For me, this is still the biggest downside of EVs over ICE - if well-maintained, ICE cars will rarely need 4-figure spending (and certainly not in the range of £4.5k in one go), spreading out the cost of wear-and-tear/life-expired maintenance over many years.

es, I had been thinking about that. But I have given serious consideration to other commercial vehicles (not officially available in the UK) of a 'cab over' design and dismissed them not because of safety concerns, more because of the logistics of servicing and parts. So while it would be in my mind, I feel that the combination of my driving style (never going very quickly, always leaving a big gap to the vehicle in front for the best view of what is going on around me) and the general traffic behaviour of the roads I drive (the 'maniacs' are invariably going in the same direction as me at both ends of the day) makes me feel the risk is minimal.

But I also need to be realistic and accept that much as I like it, it probably isn't going to happen. As good value as it is (IMO), £20k is still £20k!.

The campervan version looks interesting.

Yeah, it is a cool looking thing, the off-road version could be the ultimate 'wild camper'. 1200nm of torque(!) means that you could drive up the side of a cliff (grip permitting!).

Reads more like a crowdfunding appeal than an opportunity to actually buy one.

The solar roof seems to be a trick other manufacturers have missed (as far as I know).

One of the videos I watched on the XBUS featured a few cars/vehicles from other smallish German start up companies. One of these was the Sono Sion, which is a family car covered in solar panels. It does give it a kind of unfinished look, but I'm sure plenty of folk wouldn't worry about that!.

sion