EV enthusiast and owner of a Seat Mii Electric and Ford Kuga PHEV, this is the home for EV owners and EV curious.
Looking for like minded people to help and contribute, purely with the intention of sharing experiences of owning and running an electric vehicle whether pure electric or plugin hybrid.
Experiences are key to converting and we are here to enable those experiences.
Chargers, batteries, cables, KWH.....what's it all about? Hopefully, in time this channel will be able to help or point you in the direction of someone from within the group who might!
Links to social channels below, our group is a great source of informations and shared experiences.
Hello, thank you for your review! Would it be ok to use snippets of this video for our promotional/educational materials? We would of course credit the Cambs EV channel. Cheers
I pick up my Kuga on Friday 1st september 2023, and I will not be driving it like you do. Really not the best reveiw I have seen. 75 when looking for MPG??? Also using a mobile phone???? What's that all about? Hopefully you will get better at youtube videos.
I've owned this model for 10 weeks now and critics start their test with a flat battery. Ii is called a PLUG in HYBRID, so you plug it into the mains at your house or garage to charge it. The basics are, charge it up each day and you can drive about 35 miles without burning petrol. when you do use the 2.5l engine passengers think it's still on electric mode.
Charging on a public network? Think moonshot with a lower chance of success. And I've been an EV driver for over 3 years in the SE. As for Zap Pay, its only a partial"solution" as very few charging providers have joined. Zzzzzzz.
Hi Thanks for the video.. I have a phev but cannot see all the assist pack you mentioned eg traffic light assit? Also in EV mode can you please help regarding the message that constantly keeps popping up "Press OK to enable engine"? for the life of me cannot see what this message is?
First of all Colin, great video with very useful content. Can I ask you what your typical routine is regarding changing? ie every day, how long etc and also rough costings each charge.
Thank you! Sadly my PHEV has now departed but while we had it, charging really depended on its use and of course we were impacted by the battery issues while we had it. One thing I will say is you don't need a home charge point, the 3pin cable that comes with the car is sufficient to charge it and by setting charging times within the car, you can benefit from off peak charging too. Cost to charge spends on your energy tariff. There are tariffs that if you charge over night will give you 4 hours at 5p per kWh. This should give a theoretical cost of roughly 0.35p (4 hours at 5p and 1 hour at 14p, 14p being the average cost for a kWh). If you are not on an off peak rate, total cost should be around 70p for a full charge. Hope that all helps.
Love the review ,we are getting the kuga st line x .1.5 150 .as ours has the panoramic roof also you seem to have plenty headroom I am 6 feet tall how is it for you ,do you think I will have headroom
I just ordered my kuga PHEV from Ford in Huntingdon! What a coincidence that I found your channel. I live locally so keep an eye on a lucid red (once I get it delivered)
Anyone with real world electric car experience willing to advise? I'm tempted by an electric Mii... But I commute a round trip of 60 miles a day with no chance of charging on route or at work. It's a combination of very minor roads and about 40 miles of non-dual carriageway A road - no towns - just a very exposed, high open road with not much traffic. About half way in each direction there is a 700ft climb and descent. A new Mii will easily do that commute but if I commit to a bank loan is it likely to still have the range to deal with that commute confidently in all weathers when I finish paying for it @ over 100,000 miles. In that time it will save me more than £8k in fuel (and fuel will go up but so will electricity) - point is I don't want to have to blow all that on a new battery as I plan to retire just as I finish paying off the loan. Any advice? And before anyone says it's too small - I used to do that commute in a Mk3 Smart just to save money (before they started calling it a Smart For Two) - that one more than covered the loan just by the fuel saving... So I don't mind small.
I agree, that is expensive but inline with other rapid charge networks. Personally, I don't use these that often and are only really ever used on longer journeys or by those that can't charge at home or at work. Depends on the car (the efficiency of the electric car and the fuel economy of a petrol car) I guess with respect to comparing to a petrol car. The cost is based on convenience and is high as it is for petrol at motorway service stations. I have two considerations when running an EV, the reduced cost to run and the reduced emissions impact on the environment.
Hi can you use zap pay with any companies charging station. Also i live in oxford and unfortunately we don’t have any fast chargers on 7kw, there is one for 22kw, how long would it take to charge from say nearly empty to 80% on either the 7kw or 22kw. We do have a charging point though for taxis which has a fast charge can regular members of the public use these? Sorry for lots of questions. Thanks. Kerry
No problem Kerry. No, not all chargers can be used with Zap-Pay. Only certainly companies have signed up to it. You can find out what companies by filtering your search to only include Zap-Pay chargers. The type of car you have and the size of the battery will dictate how fast it will charge. I have seen taxi specific chargers, not many but the signage around it should clearly state whether it is taxi only charging or a public charger. Hope that all helps. Let me know what EV you have??
Hi, at the end of EV mode the system reverts to hybrid mode, the battery does not deplete entirely, at a preset low limit the system changes to normal or hybrid mode. Therefore, depending on terrain, road conditions etc, some of the remaining journey will function in EV mode as the petrol engine cuts out and in as required, aided also by incidental regeneration. Economy is helped too due to eCVT transmission always defaulting to the highest gear ratio.
Thanks for this, trying to get hold of some footage showing interior of 2021 Kuga Vignale as I've ordered one but can't see in the flesh due to the lack of availability at dealers near me. Not ready until mid June, added the power roof and driver assistance pack so was good to see in your vid.
Well, it just so happens I have a Kuga Vignale on my drive at the moment. Long story.....it's a MHEV, manual in Panther Blue. No pano roof........was there anything specifically you wanted a closer look at as I'm planning a comparison video soon.
@@CambsEV thanks for the reply, just a few things i wanted to check, does the rear seats have heated option, i have ordered mats but they say w/o logo, I guess this is standatd mats and is there headlight washers on this model, seems trivial but good to know.
I think the government needs to come down hard on all this and enforce easy card payments, I will be getting an ev as my next car but as I live in a terrace house i will be charging lots at rapid chargers and this is really putting me off with all the apps and faff. I just fill up the car and that's it for a week or 2. I can deal with charging once or twice a week but my wife is gonna be using it most and she might not have the time to faff around during work. At least the zap pay is a step in the right direction so that's good.
To be honest I find all these apps a pain in the butt, all sites should accept a credit/debit card. It’s a complete nonsense all this faffing about one has to do to buy a few electrons. I just wonder how well a shop would do if the only way to pay was with their app. So I vote with my feet and only use rapid chargers that accept credit/debit or Apple Pay. The only exception is destination charge points that tend to be free, I can understand they may be tied to a supermarket, pub or car park.
I complete agree which is why I support the consolidation of payment solutions into services like this. Many charge point operators want to keep the payment process to themselves which isn't helpful. Charging is like paying for parking! If I can plan my journey/charging and pay via one app........I'm happy. Sadly I can't see this happening and including ALL charge point operators any time soon. Not sure if you have ever tried using a Geniepoint charger?? Now, that is a right pain and Morrisons choose them to install their charge points in their carparks......bizarre! But yes, contactless....end of!
80 MPH indicated at one point in the video and using your mobile phone whilst driving in another. As a blue light driver I am VERY disappointed. I hope I don't end up having to blue light to you at some point!
Did you buy the driver's assistance pack? I thought only the Vignale model had reversing cameras and head's up display? But you're mentioning them on the ST LINE X?
@@colinhennessy2844 hi thanks for the reply. Now, I'm considering going for a 2021 plate (71 I think it'll be) Kuga 2.0 Diesel AWD ST Line X. Will that be First Edition as mentioned in your comments?
Have you done any mpg test in Ev auto? I have 43miles(70km) commute to work and thinking of buying One of these, i might not have charging at work at all Times.
@@CambsEV you will not get bored.. my only negatives are 1. no rapid charging 2. a tad noisy 3. a couple of blind spots.. apart from that took it to Scotland and back and no issues really pleasant driving experience.
hi was there any additional cost or saving using the zap pay using some cards on some chargers incur fees for using but some have better deals with some companies making them cheaper to use. when you said the cost you did not show the app with the same amount on it the app showed it was dtill charging I think the thing that changes during the zap pay is that you can sit in the car and do it instead of standing in the cold or rain with a card it would be better if instead of having to pick a card they set a primary card and if you have signed into the zap map app not have to ask for a sign in again
Thanks for the video Colin, making us look forward to ours arriving, hopefully within the next couple of weeks! Seemed like quite a slow rate you were getting. What was the state of charge when you arrived? Thanks!
What I’ve learned from having an EV is that you need to plan ahead, select a charging station, get registered for that network and check there are no issues with the station before you start... that’s not as hard as it sounds!! I’ve also discovered that the EV charging stations are NOT near the petrol pumps but nearer to the service station entrance...my last charge at castle donnington services was free!
Even planning ahead you can sometimes get stuck. I went to use a Shell Recharge just outside Cambridge that didn’t work, then tried a Polar one that didn’t work and then ended up at a Tesla supercharger at Bishops Stortford. My only attempts at using non-Tesla rapid chargers was a flop despite pre-planning. Hopefully networks improve their chargers, but I am glad to have stuck with Tesla for that slight peace of mind that they offer.
@@CambsEV thanks a million for the reply. I hope you might do a video on this. Some time the fix is coming thoes who bought the car first are priorarty I believe
I have a Focus and used it recently to drive to the UK from Switzerland....twice! 6000km in a few weeks. I took my pillow from my bed and put it across my knees, and pushing slightly against the bottom of the steering wheel (also acts as a very comfortable elbow rest), the steering wheel feels the resistance, and never gives a warning, drove for up to an hour without touching a pedal or the wheel! Really like the car, I have owned many cars from various popular manufacturers (Mazda, VW, BMW, Skoda etc) and my focus has the best button layout of any. Easy cruise control buttons, lane assist on off right at your thumb, climate control has 3 handy auto levels so you can keep it quiet at all times. Nice big temperature knob, easy to disable start stop, and really nice to switch on the auto hold so you can let of the pedals at traffic lights. HUD is great, seats are comfy and supportive. My 120ps diesel has great cruising economy. From channel tunnel to Scotland with no traffic and cruise control at 65mph, I got 73mpg (around 3.6 ltr/100km). On the French autoroute, cruise at max speed without getting a ticket (roughly 136kmh indicated (86mph), I got 51 mpg...not bad for that speed!
