, powerful, comfortable, quiet, provides a high ride height, and haven't even dented the 520km range after a couple of days driving about town.

Well appointed interior, with comfortable surfaces throughout. Loads of rear passenger room. Lots of nice tech, and the infotainment system is suitably responsive, with a nice screen. However, note there are no OTA network functions e.g. Skoda App link, in Aus or NZ (yet?). Still getting used to finding certain items & functions in the menus e.g. stationary air conditioning.

Very decent boot space - especially compared to smaller / mid size EVs like the Kona.

Glass panoramic roof is really nice & lightens up the interior considerably.

Adequate visibility & an easy car to get around in. Regenerative braking on maximum doesn't stop the car, but does slow it almost to a complete stop.

The above comparisons are to our two 50 year old classic sports cars, and an ageing but still reliable 2005 Mondeo wagon.

Dingbatt

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#3145154 11-Oct-2023 07:06

Does the Coupe roofline compromise headroom in the rear seats? Or space in the boot when compared to the regular Enyaq? I recognise there will be less boot volume, but is the difference huge? I have been waiting for the Coupe to arrive as it is the most appealing (imo) of the Enyaq models.

The ‘test drive’ impressions of owners are very much relevant. Once the initial shine wears off, any “really likes” or “am disappointed by” provide insights for prospective future owners.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

sultanoswing

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#3145155 11-Oct-2023 07:18

Dingbatt:
Does the Coupe roofline compromise headroom in the rear seats? Or space in the boot when compared to the regular Enyaq? I recognise there will be less boot volume, but is the difference huge?

I'm 179.5cm, and have about 5cm headroom clearance sitting in the rear seats. The glass roof extends over the rear seats, and helps provide a little more headroom as a result.

Officially, the coupe has 570L boot volume vs 585 for the regular Enyaq.

I can't directly compare the regular Enyaq, since we don't have one :)

lchiu7

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#3145382 11-Oct-2023 15:23

alasta:

Climate controls should not be buried in a touch screen interface. It's something that Peugeot tried years ago and got slammed for by motoring journalists because it was a terrible user experience.

The Atto3 has a combination of touch controlsl, and physical buttons.

I tend to use voice most of the time since I am running Android Auto and that screen hides all the car controls. But you can say Hey BYD (or even easierl, press the mic button on the steering wheel) 1) turn on AC 2) turn on heater 3) set fan speed to 3 (e.g.) 4) set temperature to 22 5) turn on defrost and pretty much all the time the car responds correctly. There are also a couple of buttons on the console next to the driver to turn on the fan and turn on defrost.

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PJ48

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#3159568 14-Nov-2023 22:20

Under the "Impressions" category - I thought I would report on my recent experience of driving our new MG4 Excite 51 Nelson- Dunedin return over 4 days, covering 1634 km.

We went down the east coast via Blenheim, as there is no charging at Springs Junction yet, and Murchison-Culverden is pushing the limits of the 51 kWh battery, if starting at 80% charge, and the Murchison charger sometimes faults. Total EV efficiency for the whole trip was 16.3 kWh/100km. Was averaging closer to 15.8 until we hit a stiff nor west headwind for the last 300 km, and that pushed the average out a bit.

Overall impressions were excellent - handles incredibly well, slight wind noise around the mirror but nothing terrible. Seats very comfortable. Efficiency did not drop much fully loaded with university stuff and son for return trip. Usual grumble about the Lane keep assistance. I use the right hand steering wheel toggle to control AC as well as the audio controls - really quick and intuitive.

My learnings - 22kW AC chargers only charge at 6.6 kW as that is the limit of the onboard MG4 unit. So really only useful if staying at a motel which I did not do. New hub in Blenheim by the railway line roundabout has 5 x 150 kW hyper chargers - brilliant new facility, and Karaka kitchen is directly opposite with excellent food and coffee. Rolleston Z energy has 4 chargers including 2 x 180kW chargers at 0.69/kWh. Orari has a 150kW charger with a great wee cafe next door. I had multiple occasions where the charger I planned to use was already in use, so I tried to always have enough charge on board so I could get to the next town if needed. I can already see how thinly spread the Ev charging network is - it will need significant expansion to avoid a lot of grumpy EV owners in the South Island. If charged to 80% I had a range of approx 260 km, which means about 200 km if I wanted 50 km spare. The hyper chargers made a bit of a difference, but the 88 kW charge rate quickly dropped down to approx 50 kW so not as much difference as you would think on the 51 kW model.

jonathan18

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#3159588 15-Nov-2023 08:02

@PJ48: Glad to see you’re enjoying the MG4; despite a number of little annoyances, it’s an enjoyable drive.

At the risk of getting told off for going OT, I assume your references to charging to 80% were not in relation to home charging (given the Excite 51 has an LFP battery, and doesn’t even have a built-in method to limit charging to 80%), but to fast charging - is that correct?

Personally, I’m happy to exceed 80% at a fast charger if it makes sense, eg makes the next charge more convenient, provides a longer break if I need it... This makes even more sense in an area where chargers are much more sparsely distributed such as the SI (and may well be critical for lower-range cars). Of course, the proviso on that is I’d never charge past 80% if there are people waiting (so I’d always be present when doing so and stop as soon as they turn up), and there are those chargers that forcibly stop at the same (but that tends to link to their popularity, so chances are people may be waiting).

PJ48

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#3159590 15-Nov-2023 08:23

jonathan18: @PJ48: Glad to see you’re enjoying the MG4; despite a number of little annoyances, it’s an enjoyable drive.

At the risk of getting told off for going OT, I assume your references to charging to 80% were not in relation to home charging (given the Excite 51 has an LFP battery, and doesn’t even have a built-in method to limit charging to 80%), but to fast charging - is that correct?

Personally, I’m happy to exceed 80% at a fast charger if it makes sense, eg makes the next charge more convenient, provides a longer break if I need it... This makes even more sense in an area where chargers are much more sparsely distributed such as the SI (and may well be critical for lower-range cars). Of course, the proviso on that is I’d never charge past 80% if there are people waiting (so I’d always be present when doing so and stop as soon as they turn up), and there are those chargers that forcibly stop at the same (but that tends to link to their popularity, so chances are people may be waiting).

Yes - totally agree. with the LFP battery I have no qualms about regularly if not always charging to 100%. As you have implied - it is the other factors that come into the end point for fast charging. Our MG 4 would drop to ~25 kW charge at 80% SOC, and then to ~12 kW charge at 90% SOC, so I don't think I ever went past 90% even if there were no people waiting, as the time would become too long. But often it was the pressure to let someone else on the charger that made the decision for me!

Dingbatt

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#3176187 29-Dec-2023 19:18

BYD Seal (Premium) As tested $73000 plus on-roads.

TL:DR

LFP Battery in all models. Conventional interior layout with controls/buttons and driver's display(s) but quite dark. Nice to drive and quiet. Has V2L.

Supposedly a rival for the Tesla Model 3 but is more likely to affect sales of the Polestar 2 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 (imo).

I have been waiting for the opportunity to test drive the Seal since sitting in a pre-production model a couple of months ago. Any comparisons I make to the Tesla Model 3 is with my own car, a 2022 TM3rwd*.

There are three models;

Dynamic: $63K** 61.4kWh blade battery, single motor (150kW), vinyl trim, no HUD.

Premium: $73K** 82.6kWh blade battery, single motor (230kW), leather trim, HUD.

Performance: $84K** 82.6kWh blade battery, dual motor (230kW front + 310kW rear), adaptive suspension, HUD.

** plus on-road costs and paint premium of $1600 for anything but white. Additionally "Shark Grey" is a Performance only option for $3000.

The first thing I noticed sitting in the Seal in the showroom was how dark the interior is. The cabin lining is all black, as are the seats and dashboard. The panoramic glass roof (fixed and without an integral shade) is quite heavily tinted which also increases the dark feel. There is led strip lighting on the doors and dash, which do lighten things a bit. I don't really know why manufacturers insist on black interiors, which can make rear seat passengers in particular feel claustrophobic. While on the subject of the rear seat, there seems to be slightly less headroom than my M3 (maybe 10mm?).

The seats are slightly firmer than my M3 but very supportive and have a multitude of electric adjustment, including 4-way lumbar support. After an hour I felt no discomfort and am confident I could sustain an extended drive. The driver's seat is 8-way adjustable, the front passenger 6-way, all electric. The driver's seat has position memory and moves to assist entry/exit. But there is only one memory, which seems strange for a car with as many appointments as this. Front seats are heated and ventilated.

It was a hot and humid day when I did my test drive. My first impression is that the HVAC in the Seal is superior to the M3. But that isn't saying a whole lot, because just about every EV I have tried, with the possible exception of the Polestar 2, has been better than the Tesla. The M3 is better when using recirc than fresh air, but it still lags behind other cars unless you set the fan to 10, which is really noisy. The Seal's HVAC controls are only in the main display. But once that is brought up the oft used controls (for me anyway) fan speed, zone temp, recirc/fresh are large and easy to select. The voice control is also very good at interpreting a kiwi accent HVAC control. The airflow direction is also controlled via the screen rather than physically moving the vents. (Now where have I seen that before😕). I would rather they had used the space on the steering wheel taken up by the screen rotator (more on that shortly) with a programmable hotkey button which I would certainly have set to bring up the HVAC screen. There are vents in the centre console for the rear seats. The centre console has storage under the armrest and an open area under the gear selector panel. Definitely less storage than the M3. I didn't try the glovebox.

The infotainment is dominated by a 15.6" centre display which, as its party piece, can rotate between portrait and landscape aspects. It's become a bit of a BYD signature. The control to do that is on the display itself and a physical button on the steering wheel. It is a waste of a valuable switch (imo) which would be better as a hotkey for something used more frequently. The screen is easy to use and without noticeable lag. It isn't as crisp as the Tesla's (or BMW or Mercedes for that matter) and is akin to the difference between a mid-range Android tablet and an iPad. I had the car set to "Dark" mode, as that is my preference and the background was a washed out dark bluish grey rather than black. The Seal has a 10" drivers display, which is fixed to the dash. That meant, with the steering wheel in my ideal position, the top corners of the display are hidden by the steering wheel. The info shown there is stuff like the speed sign. Not such a problem as it is replicated in the HUD. But the base model "Dynamic" doesn't have a HUD. In the current software iteration the driver's display can have circular gauges, or digital readouts, for energy and speed. There is a space in the centre for ancillary info which was of limited value. Nav information is not displayed on either the driver's display or HUD. A miss in my opinion. It's only software after all. The HUD is basic, with just speed, traffic sign and safety info.

The infotainment has wireless Android Auto and wired Apple Carplay (I was told wireless AC is in the pipeline) and my Samsung phone connected with no problems. That is once I found the connection submenu in the "Internet" menu of "System Settings". The display was large and clear in AA and probably how I would operate the vehicle. However the BYD map looked pretty good and the display can be split-screened to put something like the included Spotify in the other half. The cars come with a complimentary data SIM with 2GB/month for the first 2 years. The salesperson couldn't tell me what happens after that. If you have the main display in portrait and select Android Auto (or Carplay I assume) the screen automatically rotates to landscape. In my seated position, when in landscape, the very right edge of main display is obscured. There is a voice assistant button on the steering wheel which accesses the BYD assistant with a single press (or say "HeyBYD") or press and hold to access your phone's assistant.

And so to the outside. The Seal has conventional styling. I understand BYD employed an ex-Porsche designer, and it kind of shows. Because looks are subjective I won't comment except to say I wish BYD hadn't ~~slavishly copied~~ taken inspiration from the TM3 and had made this a fastback design like the Polestar 2. It wouldn't have altered the lines, but would have made the vehicle more practical. I like the tail-lights more than my current car's, with its pathetic afterthought indicators.

There is a smallish "Frunk" under the bonnet. Bigger than some, but not as big as the M3. Likewise there is a small underfloor area in the boot. Sufficient to store a granny charger, cables and the V2L adapter, but not much else. The boot is fully lined, is just as deep and high as the M3 but narrower, and as such probably only beats the Ioniq6 in practicality.

The visibility is good, maybe a fraction less than the M3 forwards but similar out the sides and to rear the window is slightly smaller but the parcel shelf is lower. The Seal has cameras front, back and sides as well as in the windscreen binnacle. It also has ultrasonic sensors all around. Multiple camera views are selectable as well as a 360 birds-eye view and images were very clear. So for a big car it was easy to manoeuvre in tight spots.

For the drive itself, I followed my standard motorway, urban and extra-urban route. The car was noticeably quieter than my M3, although not as quiet as the BMW i4. It was also smoother over bumps than the M3. Its acceleration is was more sluggish than a lot of the EVs I have tried. Including the M3, MY, i4, EV6, Ioniq5&6. I understand this is by design. Essentially the "throttle response" has a fairly flat curve. There is still plenty of urge, just perhaps not as much as others. I will try the "Performance" model to see if the extra motor, power and adaptive suspension makes a difference. Those things plus a heated steering wheel and electronic child locks are the only additions for the extra $11000 over and above the "Premium".

There has been a bit of comment about the intrusive ADAS features in the Seal. I didn't find them too bad. I did turn the "actions" off but left the warnings in place. The blame for the bad rap ADAS gets sits squarely on the shoulders of the pointy headed bureaucrats that mandate these features. There are 4 button presses required to get to the required settings when the car is powered up. It would be great if you could set a shortcut to those settings, better if it just retained them and warning you what has been set at startup, or even better letting you set it under a profile and treating you like an adult.

The adaptive cruise was really good and no phantom braking. The lane keeping was okay but a little jerky. Certainly not as smooth as the Model 3. It does allow you to change lanes by putting on the indicator and then resumes once in the new lane (not the case for the M3). The controls on the steering wheel fall easily to hand and can be found by touch.

On my standard route the Seal Premium returned 142Wh/km (M3 130Wh/km) and that was with aircon on throughout. So that translates to 570km range. It will be interesting to see what the Performance does. The Seal is rated to tow 750kg unbraked and 1500kg braked.

So in summary, I like the Seal it addresses some of the things I don't like that much about my current car. It has better ventilation and driver's instruments. But its boot is slightly smaller and it doesn't have the Supercharger network. It also requires annual servicing, more for the dealer's benefit than the car's I believe. The long range models do have an LFP battery, with its longer life, which is a bonus because of its longer lifespan and greater safety. They do mean lower peak charging rates though.

* I haven't seen or tried the new "Highland" Model 3, so can't compare. But the Seal does have an indicator stalk.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Dingbatt

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#3176266 30-Dec-2023 07:03

As an addendum, because the original (above) was already quite long.

There is a a sub - sub floor in the boot that has the tire repair goo and inflator.

The charge port is on the driver’s side, behind the wheel and is lit when open. The cover is manual.

The car comes with shades to cover the panoramic roof (which makes it even darker).

The bonnet release is mechanical, so you have to go into the car to release it by pulling a lever. No just walking up to the vehicle and using the remote or app to access the frunk. The frunk has a cover.

It has eco, normal and sport driving modes. These can be changed by a scroll wheel on the centre console. Once again I believe this is a wasted switch position because how often are you going to be changing drive modes? I left the car in normal for the whole drive.

While on the subject of the centre console control cluster. There is a scroll wheel to control audio volume, so that can be accessed by the passenger. The ‘shifter’ (RND) is essentially a switch that sits readily under your hand when manoeuvring the car. The dual cup holders are multi-height. Push down to fit bigger cups, release the catch and they pop back up for smaller cups.

There are dual wireless phone chargers the same as the M3/MY.

The steering wheel stalks are in the conventional layout. Indicator/light control on the right. Wiper/washer on the left.

The Dynaudio sound system is better than my M3RWD. (Other Teslas are better, I know.) I didn’t find any sort of equaliser or fader/balance controls (didn’t look too hard). But it did have a few different surround mode selections such as driver focused, full surround, etc.

I’m hoping the software is a work in progress and that OTA updates will be able to tweak a few things. BYD seem fairly receptive to feedback (without having to ‘Tweet’ anyone).

For those of you that like a taller ride, apparently the “Seal U”, a Model Y competitor, is due mid next year.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Johnk

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#3176355 30-Dec-2023 16:58

Dingbatt:

It has eco, normal and sport driving modes. These can be changed by a scroll wheel on the centre console... I left the car in normal for the whole drive

Great review as always! I personally cant wait to try one of these Seals. I do wonder if your comments re "Its acceleration is was more sluggish than a lot of the EVs I have tried" is in relation to the above modes; From what I have seen online, only the "sport" mode gives it full power, straight away and stops the sluggish feeling. I wonder if you get another chance to try this same car and have a play with the modes?

robjg63

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#3176363 30-Dec-2023 18:12

I really don't know why a car maker would make a 'sluggish mode'.

The model Y has a 'Chill' setting - which I tried for a while, but decided the standard mode was fine.

If I on the accelerator down hard, I expect it to go - and it does.

If I want to take off gently and smoothly - it does. It's up to the driver..... Like every other car.

(PS. I usually like smooth and gentle!).

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Mehrts

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#3176367 30-Dec-2023 18:23

robjg63:

I really don't know why a car maker would make a 'sluggish mode'.

The model Y has a 'Chill' setting - which I tried for a while, but decided the standard mode was fine.

I use the chill mode for most of my driving, as the normal mode can be a bit too sensitive.

I use the left steering wheel scroll wheel to toggle between the two when I want to have instant power though.

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