New Kia EV van

We looked at these and the Ford PHEV before we settled on sticking with a transporter

Both a lot of van for the money, but the Kia just didn’t float my boat and felt small (plus we don’t and can’t have home charging, but I do get subsidised charging at work), and the Ford apparently constantly gets the wiring looms underneath eaten by wildlife and didn’t have the ability to remove the seats like the Kombi did.
 
drinfinity said:
That Kia is very cheap! On an overnight rate I’m paying 6.9p/kwh so it would be much cheaper to run than my diesel.

My T6.1 camper has many more years in it yet, but I’m fairy sure its replacement will be able to be an electric van. Be nice if it has a VW badge too, but those letters seem to cost 10k each now!
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I’d suggest that each of those letters represent a percentage in various forms.
New van cost +20%
Oem parts cost +20%
Insurance cost +20%
How much cooler you feel than other van drivers +20%
Fahrvergnügen +20%
 
DaveD said:
Like a significant proportion of the UK population that seem to have been overlooked.
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We’re mostly on street parking round here but have a LOT of ‘connected kerb’ bollards (on street charge facility). The local authority put some thought in and made the bays unrestricted while ICE is still the lions share. To be fair though most people leave the bays until last in case EVs want them and most roads have at least half used by EVs for charging.

Apparently that’s not enough though and we’ll be getting the other type too where there is a socket in the pavement connected to the electricity feed of the house it’s outside. The homeowner asks for it I think but when they’re out others can use it (as long as they’re part of the gang and have their own mini bollard) and the homeowner either gets reimbursed or not charged for the electric (I haven’t studied it as all my vehicles are still ICE until the Middle East and Russia say enoughs enough).

On top of that people are also allowed to have certain contractors cut the pavement and lay a lockable aluminium channel for their charge cable.

So no drive - no problem round here.

Wonder if I can get a channel for my EHU and charge the leisure battery in the van?
 
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DaveD said:
Like a significant proportion of the UK population that seem to have been overlooked.
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We bought the Kombi and eventually my wife is going to need a new vehicle, so when we’ve moved and have a two vehicle driveway I might suggest her getting a used one to test the water.

The premise of them is very good, I think the PV7 will be a bit of a nice size, and then if we ever look at doing a really big campervan the PV9 will be out. But at the moment we need balance of car length, big enough for 3, I’m quite vain when it comes to vehicles so I like a nice looker (which the Kia isn’t), and there’s a really good established market for both the vehicle and the conversion, with a huge community for the VW.
 
Sim667 said:
and there’s a really good established market for both the vehicle and the conversion
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I’m seriously beginning to wonder how long this will last though. Hopefully a long time but current affairs are making me think what if, all of a sudden, we struggle to get enough affordable oil based fuel for a while… there is a risk the market for used ICE might drop significantly.
I guess niche vehicles will do better than run of the mill commuter cars, and those with better mpg would be more sought after (my 102 hp van ;) ).
 
Lubrown said:
I’m seriously beginning to wonder how long this will last though. Hopefully a long time but current affairs are making me think what if, all of a sudden, we struggle to get enough affordable oil based fuel for a while… there is a risk the market for used ICE might drop significantly.
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From what I understand, the UK sources 80% of all its fuel used for road transport from Norway and North America with the rest coming directly or indirectly from the Middle East. This suggests actual shortages are unlikely here. That means the issue for us will be the price, over which we will have next to no control as it is driven by global markets.

Whilst that might suggest the demand for used and new ICE vehicles will reduce, the high cost of acquisition and high depreciation costs for EVs can’t be ignored. The value of EVs coming off lease or hire at 3 or 4 years is ridiculously low which is why vehicle finance companies are experiencing significant losses on contract hire and PCP contracts. Whilst manufacturers have been prepared to suck up these losses for a while this must surely be unsustainable in the longer term. Compound this with the incrementally high cost of maintaining 5-year old out-of-warranty and out-of-contract EVs and, in spite of higher fuel costs, in my view the demand for used ICE vehicles seems likely to remain firm, in spite of users being treated as rabid pariahs by dogma-driven government and local authorities.
 
A friend of mine, with a Kia dealership turned up in one at the weekend. A huge expanse of uninteresting plastic dash on the passenger side stood out, but other than that was quite impressed. I think he said that the pv will get the option of a bigger battery next year.

If you keep one for the long term, with a 7 year warranty, residual value won't be too important.
 
Lubrown said:
We’re mostly on street parking round here but have a LOT of ‘connected kerb’ bollards (on street charge facility). The local authority put some thought in and made the bays unrestricted while ICE is still the lions share. To be fair though most people leave the bays until last in case EVs want them and most roads have at least half used by EVs for charging.

Apparently that’s not enough though and we’ll be getting the other type too where there is a socket in the pavement connected to the electricity feed of the house it’s outside. The homeowner asks for it I think but when they’re out others can use it (as long as they’re part of the gang and have their own mini bollard) and the homeowner either gets reimbursed or not charged for the electric (I haven’t studied it as all my vehicles are still ICE until the Middle East and Russia say enoughs enough).

On top of that people are also allowed to have certain contractors cut the pavement and lay a lockable aluminium channel for their charge cable.

So no drive - no problem round here.

Wonder if I can get a channel for my EHU and charge the leisure battery in the van?
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Where do you live? Sounds like a unusually forward-thinking area!

We’re lucky enough to have a driveway so no issues, but I haven’t seen anything similar to what you describe around us yet.
 
There's one around the corner from us, looks alright, bit like a "smiley face" Transit but alright...
4867.webp
The other one I've been watching on YouTube is one being converted to a camper...

 
I was pretty close to choosing one…went to see the 5 seat passenger at a dealership and although it looks a bit odd, the space was really really good and the price is very attractive. I was already contemplating a Caravelle so wanted 7 seats but there was no sign (and still no confirmation as far as I’m aware) of it coming so got the VW. I’d like to think I’ll stick with the Caravelle (or upgrade down the line to a newer one) but it’s still vaguely of interest if we go electric in the future
 
While the 5 seat Id Buzz are now in the £30s used the cheapest used newer GTX being 7 seats, 86 kWh battery and LWB haven't dropped below mid £50s but that's for a barely 1 yr old bus... you can see that even as a pensioner with no need for more than two seats I really like the Buzz. :geek:
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Captain Quick said:
incrementally high cost of maintaining 5-year old out-of-warranty and out-of-contract EVs
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What maintenance costs? Brake fluid every 2 years, pollen filter, usual stuff on steering + suspension like every road vehicle. No timing belt (wet or dry) clutch oil filter gearbox turbo-self-destruct dpf clogging cylinder head gasket blowing injector leaking nightmares to worry about.
 
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