At midday I went out and there was a car parked blocking my drive exit with the driver inside. No matter, I'll toot and they'll move.
Lady got out of car and explained that it's broken down but the AA is coming. I might have explored shoving it out of the way but it was tipping down. The AA has been, seen, and gone. It's an EV apparently and has run out of battery. She is now waiting for a recovery truck, expected at 14.15. She asked the patrolman if he could at least move it 3 metres down the road but he said he didn't know how to get it into 'neutral' to do that.
It occurred to me that it would have been quite helpful if, in its dying moments, it had issued a warning such as "Battery empty, stop in a safe place immediately." I get the impression it just died.
She said it showed 20% and then just went to zero.
It's a Vauxhall Mokka electric. Quite sharp looking.
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P.S. I've just googled a bit and it seems these Mokka's have a habit of just dying, some sort of software glitch by the sound of it.
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I would say its nearly impossible to run out of power in an EV without ignoring numerous warnings. These normally start as 20% power left and become increaingly more urgent under 10%. When approaching zero the car will enter "turtle mode", shutting off all non essential devices such as aircon and heating and allow you to park the vehicle safley.
Either the driver is an absolute idiot or perhaps more likely the car has suffered sort sort of catastrophic breakdown
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No they do not run out of power elegantly, ultimately they usually lock up imoveably solid.
However as our Norfuk pal says, you really do have to intend to be that stupid and work at it (and some more ) to get it that low.
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A very substantial recovery vehicle has turned up and the driver has the bonnet of the Mokka up and appears to have attached some sort of booster pack that is resting on whatever they have under the bonnet.
We are still cut off!
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The driver is now winching the car on to the wagon but it's clear the car transmission is locked. Glad it's not my car. He's got the front wheels on the bed now and is hammering some plastic skid plates under the wheels.
We were going to do some shopping. At least it has prompted us to explore the more whiskery parts of the freezer for something to eat.
According to a google result the transmission can be put in neutral by pinging a cover plate off by the drive selector and pressing a button. Perhaps better not to go out and ask if he's tried this.
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I was blocked in a car park by a diesel Nissan. The stupid driver had parked behind me and sat there for a while and when I wanted to get out, their battery was too flat to release the handbrake.
Listening to their phone conversation, it was quite a common event. The repeated recovery costs must have dwarfed the cost of a new battery. No they weren't covered by breakdown insurance.
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Just gone. She only lives half a mile away.
I think CGN was probably right, it just died. I wonder if it was the 12V battery that the recovery guy was trying to boost.
I have just looked on Autotrader and found I could have bought one of these 4 months old with 1,600 miles for about £4,000 less than I have paid for the Mazda 2 Hybrid. The list price is £35,000 or thereabouts. The fact that they appear to be worth half that 4 months later suggests they are not very good.
One reason I am reluctant to go full BEV electric is the concern that to many people, possibly including most car mechanics without special, possibly model-specific, training they are just black boxes. I suppose that applies to the hybrid, but it is a Toyota...
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 20 Oct 25 at 16:17
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>>I suppose that applies to the hybrid, but it is a Toyota.
Yup .. same as my Subaru, the EV gubbins is also Toyota.
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EVs are no different to ICE in running out of power. It may not even be the power that has run out but another explanation - brakes locked on, siezed differential,
It can happen because the numpty behind the wheel has ignored all the warning lights and sound that most modern vehicles emit as fuel nears empty.
They also run out of power because of software or hardware glitches. In the good old days a simple tap on the petrol gauge would suffice to unstick the needle. Modern tech is probably somewhat more complex.
The risk of an EV failing is probably a little higher than ICE as it embodies new relatively untested tech - this possibly balances the probability of an IC failing simply because the average age of ICE vehicles on the road is much older.
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Did you not have an extension cable that could have reached her car???
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>> Did you not have an extension cable that could have reached her car???
Yes I do, and had I known she was going to be there so long I might have volunteered it to her or the AA man. But I have no experience of these things, do they usually carry a cable to plug into a 13A socket? I thought the AA man might have asked me if that was going to fix it.
She was polite, pleasant even, but declined offers of a drink or the use of necessary facilities.
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Carwow deliberately did this a couple of years ago - youtu.be/fvwOa7TCd1E
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>> Carwow deliberately did this a couple of years ago - youtu.be/fvwOa7TCd1E
They do it quite often. resul;t is always the same. Car cant be moved and locked in drive.
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Most EVs will eventually show '---' miles then enter tortoise mode with grossly reduced power output before shutting down completely.
If you drain a Li-ion battery far enough it becomes an irrecoverable brick.
One of the car's Battery Management Software roles is to never let the battery get that low so effectively locks the high voltage battery out until it knows there is charge on the way.
In saying that, sometimes the BMS imperfectly monitors the discharging battery (or a single cell is gubbed) leading to it cacking its pants and suddenly going from a measurable percentage to Stop very quickly.
My mate is involved with vehicle purchases and running for a large council - although he has recently become an EV fanboy, he wouldn't touch a Vauxhall EV with a 100-foot pole - says they have had countless Corsas embarrass themselves while virtually no issues with Leafs, Souls and EV vans.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Mon 20 Oct 25 at 22:22
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A little tale of an immobilised car blocking a car park entrance,
Guy comes out of his warehouse with 2 pallet trucks. Job done...
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My mate has just returned his Leaf and taking delivery of a brand new Mokka next week.
This exact deal www.arnoldclark.com/new-cars/vauxhall/mokka/115kw-ultimate-54kwh-5dr-auto/0/ref/blk_qhd45xu32tyoyk4k
Not pre registered, brand new.
Someone is taking a huge hit on these!
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I don't think it will be Arnold Clark.
There's a good chance Stellantis will be unrecognisable in a year or two.
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>> I don't think it will be Arnold Clark.
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>> There's a good chance Stellantis will be unrecognisable in a year or two.
>>
I think it just shows how much profit there is in cars. This Mokka is still turning a profit for Stellantis.
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"I think it just shows how much profit there is in cars."
There is no money in cars, at least not for European and US manufacturers
Stellantis is £36 billion in debt
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>> There is no money in cars, at least not for European and US manufacturers
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>> Stellantis is £36 billion in debt
Its a catch 22 situation for car manufacturers. Its a model that only works on investment and volume. Cut volume temporarily and your cost per car goes up. Cut volume permanently by closing down plants, means you need huge investment to get back there again.
In the UK, surely Vauxhall as a brand is dead, has no meaning to todays buyers. And who in their right mind buys a car called a "grandland" as a lifestyle choice.
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>> In the UK, surely Vauxhall as a brand is dead, has no meaning to todays
>> buyers. And who in their right mind buys a car called a "grandland" as a
>> lifestyle choice.
Been driving a Grandland for the last week while Seoras the Skoda was repaired after being assaulted by something the just caught the nearside front door and put a deep dent in the cill.
It's petrol and 'automatic' though it behaves like hybrid.
A hideous experience and I cannot express how glad I was to get the Skoda back this afternoon and not have to drive to Stansted tomorrow dropping Daughter, Son in Law and Grandson off in the poxy Grandland.
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>> Stellantis is £36 billion in debt
>>
Not sure where you get that from?
Their 2023 figure were 18.6billion Euro profit, their 2024 figure was 5.5billion Euro profit.
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>> >> Stellantis is £36 billion in debt
>> >>
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>> Not sure where you get that from?
>> Their 2023 figure were 18.6billion Euro profit, their 2024 figure was 5.5billion Euro profit.
All of those things are true.
Sales revenue went down from €190bn in 2023 to less than €160bn last year. It's a fixed cost business. The variable cost of making say the Mokka EV would probably look low but the fixed costs are a killer, including the cost of developing and tooling for every new model necessary.
I assume the profit figures are statutory profits but I haven't checked. I worked for businesses that liked to headline their operating profits even while they were posting statutory losses.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 24 Oct 25 at 19:23
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I remember a Harry’s Garage talking about the fines manufacturers get if they don’t have the right percentage of electric cars sold v ICE cars.
So maybe worth punting these with huge discount to get the desired ratio.
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The EU rate, which I believe the UK also uses, is €95/g over 95g averaged over the cars sold. If the fleet average is standing at 150g, selling an EV is effectively worth close to €15,000 in penalty savings.
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>> There's a good chance Stellantis will be unrecognisable in a year or two.
There's a video on You Tube of car brands that will likely be gone by the end of 2026.
Mostly niche stuff like Lancia but Stelantis is last of the ten or so listed.
Too many overlapping models.
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I have had a very superficial look at their 2024 annual report which runs to over 400 pages. A few things seem clear:
- revenues were down 17% compared to the previous year - largely in the US market
- tariffs may be having a significant impact
- balance sheet a year ago seems stable - but lots may have happened in tle last 12 months
- struggling with the costs and stresses of properly embracing the transition to EV
- this is common to all all traditional manufacturers
- need to deal with the proliferation of different brands and designs
As to how they can sell a Mokka at so high a discount - the marginal cost of production is much less than the selling price which also includes fixed sales and marketing, dealer network, admin (HR, purchasing, legal, etc) depreciation, rent, R&D etc etc etc.
A car with a list price of (say) 30k may have a normal discounted sales price of (say) £25k (often discounted in bulk via lease and PCP), and a marginal cost of £15-18k.
High stocks, impending facelift or replacement, model/brand rationalisation, hitting EV targets to avoid penalties etc etc could all contribute to a very rational decision to slash the prices.
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>>could all contribute to a very rational decision to slash the prices.
As could an urgent for cash.
I have also just found a report that it posted an operating loss in the first half of 2025. I have no idea what the comparatives are or of the normal seasonality of their profits.
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www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510036845119
75-plate 48kWh Ora 03 (previously called the "Funky Cat")
£13,499
These are well built little cars. Worst thing about them is the rather gash exclamation mark steering wheel boss.
The 63kWh ones with a little better spec are available for just over £15.5k
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.
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>> It's a Vauxhall Mokka electric. Quite sharp looking.
>>
Well Im surprised. The AA surely ought to know how to unscrew the parking pawl. Its a black plastic cover with what looks like a bike cable running into it. Two hex bolts and its off. Take a 7mm socket and by hand unscrew the bolt underneath. Five or six turns it Releases the car and in neutral its easily pushed. Im an owner and Im surprised an AA mechanic doesn't know...or couldn't spare the three minutes it takes. I have a socket and Allen key in my glovebox.
Sudden stop? Yes it USED to do that if the a/c system failed. There was a recall , software update. Doesn't do it anymore.
How does it run out? Not sure I never go below a few percent. But does it suddenly quit leaving you in the middle of the road? Absolutely not. I had the a/c compressor failure and mine kept on running. Ive had the KGS recall, it works! The concern is the a/c system cools the battery. So its get you home but dont over do it and cook your battery. Mines fixed now and is doing great at 4 yrs plus old.
Yes i think it looks pretty nifty myself.
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Do EV's run out of power elegantly? - Manatee
