Yes I’ve seen a couple of black ones it seems a popular choice of colour. The first one I saw was when I went to Redditch hospital, there’s a Vw dealer just by it and the guy had obviously just picked it up and his smile was from ear to ear!
I'd imagine most of us would have one if we live long enough to see their second hand prices fall to a suitable level. Even the 'its not German' druids will. But at £62k? No thanks.
I think the popular choice is to lease them. God knows what that costs but probably a better option considering battery depletion!
I loved the concept originally and when they were launched I still thought they were great. Then the prices and the infotainment issues came to light so I’m less enamoured with them. but they have been occupying a bit of my brain space recently. I was wondering whether these first edition ones could be useful campers. There’s probably 2-3 hours of driving in there and then when you start getting a bit remote are you going to panic? Will campsites let you hook up and slowly draw 75kW off the hook up? I also suggested to the Mrs that someone is missing an opportunity to rent these out for a month or so as a try before you buy. See if you could really live with an EV. The secondhand market also worries me. I’m in the “I can afford a third hand car” bracket. We have only owned 4-5 year old cars and let them get older. These hi tech EVs are now constantly evolving. When you buy a 4-5 year old car it’ll be out of date tech and the battery life will be depleting. When you then come to sell that car at 7-9 years old… what then? All of that said, I have entered a couple of competitions to win one!! I wouldn’t say no to a free one!
EV vehicles nowt new ...like re inventing the wheel ....wait for Hydrogen its the only way . they will be all worthless in possibly no time soon . EV vehicles fit only for vans and cars . Hydrogen ,airplanes .HGV . House heating , railways . EV vehicles really only fit for city traffic and high pollution areas Understandably . Still pollutes to generate the power . Bit like the coalite plants for smokeless coal to cut out smog in city's .
They are head turners certainly. Spotted one in the wild the other week in skipton. It was charging at one of the two operating chargers within 25 miles. Ref battery depletion, our second hand leaf we’ve had for three years is now approaching 50k (22k when we got it) . Battery health is depleting- now at ~ 85% - but it’s range has remained the same at about 110 / 120mikes per charge. What has depleted its trade in value is the series if ‘scrapes’ the boss has inflicted to almost every panel and wheel and the haribo araldited to the entirety of the interior. There was a very good File on 4 ref hydrogen - worth a listen…
It wasn’t file on 4, it was The Inquiry https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-inquiry/id932499233?i=1000615865815
I'm too poor for that - or have other priorities for my few cents, including another small electric car, maybe a VW ID.2, the Fiat 500e. But design is also too chubby - nice retro with lots of nice gimmicks like smiley faces inside, but is also a fat, heavy box. I stood in front of the long version at the VW Bus Festival last week. regards,
I would agree with @Poptop2 - only way to have an EV ( VW or otherwise) is to lease them as selling second hand or trading in could be a nightmare.
I think my son was offered a deal as he leases from Vw already and his beetle lease is almost up. I don’t know what the prices were but he couldn’t justify it!
So is the industry sitting on a ticking battery powered time bomb? It really is going to be interesting to see how the next few years of second hand electric cars pans out. Perhaps we’re being too cynical, but I wouldn’t want to be the one catching a cold on a £60k van!
The future is already here... https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/volkswagen-scales-back-ev-production At least in the short term.
Unless somebody gave me a decent mileage warranty on the battery I wouldn't touch an EV apart from knowing that in the end they will be taxed to the same level as IC cars , as happened to diesels which were promoted by lower taxation until they hit 25% of the sales volume. We are currently beginning a search for an eventual single replacement for our two 20+ year old Peugeot diesels, it's hard to find a car that conforms to standards that doesn't bring along a load of electronic crap to go wrong as it ages. ABS makes some sense, after that placing faith in rotting sensors that either kill the car on self test or try to kill you doesn't make sense. Headlamp units that cost £1000 seem stupid too.
