Jaguar I-Pace

"I really can’t see plug-in hybrids — or the other kind that Toyota absurdly calls ‘self-charging hybrids’ — enduring beyond the next couple of years. There may be a few more range-extender types like our i3 — in some ways that principle would work better in a larger car — but the complexity and weight of multi-way gearboxes and plural clutches isn’t a serious way forward."

I see phev's as a valid transition to EV as well as a valid compromise for many people for at least the next 10 years until we have a proper public charging network and until prices come down a fair amount. A significant percentage of real people do not have the ability to charge at home and cannot sensibly choose an EV without a reliable access to charging.
Long term, once that is fixed, EV will be on the way to becoming the sensible way to go. Extra weight of gearboxes etc makes very little difference to modern cars, mine performs and handles pretty well the same as my previous tdi despite the weight of 2 engines, a battery, and a complicated set of transmission & control kit.

An I-P SE with a few options and the CLS as deposit generated a Jaguar Finance quote of £607 a month for three years. That’s a lot, and a lot more than the i3 costs us — not a fair comparison, obvs. But the interest rate is: Jaguar’s is 6.8%, BMW’s is 0.67%.

As for plug-in EVs, for people who can’t charge at home, they’re less useful than a BEV. The good thing about a PHEV is that it can avoid burning petrol for the piddling, polluting stop-start journeys that are all many cars do in some weeks. But to achieve that, the car has to leave home fully charged; rely on public charging and it wastes half of it just getting home again.

90% of my annual mileage could easily be covered using an electric car with a range of at least 120 miles. The 10% is for longer cross country trips, not necessarily on the motorway network although as they are only about one weeks worth of driving, I could rent a car.

The stumbling block for me, is that my lovely E350 is in excellent condition, only 46,000 miles in seven years and I see no reason to change it at the moment. I might in a couple of years time, but like I ran the S-Max for five years I can see my running the Merc for five years plus. I'm starting to like bangernomics...

It is, but its depreciation curve will have flattened out usefully. Our S211 E220 needed very little in non-routine items in years 4-9 that we had it, and I’d expect Esp’s S212 to be similarly durable. It helps that we both had our cars from a ‘known good’ state, which is very different from buying a complex car when it’s already old because most problems can be dealt with as they develop and before they become expensive.

That’s not to say you don’t need a contingency plan, though. The Aporoved Used warranty on the CLS expires this month and I’m wondering whether to seek an aftermarket solution or simply self-insure. The four-digit bill I avoided when the 325’s climate control went rogue tilts me towards the former option.

I'm crossing all limbs ands digits to avoid the large bill. Not sure I'm meant to do all this crossing stuff, but I'll take any help I can get. I have no confidence in warranties, especially aftermarket ones for older cars.