2018 Audi e-tron: Audi accepts deposits for electric SUV

unkel wrote: »

Agreed. Batteries are getting cheaper and lighter all the time. There's nothing in the way of stopping that. But new economy cars don't need anything like 100kWh to be competitive and to pull people away from diesels. Carrots (subsidies, free charger, cheap tolls) work for young dynamic people. Old people stuck in their ways (diesel) need sticks (punitive taxes on diesel, high motor tax, congestion and pollution charges) :cool:

The problem we have here is that it would require the government to get off its its arse and actually do something. Right now there are too many vested interests holding things up and a lack of political will to make the necessary changes.

mr chips wrote: »

As a relatively frequent long-distance driver I really don't want to hang about more than necessary - otherwise what is already a 5 hour trip (I regularly cover roughly 275miles/440km) can easily become 6 hours or even longer. Life is short, and time spent on the road is time you just don't get back. So what I generally do is aim to spend 15-20 minutes at most at a rest stop before getting on with getting the journey done. However I sometimes just have to plough on through and do it all in one go. I suspect there are many others like me.


Sadly I can't afford a new EV, so the question of paying an extra few grand to maintain my driving patterns is academic. However, I am very much looking forward to the advent of EVs which will allow me to do longer trips cruising at around 130kph indicated, taking no more than one 15-20 minute stop at which I can add at least another 150 miles/240km of range at that speed, similar to what I can do now in my old ICE. Even the likes of the Niro or Model 3 will struggle to manage that, but if either is in my budget in about 5 years' time then I'll happily sacrifice the extra 30 or so minutes on each long trip for the sake of not burning diesel. Not sure how many others will take a similar view, though.

As you said most people probably won’t make the sacrifice. Those of us here understand the benefits of an EV and are prepared to work out what our mileage is etc must people won’t do that. So it’s a still a comprise compared to an ICE for most people.

That’s why I feel bigger battery packs in a normal family sized car will be the final nail in the coffin of the ICE especially diesels

interestingly VW are looking at three different size battery packs in the ID hatch back. The medium size is for 450km but they haven’t decided what the final size of the larger version. It will be interesting to see if they could go to say 600km.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswagen/97043/volkswagen-id-neo-latest-details-on-vws-2019-electric-hatch

Shefwedfan wrote: »

That would be unsafe driving.....not illegal but extremely unsafe, not just for yourself but for every other poor driver on the road.....but sure who cares, you didnt want to stop for 15 mins


The issue as you said their is plenty more like you, hence why I hate bringing my kids out on roads full of....I wont continue


I drove 350km in Uk, about 4 hours drive, I took an hour break on the trip, had planned 30 mins but had food etc and hour flew past.....if I had Kona etc it would give plenty of time to top up the car for next stage......


My plan was to drive safe and arrive alive.....

Gotta love a bit of hyperbole from a high horse. I'm glad you held yourself up as an example for me there, as up until now my own plan has usually been to drive like a f*cking maniac and arrive skidding sideways through a cluster of children and pensioners ... :rolleyes:


It's not "extremely unsafe", or people who drive for a living would be required to take a break every couple of hours like you chose to, instead of every four. I'm driving a comfortable car with cruise control, not a 40-tonne truck. It can be extremely unsafe to keep driving if you're tired, or even start out driving tired. So perhaps it'll alleviate your terror slightly to know I take a break if I need to. I just don't stop unnecessarily, and not for half or three quarters of an hour when fifteen minutes will do.

Shefwedfan wrote: »

No high horse.....



Sure it's not unsafe at all, oh wait 1-5 people are killed due to fatigue on roads.

Not 100% sure why you make reference to a truck? do they not have cruise control or comfy seats?

Ah here - when you go straight to the Helen Lovejoy "Won't someone PLEASE think of the children?!" option and start telling somebody that they're an extremely unsafe driver on the basis of an entirely common and entirely legal practice, it's definitely time to climb down off that high horse, horse.

The reason I mentioned people who drive for a living is because of the legally mandated driving times before taking a rest break. Contrary to what I said, for drivers of goods vehicles in the EU it's actually four and a half hours, not four - and certainly not the two or three you seem to think is the standard. Interestingly, for carrying passengers it's even higher at five and a half hours before a break is required. So clearly, this sort of driving duration is in no way deemed to be extremely unsafe practice. (I mentioned comfort and cruise control simply because I find cruising along in my unburdened car more relaxing/less stressful than towing, which means it's less tiring, which means breaks from driving are less needed.)

Look, I'm happy to not keep arguing about this, so I'll just repeat that I'm well aware of the dangers of driving while fatigued - you may have missed the part where I said I take a break when I need to. Also, would this be a bad time to mention that I usually have my partner in the car who takes over when necessary? But I'm happy to leave the debate about safe driving practices there.

What I was trying to get at is that there are many drivers who will drive for 3-4 hours before taking a break. The length of break may be as little as 10-15 minutes, especially if there's a co-driver. This is extremely common, so the development of EVs will hopefully cater to this in order to accelerate towards mass adoption.

So my ideal EV would be capable of:
- driving at 80mph/130 kph indicated for at least 300 miles/480km (thereby completing a 275 mile journey without going to turtle mode or having to worry about faulty/blocked charge points)
AND
- charging to 50-60% in about 15-20 minutes
AND
-look f*cking awesome so that everybody else will want one

Barring potentially the Kona/Model 3/Niro, I'm not sure that any halfway affordable EV will be capable of the first two for at least another couple of years. So clearly if I'm going to have any chance of owning an EV in the next 8-10 years I'll have to compromise. That being the case, I'd rather the direction of development was on increased range rather than quicker - but more frequent - recharging times. On a long journey, one stop at anywhere from 30-60 minutes is preferable to three or four stops at 15-20 minutes each.

Paddy Bloggs driving at 125kmh never having had a lesson in his life? Maybe, just maybe, journey duration might not be the main safety issue there ...
This "Paddy Bloggs" has been driving for well over 20 years, has no kids to be screaming in the back and doesn't need the satnav as the long trips are always to the same destinations. Thanks for the concern, but I think I'll carry on driving the way that's kept me and mine alive, unstressed & unharmed over all that time.

Shefwedfan wrote: »

All of the points you raise are based on lack of education(please note I am not saying for you but the general public). Government have tried but the masses will not listen.



The only way the Irish people seem to learn is tax something and suddenly they all become experts. So tax diesel so it is at a similar or more expensive to petrol and suddenly John down the road will be an expert on electric and hybrid.



Range is not the issue, not anymore for 90% of the people with eGolf 2, Leaf 2, Ioniq, etc etc Lack of knowledge is.



The Dublin to Cork thing is the biggest bull**** I have ever seen. The other day after I said about Kona range someone actually said they wanted to go from Belfast to Cork and then what would happen if they had to return straight away???? I told them to get the train :P:P:P

People will cry and complain but then the softly soft approach is not working. England are hitting diesel and they are just flogging them to all to ireland

Couldn’t agree more.

The issue we have though is that the Government is making so much tax from our current system that they’ll only change it at a snails pace.

I'm getting the distinct impression that while this vehicle is good, it's not any particular sort of massive leap forward, and is relying heavily on Audi's marketing department to wow newbies with... regen!!! and fast charging!!!

Reminds me a bit of the old Windows 95/Apple 89 jibe.

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Not a massive leap forward from what?


What other SUV's are available? Jag I-Pace could be in same bracket..... The Tesla Model X is nearly 40k more expensive, you could buy this and a brand new Kona for the price of the Tesla...


If you look at the other options, X5, Q5/Q7, Land Rover etc etc which are all combustion engines...I would class it as a fairly decent jump forward from a combustion engine to a full electric in a large executive SUV

Fair point. I was thinking more that it’s no great leap forward technologically over a Model X, but I hadn’t been paying attention to pricing. As a package, I guess it is progress. But to listen to Audi’s promotion, you’d swear that they had come up with regen all on their own!

Shefwedfan wrote: »

That’s advertising and to be honest their target customer probably has absolutely no idea about regen.....the target customer has a Q5/Q7, x5, Land Rover etc....none of those drivers will know what regen is or what you use it for.....

I doubt very few Leaf Gen 1/2 drivers plan on swapping to e-tron

I wouldn't count on that. Most big SUVs have a PHEV variant at this stage. e.g. Father in law was asking about the e-tron today. He's had hybrids since the first RX went on sale and had one of the first (if not the first) Plug-in XC90 in the country.

Voodoomelon wrote: »

I've spent the last 2 hours trawling over this E-Tron. It seems like big money, but its the first premium EV i'd be interested in and is nothing like Tesla money. I have no doubt it will be worlds ahead in interior quality and as small company director, turning an €85-€90k car into effectively half that for the next few years is mighty compelling for me. With the budget around the corner, will be interesting to see if BIK gets a bit more cemented, especially with the low EV uptake this year.

By no means is this car a game changer, Tesla does a lot of the same and has done so for a long time, but they never appealed to me.

I'll be talking to the accountant next week.

If you order one next week when would you realistically expect to get it?I am guessing another budget would not be far away or maybe even later.