In checking out some pure EVs, I took some time to visit Valley Motors in Cockeysville, Maryland on Saturday. They had both an E-Golf and a Mercedes B-Class EV’s. Photos attached. E-Golf: Small, plain looking, built on the standard golf chassis. Think of it like a VW-Leaf. Air cooled battery, 80 miles range. Peppy, with variable regen via steering column paddles. Strong body lean in curves from heavy rear. Very quiet. B- Class: Most roomy of all EV’s I’ve driven. It seems very tall and wide with nice Mercedes appointments. Plenty of room in the back for 3 passengers. There was a good 4-6” of room above my head in the driver’s seat. Smooth, quiet but Euro-firm with very little corner lean. Tesla like battery arrangement; flat under the floor. My highest contender short of a Tesla for a pure EV. Both cars are pure EV so range anxiety is real. The Mercedes started the drive at 46% Charge, and I couldn’t take my eyes of off the meter. It would take some getting used to I guess. Both had lots of connectability options, Bluetooth and WiFi. Surprisingly, both showrooms had L2 chargers installed outside on the wall. The VW site had a double ChargePoint and the Mercedes dealer has a single, “KEBA” (Bosch) charger. Neither car had the driveability options of the Volt. I’m still looking forward to Gen2. It was a lot of fun out there shopping. Very few salesmen know anything about the cars. There was a Leaf driver who drove the E-Golf right after I did, but the Mercedes folks said that I was the first one ever in the showroom to ask about the B and the first to test drive it. It only had 35 miles on it. Being a chilly day, I tested the heaters and they both worked well, but it’s had to tell how much they drew from the battery. I am trying to convince myself that an all EV car would work for me. Range Anxiety is the real deal and I HATE to have to keep checking the charge level. While I check it on my Volt, I have the confidence that in my worst case, Ill just burn a little gas til I can recharge. Come on Gen2! Please dont disappoint!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:04:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015