I reckon that the drive from Poitiers to Glasgow takes us about an hour longer than it used to. How much of that is due to biological degradation and how much of it is needing to charge, I couldn’t say for sure but, generally, one of us needs to pee before we need to charge so we just plug it in anyway. Otherwise, we’re charging during coffee breaks and meal breaks.
Only once* have we had an issue and that’s Total at Alencon where there’s only 4 chargers and at least one is always out of action.
*Well, twice, but it was at the same place so we no longer stop there.
Generally I have great respect for Honda. It’s pity they got this wrong.
Well, despite my comfort with range, I still hate spiders. Especially the ones with long hairy legs.
Plus they are generally empty. I visited my GP (MT) today and given the heat I wanted to park undercover, near his practice. It’s a small carpark and only had six spaces available, probably squishy spaces that my car wouldn’t fit in. So I just parked in a charging spot, hooked up and got not only a doctor’s visit but also 59% to 71% in the same elapsed time (my MT always runs late ).
It’s not going to happen Plod I’m off from here in the Var to Bilbao in a few weeks, for the second time. That’s 922km (plis an deviations that might amuse me) compared to your 832km. It’s fair to say that the Spanish network is not as developed as in France, but one just has to make sure to be signed up for a couple of Spanish suppliers. Plus many hotels now have chargers.
And how long does it take for you to pee and have a coffee and a sandwich? Not necessarily in that order. You don’t even need to be with the car as it fills itself up with electricity.
Totally untrue AM. You need to try it and then comment . The key is the “different approach”, which one has to understand and experience to comment. It ‘s not inconvenient at all and I am, and always have been. a press on driver on long trips. It takes a little while but it soon becomes second nature. The realtime mental arithmetic of working out when to stop and how long is very F1 and may delay dementia
In the early days of motoring petrol had to be sent ahead by train to towns to refuel your Bentley on the way to Nice from Dover How inconvenient was that?
I’‘ve spotted a few of its little sisters, the Alpine A290, around and they look well. But at my age I don’t think anything will ever replace the excitement of induction roar, the barking and popping of a freeflow exhaust and the pleasure of redlining through the gears. Doesn’t matter if it’s a Fiat 500 or a Ferrari. That’s why I keep the Morgan, throttle bodies and all, as an antidote to being sensible
Grow old (dis)gracefully, isn’t that what they say
One caught fire and exploded outside my house last summer. Fortunately it didn’t do much damage to my property as it was on the other side of the road.
I think only first gear lacked synchromesh and you didn’t have to Stella if you paused and matched the revs. Or you could always have heel and toed, those were the days. They were a pleasure to drive flat out everywhere
They were certainly great days… but, daft bat that I am, I couldn’t get the hang of it and, being a learner driver and very nervous.. starting off in 1st was fine … DD into 2nd… grrr… yikes.
and I didn’t drive flat out anywhere… I crawled and would have gone faster if I’d got out and pushed it..
I had the pleasure of owning a Fiat 500 between 1972 and 1974. What a car! Choke and starter lever nestled between the seats next to the handbrake, a material sunroof which was helpful if like me you were tall.
An in car cooling system that also filled the car with fumes.
I eventually removed the cooling system and the increase in road speed was amazing.
Of course the major downside was body rot!
Once pulled off the beaten track for a kiss and cuddle only to embed the car on an unseen tree trunk which appeared through the car floor!
On the rare occassion we might see such a car now it brings memories flooding back.
Ours was red, I think most were, reg no. RWB 918 E
Ours was dark blue and OH reckons he’d like to get one again now.. seems he’s getting all nostalgic … aaargh
but for the “kiss and cuddle” we went home… definitely not in the car
A lot of them still on the road in Italy, and I don’t think a good one is a lot of money. So easy to maintain and fix too. There’s an immaculate blue one that potters around here with a carrier rack and a picnic basket on the engine cover.
I think she’s a bit of a dingbat road tester AM. I like Harry’s Garage road tests.
The comparison to the Porsche Taycan is strange, it’s a failure. Secondhand ones are real bargains.
Her amazement at the HUD is strange. They have been around for ages, I’ve had one in my last two cars. The first not too god, the current one excellent. But why’s she amazed by it? As an aside, I’m surprised she could see it with her “Meta” glasses. I’m not sure you can see it (though she could still record I suppose) with polarising lenses. I have the previous, non voice activated, version and I’ll check out if I can see and record my HUD.
Her comment that not liking Chinese cars because they have no heritage is like not liking digital cameras is very strange. The best digital cameras are produced by companies with loads of heritage, Nikon, Canon, Sony (ie Minolta), Pentax, etc.
So all in all, IMO she not a very well informed reviewer.
The car itself, of course, is a vulgar barge of a thing Zeek and you shall find.
Ginny, the presenter, driven a huge number of cars let alone EV’s over the years. Like a lot of presenters you have to be in a certain frame of mind to put up with them. That said her and the team keep it light.
Now the Zeekr, needs to be fast acceleration to counter the sloowww opening doors, take the silly motors out to save weight.
).
I’m off from here in the Var to Bilbao in a few weeks, for the second time. That’s 922km (plis an deviations that might amuse me) compared to your 832km. It’s fair to say that the Spanish network is not as developed as in France, but one just has to make sure to be signed up for a couple of Spanish suppliers. Plus many hotels now have chargers.
aaaargh.
we went home… definitely not in the car 
