First time EV ownership
Discussion
We might be taking the plunge into the world of EV!
Currently have a Mercedes E Class estate which is great but find to move on.
I have seen a comparison between the Mercedes EQC 400 and Audi E-Tron which may fit the bill.
Criteria:
Family car for adults and 2 x teenage boys.
Space
Apple car play (wife insists)
We have memory seats, panoramic roof etc and would like a similar level of refinement
£20k ish or less fine.
The longest journey we do is a round trip (mostly motorway) of circa 160 miles but most trips shorter and mainly circa 10 miles.
Can charge at home when we for the required electrics.
We would also have another car (possibly something fun) that is ICE so can take that if we need the range.
The Mercedes and Audi look like good value but I am not set on just those - anything else worth a look in the bracket?
Perhaps a Lexus RX450L, as a hybrid compromise, is useful
but then it is not too much of a leap simply to go down the 540i Touring / E43 AMG etc route.
Any thoughts welcome.
Currently have a Mercedes E Class estate which is great but find to move on.
I have seen a comparison between the Mercedes EQC 400 and Audi E-Tron which may fit the bill.
Criteria:
Family car for adults and 2 x teenage boys.
Space
Apple car play (wife insists)
We have memory seats, panoramic roof etc and would like a similar level of refinement
£20k ish or less fine.
The longest journey we do is a round trip (mostly motorway) of circa 160 miles but most trips shorter and mainly circa 10 miles.
Can charge at home when we for the required electrics.
We would also have another car (possibly something fun) that is ICE so can take that if we need the range.
The Mercedes and Audi look like good value but I am not set on just those - anything else worth a look in the bracket?
Perhaps a Lexus RX450L, as a hybrid compromise, is useful
but then it is not too much of a leap simply to go down the 540i Touring / E43 AMG etc route.
Any thoughts welcome.
Have a read of https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... on the Audi, esp relating to the rear coolant reservoir issue - I think it's something you need to have in the service history.
Merc thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The obvious third option would be a Jag I-Pace, which is likely better to drive and cheaper but has battery reliability concerns.
Then there's the BMW iX3, or wildcard Tesla Model Y, probably not as luxurious but ubiquitous for a reason.
All should do 160 motorway miles year-round.
I suspect you'll find the ease, cost and convenience of an EV fairly compelling for your use-case, especially if you have another car for fun.
Merc thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The obvious third option would be a Jag I-Pace, which is likely better to drive and cheaper but has battery reliability concerns.
Then there's the BMW iX3, or wildcard Tesla Model Y, probably not as luxurious but ubiquitous for a reason.
All should do 160 motorway miles year-round.
I suspect you'll find the ease, cost and convenience of an EV fairly compelling for your use-case, especially if you have another car for fun.
junglie said:
The longest journey we do is a round trip (mostly motorway) of circa 160 miles but most trips shorter and mainly circa 10 miles.
Can charge at home when we for the required electrics.
<snip>
Perhaps a Lexus RX450L, as a hybrid compromise, is useful
but then it is not too much of a leap simply to go down the 540i Touring / E43 AMG etc route.
As a PHEV owner, I think they're fantastic for a relatively narrow use case, where the vast majority of your journeys are within in EV range but you do longer trips often enough to places where charging may be tricky, and you can't charge an EV at home cheaply enough to make occasional detours/delays/expense for public chargers worthwhile.Can charge at home when we for the required electrics.
<snip>
Perhaps a Lexus RX450L, as a hybrid compromise, is useful
but then it is not too much of a leap simply to go down the 540i Touring / E43 AMG etc route.
If you can charge at home on an cheap EV tariff (7-8p/kWh is common), and wouldn't need to charge away from home (75p or more per kWh is common) all that often then you're quids in with an EV. If you do a trip a week where you'd need to stop and charge it might start to become a drag. If your longest regular journey is 160 miles there are plenty of EVs with a 200 mile range that should be fine, but have a hunt for what real world ranges owners are getting from them
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 16th July 08:07
23k will get you a lightly uses Niro with full 7 year warranty and £1000 finance contribution
loads of room inside and well over 200 miles range, the missus gets well over 4m/kwh out of ours, and it has car play and real buttons
https://used-uk.kia.com/used-car-details/used-kia-...
although you would need a 4 for memory seats which are much rarer
loads of room inside and well over 200 miles range, the missus gets well over 4m/kwh out of ours, and it has car play and real buttons
https://used-uk.kia.com/used-car-details/used-kia-...
although you would need a 4 for memory seats which are much rarer
I had a 70 plate E350d estate. The Enyaq 85 I now have I prefer in every way.
Roomier cabin, especially in the rear.
Better boot shape (quite a bit taller floor to ceiling this was something I found didn’t work on the model Y for our needs)
Better ride - both on 19s but the Enyaq has much more tyre wall and that helps a lot - also found this to be more settled and less jittery than the Model Y Juniper AWD I tried
Quicker and more responsive in all real world driving
Smoother and more refined especially if you want to get anywhere with urgency
160 miles would be nigh on impossible to not achieve. Unless you’re cruising at over 100mph I would think. Certainly 80 cruise would be no problem.
Roomier cabin, especially in the rear.
Better boot shape (quite a bit taller floor to ceiling this was something I found didn’t work on the model Y for our needs)
Better ride - both on 19s but the Enyaq has much more tyre wall and that helps a lot - also found this to be more settled and less jittery than the Model Y Juniper AWD I tried
Quicker and more responsive in all real world driving
Smoother and more refined especially if you want to get anywhere with urgency
160 miles would be nigh on impossible to not achieve. Unless you’re cruising at over 100mph I would think. Certainly 80 cruise would be no problem.
So as a left field option have you thought about toyota bz4x. They have just had a refresh, and i noticed a couple of barely used pre facelift at a dealer near me for 20k.
I have had one of these on sal sacrifice for 2 years, they didnt get a great review when new ( hence really cheap lease deals when i got mine). It took me a while to gel with it, but 20k miles in i appreciate its qualities. It is comfortable ( huge in the back seat) decent stereo, no mechanical issues, although it has been in for a couple of recall checks. Mine is black and i think it looks ace, its not the most inspiring drive on a back road, but its not intened for back county hooning
18months ago i wouldnt have recommended it, but now I would say give one a look
I have had one of these on sal sacrifice for 2 years, they didnt get a great review when new ( hence really cheap lease deals when i got mine). It took me a while to gel with it, but 20k miles in i appreciate its qualities. It is comfortable ( huge in the back seat) decent stereo, no mechanical issues, although it has been in for a couple of recall checks. Mine is black and i think it looks ace, its not the most inspiring drive on a back road, but its not intened for back county hooning
18months ago i wouldnt have recommended it, but now I would say give one a look
Went though similar last month of what to replace my S212 E class with. Only 1 11 year old but need a big boot as we often visit the wifes family 270 miles away.
Settled on a Model Y as had the biggest boot, best range and cheapest public charging in my 22K budget. Happy with the car, suspension is obviously much less good than a Merc with air at the rear but it's not terrible. Turns in surprisingly well, better than the Merc and the seats are far far comfortable. The Merc uses to give me back ache after a couple of hours, no issues in the tesla.
If you can get over the fact musk is a horrible t
t, and Teslas are fugly, it genuinely is a good car.
Settled on a Model Y as had the biggest boot, best range and cheapest public charging in my 22K budget. Happy with the car, suspension is obviously much less good than a Merc with air at the rear but it's not terrible. Turns in surprisingly well, better than the Merc and the seats are far far comfortable. The Merc uses to give me back ache after a couple of hours, no issues in the tesla.
If you can get over the fact musk is a horrible t
t, and Teslas are fugly, it genuinely is a good car.junglie said:
I ll have a look at Tesla but need to understand the models and variants a little more.
The Audi E-Tron does seem to be good value.
Without meaning to disrespect Audi (we ve owned several), Audi s EVs have all been disappointingly behind state of the art, with the possible exception of the eTron GT, which is of course a Porsche with a different skin. The Audi E-Tron does seem to be good value.
A Tesla Model Y dual motor, a Model 3 dual motor or possibly an older Model S would seem to fit your requirements
Edited by Zcd1 on Sunday 19th July 14:11
junglie said:
I ll have a look at Tesla but need to understand the models and variants a little more.
The Audi E-Tron does seem to be good value.
You won’t get CarPlay on a Tesla.The Audi E-Tron does seem to be good value.
A model S is a brave choice in the U.K. as essentially they’re all out of warranty now except a few left hookers
If you want an EV but retain the same sort of controls and set up as BMW, Audi etc, then don’t look at Tesla, it has a very particular way of doing things which some love and some don’t. If you’re happy to be bold then maybe
Most of the people I know who wanted to go EV but weren’t ready for the Tesla experience managed it quite happily in a more traditional make - they see it as the best of both worlds, familiarity to the way these cars are built and set up but with the advantage of an EV power train. Tesla does however are packaged in a way to maximise space.
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