Mercedes EQC400

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Anyone contemplating buying a new car would be wise to do a bit of research first as to whether the model they are interested in is going to fit their motoring requirements rather than solely rely on the manufacturers word/advertising. For potential EV model buyers, if range is a major concern, its hard to escape that TESLA or one of the KOREAN manufacturers appear to be the best bet for now.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
I agree. I’ve been looking moderately seriously at EVs but decided it’s not for me just yet (for one thing, I can’t stomach the purchase cost for the mileage I do, even if I factor in the much lower running costs than my current car). But when taking a hard look at the EV choices available, Tesla seems hard to beat because of the range advantage and the impressive supercharger network. Much less chance of a range crisis than with another make. I’ve not seen many (or any) YouTube stories on “my 9-hour journey to do 150 miles”, but there are plenty out there for the other makes.
 
Interesting.

So (a) you are buying this MB because it is subsidised.​
and (b) even with the subsidy you feel you require a second vehicle because it is inadequate.​

The car isn't subsidised as such its still £68k I could have another of my current cars for £43k

I'm buying the car because I have a car supplied with my job, by having an electric car to do my commute and general running about instead of a petrol/diesel it means I'm a winner as far as personal tax is concerned.

My partner has a car I could use if the Merc wasn't ideal or I have a Z4 which we would use for European trips etc anyway.

I think you are asking if I didn't have another car would I have the EQC; I would have to think harder about that because yes; it is flawed but for the times I would need much longer range it would still be worth it for me to hire a car should the need arise.

But because I have other options its not a problem it being flawed.
 
The car isn't subsidised as such its still £68k I could have another of my current cars for £43k

Your own previous words:

Regardless, a saving of over 4k personal tax a year on my company car by going to an EV makes it very worth it

..... subsidy.



I'm buying the car because I have a car supplied with my job, by having an electric car to do my commute and general running about instead of a petrol/diesel it means I'm a winner as far as personal tax is concerned.

Again ..... subsidy.


.

I think you are asking if I didn't have another car would I have the EQC; I would have to think harder about that because yes; it is flawed but for the times I would need much longer range it would still be worth it for me to hire a car should the need arise.

But because I have other options its not a problem it being flawed.

So basically a flawed product made attractive at the taxpayers' expense.

I know I'm hammering this whole point but I think the EV situation has become a travesty.

The nicer EVs are OK and get tax relief (ie. subsidy). These are expensive and compromised (SUV types). Owners of these expensive subsidised vehicles are also likely to make sure they have - or have access to - an alternative vehicle.

I have asserted in other posts that the whole policy and market for EVs actually indicates they are currently a failure. I don't see anything in your posts that don't confirm that position.
 
The policymakers won’t have missed the resistance to EV takeup and until fairly recently, the lack of choice as well as the overall issues with range and the perceptions of EV as a whole. They know things need to improve, so they give incentives. These start the ball rolling, the cars get better as more manufacturers put more effort in, the customer base increases, feeding back into further development.

Of course, this is only a transient phase and as soon as the momentum is there, the incentives will fade away. By that time, a large proportion of use will have moved or be on the cusp of doing so, and you can bet that those who won’t are going to get caned for it.

Like it or not, EV is here and taking over.

....just like diesel did.
 
Quite true, when I first started driving in the sixties, diesel cars wee unheard of, even many years later they were rare. I've just switched to electric, a lo of perception about charging and the time involved compared to a fuel fill up is being broken down. You just need to behave differently to a conventionally fuelled car. as regards range anxiety, you get that when the the petrol gauge is at zero. Most folk just fill up when you get to say a 1/4, that's what I did, so why not do the same in an EV. With the range now available I would need to stop for a break after a few hundred miles, so just stick on charge. Most of the time it's journeys measured in tens of miles, so not an issue.
 
Quite true, when I first started driving in the sixties, diesel cars wee unheard of, even many years later they were rare. I've just switched to electric, a lo of perception about charging and the time involved compared to a fuel fill up is being broken down. You just need to behave differently to a conventionally fuelled car. as regards range anxiety, you get that when the the petrol gauge is at zero. Most folk just fill up when you get to say a 1/4, that's what I did, so why not do the same in an EV. With the range now available I would need to stop for a break after a few hundred miles, so just stick on charge. Most of the time it's journeys measured in tens of miles, so not an issue.

Agreed on most points, though living in a flat in Central London I can see my neighbours who have EVs struggling to find a free lamppost for charging overnight, as as more people buy EVs this isn't going to get better. But definitely if you have a drive or off-street parking and can install your own charger, owning an EV isn't a problem.

BTW, there's an Esso petrol station on one end of the road, and a Shell on the other, both open 24/7, so ICE owners are still spoilt for choice... incidentally, this proved very convenient during the fuel shortage of 2000, we used to quickly fill-up at 4am when the queues were minimal.....
 
That pretty much sums up the EV purchase decision. They are cheap to run and zero RFL and BIK; make sense for journeys up to the range of the car. You may get lucky on longer journeys but you are equally likely to run into problems with either reduced range in cold weather, longer time to charge than expected (when cold or you need to wait for another EV to finish charging) or non working charge points. Unless you only cover a small local mileage then you really need a second ICE car.
All of which is maybe OK for a £15-20k car but I would be highly p***ed off if I had spent £70k.
Depends what EV you have whether you’d need a second car, plus whether you are doing regular 200 mile plus drives. Even then you just pull over and charge up.

Agree that quite a few EV’s have low range out of the box and the cold climate makes it even worse. But potential owners should consider that and also factor in how much of an issue that could cause, that would depend again on their driving needs from a distance perspective.
 
As for Diesel cars... our company panel vans back in the nineties were all Diesel powered, that was before Turbochargers were common.

Loud and agriculture, but the engines would run forever, and they were very thrifty, too - I remember driving from London to Birmingham and back on a fiver in a 1.8L Diesel Escort... well fuel was also cheaper back then thanks to very low duty at the time. The other panel van with impressive fuel economy was the Peugeot, who were market leaders in small Diesel engines at the time (pre-Turbo).

Around the same time I had a Xantia Diesel Turbo as a rental, it was indeed much quicker than the non-Turbo Fords and Peugeots we had in the company, but fuel consumption was pretty abysmal.

So yes, in the olden days Diesel cars were mostly driven by those who were willing to (severely) compromise on performance and refinement in the interest of having the most frugal transport possible in a car...
 
As for Diesel cars... our company panel vans back in the nineties were all Diesel powered, that was before Turbochargers were common.

Loud and agriculture, but the engines would run forever, and they were very thrifty, too - I remember driving from London to Birmingham and back on a fiver in a 1.8L Diesel Escort... well fuel was also cheaper back then thanks to very low duty at the time. The other panel van with impressive fuel economy was the Peugeot, who were market leaders in small Diesel engines at the time (pre-Turbo).

Around the same time I had a Xantia Diesel Turbo as a rental, it was indeed much quicker than the non-Turbo Fords and Peugeots we had in the company, but fuel consumption was pretty abysmal.

So yes, in the olden days Diesel cars were mostly driven by those who were willing to (severely) compromise on performance and refinement in the interest of having the most frugal transport possible in a car...
I think Cris-S was referrering to the growth of the diesel passenger car market in the early part of the 21st century encouraged by a taxation regime designed to encourage adoption of cars with a lower CO2 footprint. Such was the incentive in the UK that many manufacturers Mercedes included markedly reduced their model choice of petrol powered vehicles in response. As experience has now shown this race for reduced CO2 levels eventually shifted focus on to other diesel pollutants such as NOx and particulates causing a taxation recalibration to the expense of owners and manufacturers
 
I think Cris-S was referrering to the growth of the diesel passenger car market in the early part of the 21st century encouraged by a taxation regime designed to encourage adoption of cars with a lower CO2 footprint. Such was the incentive in the UK that many manufacturers Mercedes included markedly reduced their model choice of petrol powered vehicles in response. As experience has now shown this race for reduced CO2 levels eventually shifted focus on to other diesel pollutants such as NOx and particulates causing a taxation recalibration to the expense of owners and manufacturers

Not to mention that the combination of massive demand for Diesel cars due to the taxation benefits and the ever-increasing stringent emission regulations, brought-about add-ons such as PDF and Adblue and complex engine designs such as BlueTEC, which means that these cars can be very expensive to fix once they go wrong.

The funny part is that up to the nineties, Diesel engines were purchased in great part due to their reliability, simplicity and low maintenance... no engine electrics let alone electronics. As a teenager, I had a summer job at a dealer supplying agricultural machinery, we used to push-start tractors (with a tow from another tractor), no keys needed since the Diesel engine didn't care much about the battery anyway... the battery only did two things, power the starter motor, and power the lights and horn. To stop the engine, there was a mechanical horseshoe-shaped lever on top of the fuel pump that simply cut the Diesel oil supply to the engine, who would puff and rattle for a few seconds before finally dying-out. Simplicity itself....
 
Last edited:
Your own previous words:



..... subsidy.





Again ..... subsidy.




So basically a flawed product made attractive at the taxpayers' expense.

I know I'm hammering this whole point but I think the EV situation has become a travesty.

The nicer EVs are OK and get tax relief (ie. subsidy). These are expensive and compromised (SUV types). Owners of these expensive subsidised vehicles are also likely to make sure they have - or have access to - an alternative vehicle.

I have asserted in other posts that the whole policy and market for EVs actually indicates they are currently a failure. I don't see anything in your posts that don't confirm that position.
Where have I said anywhere I've bought the car because its a brilliant car!

Its not, its a brilliant car to drive but has its shortcomings which I can overlook because of personal benefits I gain in having it rather than having a "dirty " diesel.

My partner would have a car and I would have another car regardless of it being electric.

On saying that the car does probably 95% of what any other car I've used does, I don't go vast distances, the furthest would be Europe when I would use the convertible anyway, apart form that I like to visit the West Coast of what I assume is your lovely country, which is where I would miss my Diesel car but I can always use the convertible should I wish too. Or for the savings I'm making hire a bigger car for that trip.

Having an electric car is no great disadvantage to me and the tax man gets his fair share believe me!
 
To be honest, I think this is a superb vehicle. It's astonishly quiet, serene and comfortable to drive. Probably quieter than a Roller. As a classical music fan, I found it almost impossible to enjoy symphonies in ICE cars - the sound interference especially in the bass being prohibitive. The internal tech is top class - not sure any other vehicle beats it. The Android and MBUK interaction is superb for example, allowing easy use of both at the same time. And it has unbelievable acceleration, if you want to use it (tip - warn passengers first!)

The range issue that others raise is a bit odd. In principle it's an issue where you want to drive for more than 3 hours without a break. I realise some people do that. But it's not the best idea in the world!

The real question then becomes infrastructure - at the places where you would want to stop for a quality meal or coffee can you quickly get a fast charger? I agree the current situation in the UK on that front is patchy. But I think we're close to it being pretty easy on most of the major motorways. And hopefully it will continue to get better. MB do an excellent job with the tech to make it easier - auto sign up to many chargers and the navigation to available chargers.

The range algorithm is overly conservative and a bit capricious. It will frequently say in winter that you only have 150 miles, but if you actually take it out on a longer trip, it will start iterating that up. I'd largely ignore the algorithm, especially when the battery is full - pay more attention when it's low.

My gripes? Specific niggles really. Mud guard clearance is poor - not uncommon to scrape them on London speed humps, never mind offroad (Dulwich speed humps notoriously aggressive and a logical demographic for this vehicle!). The 7kW AC charging limit on 2020 models is irritating. Think they've fixed that a bit for 2021. And (like many cars...) the auto indicator turn-off just after you've put them on is a pain in the neck.
 
EV are very susceptible to ambient temperature, don't think freezing weather, think anything below 15-16 degrees and your range starts falling like a stone in water. I recently tested GLE hybrid, ranged claimed 66 miles, I could only get battery to show 44 miles on 10% change and actual got was 37 miles on mainly motorway commute at 55mph. That 56% achieved from claimed range. Makes the manufacturers claimed mpg on ICE rather accurate, lol.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom