Why so few EV large saloons?
Discussion
Our family car is a LWB V8 Audi A8 diesel. Marketed as an executive / luxury car, it's by some margin the best family car we've ever had. The extra space in the rear stops our 3 kids form kicking the back of your seat. Secure separate boot compartment. It has tremendous range, accelerates like an avalanche, is whisper-quiet and gobbles up long journeys to the point that my better half confesses to a mild sense of disappointment when a journey ends.
For a family car, I'd be OK with a battery power-source. My bigger issue is, if you’re someone who likes large saloons, how little choice there is in the EV sector. The forthcoming Audi A8 EV replacement (their “Grand Sphere”) is strictly 4-seater only. Given we've 3 kids, immediately that makes it quite useless. Up to now, A8s have been either 2 individual rear seats or a rear bench seat, at the buyer's option. Audi, in its wisdom, has removed that option from its forthcoming replacement. Clearly, the “thinking” behind this is: “fat cats only, families eff off”.
The battery Taycan seems to be a decent car, but the rear space is very poor compared to what we currently have.
Alfa is talking about a large EV saloon in 2027, which might be worth a look, but that’s some way off.
So if you don’t want an SUV, and you do want a large luxury EV saloon with lots of interior space, is it fair to say there only car currently on sale in that sector, namely the Mercedes EQS? Afaik, you can’t get it in LWB, so it’s still inferior to what we currently have, but it sees to be the closest EV alternative currently available.
Seems a bit mad that, in the brave new EV world, my “choice” in my preferred sector is confined to one car …
For a family car, I'd be OK with a battery power-source. My bigger issue is, if you’re someone who likes large saloons, how little choice there is in the EV sector. The forthcoming Audi A8 EV replacement (their “Grand Sphere”) is strictly 4-seater only. Given we've 3 kids, immediately that makes it quite useless. Up to now, A8s have been either 2 individual rear seats or a rear bench seat, at the buyer's option. Audi, in its wisdom, has removed that option from its forthcoming replacement. Clearly, the “thinking” behind this is: “fat cats only, families eff off”.
The battery Taycan seems to be a decent car, but the rear space is very poor compared to what we currently have.
Alfa is talking about a large EV saloon in 2027, which might be worth a look, but that’s some way off.
So if you don’t want an SUV, and you do want a large luxury EV saloon with lots of interior space, is it fair to say there only car currently on sale in that sector, namely the Mercedes EQS? Afaik, you can’t get it in LWB, so it’s still inferior to what we currently have, but it sees to be the closest EV alternative currently available.
Seems a bit mad that, in the brave new EV world, my “choice” in my preferred sector is confined to one car …
Glosphil said:
OP, "The extra space in the rear stops our 3 kids form kicking the back of your seat."
Sounds like your kids need to be taught how to behave rather than having a large car to travel in.
One of my daughters developed the habit of kicking the back of the driver's seat despite being asked not to & being told there would be consequences if she continued. The next time she did it turning around & going back home so she missed a friend's birthday party cured her.
Well, my other car is a 3 door K11 Micra, so it's more about the space lol. We find the space great tbh. It's a pleasure for even a 6 feet + adult (with a few lbs needing to be lost) to sit in the back, and our standard wheelbase A6 seems pretty cramped by comparison ... Sounds like your kids need to be taught how to behave rather than having a large car to travel in.
One of my daughters developed the habit of kicking the back of the driver's seat despite being asked not to & being told there would be consequences if she continued. The next time she did it turning around & going back home so she missed a friend's birthday party cured her.
The other modern design trend for SUVs is higher belt lines, shallower roof lines etc, so the rear passenger side "windows" are smaller than ever before.
See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewdepaula/2011/0...
C.A.R. said:
I think you've answered your own question here without realising it.
Your own preferred vehicle with which you are very happy, is being discontinued in its current form. That means that you are in a very small minority and the manufacturer (Audi) does not see fit to update the model so that they can sell a handful in the next few years.
It's therefore hardly surprising that you can't fit those same requirements around an emerging market (EV's) which is going to be guided by what the majority wants and cars that can be sold in volume.
Yep, I think you're right!Your own preferred vehicle with which you are very happy, is being discontinued in its current form. That means that you are in a very small minority and the manufacturer (Audi) does not see fit to update the model so that they can sell a handful in the next few years.
It's therefore hardly surprising that you can't fit those same requirements around an emerging market (EV's) which is going to be guided by what the majority wants and cars that can be sold in volume.
Many thanks, and esp to those who mentioned Lucid Air - hadn’t thought of that one at all. Seems promising. That and the new BMW 7 series.
My aversion to SUVs is a sort of reverse-snobbery (I hate the "upwardly mobile" connotations - literally looking down on people), but I do have some practical reasons:
1. I’ve been in many modern SUVs, and they're all a bit reverse Tardis, in that rear seat room is nothing special in any of them. Something like a Taycan, which otherwise looks and goes well, is poor as far as rear seat space is concerned. But they're all a bit of a let-down in the space dept, and I guess it’s my perhaps naive idea that if I'm shelling out for a new car, I can get something as least as good as my old one in all key aspects, not significantly worse in one of them ...
2. Better aerodynamics, and better rear headroom - can't be having sloping rears on cars. Just screams fashion victim.
3. Safety - an aluminium A8 3-box saloon has crumple zones front and rear, and any saloon is less prone to rolling over than an SUV.
4. More secure, separate luggage compartment, instead of one that can be accessed with a casual brick through the window.
5. Driving dynamics - better in a saloon than in a top-heavy SUV.
See: https://www.motorbiscuit.com/dont-follow-pack-7-re...
There are v few cheap options, but it seems to be:
1. Lucid Air
2. BMW 7 series
3. MB EQS (albeit it’s really a hatch)
Tesla – thought about them but Musk is a bit of a tool, and more importantly the shoddy build quality wouldn’t give much ownership satisfaction.
The other option is something like the LWB VW Zoom or similar – has the visibility and all-round headroom that SUVs lack.
My aversion to SUVs is a sort of reverse-snobbery (I hate the "upwardly mobile" connotations - literally looking down on people), but I do have some practical reasons:
1. I’ve been in many modern SUVs, and they're all a bit reverse Tardis, in that rear seat room is nothing special in any of them. Something like a Taycan, which otherwise looks and goes well, is poor as far as rear seat space is concerned. But they're all a bit of a let-down in the space dept, and I guess it’s my perhaps naive idea that if I'm shelling out for a new car, I can get something as least as good as my old one in all key aspects, not significantly worse in one of them ...
2. Better aerodynamics, and better rear headroom - can't be having sloping rears on cars. Just screams fashion victim.
3. Safety - an aluminium A8 3-box saloon has crumple zones front and rear, and any saloon is less prone to rolling over than an SUV.
4. More secure, separate luggage compartment, instead of one that can be accessed with a casual brick through the window.
5. Driving dynamics - better in a saloon than in a top-heavy SUV.
See: https://www.motorbiscuit.com/dont-follow-pack-7-re...
There are v few cheap options, but it seems to be:
1. Lucid Air
2. BMW 7 series
3. MB EQS (albeit it’s really a hatch)
Tesla – thought about them but Musk is a bit of a tool, and more importantly the shoddy build quality wouldn’t give much ownership satisfaction.
The other option is something like the LWB VW Zoom or similar – has the visibility and all-round headroom that SUVs lack.
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