Current fleet
Tales from the battery-powered vehicles in the EV Fleet World car park
Renault Scenic E-Tech Iconic
FINAL REPORT
List Price
BiK
3.1mpkWh
Efficiency
miles (Range)
miles (On fleet)
My time with the Renault Scenic E-Tech is finally at an end. It’s hard not to feel a little sad as the Scenic has been a superb companion over the past six months. In fact, it’s hard to think of a better all-electric family car that can do what the Renault can do at the same price tag.
Having covered around 5,000 miles, the 87kWh battery has rarely seen me bothered by range anxiety, even on longer journeys, although we’ve done less lengthy journeys in the same way as I did in the Megane I ran previously. In fact, in many ways, the battery in the Scenic is the perfect size. Big enough to give you a decent range, but small enough to not over-burden the car with a heavy battery.
And, while it may be lacking some of those little family tricks of Scenics past, I’ve regularly had four people in the car for trips and the decent-sized boot has been good enough for family holidays too. I especially liked the electrochromatic glass in the sunroof, giving you a virtual sliding sun shade that goes from clear to opaque at the touch of a toggle switch. Although now not uncommon, I also liked the comfort electric seat mode, moving the seat back for easier entry and exit – even if there were occasions when it didn’t always work.
Talking of not working, the charging issues I experienced in the early days seem to have resolved themselves with an over-the-air update, but it was frustrating that the Apply CarPlay was rather hit and miss, even if I connected via a USB cable. Admittedly Renault isn’t alone in this, but it made no sense why it would work one moment, but not the next, even over rapid short trips.
On the road, the Scenic was a bit of a mixed bag. The ride was certainly on the firmer side of comfortable for a family car and, while I did get used to it, it would only take a broken road to remind me just how harsh it really was. That said, for longer journeys and fast cruising, it certainly ate up the miles with a good and supportive driver’s seat.
What doesn’t need to be fixed is the car’s efficiency. I did only average 3.1mpkWh during our time, but many of those were faster motorway miles during the winter. Even during the spring temperatures, it had already started regularly returning 3.4mpkWh or higher.
Overall then, the Scenic has been a great car and one that we’ve have no hesitation in recommending. We’re not questioning the appeal of the new 5 and 4 in the Renault showroom, it’s just that sometimes the everyday heroes are right there in plain sight.
Nat Barnes
Volkswagen ID.3 Pro S 77kWh
List Price
BiK
3.6mpkWh
Efficiency
miles (Range)
miles (On fleet)
More warm weather has further boosted the efficiency and available mileage of the ID.3, pushing it perilously close to the maximum quoted range by Volkswagen. The heat has also given me cause to make more use of the ventilation system – and also helped me discover the clever (to me, anyway) cutoff feature. Slide the vents fully to the left and they click and close, which is very useful when the two people in the front don’t want the jet-engine-like icy cold blast at them when it’s baking hot outside!
Not quite so clever is the lack of ventilation in the rear – I guess it IS a smaller car and the cost-cutting measures have been voiced (not just here) on previous occasions, so it doesn’t come at a complete surprise. Still, the system is pretty effective at cooling everyone down eventually.
Back to the driving experience and the ride quality has been under scrutiny during a few longer journeys and over some slightly rougher roads than normal. The ID.3 isn’t the firmest of the EVs out there, but it can get a bit uncomfortable at times, which occasionally leads to comments from the other passengers!
Other than that, the small Volkswagen BEV continues to impress with its performance as well as effective braking regeneration. Personally I’m a big fan of ‘B’ mode – I know a lot of others aren’t – especially in the ID.3 where it’s not quite one-pedal operation, but not far off.
Another feature that I don’t often use is park assist – just one of the many elements of the £2,240 Assistance Plus Pack. Also included here – some of which I DO take advantage of are: area view, keyless access, travel assist, change side assist, rear traffic alert and exit warning system. But back to park assist, I’m not sure what compelled me to try it out when preparing to settle into a space, but – as you might expect – it worked perfectly. I’m not sure I’ll make a habit of it as I quite like to be in control as much as I can – and, let’s face it, parking isn’t exactly rocket science – but it’s a nice feature to have.
John Challen
Cupra Tavascan V2 77KwH
List Price
BiK
4.4mpkWh
Efficiency
miles (Range)
miles (On fleet)
Better late than never. After six weeks of waiting for a home charger install, following my energy company’s technician having had to cancel my initial appointment, the new Ohme Pro EV has started repaying the investment in it already, while the Tavascan is now edging past 3,000 completely trouble-free miles. I can also finally report that I have now officially seen two other Tavascans on the road in well over 100 hours behind the wheel.
One was in the £695 extra-cost option of metallic White Silver – which looked great, but on balance, I think I prefer our (no-cost option) Atacama Desert finish – and one was in the slightly unimaginatively named Tavascan Blue, which is a £995 option from new. Most of the time in life, you gets what you pays for, and it’s fair to say the blue hue makes the Tavascan look terrific and would definitely be our pick of the range. It probably helped that it was in the VZ2 trim as well (starting at £60,845 compared to our V2 spec’s current £53,845 starting price) which has arguably more appealing forged alloy wheels, heated and ventilated bucket seats and 340hp available.
The V2 still has to be the pick of the range though, and I can’t see myself being convinced otherwise, given that it has plenty of performance, the wonderful-to-my-untrained-ears Sennheiser Premium Audio system, that epic panoramic sunroof and really all the essential equipment from the trims above.
And although they are a different design, the V2’s alloy wheels are still 21-inch whoppers that put me into a cold sweat every time I have to go through one of London’s width restrictions – especially those ones where some rather unhelpful road planners have engineered entry to them at a slight angle, to ensure you can’t line the car up straight.
I’ve pretty much resorted to avoiding them, or travelling through them at glacial pace. The Tavascan isn’t even as wide as many other cars (Kia’s EV6, for example) but erring on the side of cowardice is a good cautionary tale for fleet managers to impart to drivers, especially considering defleet time when damaged expensive wheels won’t go unnoticed.
Width restrictions aside, one thing that I have taken for granted in the Tavascan is the extra freedom it has afforded when travelling into central London, either for meetings at our London office or recreationally. There is still a slightly smug feeling driving an EV in the Congestion Charge zone for free vs £15 (or a £180 fine when you inevitably forget to pay) and several people point out to me that they hate driving in the capital and find it unnecessarily stressful.
For those sceptics, I would always advocate an electric vehicle, as cars such as the Tavascan make commutes, both in traffic and in the proliferating 20mph zones, a complete breeze.
In fact, that phrase pretty much sums up the ownership experience of Cupra’s latest EV as it is just so easy to live with. If I had to choose between a Tavascan and latest Cupra Born – significant cost differentials aside – I might opt for the smaller car as I don’t often need the extra space, but I suspect I am an outlier in this respect and the Tavascan would represent more things to more people, more of the time. As I said, you gets what you pays for…
Luke Wikner
Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range RWD Ultra
List Price
BiK
N/A
Efficiency
miles (Range)
N/A
miles (On fleet)
“Woah…” That was pretty much what I was left thinking after hopping into the driver’s seat of our new EX30 long-termer in the wake of turning down a handover from the Volvo delivery driver (you know you’re in for a premium experience when they’re called a ‘Brand Ambassador’) and heading out from the drop-off lane at the train station in the nearby city.
I knew the gear selector and park brake are on the right-hand-side steering wheel stalk, the glove box is only opened via a button on the 12.3-inch central portrait touchscreen and that the car powers down automatically after you walk away with the key fob. But that was it.
Therein followed a quick learning experience; that the window controls are on the central armrest (ditto in the rear), that I wouldn’t be able to adjust the wing mirrors until I was stopped (via the touchscreen, it turns out) and that I really wasn’t sure where the wipers were (on the left-hand-side steering wheel stalk with the indicators). This is quite a radically different driving experience to match the radical looks.
But by the time I got home some 10 minutes later, I was zipping around like I’d been driving the car for days and quite happy behind the wheel.
The youngest Middleton, meanwhile, was more than happy to be picked up in front of his school mates in the Volvo – and quickly playing with the settings (he found the wing mirror controls!), adjusting the ambient lighting and linking to his Spotify account. And days on, both junior Middletons are still enthralled by the EX30 interior.
Interestingly, they were also rather enthralled when I first found a stretch of empty open road to stretch the baby Volvo SUV’s legs and partially test its acceleration capabilities (0-62mph in 5.3 seconds!). A car to end teenage complaints about family road trips!
Natalie Middleton
“Woah…” That was pretty much what I was left thinking after hopping into the driver’s seat of our new EX30 long-termer in the wake of turning down a handover from the Volvo delivery driver (you know you’re in for a premium experience when they’re called a ‘Brand Ambassador’) and heading out from the drop-off lane at the train station in the nearby city.
I knew the gear selector and park brake are on the right-hand-side steering wheel stalk, the glove box is only opened via a button on the 12.3-inch central portrait touchscreen and that the car powers down automatically after you walk away with the key fob. But that was it.
Therein followed a quick learning experience; that the window controls are on the central armrest (ditto in the rear), that I wouldn’t be able to adjust the wing mirrors until I was stopped (via the touchscreen, it turns out) and that I really wasn’t sure where the wipers were (on the left-hand-side steering wheel stalk with the indicators). This is quite a radically different driving experience to match the radical looks.
But by the time I got home some 10 minutes later, I was zipping around like I’d been driving the car for days and quite happy behind the wheel.
The youngest Middleton, meanwhile, was more than happy to be picked up in front of his school mates in the Volvo – and quickly playing with the settings (he found the wing mirror controls!), adjusting the ambient lighting and linking to his Spotify account. And days on, both junior Middletons are still enthralled by the EX30 interior.
Interestingly, they were also rather enthralled when I first found a stretch of empty open road to stretch the baby Volvo SUV’s legs and partially test its acceleration capabilities (0-62mph in 5.3 seconds!). A car to end teenage complaints about family road trips!
Natalie Middleton
