I’ve always been a bit of a petrolhead and have owned many cars. Before my wife retired a couple of years ago, we’d run two cars. My wife dislikes large cars, so always drove Fiestas, whilst I’d had everything from an Alfa Romeo 156 to a VW Touareg.
With my wife’s retirement and a drop in income, we downsized to one car, a Ford Puma ST Line X First Edition.
Initially I was delighted with it. It looked great and was an exciting car to drive. However, after living with it for several months and hand washing it a few times, the initial shine began to wear off.
The overly firm sports suspension became annoying and anyone complaining about the build quality of an id.3, should spend some time in a Puma. Everything looks good, but from the hard scratchy plastics, to the sound of the rear doors clanging shut like a 1970’s Ford Escort, the Puma left the impression that it had been built in an Amstrad factory.
Fast forward a couple of years and I read an article about Hertz car rental selling off thousands of low mileage Teslas, which no one wanted to rent, at bargain basement prices. The old grey matter sprang into action and faster than a speeding bullet, Autotrader was opened and scoured for used EV bargains.
Wow. I could afford a Tesla, Audi e-tron or id.3.
After mulling it over, my head said buy an id.3, but the pull of a leathered up Audi was strong.
Checked the size and it was far too big for my wife to drive. Love the tech and performance of the Tesla model 3, but they seem to be everywhere and I had my doubts about the build quality.
Test drove an id.3 Life Performance Pro, which left me gobsmacked. What a car! Finish and build quality were far better than most reviews led me to believe and the balance of ride quality, handling, space and performance, left me grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
I bought a three year old Business Performance Pro and collected it yesterday. The two hour drive home just reinforced my initial impressions.
After a bit of research, I signed up for Octopus Go and hooked up the car to the wall charger. Six hours at 7.5p per kWh is a no brainer and I’m quite excited about the prospect of never visiting a petrol station again and saving a lot of money.
At three years old, under 30,000 miles and at a cost of £20k, these cars are an absolute bargain. I’ve made the leap to an EV and I cannot see myself returning to an ICE car.
First EV
Nice one! The Cheshire Cat made an appearance with me, within a few hundred yards of my initial drive. Analogue to digital driving is the feeling - they're just nicer, better and easier to drive, for me.
I'm a million miles from being an expert but the best winter tip I can give you is to use two fingers and tap the hot and cold temperature controls on the infotainment system at the same time to turn the heated seats on and off! A handy shortcut.
Enjoy 21st century motoring.
I'm a million miles from being an expert but the best winter tip I can give you is to use two fingers and tap the hot and cold temperature controls on the infotainment system at the same time to turn the heated seats on and off! A handy shortcut.
Enjoy 21st century motoring.
Glacier white, Life Pro. August 2021
We were thinking of changing our lowly Life ID3 for something a bit more premium, but after trying a few others, I am beginning to think the ID3 is the perfect car for us.
Does anyone know when they might bring out the true facelift version, with things like the heater/volume controls being lit at night?
Does anyone know when they might bring out the true facelift version, with things like the heater/volume controls being lit at night?
