Is it possible to buy a decent secondhand EV for £20K?
Discussion
I'm currently running 2 cars - a Skoda Superb 280 estate, and a Kia Picanto GT-Line S turbo.
I find myself using the Kia most of the time, as it's much more convenient to drive on the narrow back lanes and park at customers' houses.
The Skoda spends most of the time just parked up, but I do use it for longer journeys, or when I've got to carry stuff that won't fit in the Kia.
When the time comes to replace the Skoda, is there an EV that that would be a suitable replacement for around £20k?
Requirements are:
Not too slow - something a bit quicker that a 2 litre rep-mobile, around 7 secs to 60.
Big enough with the rear seats folded to carry a 6 foot grandfather clock, so no saloons.
Guaranteed range of 200 miles - the most I'm ever likely to drive in one day.
Owned outright - no leased battery
Sensible insurance
Average or better depreciation
Plenty of toys. I don't think I could be without heated seats and steering wheel now, and reasonable infotainment.
Something like the electric Niro looks like it would fit the bill, but it'll be a couple of years before they are in budget.
I find myself using the Kia most of the time, as it's much more convenient to drive on the narrow back lanes and park at customers' houses.
The Skoda spends most of the time just parked up, but I do use it for longer journeys, or when I've got to carry stuff that won't fit in the Kia.
When the time comes to replace the Skoda, is there an EV that that would be a suitable replacement for around £20k?
Requirements are:
Not too slow - something a bit quicker that a 2 litre rep-mobile, around 7 secs to 60.
Big enough with the rear seats folded to carry a 6 foot grandfather clock, so no saloons.
Guaranteed range of 200 miles - the most I'm ever likely to drive in one day.
Owned outright - no leased battery
Sensible insurance
Average or better depreciation
Plenty of toys. I don't think I could be without heated seats and steering wheel now, and reasonable infotainment.
Something like the electric Niro looks like it would fit the bill, but it'll be a couple of years before they are in budget.
The simple question is
"honestly, how often do you drive 200 miles in a single day"?
With the charging network improving, plenty of cars like the leaf, i3, and zoe make for a very cheap, low depreciation run around, but yiou may need to occasionally charge them whilst out and about. Anything with CCS would fit the bill
"honestly, how often do you drive 200 miles in a single day"?
With the charging network improving, plenty of cars like the leaf, i3, and zoe make for a very cheap, low depreciation run around, but yiou may need to occasionally charge them whilst out and about. Anything with CCS would fit the bill
Not with that range requirement.
However if you can settle for a bit less and occasionally charging on longer trips (helps if you keep it to 65 as well) then there are plenty of options.
I guess you have not owned an EV before. Everyone who hasn't says they absolutely 100% must have 200+ miles range so they can do any trip in one go, no stopping. They are usually wrong, they can pause for 30 minutes to use the bathroom, get a coffee and charge once or twice a year. If it helps that time spent "enjoying" a Starbucks is offset by the vast savings the rest of the year, and the time you don't have to waste going to get fossil fuel because you charge at home/work.
However if you can settle for a bit less and occasionally charging on longer trips (helps if you keep it to 65 as well) then there are plenty of options.
I guess you have not owned an EV before. Everyone who hasn't says they absolutely 100% must have 200+ miles range so they can do any trip in one go, no stopping. They are usually wrong, they can pause for 30 minutes to use the bathroom, get a coffee and charge once or twice a year. If it helps that time spent "enjoying" a Starbucks is offset by the vast savings the rest of the year, and the time you don't have to waste going to get fossil fuel because you charge at home/work.
I appreciate what you are saying about charging away from home if necessary, but that's easier said than done in Cornwall, possibly Devon too.
Some of the supermarkets here have chargers, but it's just 2 in each one (if any), and they are quite often in use.
There must be some more somewhere, as I see a fair few Model 3s locally. On the other hand, maybe that's why most of the electric cars I see are Teslas - nothing else has the range to be a practical proposition in Cornwall?
The MG was the first one I thought of. I guess the depreciation is quite savage, which is why a nearly new one is in my budget. wonder how they will fare at 5 years old?
Some of the supermarkets here have chargers, but it's just 2 in each one (if any), and they are quite often in use.
There must be some more somewhere, as I see a fair few Model 3s locally. On the other hand, maybe that's why most of the electric cars I see are Teslas - nothing else has the range to be a practical proposition in Cornwall?
The MG was the first one I thought of. I guess the depreciation is quite savage, which is why a nearly new one is in my budget. wonder how they will fare at 5 years old?
clockworks said:
The MG was the first one I thought of. I guess the depreciation is quite savage, which is why a nearly new one is in my budget. wonder how they will fare at 5 years old?
Nearly new ones are in budget because new ones are pretty much in budget. Like many cars no-one pays anywhere near list for the things, you can get one brand new for £22k after the government grant. It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
kambites said:
Nearly new ones are in budget because new ones are pretty much in budget. Like many cars no-one pays anywhere near list for the things, you can get one brand new for £22k after the government grant.
It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
Makes the £23k asking price for some of the ex-demonstrators amusing. I assume they are loaded with more kit than the £22k new ones? Or dealers are just chancing there arms?It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
Max_Torque said:
No help to the OP, but why do i imagine that this name ^^^ is writing cheques the car can't cash !!! ;-)
It's fast enough for a tiny car. 99bhp from a 1 litre 3 pot engine "Turbo" isn't actually part of its name, I added that to differentiate it from the lower powered 1.2 n/a version.
GT-line is a sporty-looking trim level, and the S denotes more toys.
I was all set to buy a used VW Up gti when I found out about this Kia. Similar type of car, but the extra equipment and 7 year warranty is what made me pick the Kia. It was a dealer demonstrator with 70 miles on the clock, 6 weeks old, for the same price as a 2 year old Up gti at the time.
kambites said:
Nearly new ones are in budget because new ones are pretty much in budget. Like many cars no-one pays anywhere near list for the things, you can get one brand new for £22k after the government grant.
It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
I didn't realise they were so cheap. An article I was reading had a price of around £32k for a top spec long range MG EV.It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
clockworks said:
kambites said:
Nearly new ones are in budget because new ones are pretty much in budget. Like many cars no-one pays anywhere near list for the things, you can get one brand new for £22k after the government grant.
It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
I didn't realise they were so cheap. An article I was reading had a price of around £32k for a top spec long range MG EV.It wont do 200 miles in poor conditions though, unless you slipstream lorries with no healing. 160 is probably realistic in the winter in the south of England.
clockworks said:
There must be some more somewhere, as I see a fair few Model 3s locally. On the other hand, maybe that's why most of the electric cars I see are Teslas - nothing else has the range to be a practical proposition in Cornwall?
If people charge at home (as most EV drivers do) and travel locally then there's no need for public charging? If they do need to charge whilst out and about there are a few rapid charging options anyway within a manageable radius?
aestetix1 said:
Not with that range requirement.
However if you can settle for a bit less and occasionally charging on longer trips (helps if you keep it to 65 as well) then there are plenty of options.
I guess you have not owned an EV before. Everyone who hasn't says they absolutely 100% must have 200+ miles range so they can do any trip in one go, no stopping. They are usually wrong, they can pause for 30 minutes to use the bathroom, get a coffee and charge once or twice a year. If it helps that time spent "enjoying" a Starbucks is offset by the vast savings the rest of the year, and the time you don't have to waste going to get fossil fuel because you charge at home/work.
Before Covid I'd regularly do 200 mile trips. I very rarely stop on a trip of that length. If I get caught short I'm in and out of the service station quickly. Only on longer trips would I stop for a bite to eat and take 30 minutes. However if you can settle for a bit less and occasionally charging on longer trips (helps if you keep it to 65 as well) then there are plenty of options.
I guess you have not owned an EV before. Everyone who hasn't says they absolutely 100% must have 200+ miles range so they can do any trip in one go, no stopping. They are usually wrong, they can pause for 30 minutes to use the bathroom, get a coffee and charge once or twice a year. If it helps that time spent "enjoying" a Starbucks is offset by the vast savings the rest of the year, and the time you don't have to waste going to get fossil fuel because you charge at home/work.
Limiting myself to 65mph and adding 20 minutes plus to the driving time, plus a 30 minute stop for a charge is excessive. I'm not wanting to waste an extra hour for a 3 hour trip.
I don't really lose much time filling the tank on the way out of Tesco. It's a few minutes at a time of my convenience.
SWoll said:
If people charge at home (as most EV drivers do) and travel locally then there's no need for public charging?
If they do need to charge whilst out and about there are a few rapid charging options anyway within a manageable radius?
Quite a few more than when I looked a few months ago. Seems like some of the council car parks have them now.If they do need to charge whilst out and about there are a few rapid charging options anyway within a manageable radius?
I'm shocked at the prices though - 30p per kwh, 39p at Shell! At those prices, it's no cheaper per mile than a small petrol car.
Seems like it only makes sense to use a public charger if it's free (supermarkets?) or you really get stuck away from home.
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