Big Bens i(diot) pace
Discussion
After 25 years with my employer I decided it was time to move on. I don't like to rush these things but the time was right. A consequence of this is I would have to return my EV scheme car, which is a Nissan Ariya. I have quite liked the Nissan but can't imagine I will remember a single thing about it once it has been gone for an hour or so. Actually not so, the self drive was really really good, everything else as exciting as any other Nissan which is to say not very. (my choice was forced by the paucity of new cars post covid)
My new job will still involve a long commute some days a week (possibly every day to start with). The new employer also has an EV scheme, however EV prices are not what they were post covid so the schemes are not that good of a deal. What is a good deal is a used Jaguar i-Pace.
After asking on the i-pace thread on here and being told it was a terrible idea I did what every good PH poster did and ignored the advice I did not want to hear and tracked down a suitable car. You can currently get a brand new car for around £30k, however with the miles I will put on it over the next few years there seemed no point paying a low miles premium so I started to look for cars a few years ago but post the 21 MY facelift (Andriod auto being a must). The Northampton and MK dealers are relatively local to me so I tried both. Northampton were unimpressive, in particular the guy had a weak handshake and I can't stand that. MK were very helpful and tracked down a suitable car within the group.
It has just over 20k miles and came with two years of warranty. Crucially for a car born during the chip shortage it was not missing any kit so has a head up display and the fancier sound system. I am a few weeks into ownership of what is my 5th EV (Zoe, Leaf, i3, Ariya, i-Pace) and so far so good, albeit I have not been very far.
My new job will still involve a long commute some days a week (possibly every day to start with). The new employer also has an EV scheme, however EV prices are not what they were post covid so the schemes are not that good of a deal. What is a good deal is a used Jaguar i-Pace.
After asking on the i-pace thread on here and being told it was a terrible idea I did what every good PH poster did and ignored the advice I did not want to hear and tracked down a suitable car. You can currently get a brand new car for around £30k, however with the miles I will put on it over the next few years there seemed no point paying a low miles premium so I started to look for cars a few years ago but post the 21 MY facelift (Andriod auto being a must). The Northampton and MK dealers are relatively local to me so I tried both. Northampton were unimpressive, in particular the guy had a weak handshake and I can't stand that. MK were very helpful and tracked down a suitable car within the group.
It has just over 20k miles and came with two years of warranty. Crucially for a car born during the chip shortage it was not missing any kit so has a head up display and the fancier sound system. I am a few weeks into ownership of what is my 5th EV (Zoe, Leaf, i3, Ariya, i-Pace) and so far so good, albeit I have not been very far.
Luke. said:
Sadly, it'll never match up to an i3....
I agree if we were considering the i-pace and i3 as abstract concepts the i3 is much more innovative and intersting. However if we consider them as tools to do a job the i3 is worse at doing my commute (the one I had which was a late model REX) would not do my commute in winter. The i3 is also markedly worse as a motorway / dual carriageway car.I was sad to see my i3 go and am mainly trying to persuade my mrs to have one as she does far fewer miles.
Best of British to you sir, bigger balls than I.
Love them - was very close to buying one to replace my i3 last year. Look good, drive well and very comfy. Even got so far as placing a deposit, but bottled it after so many scare stories of reliability woes - and the poor rep of Jaguar to make good on warranty repairs in good time.
Ended up with i4 which is very good, but still hanker for the Jag.
Love them - was very close to buying one to replace my i3 last year. Look good, drive well and very comfy. Even got so far as placing a deposit, but bottled it after so many scare stories of reliability woes - and the poor rep of Jaguar to make good on warranty repairs in good time.
Ended up with i4 which is very good, but still hanker for the Jag.
Whilst I said I hadn't driven the car much I did take it on a road trip to France over the past weekend. The trip was originally supposed to be a run out for my sadly departed Continental R (also 2.5 tonnes and circa 400bhp but somehow in a form that doesn't trigger anyone.) so going in an EV was very much the antethesis.
The trip started last Thursday evening with a run from Northampton to my sister's place in Tumbridge Wells. The car is fantasatic on the motorway, comfortable and the radar cruise works well, I thing the damping could be slightly better on fast undulations but certainly a more relaxing drive than the outgong and rock hard Ariya.
Next stop was the tunnel then on to our first stop in Arras. Got straight onto a train and hit the autoroute. The hotel was in the cetnre of the city and included a parking space with an EV charger. This enabled a full top up before the next day and our onward joruney to Epernay.
I then forgot about the car and focussed on what the area is famous for, specifically champagne. The hotel was in a small champagne house (Charles Martin) in a village where every other building was a champagne producer. The hotel supplied a light lunch and we were able to sample some of their Champagne. In honestly it wasn't my favourite but the surroundings, weather and food made up for it.
We also took time to visit the Moet Chandon cellars which stretch some 17km below Epernay. This was a relatively expensive tour but the measures in the tasting at the end were generous which in some way offset this. Really interesting way to spend a couple of hours and try some drinks that I may not have sprung for on the open market.
Following a relaxing two days the time came for the journey back to the tunnel and then home. To this point on the trip charging the car had been secondary to whatever else we happened to be doing at the time. This time we had a planned coffee / piss stop about an hour and a half into the trip where the plan was to use a fast charger. Sadly this particular services only had three charges available and they were all occupied. We had to wait 20 minutes before we could start.....
This was semi annoying although sitting in the sun with a coffee somewhat took the edge off. On the way out of the services I then spotted a bank of about 10 Tesla charges which we could have used instead, that said they were in a less nice bit of the car park and a bit of a hike from the coffee. Another interesting thing at the servies was a rendevous of a Swiss group of Alpine A110 owners, the more I look at these cars the more I want one, previous France trips had been in an Ariel Atom which was great fun but a bit of a pain on the motorway (and the small fuel tank meant stopping every hour and a half or so (a bit like an EV but less range).
After filling the car with wine we headed for the tunnel home only to find our train was delayed by a few hours, this gave the opportunity for a top up charge which would get us home.
In conclusion the car worked really well for the trip and apart from the slight delay on the way back charging fit in with stuff we were doing anyway. I am now cracking on with gardening leave so won't have much to report for a good few weeks.
The trip started last Thursday evening with a run from Northampton to my sister's place in Tumbridge Wells. The car is fantasatic on the motorway, comfortable and the radar cruise works well, I thing the damping could be slightly better on fast undulations but certainly a more relaxing drive than the outgong and rock hard Ariya.
Next stop was the tunnel then on to our first stop in Arras. Got straight onto a train and hit the autoroute. The hotel was in the cetnre of the city and included a parking space with an EV charger. This enabled a full top up before the next day and our onward joruney to Epernay.
I then forgot about the car and focussed on what the area is famous for, specifically champagne. The hotel was in a small champagne house (Charles Martin) in a village where every other building was a champagne producer. The hotel supplied a light lunch and we were able to sample some of their Champagne. In honestly it wasn't my favourite but the surroundings, weather and food made up for it.
We also took time to visit the Moet Chandon cellars which stretch some 17km below Epernay. This was a relatively expensive tour but the measures in the tasting at the end were generous which in some way offset this. Really interesting way to spend a couple of hours and try some drinks that I may not have sprung for on the open market.
Following a relaxing two days the time came for the journey back to the tunnel and then home. To this point on the trip charging the car had been secondary to whatever else we happened to be doing at the time. This time we had a planned coffee / piss stop about an hour and a half into the trip where the plan was to use a fast charger. Sadly this particular services only had three charges available and they were all occupied. We had to wait 20 minutes before we could start.....
This was semi annoying although sitting in the sun with a coffee somewhat took the edge off. On the way out of the services I then spotted a bank of about 10 Tesla charges which we could have used instead, that said they were in a less nice bit of the car park and a bit of a hike from the coffee. Another interesting thing at the servies was a rendevous of a Swiss group of Alpine A110 owners, the more I look at these cars the more I want one, previous France trips had been in an Ariel Atom which was great fun but a bit of a pain on the motorway (and the small fuel tank meant stopping every hour and a half or so (a bit like an EV but less range).
After filling the car with wine we headed for the tunnel home only to find our train was delayed by a few hours, this gave the opportunity for a top up charge which would get us home.
In conclusion the car worked really well for the trip and apart from the slight delay on the way back charging fit in with stuff we were doing anyway. I am now cracking on with gardening leave so won't have much to report for a good few weeks.
Countdown said:
Don t these have something like 400bhp as standard?
Enjoy OP
Yes, and more importantly, 513 lb-ft of torque, available from zero ‘revs’. The way that a hot EV takes off is staggering to behold. I had serious issues staying with an iPace in my V8 Vantage, although the noise from the Aston was far more entertaining… ;-)Enjoy OP
seefarr said:
I'm not hip to the electric SUV market (no kids, no commute!) - what goes wrong with I-Paces that makes them so feared? Are you expecting more or less issues than with, say for instance, a Bentley Continental R? 
I think the earlier ones had exploding batteries, but I think the main problem seems to be poor management of the problems by dealers. I suspect it will be less trouble than a Continental R but also on a new car issues are a problem rather than character and fixing them becomes a chore rather than a hobby.
Nigel_O said:
Yes, and more importantly, 513 lb-ft of torque, available from zero revs . The way that a hot EV takes off is staggering to behold. I had serious issues staying with an iPace in my V8 Vantage, although the noise from the Aston was far more entertaining ;-)
This is the first period where I have not had a decent normal car alongside an EV, I don't expect this situation to last long.Alex Z said:
trickywoo said:
Countdown said:
Don t these have something like 400bhp as standard?
Enjoy OP
At 2.5 tonnes with a driver and small bag of shopping it will need all of that to set off up any incline.Enjoy OP
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