ganzoom

In this day and age, a 'premium' brand like Lexus really should be able to offer a 1st party App that lets you do all that and more directly. I love the reliability of our Lexus, but the we live in an ever more connected and interoperable world. There is no reason why Lexus cannot do better on the data integration/connectivity side.

I know some people on this forum LOVE EVs ;). End of July we did a 2800 miles trip in our 5 year EV that has roughly the same range/charging speed as a RZ. We took, a dozen ferries, Atlantic Highway most northerly point, and I cannot wait for next summer to go do the Swiss Alps/Italian lakes to compare/remind my self of which is route is better :). Day 1: Harwich to Hook of Holland -> Denmark. 386 miles, mainly M-ways, ended up just within Denmark. Day 2: Drive to Copenhagen for a 3pm Ferry to Osol - 201 miles. Potential interesting sights on the way, but we were rushing because we had a cabin upgrade with a view + lots of ‘free’ beer/wine. Day 3: Oslo to Dombas, 200 miles. Could have stayed longer in Oslo but wanted to get near the Fjords. Did stop at Lillehammer Day 4: Dombas to Kristiansund, 100 miles. This what we came for, even in the rain and clouds you could tell Norway is NOT the UK. Did the Atlantic highway 3 times, amazing road at 5am with zero traffic, tourist trap at midday 🙂 Day 5-10: Essentially spend around Trollstigen and the surrounding fjords in a lovely AirB&B, anywhere we drove was amazing with stuff to do. I went up and down Trollstigen 5-6 times in all kind of conditions, 6am in the rain and not seeing another car for about 1hr, in the middle of the day passing cyclists/caravans, ascending to the top when it was cloud covered was probably the most memorable. Geiranger fjord and the surrounding areas was amazing, lovely roads, ferries, dramatic landscapes : Day 11: Leaving the Fjords to Oslo stopping about 1hr away from the port. 200 miles of still lovely mountains before the flat lands of Oslo appeared. Day 12: Overnight ferry from Oslo to Cophengagen than driving to Bremen. 163 miles. Day 13: Bremen to Amastedam outskirts, 215 miles, rest day from all the walking in Norway. Day 14-15: Spent in Amsterdam with no driving before getting the Ferry back to the UK from Hook of Holland. Amsterdam tried hard to compete with Norway, and our ferry back lovely, but Norway still wins overall. Overall an amazing trip - pretty close to being the best holiday ever for us. We had 6 people + in luggage in the car for the entire Norway leg, I will openly confess I have lost the ‘love’ of driving in the UK, especially mundane day to day city commuting stuff, but on an European road trip, this is why we all love our cars on here…..A/L is already booked for Swiss Alps + Italian lakes for August 2023 :).

Tesla will sell and supply+fit a refurbished old battery in any of their older out of warranty (8 years+ old) cars for £10k, a brand new 90kWh battery is also available for £20k which gives a 2012 Model S almost the same range as a brand new 2022 Model S - which costs £70k+ at present. For EVs to make sense longterm batteries have to be replaceable. Our EV is currently 5 years old and show roughly 6% battery degradation. I plan on keeping as long as the chassis is road worth with a view of getting a new battery fitted sometime around 2030. At £20k every 150k miles for a new battery, that's 13p per mile in battery replacements costs. Given I pay £0/mile in fuel for using Tesla DC rapid chargers battery replacement costs are OK with me. Clearly if battery costs some down or the need/timing of replacement packs are longer than anticipated the cost per mile drops. A £10k refurbished pack would only work out at 6.6p/mile.

EVs are useless out of town aren't they 🤣😀

@toffee_pie We have to agree to disagree, as others have mentioned plenty of places give you reliable information on EV range in all kinds of conditions. But if you MUST have an EV with a range of 400 miles, in winter at Autobahn speeds whilst towing a trailer up hill, than you will be waiting forever. https://ev-database.org For most 'normal' families though current range of EVs offer cheaper fuel and running costs with pretty much zero inconvenience, but we are going round in circles, and depending on your views one (or both of us) are in danger of following through on this Nordic fairy tale :).

Our 2015 car with LDA and PCS have physical buttons to turn on/off these systems.

Acutally you would be surprised at the figures when compared to something like a Scooby that will struggle to hit 25mpg. Bare in mind virtually no upkeep costs - I've had one change of brake pads/discs in 65k miles versus needing pads every 15k, no oil changes ever, no VED etc. Than add in depreciation that is essentially flat at present, as I keep saying, the more you enjoy/willing to spend ££££ on a 'performance' combustion car the MORE an EV just makes sense. A brand new M3 wagon costs only £3k less than a Taycan cross turismo, factor a Taycan will have a fraction the running costs of a M3, am not sure who in their mind would choose a M3 wagon over a Taycan? EVs are the default choice already in the upper end of new car market, the lower end is much harder nut to crack but getting there.

I think that's pretty clear 🤣 I've been lucky enough to own some fantastic 'divers' cars, my old DC2 Teg been the stand out. I also at one point had a deposit down ona RB5 scobby, so I know what makes a 'good' car to me. If you haven't driven any Tesla you should, its very clear within 500 meters its a car made by people who understands the basics of handling, suspension, steering. I'm also a realist, if life had no limitations we would will own an Aerial Atom for weekend, a S class to commuting, a G wagon for transport duties, and probably a Lambo for special occasions. But in the real world cars have to serve a purpose and meet all the other needs of life aside from pure driving fun, and all wrapped up in the need to try atleast keep £££ costs low. Our EV is simply the best real world car I have ever owned, 0-60 in under 5 seconds, enough space for 6 people AND their luggage for 2.5 weeks, plus running costs cheaper than a Nissan Micra, seriously what else do you want/need in any car? I went up/down this road 3 times today for no reason other than it was 'fun', I'll probably do it again tomorrow, especially since I have £0 in fuel costs to consider, infact I suspect you probably have spent more ££ on fuel commuting to work this week than I have enjoying some of the best driving roads in Europe 😀.

And my REAL LIFE experience is the exact opposite. Do you honestly think my wife, parent in laws, 6 year old would put up with a 3000 mile+ road trip if EV road tripping was the horrific experience you seem to imagine? Again we been Scotland, Cornwall, Lakes, France in our EV during school holiday, winter etc with experienced none of the stuff you are describing. Been a scooby owner am sure you are fully acquinted with the topic of this thread, I use to own a 335i so I know what you are on about with enjoying a good car, but this is my fuel costs for the last 30 days, and I wouldn't go trade in our EV for another combustion car even if you paid me. I have very found memories of driving all over Switzerland in my old combustion car... .....however our current road trip in Norway is proving even more memorable, the fact am driving an EV instead of a combustion car has made ZERO difference to anything but a significantly reduced fuel (and toll road) costs. For any one into 'performance' cars, EVs are a win-win, faster and cheaper to run, why wouldn't you want one??

Strangely I agree with you 100% on what road trips should be about, but I simply don't understand why you are so dismissive EVs cannot do the same?? This is our EV has been doing just today, going up and down Trollstigen not once, but THREE times, and with 6 people on board. The amazing thing is interms of range/charging speed pretty much any new EV onsale today in the UK matches our 5 year old X, and in many cases betters it considerably.....The facts are is absolutely no issues with EVs doing road trips, unless you choose to simply believe otherwise. Ireland looks pretty, though Norway is going to be hard to beat.....

A LR Leaf had nearly the same range as our 75D X, an IONIQ 5 has MORE range and chargers faster than our X. A Model 3/Y is on a different level for range compared to our now 5 year old, cheapest/smallest battery Tesla. Range is not an issue in any of the new EVs onsale today, all of them can do the trip I've done with no issues :).

Counting on it! Was up at 6am on the Altanic highway, stunning bit of tarmac afterwards as well towards Kristiansund. I love driving, one of the reasons I switch over to EVs is because the running costs of a XJR supersport would have made my old 335i look 'economical'. With EVs you can literally have the pie and eat, twice over if you wanted to. All cars are made for driving and the lower the fuel costs, the more you can drive them :).

Lucky you!! Honestly why would you leave a place this beautiful!! I'm half tempted to emigrate, though my total lack of language would be a major issue. Regardless of what anyone thinks about anyelse car, for me the journey/destination is what makes memories. Our EV right now is letting us (6 in total), enjoy the best roads/scenery I've driven on/been to any where in the world for £0 cost in fuel....Unless you want to argue for the sake of arguing I cannot see why anyone would get grumpy at the idea of our EV road trip 🙂 Even in the rain this place is like driving heaven, the Atlantic Highway is on the litenary for tomorrow, than its on Trollstigen, very happy to take any suggestions around that area have quite a few days to play with.

For the EV doubters.....1500km into our summer road trip and we have finally arrived in Norway!! What a place, the E6 route out of Oslo is simply the most stunning bit of tarmac I have ever driven, and that includes touring New Zealand, the Swiss apls, Pacific Highway on the west coast, and Gelncoe countless times. The amazing bit is, we aren't even in the Fjords properly yet.........fuel cost for the trip so far, £0, yes £0 :). EVs are usless our of the ciry aren't they ;).

Well our 'comprised' car has taken across literally taken us transcontinental with no issues. Less than 24hrs ago we were in Leicester, right now we are just about to enter Denmark. EVs are different from combustion cars, but they are not a hindrance on personal mobility some seem to think. Am acutally reflecting on how quite remarkable, easily our 5 year old EV has managed essentially a whole day of driving, including doing some stupid speeds on the Autobahn......and for us at a cost of £0 in fuel. In the next 48hrs we'll be at the Atlantic highway, worrying about doing a 200 mile trip in the UK.....not sure I follow the logic! Even though is makes no financial sense am seriously now thinking of 'persuading' my wife to swap the IS300H for a Model 3 or S. These cars are simply astoundingly and made to be driven :).

Best thing about the PW is the easy software integration with the cars phone app, and also ability to sustain a discharge rate of 5KW. When combined with solar it really does let you do some fancy stuff with power shifting, for June our entire household electricity + gas bill was £44.......Isn' there suppose to be an energy crisis going on 😀. In winter though clearly energy usage goes up, however if you are on E7/dynamic tariff, you can use cheap(er) overnight electricity to charge the PW overnight and use that energy through out the day to avoid the higher normal day rate.

Yeaph, you are 100% right, but they are also great out of town 🙂 This might really blow your mind, last half term we went to France in an EV convoy with another family.....and whilst there we bumped into another identical RHD X......but maybe you are right and EVs are awful and useless apart from in town 😆

....and how do you think we use our car? I've done 75k miles in various EVs now, we are lucky enough to be able to afford pretty much any car on the market regardless of fuel type. Do you really think we would still have an EV as our main family/holiday car it using one was as horrific as you think? Our IS300H was bought new in 2015, roughly the same time as our first EV, its done 37k miles as of yesterday. If living with an EV was hard why wouldn't we have used our IS300H more?

Oh I should add you cannot buy ANY Tesla with free SC charging any more. Tesla stopped doing that years ago as longterm wise it was a money losser, they used it as an incentive for early adopter. As an early adopter Tesla also fitted a 'free' Powerwall in our house, and sent me x4 22inch wheels+tires. You wouldn't get any of that now. So if I really did the total sum costs of our early adopter costs, I suspect our Model X has been a net asset GENERATOR rather than cost!! Things are very different now though, though my biggest regret was not buying Tesla shares back in 2015....

I think you need your maths checking.....our 6 seater X was £71k invoice price, I wouldn't swap it for Model 3 if Tesla paid me....infact they tired to 'temp' me into a Y with a zero cost PX. But why would I swap a car that has more space, more utltiy, free fuel for a smaller car that I have to pay to refuel? Incidently as I've said many times before if we didn't get our X I would be in GS-F, Caynee turbo or similar......sub 20mpg at £2/l for supeunlead, not forgetting the maintenance costs....EVs win on every front versus a performance car, residuals, running costs, even purchase prices. A Porsch Taycan Estate is actually the same price as a BMW M3 estate. For cheaper cars, like for my wifes IS300H, you are right the maths don't work, especially when you factor in unbreakable reliability of Lexus. Which partly why we cancelled our Model 3 order years ago......Though if we had kept the order I probably could have sold the 3 for a profit!

Someone has money to burn....literally 🙂

We've done countless trips to Cornwall/lakes/Scotland in our now 5.5year old Model X, and in about 36hrs will be heading to Europe doing exactly what you are worried about, driving to Oslo, and with a full car of 6 people :). Someone mentioned depreciation? Our X seems to have depreciated by barely £15k in 5.5 years, but we have zero interest in selling, as the car comes with 'free for life' usage of Tesla SCs. So for our 3500+miles European road trip, fuel costs will be £0 :). I'll report back once we are properly enroute, road trips in the UK/France in our EV is routine these days, crossing 4 countries will be a new adventure in the EV, cannot wait!

You can do both 🙂

I honestly don't think having main dealer service makes any difference to cars getting on 10 years old! WBAC is still offering £15.5k for our 7.5 year old IS300H, even with a dent in the door. So that roughly 45% residual value at nearly 8 years old. Intheory it's a great reason to sell up and get a newer car, but the cost to change to say a Model 3 is currently £35k, so pretty much the same as what it cost to buy our IS in the first place. Given the crazy reliability of the IS, cheap independent servicing costs, us not doing much miles, keeping the IS is a no brainer, so resale value is almost irrelevant. Unless you really wanted a new car for the sake of new, I can see very little reason to swap out of any IS300H.

EV charging costs are going up, its 50p/kWh at most Tesla chargers, so £40 for a refill, not petrol expensive but I suspect in the long run not far off. The benefit of EVs is you aren't held to ransom by Tesla (or any other charging network). Cheap off peak electricity, solar PV, even just standard electricity rates at home is far cheaper. So unless you enjoy paying £££ for fuel most EV owners only use DC rapid charging on long trips or as a last resort.