After serving me and my loved ones faithfully for the past 7 years, I finally had to part with my workhorse Xiao Lan.
It was honestly not an easy decision. Even a pen if used for long, I will find it hard to throw it away.
However judging from the government's policy on cars, I think it's pretty clear EV is the future and if I don't cash in on the remaining value now, it would be pretty taxing for me in 3 years time when I have to change car. Who knows how much the COE will cost by then.
As a matter of fact, COE for my first car in 2009 was $4,000+.
COE for my second car which is Xiao Lan was $26,301.00.
COE for my new car which I got in February this year is $108,220.00.
I
still remember I got Xiao Lan when my daughter was around 9 months old and
since then she has ferried us around. She was also the one who fetched my
son home after he was discharged from hospital after birth.
On
a personal note, Xiao Lan has accompanied me through my many ups and
downs and has never given me any major problem for the years I've been
with her. She's robust.
She is such an easy drive. When I'm with her I understand the feeling of 车人合一.
It is my good fortune to have you, Xiao Lan. Good bye and all the best. I hope to see you on the road one day.
Da Bai came into our family on the day Xiao Lan left. I have since driven her for slightly more than 2 weeks with slightly more than 1,000 km mileage.
It seems almost fated to have Da Bai. I visited the showroom because the agent for another brand was having his day off when I called. I then decided to visit Da Bai's showroom with the intention to just get a best deal for comparison.
However the agent who served me was so sincere and I managed to get almost whatever I asked for. In the end I put pen to paper and confirmed my relationship with Da Bai on the spot.
I am slowly getting used to Da Bai now. She has lot more functions than Xiao Lan, not least the voice command which the kids loved to play with.
"Hello Baby. Please open the sunshade."
"Hello Baby. Please turn on the aircon."
"Hello Baby. Please play some music."
I guess Da Bai is also a head turner. Recently a lady approached me to chat about the car. She said she has seen my car for 2 days already and was hoping to catch the owner.
Also unlike what others said, there is no range anxiety for me at all. I don't actually understand why would some people feel that.
EV chargers are everywhere now. Nowadays when I enter a carpark I just move into the EV charging lot, plug in and go run my errands. When I get back I just remove the plug and drive off. Just like juicing up your phone whenever you see a wall socket.
It doesn't matter how much it got juiced up. Just let the charging do the job in the time the car is idling in the parking lot while you do your stuff.
To me this is the premise of EV. To charge while you do your stuff. Not finding stuff to do while charging.
Couple of days ago I had this shiok experience. I was meeting a friend at Ang Mo Kio for lunch and the carpark was full with several cars waiting for parking lot.
I literally just drove into an EV charging lot, plug in and went off to meet my friend.
I will probably write a review on Da Bai, maybe with the running cost too, when I get to know her deeper.
For now I'll continue to tinkle and have fun with the different functions.
