EV (electric vehicle) News & Discussion

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2794 posts

Uber Geek

#3130010 21-Sep-2023 09:09

SaltyNZ:

frankv:

So you lose about 20% of your payload when you go electric.

But do you make it up on savings from fuel and maintenance?

You'd expect so given the significant cost of fuel. The bean counters in the trucking firms will be looking at the full lifecycle return on investment and bottom line profitability. So lease/holding cost, depreciation, maintenance and per ton per mile cost all come into a great big Excel spreadsheet answer.

traderstu

332 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3130183 21-Sep-2023 14:39

traderstu:

johno1234:

I wonder if you can access the Westpac interest free loan without a mortgage but by using the house as security?

We're "in discussion" with Westpac at the moment. We are mortgage free at the moment. 1st, we need a home loan so I have asked for a $5k revolving credit loan ($5k is their minimum), then their $50k for EV and solar system. They have told me that we meet serviceability so just waiting to see if it gets the rubber stamp. Yes, free money is too good to pass up. I will let you know how we get on.

Link to loan

Just reporting back in to say that our loan has been approved. Apart from the normal rigmarole, it was all pretty straight forward, albeit a bit time consuming. In our case we had to surrender 1 credit card and reduce the limit on another to meet serviceabilty. Even though the card doesn't get used it is stilln counted as debt when they do their calcs. Good luck to anyone else considering this option.

KrazyKid

1238 posts

Uber Geek

#3130263 21-Sep-2023 18:44

I'm also moving to Westpac to take advantage of the interest free EV car loan offer. In my case I'm taking a larger revolving credit limit than that as I have lawyer fees to refinance across banks.

This is such a good offer with the clean car rebate.
Got to get in before it goes.

tukapa1

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3130275 21-Sep-2023 19:33

We had moved to Westpac in May to take advantage of an offset mortgage.

Got confirmation this week of being able to borrow up to $50k interest free for 5 years with this loan

Was initially going to get something new around the $50k mark but have now decided just to grab a second hand Leaf. Now just gotta decide whether to get a 40kwh or 62kwh.

Can't justify spending the whole $50k on a car when I could be paying the mortgage down quicker.

KrazyKid

1238 posts

Uber Geek

#3130414 22-Sep-2023 10:58

Have a look at the new MG4. $40,000 after rebate for a 51KWh battery model.
7 year full car and Battery warrenty.

Really nice to drive. Smaller boot than the leaf, but suited our needs.

The 51KWh model has LFP batteries for bonus points.
Range is 350km WLTP which is probably 300km in real world (depending on hills and weather etc)

Was also thinking about the 62KWh leaf, that is about the same price as a Jap import.
An extra 80ish KM range because of the bigger battery, but no 7 year warrenty.

SaltyNZ

8219 posts

Uber Geek

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2degrees

Lifetime subscriber

#3130421 22-Sep-2023 11:07

KrazyKid:

Was also thinking about the 62KWh leaf, that is about the same price as a Jap import.
An extra 80ish KM range because of the bigger battery, but no 7 year warrenty.

+Cheaper battery chemistry, +No battery cooling

In theory you might be able to go 80km further on one charge in a Leaf, but if you want to drive from Auckland to Wellington the MG4 in practice will be a lot faster because the Leaf battery will be toast by the time you get half way through the second charge.

And you don't get the 7 year warranty because the battery will be toast if you fast charge it with any sort of regularity, and toasty batteries are dead batteries.

Don't touch a brand new Leaf, it's a terrible EV.

Source: had a Leaf.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

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#3130532 22-Sep-2023 15:15

Totally agree re SaltyNZ's assessment of Leaf vs MG4.

A few years back Leafs made sense, given the lack of options at the lower cost end for a small but not cramped EV. S/h they're a good option for a second 'city' car, but I'd not dream of recommending one as people's primary car or for long distance trips.

Only this week we swapped out my wife's Leaf for an MG4 Excite 51 - it doesn't have an enormous range nor does it DC charge particularly fast, but hard to beat for $41k, and I'm much more confident about its long-distance credentials over any Leaf (for the reasons highlighted in the post above). We took it for its first decent spin this afternoon and I'm really pleased with how it drives. Looks pretty good in a metallic red too!

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KrazyKid

1238 posts

Uber Geek

#3130538 22-Sep-2023 15:34

@jonathan18

Thats a sharp looking car :)

My red one is 2 weeks away. Same Model.

I agree with you about taking it away out of town.
For me and my wife I think it will be fine for weekends away, with a range of about 300 Km is a good haul for a drive without a stop.
I'm in Dunedin and 200km away is Timaru, Central Otagp or Invercargill.

If I had a young family I'd be buying something else (small boot) but for me - can't wait to get my hands on it!

jonathan18

7413 posts

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#3130546 22-Sep-2023 15:54

KrazyKid:

@jonathan18

Thats a sharp looking car :)

My red one is 2 weeks away. Same Model.

I agree with you about taking it away out of town.
For me and my wife I think it will be fine for weekends away, with a range of about 300 Km is a good haul for a drive without a stop.
I'm in Dunedin and 200km away is Timaru, Central Otagp or Invercargill.
Basically all the lower South Island. Even get to Christchurch with one charge.

Yes I wouldn't take on a 2 week road trip but otherwise whould be fine.
And if I had a you family I'd be buying something else.

Good choice of colour! I'm pleasantly surprised at the depth of colour in the red; I've read comments from those who claim to know about these things that MG paint is pretty thin, but it looks good to me!

Our logic for getting this size is similar to yours - we should nearly be able to do PN>Wgtn return on a single charge (and if it needs a charge it'll be a short one).

The main thing, though, is it gives my wife much more independence - her Leaf was down to 100km urban, so probably 65km on the open road! With this she'll now feel free to take her car wherever she wants to go, rather than take my Model Y (which she finds too large).

everettpsycho

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3130621 22-Sep-2023 20:13

I still keep considering the MG ZS, mainly because at the moment it's only $1000 more than the MG 4 and that extra space would've great for us.

I also saw a few original zs's and 64kWh second hand Kona's on trade me for the low $30k range which is a lot of car for the money. So slowly but surely some of those models are beginning to find their way I'm back to dealers as second hand.

tukapa1

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3130947 23-Sep-2023 13:27

KrazyKid:

Have a look at the new MG4. $40,000 after rebate for a 51KWh battery model.
7 year full car and Battery warrenty.

Had looked at the Essence 64 earlier but been keeping an eye on some NZ MG4 forums and there are some issues with these that would keep me away from being an early adopter, plus the Essence 64 really hits the top of my budget. For my use case I can't see the benefit in saving $8k by going for the smaller battery and losing all the extras in the Essence model.

SaltyNZ:

if you want to drive from Auckland to Wellington the MG4 in practice will be a lot faster because the Leaf battery will be toast by the time you get half way through the second charge.

Don't touch a brand new Leaf, it's a terrible EV.

Driving from Auckland to Wellington is never in my use case scenario, being based in the middle of the north island, albeit on the west coast. And I agree a new Leaf would be a terrible option with all the other available cars out there. Second hand prices aren't too bad at the moment, however.

tukapa1

725 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3130949 23-Sep-2023 13:28

everettpsycho:

I also saw a few original zs's and 64kWh second hand Kona's on trade me for the low $30k range which is a lot of car for the money. So slowly but surely some of those models are beginning to find their way I'm back to dealers as second hand.

Thanks - I hadn't considered the 64kWh Kona, although reading up about the battery fire recall issue I would want to make sure the recall battery replacement had been done.

PJ48

295 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3131072 23-Sep-2023 20:27

jonathan18:

Totally agree re SaltyNZ's assessment of Leaf vs MG4.

A few years back Leafs made sense, given the lack of options at the lower cost end for a small but not cramped EV. S/h they're a good option for a second 'city' car, but I'd not dream of recommending one as people's primary car or for long distance trips.

Only this week we swapped out my wife's Leaf for an MG4 Excite 51 - it doesn't have an enormous range nor does it DC charge particularly fast, but hard to beat for $41k, and I'm much more confident about its long-distance credentials over any Leaf (for the reasons highlighted in the post above). We took it for its first decent spin this afternoon and I'm really pleased with how it drives. Looks pretty good in a metallic red too!

We were also having a look at one of these today as a serious consideration. I was reading that the heating/Aircon controls are actually hidden away on the touchscreen somewhere if you need to change any settings. How much of an issue is that for those out there who are running the MG4?

KrazyKid

1238 posts

Uber Geek

#3131073 23-Sep-2023 20:35

Have only had a couple of test driver so not really the best person to answer, but it seems that won't stop me. 😀

From memory the main aircon controls were a swipe down from the top of the centre screen. But there are basic aircon controls in the hard buttons under the middle screen. It also has voice control. Maybe that adjusts aircon?

As you say an actual owner will have a better view.

jonathan18

7413 posts

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#3131217 24-Sep-2023 10:44

Voice control is (I believe) limited to the higher-spec models; button on steering wheel does diddly in my wife’s Excite. Annoyingly it doesn’t seem to even summon the Google Assistant when AA is running.

Yep, there are direct buttons to turn heating on/off, and to de-mist the front window. Default screen has sliders for fan speed and temp. But the easiest way is to assign one of the two shortcut buttons on the steering wheel (one each side) to the AC; press that and the L/R and U/D buttons on that side of the steering wheel control temp and fan speed. (A visual representation of the controls shows on the screen after pressing the shortcut button; press the same button to return out of that and get rid of the visuals.)

TBH, I find this method way more intuitive than adjusting the aircon in my Tesla; I wish Tesla would introduce the same comprehensive steering wheel controls, not just the ability to do one action via a shortcut.

As for those shortcut buttons - they currently only provide for three options, and the same ones are available on both sides: drive mode, AC and (I think) regen level. I don’t care about regen as even the highest setting is less than I’d prefer, and drive mode is not that fundamental - eco makes a noticeable difference to power delivery (though nothing as debilitating as the ‘eco’ in the G1 Leaf), and sport doesn’t seem to make a huge change.

I think this is a lost opportunity to provide a much wider range for the shortcut buttons - my preference would be to add one pedal driving, especially if they’re not going to make this a ‘sticky’ setting (currently it needs to be reenabled every time one drives).

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