T6 Beach to Kia PV5? Maybe...

[a892374923874]

Our very high spec Beach is nearly 7 years old, and only done 21k miles. Most of its miles are long motorway journeys interspersed with 2nd car runabout duties. Where we would use it as a day van, it is easier and cheaper to use our company car which is electric, than to get the van out of the garage.

We love driving the van when camping, but both dislike driving it as a 2nd car runabout in case it gets damaged.

We also bought a little caravan last year as the kids are now double digits and wanting a bit more space than is available in the van by itself.

So I'm seriously considering selling our beloved Beach and getting a Kia PV5 as my next company car, and also a small electric runabout. The runabout would either be a 2nd hand £10kish EV, or something like a Hyundai Inster on salary sacrifice.

So we wave goodbye to the pop-top, and going roadtripping and camping as a family using just the van, but we can still sleep 2 people in the back of the Kia and can do campsites here and abroad with the caravan. Range when towing a caravan would probably be planned on 100ish mile charges, but charging abroad is much cheaper than public charging here. And we get full Aircon, and 240v to power van and caravan when offgrid.

Our camping would change to more time at a site and using the Kia as a car to explore the area. We tended not do that much with Beach because it was a faff converting from camping mode to driving mode.

We'll test drive the Kia next and make sure we're both happy about driving it as our every day vehicle.

Useful to write my thoughts here, as it is a big decision selling the van. There will be tears. And from the kids!

Thanks for listening

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Range when towing a caravan would probably be planned on 100ish mile charges, but charging abroad is much cheaper than public charging here.

Just be wary that charging with a caravan attached might be a challenge. Given that majority of EV charges are set in bays.

 

[a892374923874]

Yep definitely a faff, already had that with my existing EV. At least the charge point on the Kia is on the front, so could drive into a charge spot, disconnect the caravan and move it away if necessary then charge the van.

 

[johnyboy]

The converters and pop-top roof people are all over the PV5 so its possible to make them a bit more beach-like

 

[vmaxkiddy]

Our very high spec Beach is nearly 7 years old, and only done 21k miles. Most of its miles are long motorway journeys interspersed with 2nd car runabout duties. Where we would use it as a day van, it is easier and cheaper to use our company car which is electric, than to get the van out of the garage.

We love driving the van when camping, but both dislike driving it as a 2nd car runabout in case it gets damaged.

We also bought a little caravan last year as the kids are now double digits and wanting a bit more space than is available in the van by itself.

So I'm seriously considering selling our beloved Beach and getting a Kia PV5 as my next company car, and also a small electric runabout. The runabout would either be a 2nd hand £10kish EV, or something like a Hyundai Inster on salary sacrifice.

So we wave goodbye to the pop-top, and going roadtripping and camping as a family using just the van, but we can still sleep 2 people in the back of the Kia and can do campsites here and abroad with the caravan. Range when towing a caravan would probably be planned on 100ish mile charges, but charging abroad is much cheaper than public charging here. And we get full Aircon, and 240v to power van and caravan when offgrid.

Our camping would change to more time at a site and using the Kia as a car to explore the area. We tended not do that much with Beach because it was a faff converting from camping mode to driving mode.

We'll test drive the Kia next and make sure we're both happy about driving it as our every day vehicle.

Useful to write my thoughts here, as it is a big decision selling the van. There will be tears. And from the kids!

Thanks for listening

As a run around the Inster is a good choice, if that includes any dual carriageway or motorway driving then watch out for the quite loud road and wind noise. I’ve delivered several, and getting a model which has the larger wheels seems to reduce the road noise. Quite a good little car with excellent range for its size tho.

 

[a892374923874]

Test drove the PV5, and we both gave it a thumbs up. It isn't as premium feeling as the VW, but I think it will be great as an everyday family vehicle. I think we could solve the Summer camping/road trip as a 4 with a roof tent. The roof tent could give us more space upstairs than the VW pop top. Roof limits are 100kg driving, 400kg at rest. There are also slidepods available for the PV5 which look really neat. As a lease vehicle I wouldn't be able to make permanent changes. No cutting holes in the roof!

Payload is tighter than the Beach at 530kg inc driver.

We'll have a better look at the Hyundai Inster, and Kia EV2 this week and get salary sacrifice costs.

Working plan now is to get the PV5 and EV2, then sell the Beach :-(

By the time the PV5 lease ends in 3 years, I expect the PV7 will be well established, and that looks like it will be very interesting as a camper. Hopefully, the compromises between diesel California, and electric alternatives will have vanished, and VW will have created something compelling.

 

[a892374923874]

We're all-in electric at home with 20kW solar, 48kWh battery, ASHP, and an EV. Adding a 2nd EV at this point doesn't seem too much of a stretch!

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Not a van, can’t sleep inside, but large capacity hybrid with a decent electric range for daily driver:

BYD Ti-7: Urban Box Family SUV | BYD uk

Discover the BYD Ti 7, the all-new boxy design family SUV that's perfect for urban driving.

www.byd.com

 

[Chriskend]

We have been fully electric for over 8 years now, huge shock when i filled up the cali for the first time, I think we will be moving over to a ev camper when they get the range up. I noticed diesel is up to £2.30 at services now……

 

[a892374923874]

What started me down this road was the marketing material on the Smart #5 saying it had camping mode and you could make a flat bed in it. I had a look. You can do it, but not much different to many other similar sized cars where the seats fold flat and level with the boot.

smart #5 – Discover Our Robust Electric SUV | smart

Adventure meets versatility: Our smart #5 is the versatile electric SUV for all your adventures, whether you're exploring the city or the countryside.

uk.smart.com

 

[chockswahay]

Test drove the PV5, and we both gave it a thumbs up. It isn't as premium feeling as the VW, but I think it will be great as an everyday family vehicle. I think we could solve the Summer camping/road trip as a 4 with a roof tent. The roof tent could give us more space upstairs than the VW pop top. Roof limits are 100kg driving, 400kg at rest. There are also slidepods available for the PV5 which look really neat. As a lease vehicle I wouldn't be able to make permanent changes. No cutting holes in the roof!

Payload is tighter than the Beach at 530kg inc driver.

We'll have a better look at the Hyundai Inster, and Kia EV2 this week and get salary sacrifice costs.

Working plan now is to get the PV5 and EV2, then sell the Beach :-(

By the time the PV5 lease ends in 3 years, I expect the PV7 will be well established, and that looks like it will be very interesting as a camper. Hopefully, the compromises between diesel California, and electric alternatives will have vanished, and VW will have created something compelling.

I like the PV5 but a word of caution for you, roof top tents can be severely limited if the wind gets up (we saw a couple of cars in Iceland in April who had to fold down their roof top tents in the early hours in pitch black then try and sleep in their cars)....... also I believe that the PV5 can not be on charge and provide V2L at the same time so don't rely on overnight charging and cooking/heating at the same time.

 

[chockswahay]

We're all-in electric at home with 20kW solar, 48kWh battery, ASHP, and an EV. Adding a 2nd EV at this point doesn't seem too much of a stretch!

I'm with you all the way on that! We have solar,ASHP, and an electric Mini Cooper and have not paid any electricity bills for 2 years now and zero daily running costs for the Mini (actually Octopus pay us!) ....... its a win/win

 

[FivetonesCali]

I like the PV5 but a word of caution for you, roof top tents can be severely limited if the wind gets up (we saw a couple of cars in Iceland in April who had to fold down their roof top tents in the early hours in pitch black then try and sleep in their cars)....... also I believe that the PV5 can not be on charged and provide V2L at the same time so don't rely on overnight charging and cooking/heating at the same time.

Internal AND external V2L on the PV5.

 

[chockswahay]

Internal AND external V2L on the PV5.

But not charge and V2L at same time

 

[chockswahay]

We're all-in electric at home with 20kW solar, 48kWh battery, ASHP, and an EV. Adding a 2nd EV at this point doesn't seem too much of a stretch!

20 kW?!? That’s massive, approx 50 panels, or did you mean you generate 20 kW per day?

 

[FivetonesCali]

But not charge and V2L at same time

I stand corrected. Thanks.

The use case is vanishingly small though.

 

[a892374923874]

roof top tents can be severely limited if the wind gets up

Thanks for this, there seems to be a wide difference in wind resistance between the different makes. This is important to me because part of the use case is taking kids to dinghy sailing events, which inevitably mean terrible weather and exposed locations! I'll keep looking. No rush to get a roof tent. They certainly aren't cheap!

PV5 can not be on charge and provide V2L at the same time so don't rely on overnight charging and cooking/heating at the same time

Yes I spotted that - not a deal breaker, but would be a nice to have. On CLs, I plan to run the caravan from the PV5 V2L.

20 kW

Yes, 4kW in 2011, 5kW in 2015, another 11kW going on in a couple of weeks on an outbuilding. 12kW Victron inverter in front of the other 2 PV systems to practically take the house offgrid with full battery backup. ASHP fitted this year, looking forward to a constantly warm house over Winter! Plenty of Homeassistant automation as well. You?

 

[FivetonesCali]

Another option:

Thread 'Kia PV7 announced'
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/kia-pv7-announced.63447/