22 October 2020
The 2020 Volkswagen ID 3 is VW’s bespoke new battery electric vehicle. And although it’s not the first EV on the market - it’s not even VW’s first EV - it still feels like a significant car.
Here we pitch it against its key competitor, which is also a landmark car in its own right and is still the world’s most successful EV, the 2020 Nissan Leaf.
In terms of range, battery size, 0-62mph time and top speed, these two are pitched extremely close to each other. So join our testers as they review the pair and deduce which is best.
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Plastic corruption
Electrics are not Green
No electric car is as yet clean green or practical. The batteries contain explosive flammable and toxic chemical that cannot be recycled. The range and refueling itime make them useful for all but the shortest shopping trips. The are also ridiculously expensive. Ovet the lifetime ofthese vehicles they pollute more than diesels. Resale values are bound to plummet once the novelty has worn off. Manufacturers should be concentrating on hydrogen fuel cells. They are the true future of motoring
The batteries can be recycled. In fact they are full of very valuable materials that when recycled are much cheaper to reuse than mining the material and refining it again. Like aluminum cans vs making ALu from scratch. You can recycle in 2 ways- break them down again like a car or reuse them for other purposes like offgrid storage. Renault is reusing their zoe batteries as storage for island wind turbines. Nissan is using theirs as a cheap Tesla powerwall for home users. EV power is near 100% efficient and converting energy into HP. The BEST diesels are about 40% at most. As for range, your daily travel is over 200km a day? So on that basis you are driving 45K a year! (average UK mileage is 7400miles) Nobody has designed a way of making green hydrogen in an energy efficient way. Current Hydrogen is all made from natural gas.
Manufacurers slavish copying
Manufacurers slavish copying Tesla's ludicrous iPad type interface for everything. Im a technophile but I can see untold problems with all the car's functions being via a touch screen, usually hidden behind numerous sub menus.
And when your touch screen fails as it will, what's the cost of replacement going to be? Astronomical is the answer. Given meswitches every time.