C350e owners club

[Deleted member 126969]

This was my first new car purchase and very likely my last. I knew it was a daft idea going in, just thought I should do it once before I die. Previously, I tended towards buying used cars that were expensive new and depreciated even worse than an MB hybrid..... I also tended to keep them a long time. Before the C350e, I had an Alfa 166 that was over £35k new. I got it at 6 years of age for £4K. An excellent car it was too.

 

[Dodgy]

This was my first new car purchase and very likely my last. I knew it was a daft idea going in, just thought I should do it once before I die. Previously, I tended towards buying used cars that were expensive new and depreciated even worse than an MB hybrid..... I also tended to keep them a long time. Before the C350e, I had an Alfa 166 that was over £35k new. I got it at 6 years of age for £4K. An excellent car it was too.

Sounds like something I could put on the bucket list.

I will shortly be joining you in the solar and battery gang, which would also be hard for me to justify if I hadn’t seen my electricity price go up by 20% this summer.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Sadly, most of the 166's you are likely to find now are going to be going rotten. They have a couple of nasty moisture traps designed in to them that rot away quietly, unseen until way too late. Good car apart from that though. Last ones were made in 2005 I think it was.

The first year of having the solar PV & Powerwall netted about £1k. It'll take a while to pay back at that rate, but I anticipate energy prices are going to keep on rising.

 

[Dodgy]

Sadly, most of the 166's you are likely to find now are going to be going rotten. They have a couple of nasty moisture traps designed in to them that rot away quietly, unseen until way too late. Good car apart from that though. Last ones were made in 2005 I think it was.

The first year of having the solar PV & Powerwall netted about £1k. It'll take a while to pay back at that rate, but I anticipate energy prices are going to keep on rising.

£1k is pretty healthy. I was hoping for £800+.

Can’t believe how quickly it’s coming through. I only ordered a couple of weeks ago and installation is before the end of he month. So much for Powerwalls being in short supply...

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Maybe we should start a Powerwall thread

I ordered mine just as the PW2 was (allegedly) launched, back when a DC version was an option. I was so early, mine was going to be the first one installed in the UK (like that’s a good thing.....). It got postponed and postponed (by Tesla), then the DC version was dropped so I had to have an AC one....then they bumped my installation so they could put one in for Robert Llewelyn. Fair enough I suppose as he runs a high profile YouTube channel on EVs and alternative energy so it was good PR. And of course, I’m nobody.

The first year revenue is a combination of FIT (small but not nothing) and electricity used but not bought.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

£1k is pretty healthy. I was hoping for £800+.

Can’t believe how quickly it’s coming through. I only ordered a couple of weeks ago and installation is before the end of he month. So much for Powerwalls being in short supply...

Forgot to ask, what size PV array are you having? Half the year I think we could do with another Powerwall, the other half we need twice the array capacity....which suggests it's actually perfectly sized I guess

 

[Dodgy]

Forgot to ask, what size PV array are you having? Half the year I think we could do with another Powerwall, the other half we need twice the array capacity....which suggests it's actually perfectly sized I guess

5.3kW peak. And you?

We’re filling the side of the roof that catches the morning sun. Unfortunately, we’re not south-facing, but if I’d split the panels across both sides it would have meant twice as much scaffolding and slightly less energy generated. I couldn’t justify covering the whole roof.

Did you have a feed to the immersion heater fitted? I’m thinking it’s a bit of a waste when we’re also filling a battery.

We have economy 7, so I expect we’ll be charging the battery overnight in the winter. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all works.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

5.89kWp on ours. Roof is an odd shape, which worked out fairly well as we have panels on 3 different faces so it catches sun pretty much all the time, with the bulk during the best part of the day. Main area is slightly west of south.

As it happens, I did go for an immersion diverter but honestly, not sure it was worth it. In summer, once the PW is full, it then heats the water with any excess before then feeding the grid, but with typical use, it never takes much more than 3kWh to top it up. It’s a SolarEdge device so properly integrated with the inverter rather than an anybrand add-on (which would have been much cheaper!).

Using E7 to charge it overnight in winter should work well. Couldn’t seem to find any tariffs offering E7 when I last looked.


ETA

I've started a Powerwall thread in the OT section. Here: Solar PV & Tesla Powerwall.

 

[CaptainChaos]

A company car magazine landed on my desk today, with a review of the new C300de.
2.0 turbo diesel engine, and the same physical size battery of our cars, BUT "a switch in cell chemistry means a 68% increase in energy density". 13.5kWh battery. Electric range now 35 miles. 0-62 in 5.6 seconds. 302bhp. 40g/km. 9 speed gearbox. Can be charged at 7.4kw which they say is twice as fast.

This battery pack is available with a 2.0 turbo petrol engine in the E-class for a combined 316bhp output and 45g/km. It is "anticipated" this petrol hybrid system will be introduced in the C-Class.

 

[Dodgy]

A company car magazine landed on my desk today, with a review of the new C300de.
2.0 turbo diesel engine, and the same physical size battery of our cars, BUT "a switch in cell chemistry means a 68% increase in energy density". 13.5kWh battery. Electric range now 35 miles. 0-62 in 5.6 seconds. 302bhp. 40g/km. 9 speed gearbox. Can be charged at 7.4kw which they say is twice as fast.

This battery pack is available with a 2.0 turbo petrol engine in the E-class for a combined 316bhp output and 45g/km. It is "anticipated" this petrol hybrid system will be introduced in the C-Class.

“To match C63’s torque”. Some people are going to have a fit about that! [emoji23]

 

[CaptainChaos]

Yup. 516lb/ft in either diesel or petrol version.
That's "quite a lot".

 

[Dodgy]

“To match C63’s torque”. Some people are going to have a fit about that! [emoji23]

Ah - this doesn’t appear to be verified. Autocar says “most likely so as not to overwhelm the nine-speed automatic gearbox”. Yeah - it’s really hard to make a gearbox that can handle the torque of a C63. Oh, wait a minute...

 

[S111dpc]

A company car magazine landed on my desk today, with a review of the new C300de.
2.0 turbo diesel engine, and the same physical size battery of our cars, BUT "a switch in cell chemistry means a 68% increase in energy density". 13.5kWh battery. Electric range now 35 miles. 0-62 in 5.6 seconds. 302bhp. 40g/km. 9 speed gearbox. Can be charged at 7.4kw which they say is twice as fast.

This battery pack is available with a 2.0 turbo petrol engine in the E-class for a combined 316bhp output and 45g/km. It is "anticipated" this petrol hybrid system will be introduced in the C-Class.

Liking the sound of this, any idea when it’s likely to be realised?

 

[CaptainChaos]

Liking the sound of this, any idea when it’s likely to be realised?

It looks like the C300de and E350e are out in Germany. No idea when/if they are coming here. Sorry.

 

[wivenhoe]

It looks like the C300de and E350e are out in Germany. No idea when/if they are coming here. Sorry.

The UK configurator had the E300de SE & AMG Line on it last week - it has now disappeared. They really seem in a mess over which cars are available to order.

 

[quonker]

It's a shame as I have really enjoyed my C350e and really wanted a E version but as it wasn't available I ordered a Volvo S90 T8 hybrid which I am collecting on Friday.

 

[wivenhoe]

It's a shame as I have really enjoyed my C350e and really wanted a E version but as it wasn't available I ordered a Volvo S90 T8 hybrid which I am collecting on Friday.

I was very tempted by the S90 plug-in whilst I waited 9 months for my E350e, but when I spec’d it up to the same as my E I couldn’t get a deal anywhere close to the Merc - it was over £ 15k more expensive but I think it is a higher spec in reality. I don’t regret it as I really enjoy the E. I am sure you’ll find the S90 a superb car.

 

[simon326]

Due to change in circumstances I have decided to sell my C350e.... I love my hybrid but just cant keep it any longer. If anyone is interested in an immaculate late 2015 350e premium plus in black 40k miles and all the usual toys, let me know. Located near Southampton.

 

[Vailmale]

I exited my C350e recently - moved on to a BMW 630GT and am REALLY missing the good sense of hybrid. It is kind of horrific to see just how much petrol the Beemer is wasting on a light throttle where the C would have been eking out battery and I'm really missing the extra shove of torque that the leccy provided. I wish I'd waited for the E350e. It would be an awesome compromise with the claimed 31 mile (likely 20 in reality) battery range. I was able to get my C to my gym and back (19 miles) at 99mpg+ most of the time (with the occasional exception when I had to blow off some impertinent twerp en route). Overall mpg over 18k miles was just under 45mpg - which compared awfully well with the 30 I'd got with my two previous diesels (both 3 litre and 300+hp). Admittedly I drove them MUCH faster.

The C made me a much better driver - slower, safer and more frugal. For some reason, driving has to be a "challenge" to me and I swapped trying to get to the gym car park in under 9 minutes (sometimes involving 140mph squirts) for hypermiling and trying to get there and back on better than 99mpg (usually averaging about 34mph).
The added bonus was no speeding tickets and minimal fear of getting one. I became so obsessed with keeping my "global" mpg around 45 that I probably didn't spend enough time enjoying Sport+ (which was kind of awesome for the occasional squirt), but I guess the bonus was that I handed it back with 18k miles on original tyres.

Things I liked about the C350e: the ride (that air suspension really delivers), the acceleration, the MB Tex seats (I'd choose that over leather any day), the haptic throttle. Things I didn't: wind noise from around the drivers door and from the door mirrors - and that's about it.

I'll never opt for another car that isn't either PHEV or pure electric (Jag iPaces started appearing at £299 on a 3+23 just as it was too late for me to change my mind on the BMW 6 GT - dangit).

I suspect I will have another Merc PHEV as long as the PCH costs are favourable and recommend the C350e as long as you do lots of short journeys and can plug in regularly - clearly NOT if you are a motorway miler or regularly do over 40 miles on single journeys.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Had the car in for a B1 service today - all good. They loaned me a new C220D AMG line estate. The difference between the two cars was surprising. Much prefer my 350e!!

Oddly....when I arrived, it was an 18 mile trip, car was showing 99.9 mpg. Come time to collect, it's now done 20 odd miles and showing low 30s mpg........must have been a rapid run to the shops for beer and fags for the mechanics I suppose.