The EV thread

Transportation, Travel and Trips
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Thanks for the comments, one and all!

My parking space is about 2.2 meters wide but my neighbor regularly parks over the line, leaving me a bit less space. (Not a battle worth engaging in…) My current car, a Daihatsu Sirion, is a bit less than 1.7m wide, and it is often a tight squeeze.

(The Daihatsu Sirion has been a great car, though, pretty much a perfect size for me. I’m hoping for something similar in an EV. Safe, reliable, simple.)

I’d like to pay as little as possible - I just don’t value much in a a car other than the ability to get me safely and reliably from A to B with a couple of mutts stuffed inside. Driving is a utilitarian task for me, not something I view as fun - and I can’t see spending more than I need to.

The Jac seems to be 24K, the Citroën a bit more, maybe 26K. I’d like to keep it under 25K - but would go up a bit if I absolutely had to.

So yeah - cheap and cheerful. I don’t think I need a lot of ‘non-driving-related’ tech such as an entertainment system. But I don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish either, or find my car turns into a death trap the few occasions when I find myself on the highway.

Honestly, one reason I’m looking at an EV is that we had to spend a fortune to install a charging system in our Quartier garage. I might as well get some use out of it. Perhaps not the best of reasons, but…

Anyway, what do you see happening with compact EVs? Do you think more options might be coming to Switzerland in the nect few years?

Again, many thanks!

Side note: Still here. And given what is going on over there, hope to stay here.

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365

2.20 is very tight. Also not sure which of the small cars you can add a dog-cage to.

I don’t know much at all about these other cars (my interests lie primarily in the cars of that “other” American electric car manufacturer…), you will have to make your own judgement by joining forums, reading about the shortcomings of various model-years and what can or cannot be done to fix them.

In case you didn’t already know: car-reviews on Youtube are inherently biased, the YouTubers are directly paid by their sponsors to put the respective product in a positive light…

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If parking space is your problem.

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I find ADAC good and reliable.

They test several cars every year. I especially like their cost analysis of owning the tested car.

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I see a couple of Microlinos and Citroën Amis around the village. Seriously cute cars. Although calling them cars might be pushing it… Sadly they can’t reach highway speeds. I’d buy one in a flash if not for the once-in-a-blue-moon need to drive somewhere outside the region.

One of the reasons my Sirion seems so roomy for it’s size is that the back seats fold completely flat, so everything behind the driver is cargo space. (That’s how I manage multiple mutts inside.) For some reason this feature seems to be missing from many new compact cars. It seems more common now that seats fold over, but not fully flat. I wonder why?

Thanks for all the info and suggestions, everyone. I think I have a lot of test driving to do. Fortunately I’m in no hurry - the old car is in great shape and runs perfectly despite it’s 15 years. However, Daihatsu left the Swiss market many years ago, so I know that the day will come when I won’t be able to get a replacement part…

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I’m going this weekend to the local fair (AMA Aarau). I’m sure there will be some little EVs on display.

I’m curious about the Renault 5. I’m a sucker for yellow cars, and the press photos precisely show a ripe mango yellow car.

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No body drives faster than 100 on the Autobahn anymore. Even when passing!

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Your not the only one!

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Especially then.

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I think the Microlino can reach 60, so it can technically travel on the autobahn. I‘ve actually seen one a couple of times on my commute, BUT: you do not want to be in an accident with such a car vs anything bigger than a VW Polo at low speeds. It looks like a veritable death-trap.

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Then it could double as a coffin

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No, that’s the Catterham.

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That is the issue. At the moment we seem to be in a sort of arms race. Soon someone will start putting inflatable tyres on recycled tanks -take that you SUV loser.

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BYD launch today in Switzerland.

Cheapest BYD Seal: 49k CHF. Cheapest Tesla model 3: 41k CHF.

Fun fact, there’s Swissiness in the Chinese car: interior design by a guy from Ticino.

For some reason, there are 3 BYD Seals at 42k right now in autoscout24. Parallel imports?

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With an 82.5 kWh battery the Seal is not equivelent to the entry level Model 3 since that has a 60 kWh battery. These are launch prices so heres hoping they come down once promotions and special offers kick in.

Still its pricey considering what the Chinese pay ($33k), and I would certainly expect them to be cheaper here than Germany since we don’t have to pay the same import tariffs they do.

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Now that is an EV that I might even consider. Why is one having 5 PS more than the other?

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No idea how much it costs to transport a car from China to Switzerland. For sure, not zero. 1k, 2k? The rest is the Swiss premium :slight_smile:

@RobBob About performance, I had to check the website. Rear-wheel drive, 230 kW, around 308 HP. All-wheel drive: 390 kW, 522 HP.

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Now that we’re looking at the specs, let’s see the weight. Empty weight, 2 tons. The all-wheel drive adds 130 kg. Anyway…300-400kg lighter than the current BMW M5 :cry:

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I believe BYD have their own RORO-carriers.
Tesla has a very vertically integrated business - much more than anybody else except maybe Porsche and some bespoke, low-volume car-manufacturers.

But the Chinese are one level above that.

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However. In the Autoscout listing both EVs are RWD and one has 308 and the other 313. Could be a misprint?