Luton Airport car park fire

[MikeInWimbledon]

In the U.K. at least most repairs go through Tesla even on the 9 year old MS cars… the costs are pretty decent for a ‘main dealer’. There isn’t much competition in terms of aftermarket repairers, a few well known ones are CleevelyEV and EVlink - both of which are excellent.

Exactly my point.

Mbclub runs on discussion of “reliable Indies,” because 2nd or 3rd owners past 50k baulk at paying main dealer rates.

What will happen to EV’s once they leave the main dealer networks?

Who will do all those routine “repairs,” to use markjay’s term, when the screens play up, the cameras fail, the pano roof gets stuck, rodents eat their cables, suspensions misbehave, and those wretched frameless windows whistle too much?

(Why is my “silent” Tesla 3 producing 65-70db internally on suburban roads when an ordinary, and much cheaper, BMW 330i is 15db quieter?)

 

[clk320x]

Who will do all those routine “repairs,” to use markjay’s term, when the screens play up, the cameras fail, the pano roof gets stuck, rodents eat their cables, suspensions misbehave, and those wretched frameless windows whistle too much?

(Why is my “silent” Tesla 3 producing 65-70db internally on suburban roads when an ordinary, and much cheaper, BMW 330i is 15db quieter?)

No idea - I’m sure 3rd party repairers will increase as cars get older. All the issues you described above also affect ICE cars though, so for most marques they’ll be fixed at wherever they are fixed now, Teslas will keep being fixed by Tesla or by new 3rd party companies - I must also add Tesla zero rate labour on some of the more common faults and the price is pretty competitive for most things…

(Frameless windows I’d say)

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Browsed in to read about the fire.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Browsed in to read about the fire.

The forum wouldn't be the same without a bit of thread drift

 

[Gollom]

No idea - I’m sure 3rd party repairers will increase as cars get older. All the issues you described above also affect ICE cars though, so for most marques they’ll be fixed at wherever they are fixed now, Teslas will keep being fixed by Tesla or by new 3rd party companies - I must also add Tesla zero rate labour on some of the more common faults and the price is pretty competitive for most things…

(Frameless windows I’d say)

The set-up and running costs must be very high for EV I am guessing, so the death of many indies we all love on small industrial estates perhaps? @jaymanek @BlackC55 - your thoughts??

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

That's a comparison to a conventional Jag limo.

Isn't the fairer comparison to the (originally much cheaper) Jaguar SUV, which will retail for around £30k, not £22k like the I-Pace ?

So the F-Pace has only lost something like £10k, depending on how it was bought.

View attachment 148170

Having been in both I’d say the iPace is is more like an XJ than an F Pace. It’s a tall-ish luxury car in reality, it looks and feels nothing like an F Pace inside or to drive.

However it’s tall-ish and so comparing it to to an F Pace is also fair. How does the depreciation of an F Pace capable of 0-62 in 4.x seconds compare, say an SVR?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Having been in both I’d say the iPace is is more like an XJ than an F Pace. It’s a tall-ish luxury car in reality, it looks and feels nothing like an F Pace inside or to drive.

However it’s tall-ish and so comparing it to to an F Pace is also fair. How does the depreciation of an F Pace capable of 0-62 in 4.x seconds compare, say an SVR?

Who cares about these nonsense acceleration figures that no-one sees beyond the first month?

Limos only appeal to their first owners and the carriage trade.

SUVs have taken over because people can use that 5th door and high driving position.

The XJ is big, too big. The I-pace is small, too small. From memory it’s not even BMW x3 sized, it’s more like a BMW X1. This is no XJ or BMW 7 competitor. (And hopeless compared to an E class estate)

The secret power of the I-Pace is that first owner EV tax break. Residuals collapse once that’s gone and the private owners take the reins.

 

[BTB 500]

Yes, the average mileage in the U.K. is something like 8000 pa….

Depends a bit on how you reach that annual mileage though (lots of short runs, or more occasional long ones).

Yet people still complain about a 300 mile max range.

A 300 mile real-world range would be pretty reasonable. But what's the range (with some reserves) in winter at 70 mph with headlights/heating/heated seats etc. on?

 

[Connoisseur]

Depends a bit on how you reach that annual mileage though (lots of short runs, or more occasional long ones).



A 300 mile real-world range would be pretty reasonable. But what's the range (with some reserves) in winter at 70 mph with headlights/heating/heated seats etc. on?

The real world range in winter with led lights (v low draw) heated seats and wheel (v low draw) and heating (draw) for me is circa 280 to 310 miles, more if pre-conditioned.

What is this obsession with proving EV range? Is range really the last vestige of already flawed criticism? Just rent one, experience and enjoy the quiet, comfort, lo cost and pace, and if you like, the effortless traffic light challenge victories

Now about these outdated self-igniting schneezels…..

 

[Wolfie1]

I know it has been discussed that the fire was started with a diesel vehicle, bet that vehicle was a mhev though

 

[clk320x]

The set-up and running costs must be very high for EV I am guessing, so the death of many indies we all love on small industrial estates perhaps? @jaymanek @BlackC55 - your thoughts??

Pretty sure @BlackC55 is already ready to work on EVs…

 

[markjay]

Depends a bit on how you reach that annual mileage though (lots of short runs, or more occasional long ones).



A 300 mile real-world range would be pretty reasonable. But what's the range (with some reserves) in winter at 70 mph with headlights/heating/heated seats etc. on?

True.

My EV has a WLTP range of 285 miles, in reality I get around 230 miles in winter driving on the motorway and 350 miles in the summer while driving in the city (the two extremes). Plus, you want to get to the next charger when the battery has at least 10% left, so that's 10% off your effective range right there.

That been said, I find it disingenuous when so many people comment that they'll never get an EV 'because of the range'.... reading some of the comments on here you'd think the the majority of UK motorists are regional sales reps. And, that people like me who rarely need to charge their EV away from home, are unicorns.

 

[Darrell]

Perhaps the fire was due to a faulty power bank left on a seat.

 

[markjay]

I know it has been discussed that the fire was started with a diesel vehicle, bet that vehicle was a mhev though

It has been debated here, the jury is still out I believe.

 

[Fastcar155]

No idea - I’m sure 3rd party repairers will increase as cars get older. All the issues you described above also affect ICE cars though, so for most marques they’ll be fixed at wherever they are fixed now, Teslas will keep being fixed by Tesla or by new 3rd party companies - I must also add Tesla zero rate labour on some of the more common faults and the price is pretty competitive for most things…

(Frameless windows I’d say)

Hi , I am old enough to remember when British Leyland culling dealer network.
Dealers had to sell something so Datsun, Mazda etc took their chance and as they say the rest is history.
Will independent service centres survive , some will , some won't.
It's only a matter of time before a really nasty accident occurs servicing EV vehicle by non qualified or trained dealers.

Unless government legislation stops Chinese cars flooding into the UK it's only a matter of time before a major distribution car company takes on the all powerful German car companies.

Need to remember that Daimler / Mercedes / Volvo are already 15% by the Chinese.

Chinese car companies have very little development costs as they just copy western designs.

 

[markjay]

...It's only a matter of time before a really nasty accident occurs servicing EV vehicle by non qualified or trained dealers....

True. At some point the backstreet garage butchers will start fixing them... and it will be an accident waiting to happen. Perhaps there's should be a qualification scheme such as with electricians or gas engineers.

...Unless government legislation stops Chinese cars flooding into the UK it's only a matter of time before a major distribution car company takes on the all powerful German car companies....

Most people complain that new EVs are too expensive as it is... limiting the choice to expensive Western marques isn't going to help.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Who cares about these nonsense acceleration figures that no-one sees beyond the first month?

Limos only appeal to their first owners and the carriage trade.

SUVs have taken over because people can use that 5th door and high driving position.

The XJ is big, too big. The I-pace is small, too small. From memory it’s not even BMW x3 sized, it’s more like a BMW X1. This is no XJ or BMW 7 competitor. (And hopeless compared to an E class estate)

The secret power of the I-Pace is that first owner EV tax break. Residuals collapse once that’s gone and the private owners take the reins.

I mention the F Pace SVR because you suggested that the F Pace ia a closer comparator than the XJ, and if you want the closest F Pace comparator then it would be the SVR based upon new price and performance and probably range.

The XJ is indeed a big car - especially on the outside - but if you compare the interior space, then the iPace is a much closer to the XJ than the F Pace. It’s the ame with confort, sense of luxury and general feel, again a different leave to the F Pace.

The iPace is a relatively big car on the outside, but it’s packaging means that the interior space is comfortably larger than an a traditional ICE car with the same exterior dimensions. The F Pace is the reverse, it’s tiny inside for it’s exterior size.

Sit in the iPace and then sit in the F Pace, and be ready to feel claustrophobic, especially in the back. In isolation the F Pace is not small inside but hopping out of a spacious car really highlights the difference.

 

[SmartAmg]

It has been debated here, the jury is still out I believe.

Yep, but some hoping, it was some sort of battery fault, god forbid it was an ICE vehicle's fault.

 

[E55BOF]

The real world range in winter with led lights (v low draw) heated seats and wheel (v low draw) and heating (draw) for me is circa 280 to 310 miles, more if pre-conditioned.

What is this obsession with proving EV range? Is range really the last vestige of already flawed criticism? Just rent one, experience and enjoy the quiet, comfort, lo cost and pace, and if you like, the effortless traffic light challenge victories

Now about these outdated self-igniting schneezels…..

When I can buy, at a sensible price, a spacious EV that will do 300 motorway miles cruising at (sorry, officer...) 85 mph, and be recharged ready to do the same again five minutes later, then I probably will. My CLS 63 can do that easily....

 

[st13phil]

Perhaps there's should be a qualification scheme such as with electricians or gas engineers.

AFAIK, there is. It's certainly true that no main dealer will allow anyone unqualified to work on EV's, and I'd expect that business liability insurance would be voided by someone untrained/unqualified working on an EV, so unlikely that a reputable independent would take the risk.