Some more pics of the concept

 

And some more...

 

Needs some fake exhaust pipes. 😁

 

Looks awesome...freaking awesome comparing to other Compact Class Cars

 

I'm not saying I don't like the looks, but I see previous generation SEAT proportions in the side profile of the EQA.

 

It will not look like the concept, the base will be new GLA.

This is the most recent picture of a prototype:

 

Well that’s disappointing 😩

 

Bah … beat me to bursting the bubble Maxim, I don't sign in or post at work.

I've been following the GLA and EQA ,as I've developed a liking for them that is uncharacteristic of my disdain for crossovers. This could be my next car.

Here's a recent render from AutoExpress

 

I agree


This render looks more like a production car. At least it's inoffensive, but I can't say inspiring or desirable from a looks PoV. But I'm sure it will be competent. Such a let down though...

 

Oh this is dissapointing...too much suuv'y...

 

I loved the concept and waited, saw the likely reality which was tall and SUV'ish disappointing, considered an A250e and now have an A200 which so far has ticked all the boxes.

Maybe in 5 years time the battery technology will be better and more compact so we can have the concept proportions and we might have a national charging infrastructure to better support electric vehicles.

 

When you say charging infrastructure, I also think of charging technology. If it still takes 30 mins to part charge a car and you count the number of cars through a garage every 30 mins, that's the number of charging points you need or you will get a queue. People think "Oh I've got 30 mins I'll go for a coffee" and don't come back for 45 mins, will that charging point still be tied up. Then there is queuing it's self, which charging point is going to come free first. So we might have to a team of charging point attendants and up goes the price, add in the taxes the government might need to replace fuel duty...
Hey who are you calling a grumpy old man?
Sorry have a nice day.

 

For me personally, having an EV with a real world range of 200 miles would probably suffice for 95% of my journeys. So I'd only really need to use public charging infrastructure on the occasional long journeys. I also like the sound of schemes whereby your lease allows you access to other types of vehicle when needed. So for example, I could have my own ~200 mile range EV, but should I want to go on a driving holiday around Europe I can arrange for my car to be swapped for a longer range car of some description. Or should I need to ferry my daughter down to Uni, then I could swap for a large estate or even a mini-van. Or perhaps should the good lady and I want to go away for the weekend, we could swap for a 2 seater sports car.

With that said, charging at home each night works for me as I have a private driveway, but I can certainly see how charging infrastructure will be more critical to those living in apartments or on roads with no off street parking.

I think the EV revolution will bring a lot of innovation to the ownership model, but right now we are all trying to relate the EV ownership experience to that which is well established for ICE cars.

 

@AThirtyFive, interesting I had not heard of the schemes you describe.

 

I think it's mainly conceptual at this stage, but I have heard of a scheme that Porsche are trialling in the US. Essentially you could lease a 911, but if you need to carry more passengers for a road trip you can drive to your Porsche Centre and swap your 911 for a Cayenne for a few days. I seem to recall Volvo is planning something similar.

 

Now I know I am a died in the wool petrol head and still miss the smell of petrol in modern cars and the pops and bangs from the un-burnt fuel in SU carbs on overrun so I'm probably the last person to comment on EV's BUT ......

I did have a C class Hybrid thingy for a few days recently and was surprised how much I liked the electric driving experience but the down side I found was having to plug the dam thing in every day and I only had it for a week. Before this I had sort of imagined that you plugged in a nice flexible 13 amp extension lead to the car but it turns out it is a very large heavy inflexible dirty cable and a big heavy dirty transformer as well, there was no bag to put it in and nowhere to store it in the car so it just had to be thrown in the back leaving little room for the supermarket run. Now I know we could get over the storage bag bit and you could carry a pair of gloves to keep your hand clean but you can't stop the rain so you are likely to get wet and dirty on a regular basis.

Obviously whether you are prepared to put up with these disadvantages to drive electric is a personal one, for me though I'm not really worried by the cost of motoring and although I would like to save the planet I'm happy to let younger people do this as they will get more benefit from it than me 🤣 but I might be tempted when we have wireless charging on the drive way, now that surely has to be the way to go. Until then though it would have to be a self charging Hybrid if I was to be tempted to go EV at all.

Just as a sub note I read an interesting article recently that pointed out that in China, because their electricity generating is still coal or oil powered, electric cars there are less green than their petrol equivalents 😱

 

Manufacture of current generation batteries is still a very un-green affair, with some of the materials only available in China. That fact alone might make some hesitate in the headlong rush towards electric cars. For me, I tend to go on a touring holiday every year, so unless I limit myself to accommodation that facilitates charging, it really isn't feasible.