Living with the Kia E Niro - Is 2000 miles in an EV easy ?!
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2024
- Thanks to Kia UK I got to live with the all electric E Niro for 2 weeks. Now the last time I tried to live with an EV it didn’t go well. This time I’ve learned from my mistakes and I’m ready for another go. 2000 miles in a week. What could possibly go wrong ?!
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Your first mistake I noticed was using Ecotricity. They are notoriously unreliable. The second mistake was not filtering the networks in Zap-Map. I have the contactless networks filtered so they are the only ones that show on the map. Since I have done that, EV road trips have been stress free. A very good, fair and realistic review of what it's like to own an EV. Well done.
Thanks Alan. Didn't know you could do that. More learnings for the next video 🙏
I didnt know that either. I had an Ampera REX EV but rarely charged away from home because it was mind numbingly complicated. I am now looking for change of car and choosing between hybrid or BEV and the ability to find contactless chargers is a game changer. I drive regularly from Germany to Stockport via Holland, Belgium and France. I dont want daft apps and rifid keys for each country. Looking at zapmap filtered for contactless I find several on my route. Fastned seems to offer the service, I hope they are simple to use
Very objective video, answered pretty much all of my questions about EV's. Enjoyed this video so much, it convinced me, so I went and bought an E-Niro. My BMW no longer suited my driving profile, most of my drives are now "local" and any of my infrequent long drives are actually less than 220 miles return so I can drive there, drive back and recharge at home - perfect fit. The last time I made a private car journey which would consume 100% battery one way, meaning a full public recharge, was in 2016 to Devon - I can live with that. Very comfortable car, lovely to drive, very well equipped, just missing the BMW's head up display.
I am also about to swap from my bmw 2018 330e f30 and boy is it hard. The kia is a car a i need but its a real DAD car. Well im about to be a dad so i quess its time
I get the feeling that electric vehicles are going to be really good for the coffee industry.
Me too...and bad for the waste line !
Oh yes I can confirm this. Find it great to catch up with emails and stuff and breaks the journey up. 👍⚡
Oh yes, definitely drunk and eat more since owning an EV
Maybe for the beer industry too, some pubs might soon appear within walking distance of the charging stations
@@PetrolPed Maybe your waistline
I’ve owned this car for 18 months, so just to say this is a very comprehensive and true to life review of the car and charging life. Best car chargers are the contactless and go, and i basically keep the car in eco+ unless going in the motorway
All the EV enthusiasts have the exact same complaint you do about how fragmented and complicated the charging network is. I liked the Shell one where it is simple and you just use your credit card. I think that is how they all should be.
Cheers Matthew 👍
And Instavolt :)
2020 all motorway service chargers will be required by law to be PAYG. They cannot be app based only
@@TheDarylSharp If that is true it is very good news.
our new dynamic prime minister Boris agrees, and has decreed that all EV public chargers are to have standard chip & pin readers to facilitate payment by the end of the year.... Let's wait & see if this happens!
I don’t understand the criticism for the last video, I think you highlighted the real world issues and concerns people are having.
First week experience is just first week experience. Not representative of actually living with one.
You simply need to find an efficient way to use it and adapt the way you do things a bit.
Owning an ev isn't inherently worse or better. It is just a little different in some ways. Trying to force to use it in a way that does not suit an ev will make for a shitty experience.
I was one of those critics of your Etron review, so I watched this presentation with interest. Hats off to you, you have made a proper attempt to get to grips with understanding EV ownership. The result a very fair and reasonable review of the current state of EV ownership. Thank you for your commitment to giving it a committed review. It really comes across that you have made the effort this time. As an owner of both a Kona and Tesla my advice to friends considering EV ownership is that if you do very high mileage (like you did in the video) then maybe EV ownership isn’t for you yet, but if you do up to say 15k miles/ year then you should be fine. An excellent, fair, balanced review. It’s all I ask. Well done.
Thank you. That means a lot 🙏
Re: mileage, in my calculations you need a reasonably high annual mileage to offset the extra cost of the EV with the lower “fuel” costs...?
Depends what EV you go for. Agree with some of the lower end cars from MG, Kia etc. that is the case but if you look at the purchase price of the Tesla Model 3 it's comparable with ICE alternatives from BMW, Audi, MB when judged on size, performance and spec.
Hi looking for some help here. We currently are getting 19mpg from our 2004 Honda CRV. We spend about £180 a month on petrol. Now until now we just couldn’t afford another car as the £180 plus £27 road tax is within our budget. We can now stretch to £300 £350 a month. Our options are
BMW X1 that does 50-60mpg
E-Nero
Tesla Model 3
Family of 4 who drive to Scotland 2-3 times a year from Manchester apart from that it’s mainly 300-350 miles a month
@@datmanUK I would go for the Tesla Model 3. Free road tax and very low running costs compared to the Honda. You will also benefit from the Tesla supercharging network which shows up on the sat nav in the car. They are also quick to charge the batteries - up to 80% capacity within 30-35 minutes using the supercharger. There are quite a lot of these Tesla chargers located around the UK now, even in Europe. Oh, and you can go on UA-cam and check Tesla model 3 owner's reviews and use their referral codes to charge the model 3 for free. I think the previous generation Model S came with free supercharging for life. Using the Model 3 you will have to pay for charging unless you use the referral codes you get from UA-cam. Each time you use someone's code, they get more free charging so really you might not even have to pay to charge the model 3 anyway!
We have had an e Niro 2 years now. Totally agree with you about the complications involved with various charging units. Also need to have far more fast charges available. Scotland is particularly poor for charging units. We had some stressful days finding charges many out of order.
Hi. I have a Nero here in NZ; nearly all houses have a garage, so charging at home is the norm. Because this car has such a formidable range, when we go someplace we can nearly always go there and back on a single charge. However there is a reasonable public charging infrastructure, if needed. We have done nearly 16,000km so far and used a public charger just five times. We carry a "tucker box" (kiwi for "lunch basket!") so don't waste the savings on fast food. We also have a solar set up so we mostly top up on sunshine. That makes me smile! Overall we find having this car is very satisfying and a good experience. Recommend.
I have a house with a garage but unfortunately in the UK many many people live in apartment buildings so its harder to plug it overnight and wake up with a decent charge everyday
Sorry Chris, I live in th UK. What's this 'sunshine' thing you mentioned?
@@steevefowles1499 Steeve, after Covid , make a trip here to good ol Oz. We have sunshine to burn ( sic) literally.
Yes I think user experience will differ country to country, lots of space and small population = more room for drives and garages where home charging is easy. Unfortunately the UK is one of the worst places to own an EV for home charging.
@MDF 2 MDF 2 Yes but even if my petrol car (Ford Focus) has only 800km range (that is 500 miles) if I had to stop to refuel... 5 minutes and I'm ready for another 800km! (without the need to buy any unnecessary food or drinks...)
My FE has over 337,000 miles. Last October, 2021 I did 16,800 miles. Some days, I do 1,100 miles. I seriously doubt anyone else has as much Niro time/miles. I gotta say that I love this vehicle. Very reliable. Best tank lasted 670 miles but most are 520-540 miles.
Took an e-Niro for a test drive today. This video has been really helpful as it gives an insight into the reality of owning one. Thanks
Did you like the car. I think they are brilliant to drive 👍
I totally agree with you little rant about the mess of different charging companies. It makes no sense that you had to download five different apps in order to charge the car. For EV up take to really take off we need to have one app for all of the different charges. Let's hope that in the future the process of charging will be cohesive and more user friendly.
Well, I thought at first, yet another electric car review, but no, you have done a great talk-through of what too and not too expect. This is the first time a have watch a video from 0 to 60 without skipping through. Loved it. Well done
Wow thanks Tony. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
SHELL appears the way forward, it looks so easy, great vlog.
It was SO easy !
The Shell Recharge you used is 150kW on CCS. Your E-Niro can take up to approx 70kW speeds FYI.
They are a oil company/gas station company of course they know people want to pay at the pump unlike these other charger companies who are trying new "innovative" app solutions
Very informative and painted a real world picture of EV driving. I wont be in any hurry to convert!
Thanks 👍
AMEN! one APP, or at least make it possible to use as a guest with a credit cart. I appreciate that you took a second chance on an electric car. I was one that didn't like the eTron video that you didn't prepare for, but will give you a bit of credit for planning this use much better.
Glad you liked this one 😜😂
I bought a 2017 Kia Niro Eco/Hybrid and I love it (and it doesn't need to be plugged in to charge)
Good video. We need to remember he is doing 2K in 2 weeks. If you doing 50K/Y maybe an EV is not for you . If like many of us doing 12K/Y and charging from home, you may need to visit a public charger once a month.
Just about to take delivery of an Nero for work and your account of the pros and cons is very helpful especially the planning aspects of charging.
Thankyou.
They are brilliant cars. You’ll love it 👍
@@PetrolPed Thanks. Yes they look great and I am very much looking forward to it. I also watched your video on the Audi ETron. My own Audi A6 was in Glasgow Audi because of faults that kept displaying and I had the E-tron for a few days. As you say, fantastic car but poor charging infrastructure across Scotland. I am sure though that will improve but hopefully very quickly. All the best and keep the vids rolling. Slainte'
Last week I had a holiday in the lakes. It was 80 miles from home to our base, we did 3 drives total 60 miles and 90 miles coming home. So total mileage was 230 enough to get me there and back. I'm now convinced ev works for me especially as my average weekly mileage is less than 100. So upto 2 minutes from the end I'm a Nero man then you dropped the bomb shell about the lights. Yours is the only review that picked this up. So now I'm not so sure
I've had a Hyundai Kona Electric Prem SE since Aug 19. It has the same EV motor & battery capacity/management as the Kia e-Niro. After a few thousand miles, including long trips between Essex & Devon, and Essex & Leeds, I totally agree with your comments regarding the non-Tesla charging network. I have over five charging apps and two charging RFID cards plus extensively use Zap-Map. My best experiences have been with Polar, GeniePoint and PODPoint rapid (50kW) chargers with regards reliability and availability. My worst experience has been with Ecotricity rapid chargers. Ecotricity rapid charges typically dropped out after 20 minutes of charging, and their older chargers last only 2 - 3 minutes before dropping out. From on-line queries, it appears the later is a known problem. Kona battery management system asks the charger to deliver as much power as it can up to Kona's max charging rate (
Thanks for this Keith. Really interesting 👍
I do 24k miles a year, split between about 53 miles a day locally Mon-Fri and a 400-mile round trip every second weekend with only one 1-hour break at a McDonalds (where there are no charging points). I live in a terrace house with only on-street parking (no charging points). And I can only afford a car's purchase price to be about £1500. And I can't enter a lease scheme because my monthly income is rather up and down, not fixed. Can I run an EV? Thought not. :-(
It's supposed to be the technology of the future, so why would I want to take a step backwards and put inconvenience into something so simple as running a car. Stopping for longer than five to ten minutes to refuel/recharge is unacceptable, especially when things don't work out and you need to recharge immediately but need to be somewhere urgently.
The whole point of new innovation and technology is that you shouldn't have to think about things the previous technology already got rid of...i.e. planning routes and recharge stops. With a i.c.e car you just got in and drove, when you need to refuel stop at an easy to find compatible petrol station and fill your tank in three minutes, pay then go.
Yes it's archaic and old fashioned, but way more advanced in ease of use and a lot more quicker to "recharge"
@@stevenbalekic5683 Yep - what about when a relative has been rushed into hospital 200 miles away but the EV outside your house is showing only 20 miles of charge left?
Oh yes - and I expect with electric planes we'll be back to propellers, will we not?
@@hunchanchoc8418 Maybe so. Don't get me wrong, the cars are great, but the technology is just not up to par. Maybe soon someone will come up with an instant charge system, maybe then it will be an actual upgrade. But then you gotta wait for the infrastructure to be built too. I think I'll wait another decade or two before switching.
The charging networks payment issue is something i just don't get. Snack and soda vending machines take credit cards. Why can't the EV stations just all take CCs... silliness holding back an industry.
the UK public network is a joke. Most countries you sign up with newmotion (for example) and can use it anywhere because all the companies collaborate.
@@jwenting Yeah this is the one thing I have reservations about. Why the hell are there FIVE different payment apps for charging a car?!? Just build a card reader into the damned charger!
@@dickdolby8271 beats me. And worse, some companies run more than one network, each with its own app...
@@dickdolby8271 our new dynamic prime minister Boris agrees, and has decreed that all EV public chargers are to have standard chip & pin readers to facilitate payment by the end of the year.... Let's wait & see if this happens!
100% agree although the government is now Forcing all public charging station that are 50kWh or above to accept contactless card with zero subscription, although I wish this would happen to 7kWh & above.
Like watching his videos as he gives a warts and all view of owning an EV. As a potential purchaser of this type of vehicle, I want to to know the pitfalls *before* I buy rather than afterwards. Great video, good to see you have done your research but it highlights the fragmented landscape for charging in the UK. Hopefully something, whichever government we get in, will tackle as a matter of urgency.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for this. Glad I could be helpful 👍
@knowledge share Glad to read that but what I meant was a regulatory body that unified all the disparate EV infrastructure systems into one i.e. no matter which charger I go to there is only one "body" that I pay money to. That should not need anything special, just a debit/credit card just like we do currently for fossil fuels. Don't care especially which government does it, just as long as it is done. Otherwise I can see EV's just not taking off as they need to.
The reduced range you saw in poor weather was not much to do with the battery, it's just a combination of denser cold air causing more aero drag plus wet roads having more rolling resistance. You only notice it in an EV because recharging takes 45 mins to put in 80% for 200 miles rather than 5 mins to put in 60 litres for 400 miles with a diesel. btw you can granny charge on a long extension cable, I charged a Kona from my shed over a 50m reel, just make sure that the reel is fully extended so it doesn't overheat.
I know about charging on a long flex, I did it while I had this car. At my friends house |I was more worried about laying a flew over a public walk way 😪
Air density has a negligible effect at 70 mph. Also the length of a cable has an effect because of increased resistance but this is also negligible if the cable section is adequate for the length of cable.
Hi Peter, well done, much better this time around (a,b,c rules). I agree that the charging infrastructure remains the achilles heel for mass adoption of EV's. However, this is improving at a faster and faster rate. Thank you for a great EV roadtrip.
Glad you enjoyed it Paul 👍
For day to day use, EV's are perfect, especially with the same sort of range that the E Niro has. Much more difficult for longer journies, hopefully with time these things are rectified and the infrastructure is a lot better.
At £36 Grand and above? Our household normally just buys £3-4K used cars and get about 5 years plus out of each (4 household drivers) on Petrol Cars.
I have been researching EV's a lot lately. It was really great to see a lot of miles on the car, and to hear what your impressions were.
When I travel (U.S), fuel is the least part of my planning. Think I'll stick to ICE. However, having owned two KIAs, currently a Sedona, I'm not surprised KIA has done a good job with the E Niro.
Thanks for this. Like so many reviews I am getting so excited about buying a Niro. Your comment around 26minutes about the headlamps has made me rethink as I struggle to drive at night, my eyes just take forever to adjust. Looks like I might have to wait until they make them brighter or look at a different brand. Thanks a really good insightful review.
Worth asking Kia about LED lamps 👍
this whole EV thing polarises opinion evoking emotionally driven views for and against. Peter this is a thorough, balanced and useful review. The infrastructure is seemingly insufficient to cater for the needs of many, and will face big challenges keeping up with the expected future EV uptake. I'd be interested to know if you kept a record of how many hours & minutes you awaited your Niro to receive it's charge.
Each stop was a minimum of 45 mins but most were 60-90 mins 👍
It's not very often that I like this kind of UA-cam video but I like this one a lot. Thanks
I have one with 13,000 km on it so far. It has exceeded all my expectations and continues to perform flawlessly
Great car 👍
Agree with you that the infrastructure isn't quite there yet. I think once the main fuel companies - Shell, BP etc. start to really develop and implement charging stations on a large scale, EVs will really take off. I think I'll stick with my GTI for now though! Great video as usual :)
Isn't quite there... I can't remember the last charging point I saw. 23 million cars in the UK, and a few thousand charging points. Yes, right. And then each charging point takes three normal spaces.
Kraken1000 sorry. This is factually incorrect. Check zap-map for near real-time information about locations and availability..
@@Kraken1000 I see them everyday as they have four at work. I do see more PHEVs plugged in than pure EVs though.
Completely agree on the variety of apps and rfid tags - it should be as easy as turning up, plugging it in and waving your contactless card.
There simply is no comparison with the ease of use and speed of charge of the Tesla Superchargers currently (in the UK at least).
You may consider me a bit of a dinosaur but I really don't like the concept of contactless payment let alone the reality, I morn my cheque book but accept chip and pin (cash is still the best), we stopped having to plan our journeys around getting fuel in the 1920s, progress?, and the wait to charge, and are people sufficiently aware that all this fast charging knocks the stuffing out of the batteries shortening their life, yes you will sell your problems after two years ownership but as people become aware of battery degradation the second hand values will drop influencing the residual values back up the chain, making the purchase much more expensive, an ice car gets to around five hundred to one thousand pounds provided its mot'd and in reasonable order and will stay at that until it becomes a "classic", your EV will die because the battery will give in and be too expensive to replace, (the EV classic car movement may be very small indeed!!), we wait and see.
I've bought stock (shares) in Starbucks, Macky D's, Burger King, Cafe Nero and Costa Coffee. The stock has done so well I can now afford a Tesla Model S Long Range with all the extras! What a car, what a brilliant charging network.
Good skills 👍
Thanks for posting this video. I haven't heard anything about the Kia electric, so it was very nice to hear your take on it. I liked to hear about all the hiccups that you ran into because we will all probably run into the same problems. So, thanks bud!
My pleasure. Great that you enjoyed it 👍
As a new EV owner / convert, it's refreshing to see a review by a petrolhead looking at the practicalities of using an EV, rather than an EV enthusiast extolling the virtues of their favorite vehicle. As for the charging infrastructure, I share some of the frustrations.
Over here we have quite a few chargers at highway service stations... but they are not marked on the roadside signs that announce service stations! The highway authorities are "working on" getting the signs updated, but seriously, what's to work on? Just get out and do it already. I also have to agree that the satnavs in many of these EVs do not offer the glaringly obvious and rather essential function: give me a charging station along my route. I went with the Kona over the Model 3 because I think it's a better drive and nicer car overall, but Tesla is pretty much the only car manufacturer that understands software, and they've nailed it with their satnav.
The apps are getting better though. The Shell Recharge and Maingau apps will show the nr of chargers and how many are occupied for most charging networks (I wonder if Tesla can also do this for networks other than their own?). Plugshare will let you plan a route with charging stops along the way. But all in all, this is all functionality that should have been part of the car from the start.
Another thing that Tesla got right: if you're going to build a charging station, you might as well add loads of units. Most other networks have only 1, 2 and sometimes 4 charging points at their locations. It's rare to find one with 4 CCS sockets which is the one you really want these days.
What really rocks about an EV is that I leave home every morning with a full "tank". I rarely drive far enough to require a charge along the way, which means I almost never have to stop for gas anymore.
Thanks for this. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
One of the best EV videos I’ve seen. Nice one. Interesting to hear about how good the Shell chargers are. Ecotricity is letting EV reputation down massively. Very good review, fair and realistic. Owner of two EVs and you’ve got it spot on.
Thanks Dom. Thats great feedback 🙏🏻
This is the best real world test in the UK for an EV I've seen. My worry has always been the charging infrastructure in this country and your report has done nothing to change that. When was the last time anyone here got to a petrol station to find one pump fail let alone all of them? Even if you have, most of the time there is a other petrol station not too far away.
Too many apps, not enough chargers, too many chargers not working or busy. ALL chargers should be like the Shell one just tap your payment card and charge away. The longest you have to wait is what ten minutes if a petrol pump is busy? To have to wait what could be 30- 45 minutes for a charger to become available and then a further 45 minutes to charge is a hell of a lot to add to a journey.
This seems like the same issue we had way back, when we had Betamax and VHS recorders and then the industry got its act together and sorted it out. If the government are serious about wanting us to move to EV's then make it law that all charging points give you the ability ro pay with your card as we can when buying fossil fuels. Oh and add a lot more charging points.
Thanks for the feedback 🙏
By far the best "road trip" EV video that I have seen. Normally don't make it to the end of them.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Enjoyable and well analysed video. I’m always amazed at how much less efficient headlights are in the wet as little of the light is reflected back to you due to the shiny surface of the water. Try using a torch at a low angle on a pond or mirror .
Cheers Pete, Good to see a proper "real world" EV test rather than one in a warm country with flat roads that other EV proponents push. I'm still not tempted to make the switch. Think I'll wait till charge network is sorted or petrol runs out ha ha
Thanks Graham. I'm getting better feedback for this film than my E Tron vid 😂
I've got the Kona Electric since March 2019 and will never ever look back at an ICE car. I hate when I have to drive my wife's car - it feels like something is wrong with it, takes ages to pull away and makes noise .. Best of all, I am on the Octopus GO! tariff and get the kWh for 5p between 0.30-4.30 at night, which fills about half my battery and is just what i need for my day's worth of driving. So far it cost me less than £300 in charging, £86 for one service and £3.99 for one windscreenwasher top up and I've done 20k miles :). Front tyres probably will be next..
We're currently living with an e Niro out in the Pacific Northwest U.S. We usually run a 140-150 mile commute roundtrip with ease with 100 miles of range remaining at the end. Haven't touched the DC network yet, our Level 1 and Level 2 garage units are more than satisfactory for overnight charging, even when shared with a Chevy Volt (smaller battery)
Never needed to install a separate garage outlet, we went with a heat pump clothes dryer using a typical 110V outlet, freeing up the 240V dedicated dryer outlet for our Level 2 charging EVSE. The other Level 1 unit is plugged into a basic 110V outlet.
Preconditioning (remote start) both the Niro and Volt during colder days helps significantly in battery performance as well as reducing battery demand for cabin heating. A short 10 minute remote start (while plugged in) is usually satisfactory from our experience.
Thanks for this, very interesting 👍
My Experience so far is that Ecotricity do not maintain their network as well as other suppliers, Instavolt don’t need an account and are just contactless via card or Apple Pay. I plan my longer journeys with a view that stopping on the way is a bonus if the ecotricity works on the motorway or use an alternative that may be just a short deviation to my main route. I mainly drive the Kona in eco mode as its still good acceleration and you do get 10-20 miles more that comfort mode plus I can get over 300 miles on a charge in the summer with 270 in the winter. Your frustrations are correct for the majority of new EV owners as they need to get used to the change in approach and planning and you are right more needs to be done to support the network growth, I would even go so far as to suggest that companies that don’t maintain the network to a standard should be fined..
Now have watched it to the end, apparently the 2020 model has LED lights.
In Scotland you get access to a lot of free chargers which is great and at the minute you can take £3500 off the £36k price tag still. For now....
Agree on the cards/app/charging thing too! Don’t see why you can’t just use a card to pay
The £36.000 price tag already includes the incentive
Still have to charge and seems to take hours depending on level you have in your car and the distance you want to go ? Finding charge point working ! Seems risky then having to wait for the car on charge to Finnish before you can plug in your car to charge , petrol engine into petrol station , full tank of fuel 15 minutes range hundreds of miles ok cost is higher but I know what I prefer
I had the hybrid version and agree with you about the poor headlights. Very informative review. Thanks.
Would agree I have Kia ceed and headlights are poor at best had better bulbs fitted and extra lights fitted
How pleasant to watch you without a mega rant. To see you thinking ahead and realise that time charging is not necessarily time wasted. 2 pointers for you. Don't leave rear screen wipers on, it's wasting electric. And 2, never carry only one payment card tap and go. You never know when your contactless payment card will deny payment without entering a pin number. At best it can mean a long walk to a shop to buy a mars bar and clear the pin. Or at worst you are stuck.
It's a more common event since the increase in payment allowed to £100. The banks request a pin more frequently.
I have had a 24Kw nissan leaf for the last 5 years and have done 92k. Have put a deposit down for the e-niro and am looking forward to the additional range. Your video confirmed what I expected on range so thanks for that.
The Niro was a really very impressive car 👏
Sounds like your expectations are too high. Charging has come a long way, and yes, it needs to be better. Once there are more ev vehicles on the road, I think the charging problem will get better. Thanks for the video as I really enjoyed it!
Or will it get better? with more evs there will be even longer queues for sockets so it will be a viscous circle. Remember the queues when peril prices go up? What happens if the main electric grid goes off and u need to go to work??
Had one last week for 3days and absolutely loved it. Completely sold on the eNiro and wish it was available in the uk in less than 12months!!!
I’d disagree on the performance though... 0-60 is around 7seconds but it feels so fast because it’s instant
The instant torque is certainly good fun 👍
Excellent video, very informative. My son has just bought a gen 1 Nissan Leaf and is getting used to it. On his first trip, getting it home from Grimsby to Manchester he had 6 backup charge stations set up.
Wow...good planning 👏
The electric car charging industry is in its infancy, recently big energy players like Shell have started to move in and will I believe rapidly sort out the charging issues by wiping out and standardising both charger plugs and payment systems. Things are moving rapidly and I believe in less than a year BEV cars will be the vehicle of choice for everyone.
Thanks for this Ian. I think it will be more than a year but it is good to see things moving in the right direction. The is a great deal to do however 👍
Many thanks for this very informative intro to the ev world. Yesterday after an age I am next on the waiting list to actually put down a deposit. No I wont waste my time now. I will get a modern diesel and just enjoy my driving instead of this farcical nonsense. My neighbour had put down his deposit and after I showed him your efforts he has withdrawn his interest and will also get a modern diesel and enjoy his long commute. At 64 years old I simply cannot put up with this level of stress while driving long distances. Once again many thanks for your very honest review.
Thanks Drew. Make sure you take a drive in an EV before you right them off completely 👍
On M1 yesterday . Just two chargers at service station ! On the M1 for heavens sake ! Both taken up and an impatient family sat waiting . About sums up why I won’t go for an ev car any time soon
If that impatient family had had a ICE car they could have been 50+ miles down the road by the time they get that EV charged...
Been there this week !
Luckily no such problem in my tesla model 3. Drove to Lake District 160 miles for short break. No stop required used just over half "tank" on arrival. Stayed in lovely lodge near the lake and charged car every night on 3pin socket. Total miles for the week with return journey was over 420 miles. Cost about a fiver with my initial charge at home on 5p kWh tariff. My previous car BMW M140I would have used tank and half petrol st around £ 80. So easy now.
@@richardcorns8553 Glad you can afford a Tesla, many of us just can't. As usual (and i'm sure it's for very good reason) the luxury car market get the benefit first, whilst the rest of us much lower income bods have to wait. And yes even 35k for an E-Nero or Kona is out of many people's price range too which is why so many Fiesta, Jazz, Astra and may more small hatchbacks are sold. Yes you save in fuel costs but it is the initial outlay for these high mileage EV's that is beyond many of us.
Pompeyexile UK Tesla driver brags about doing 150 miles I did a 500 plus round trip over the weekend no ev would have been able to do that without a lot of stress and forethought . I will continue with petrol cars, pay for my petrol and the Vat raised will help pay for the road system and NHS etc
I've owned a Kia e-Niro since April and I agree with your findings. I regularly get a realistic 250 miles range of mixed driving but energetic motorway driving does impact that range noticeably. The public charging infrastructure is a complete mess at the moment but the UK government has changed the rules so that new chargers have to accept contactless payment from next year. This will help a lot with ease of use. The other aspect of public charging is the variation in the maintenance of chargers. Faulty chargers can remain so for weeks or longer whereas I cannot imagine a petrol pump being left in the same state, especially if it was the only one available as is often the case with chargers. So, I'm extremely happy with the car, it does what I want it to do reliably, but the public charging infrastructure is too limited, slow, complicated and unreliable at present for everyone to comfortably move onto EV driving.
You can use Polar Instant if you haven’t setup the Polar Plus yet. Very quick to setup on the fly. I phoned the number on the charge station first time out, who told me about Polar Instant to get up and running quickly. Helpline was good, although clearly busy and a little rushed.
Nice experience video, thanks. Finding empty chargers is not going to be so easy when there are 10x the amount of EVs on the roads.
Very true 👍
Great insight into the EV world. I found this vid very interesting and I'll be waiting alot longer now until charge stations have improved. Cheers.
Thanks Andy. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
This is exactly why I am saving my hard earned money for a Tesla. Yes, they are expensive but the package is significantly better value. The Tesla Network is so far and away more simple it almost creates a two tier ownership experience. It’s like the iPad vs any other tablet.
I live in France and use the "Chargemap" card. Basically Chargemap consolidate a lot of providers onto the one card. That means you can rock up at most charging stations, wave your card at the charging station, and start charging. I don't need any Apps on my phone, I just have the one Chargemep account.
Given that most modern EVs are capable of a comfortable 250 miles, it's very rare that I charge outside my home. It sits on my drive, plugged in, and I have a "full tank" every morning.
Great video Peter. Infrastructure is still an issue and that's why I would still consider a hybrid over full electric
Me too 👍
The reason hybrids exist is purely for manufacturers to comply with green targets and are of little use in the real world. Typically a range of around 20 or so miles on pure electric, then use fossel fuel to charge the battery AND propel the vehicle.... which now had the additional weight of the battery, electric motor and drive-train to lug around, thus using even more fuel that it would have otherwise done.... Then there is the additional components to potentially go wrong, not to mention the depreciation, as the value of hybrids will plummet once ev's get better battery technology with longer range/faster charging times and the purchase price falls enough for mainstream sales to kik-in.
Ped, can you turn the rear wiper off? That might save a mile or two on the range 😀.
Great vid, real world experience worth so much more than manufacturer info.
Thanks for a comprehensive and honest review of the real world of an EV user, which I found quite encouraging in respect of finding a charger when you NEED one. For an example of your point about over-complication, take Pod Point, who have a charger on the North Norfolk coast, which I couldn't use via their app because my phone couldn't get enough signal! Thanks to Zapmap and Shell, Polar, etc., where cards can be used, I am reassured. I tested an e-Niro, a great car (I'm on the waiting list) with enough storage space for a few simple network access cards! Well done!
The Niro was hugely impressive 👍
Spot on review. Charging network complaints are always identical. Maybe Ionity will bring it forward. Payment wise it will still depend on their pass. Recharge is good with it's payment option. Haven't used them yet since it's shell...
That put me off at first.
I've been waiting for this video for so long lol. Thank you so much for doing this video and with the 77kwh max capability of this car, having a DC fast charger that's easy to use and easy to access is key to adoption. Electrify America has up to 350kwh chargers and would pair great with this car. My first EV will be a Spark EV for the short term and an e-niro in the long run.
They are only really practical for local commuting and home charging. If you do a high mileage forget it, unless you like spending hours in service stations.
we have had our niro ev for 2 yrs wouldnt part with it. loved the video , think our system of charging stations may be ahead of u cheers ..
1st couple times people use public chargers is always a learning experience... Well done 👍👍
Sure is 😂
By 2030 when all you can buy new will be EV cars like this I can see the used car industry -especially the latest Gen of Diesels- experiencing its biggest boom in history!
they will be banned
@@audionut9974 no they will not...
@@audionut9974 If cannot beat 'em, ban 'em. It's the only EV's can win.
@@audionut9974 No one could ban the IC cars, where it's clear that there will be NO VIABLE ALTERNATIVE... on 2028/2029 they simply "postpone" the ban on 2040... and then in 2039 again they will "postpone" the ban...
I here what your saying but I am not sure it is as simple as that car companies will plan to end production on a given date and it won't be easy to prolong production especially as they won't spend any money on IC engines for now on this is a really upsetting situation however I am not in a position to buy a new car and never have been so all you people out there pleas enjoy your coffee sat at a charging station in your 80.k EV's while I drive past in my old by then 30 year old audi VW mercedes or Lexus hope they keep making parts for them ?????
Really good video. Totally get your frustration with charge network. This situation should be nipped in the bud very quickly and all should be as easy as the Shell charger point. 👍
I totally agree 👍
You are bang on with what the Mitsy PHEV did regarding temperature and the range drain. They are good once we re think our approaches to our driving. The PHEV had brilliant headlights, problem being ya couldn’t lower the heights on dip. Had no end of people flash at night, of course, at which point ya flashed main beam in return, then saw the whites of their eyes. That was my only downside concerning that particular vehicle.
Have just ordered the new 4+ I like this video, I am currently building up my list of free and pay stations for the journeys is I’ll be doing, I will be having a home charger installed as well and if I feel the need for speed I’ll break out the bike , which can cut my commute by 20mins as it doesn’t suffer traffic issues :) but there are times when the Niro is going to be the one and this is has helped confirm the range for nicely
Great 👍
I don't take road trips so 99% of my charging will be at home and even a trickle charge is probably enough (planning on getting a level 2 eventually though) since my commute is short and i can pretty much drive on 80% charge once a week. For those that drive a lot on road trips or long drives, I agree that EVs are less practical since the infrastructure is not there yet. But for day to day driving, it is great with no range anxiety and lots of savings when you can charge during offpeak hours and great smooth drive. Less maintenance is a huge plus for me too.
Hint, only charge long enough to get to the next charging station, as evs charge faster in the lower 50% of the battery than in the upper 50%, which is why Tesla Superchargers are spaced 100 to 150 miles apart.
Also the Niro can charge at over 70 KW so you should try to use 100-150KW chargers. 50 KW will take much longer.
Also, don't use Ecotrickery, nothing but problems with them
Absolutely agree with your comments on the chargers they should all be contactless which I think they are all planning on doing. Secondly the e Niro gets a face lift for 2020 which should bring with it the latest LED lighting and the sat nav is much improved and larger with full telematics. But what you can do is through Apple CarPlay use the phone and google maps or zap map. Other than that I agree with you it’s a great car so much so I have one on order. Hopefully I should get it 1st quarter of next year. I ordered it in March this year. A good honest video.
Cheers Stephen. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Your comments about the charging infrastructure are exactly what I experienced in 3 years of running my i3 - fortunately, I had the REX version so could keep going if found a dodgy charger - Ecotricity is referred to Ecotrocity by the EV community - they are more often than not out of service or broken. Great video - like the E Niro, and was one of the cars on my list before I regressed back to fossil fuel!
Still worth a test drive Rob 👍
Drove one on Friday, very impressive. Just ordered an MG ZS EV, £11k cheaper, but only 160 mile range (140 in real life).
mark holttum wait until winter you’ll be down to one hundred miles.
@@dunniwood How cold does it get where you live? My Ioniq has 155 miles in summer and 130 miles in winter.
@@dunniwood My Zoe has 190 miles summer 170 miles winter. The difference isn't that great.
Every charging issue you had would have been a lot less with a Tesla - their price is higher as it also gives you a fast, reliable, high capacity, charging network.
I agree the Tesla charging experience would be much better. On the flip side the build quality of this car is much better 👍
Great review. Interesting comment about the fast charge window from 20-80%.
I agree, you have given this review a real go, not designed to prove it wrong, but a good try at proving it works. I would say, most EV owners learn very quickly, NOT to leave filling up until the last minute. As you found out, if you do it that way, and there is an issue (charger broken or being used) it’s a bit of a problem. But if you charge up earlier in the journey, then if there is an issue, it’s pretty easy to just continue to the next Chargepoint. You may have worked that out already. Ownership is pretty easy and isn’t full of the complications many people suspect. I do agree with you that the charging network(s) do need to be better and easier. It’s getting there but still has some way to go. For me it is the biggest weakness. By a margin.
But a very interesting, and honest review. I enjoyed it very much.
Thanks Iain 👍
I would like a full electric car, but will keep my plugin-hybrid until the charging network is good enough or a Tesla becomes half the price.
BUT I DO NOT CARE. I WILL BUY A FULLY LOADED 2020 KIA NIRO EV ANYWAY.
Quarter price!
I so want a plugin hybrid but just 30 mines is pointless for most, if a car company released a 60miles electric hybrid, I would buy.
@@hometechUK Do try to go full EV unless there aren't any public chargers on trips you regularly make.
Why pay for both an EV and an ICE drive train and all the maintenance headaches of an ICE system?
I am in the same position with my Ioniq PHEV, I want to go fully electric but the charging system different apps etc is too disjointed.
Spot on! Great review especially on the Charging Network, there are too many Apps, too many ways to pay, and too many chargers not working when you arrive. Shell have it right with their contactless chargers. They should all be like that. Tesla are the only one getting this right (apart from Shell). If you have a Tesla it all just works, including excellent Sat Nav integration. Model 3 Performance review next please :-) That will also take care of the nice Porsche!
Cheers Declan 👍
I currently have a 2017 Hyundai Ioniq and I'm looking at upgrading to either a Kia Niro or Hyundai Kona.
My learnings from my time driving the Ioniq are that I have regeneration set to maximum all the time, and that I use cruise control nearly all the time, both in the city where it controls the distance to the vehicle ahead, and on the open road to prevent me from speeding, (easily done in a country with a max speed limit of 100kmph).
In this country we only have one fast charge network, so only one app required, but the chargers are easily found, but a second app, a better route planner or ABRP, identifies if you may need to reduce your driving speed to cover a distance between chargers. The fast charge network are all 50kw chargers although in Canterbury there is also a network of 22kw chargers which re currently free of charge.
Because EVs charge best between 20% and 80% it is better to charge in short bursts, 15 minute stops to go to the toilet and get a drink are definitely the way to go.
Even with the Ioniqs max range of 240km I am happy with my decision to go full EV and with the prospect of effectively doubling the range with either the Kona or Niro, I'm excited about future journeys.
Well done excellent video. Zap maps do a route planner so you can plan your journey with stops easily. I did criticise you on your last one with the Audi. It's a different mindset having an EV. I have a leaf 40 kWh tekna. Started with the 30 kWh accenta. After 21/2 yrs now covering 37k miles I'm comfortable. 99.5% of my journeys are powered from home. Yes longer journeys need a bit more planning but most of my breaks are lunch or coffee ones so Charging takes place then. I agree with you about all the different apps and charging companies. But the government have decreed from 2020 all rapid chargers have to be contactless. Looking forward to you getting a Tesla model 3 for a couple of weeks and doing a video on that.
Glad I didn't get slated this time. I learned from my E Tron experience. Hopefully getting the Model 3 soon 👍
@@PetrolPed I've been an EV driver for 21/2 yrs now. 99.5% of my Charging is done at home. At first I was worried about range all the time. Now to me it's just a car. I drive it as such if I need heating I put it on . Just finished my shift at 10pm tonight. While the other guys were warming there cars up n clearing there windscreen I was preheated n ready to go. An advantage you didn't touch upon , maybe you could mention it next time. I'm a member of the Yorkshire EV club on Facebook we have regular meetings. Chatting to other owners you pick information up you didn't know. Maybe it would be worth your while to to attend a meeting and get long term owners points of view. There are other groups all over the country. We all welcome EV curious people to our meetings. Especially if they bring cake. 😎
I'd seriously consider an EV myself, but your thoughts on the charging infrastructure are exactly the same as mine.
It could be so much simpler 👍
In the USA, the charging infrastructure is being built by a number of different companies (like in the UK), but the nice thing is that in the US, the charging network companies have been signing agreements to enable customers of one business to charge with the same RFID for partnered networks. For example, with my Chargepoint account, I can also charge with EVgo and Electrify America.
Hi, It is annoying but is literally getting better by the day. All new chargers going in now have contactless payment and many of the smaller networks are discussing "roaming" so the number of apps you need to install is reducing.
I can sympathise with you over the various charging providers, it is a problem we in northern Ireland don't have. Are chargers are run by one company , but I do have 4 aps on my mobile for going across to the mainland.
our new dynamic prime minister Boris agrees, and has decreed that all EV public chargers are to have standard chip & pin readers to facilitate payment by the end of the year.... Let's wait & see if this happens!
Great video showing the reality of having an EV! Just what I was looking for thanks :)
Glad you enjoyed it 👍
What a fascinating view into the state of the EV infrastructure in the UK! It seems one of the drawbacks is the preponderance of 50kW chargers as they are underpowered compared to what the e-Niro is capable of accepting (77kW). That would shave close to 30mins off your charging sessions.
If you sleep in your own bed every night, then an EV might be a good choice since you take 10secs to plug it in when you get home and go to sleep. If you drive cross-country and stay in random places overnight, then an EV might not be the best choice.
@Michael Firecracker lack of EV charging spots in lots of places where people live is a real problem. Hopefully it gets resolved soon. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I'm a Kia car owner and yes, don't care for the cheap looking cockpits. They need to go to a screen like Tesla and others and stop with all the buttons.
I will say that I believe the sweet spot on range is one that can get 300+ and/or close to it above 400 miles on a charge. My gas guzzling Optima gets 437 miles on a full tank.
I'm seriously considering this as an upgrade to what I have because I do primarily local driving. Put it like this. My Optima is a 2013 in very good shape with less than 35k miles on it. And I bought it brand new so I'm not very hard on vehicles.
Thanks for an excellent review. I'm slightly obsessed with EV's but would never be able to own one, stuck with my dirty diesel i'm afraid.
Never say never my friend 👍
Minor point: the interior lights don’t stay on long enough to let you do the fiddly things we all do on entering a car. 😐
Really intersting Peter. We are currently running a plug in Hybrid whic we charge at home on a 7kw wall box. The infrastructure at present is what really needs work and as you say the myriad apps required for each network is a pain. The Shell charging station is where it needs to be. I believe the new Mercedes does something similar with just one app, but of course the price is beyond most. The Government are currently carryng out a survey to see if there is appetite for green number plates. Instead of wasting money there they should be looking at providing incentives to industry to provide better infrastructure, especially as the prices of EVs are now starting to come down a bit and the uptake may start rise. Also it would be interesting to know the cost of charging versus petrol on your time with the vehicle.
Cheers Roger. I think my 2000 cost me about £150 in charging 👍
Thanks for the video, very interesting. I have been a sceptic about EV's but having watched your video and another recent one by CarWoW I feel that EV's are the future. My wife and I are travelling from Kent to Bristol soon (186 miles) and I would of said that would not be possible in an EV. But seeing your video I think it would be easy with a bit of planning. Thanks again for doing a "real world" test. 👍
It should be quite straightforward. I drove this Niro from Mid-Wales to Hamburg in Germany 👍
Excellent video, good to see someone really make the effort to properly use an EV in real life. Again, this shows how far the Mainstream manufacturers are behind Tesla. would love to see you do the same test in a Model 3/S/X.
Working on it 👍
Interesting that optimum charging is suggested to be 20%-80%; if manufacturers say that the that should be the range advertised. The government needs to invest in a much better charging infrastructure and that needs to be in place before people will move across in big numbers. Eg. Every parking space in a motorway services needs to be a fast and generic charging point.
0 to full 250 miles from A type 2 7kw connector at home. Take around 10 hours for full charge. Charging stations will be top up. The battery will also top up miles through the regenerative breaking system.
My Kia - e niro is arriving in January (here in Brittany), I have solar panels on the roof which will do a lot of the charging, a zappi wallbox with hub which will take any unused production and put it in the battery, then charge on super cheap (super creuse) between 0200 and 0600 at 2,5¢ a unit (plus VAT) if needed. The government have put in a great charging infrastructure - two charge points in nearly every town & village. So every morning I have a "full tank". When I do my round trip to Dinard Airport - 400 km - I should be able to do it without topping up. If I do, there are 200 charge points between here and Dinard, within 2 km of the route. The charging infrastructure problems in the UK (like a lot of other problems - e.g. rail) are linked to leaving it to the private sector.
Enjoy the new car. I LOVE Dinard...had the best Chateaubriand of my life cooked over a wood fire in a restaurant there a few years back 👏
£36k for a so-so vehicle and reliant on the cluster f€£k of a UK 🇬🇧 charging infrastructure. Then losing a good hour + per journey time, whilst being fleeced at exorbitant service stations for Costa-lotta coffees and snacks.
Nah. I salute those early adopters with deep enough pockets and seemingly infinite patience to put themselves through that sort of ideal...
'Thumbs Up' well and truly earned for this video, thank you very much.
I'm still in the thought process of changing to an EV, and this video is a huge help (positive) 👍
Thank you for the video. This is one of the fairest and best EV car video on the internet based on actual use. Keep making your videos, they are concise, informative, factual in real life situations. I have had my eye on. Kia Niro as I do lots of short journeys so ideal but long distance driving definitely needs some planning. Great video.
Cheers 👍
A good review, I called you out on your planning with the eTron. This video is a fair go at driving electric with the planning the average person would do before going ev. Like you've said there is a learning curve and some things need to be improved but it is a viable solution for many. 👍
I took it all on board 😜
@@PetrolPed yep you definitely did. Be interested to see another vid seeing how you get on after all you've learned. But give it 6 or 12 months and hopefully we have a viable alternative to the terrible service from Ecotricity, it's coming.