1st EV choice - help

[Zippee]

I'm considering my first EV and have no idea what to look at. I'll be coming from my uber comfy 2020 volvo s60 t5 inscription so comfort, reliability and serenity are a must;

Needs to be reliable

200 mile plus genuine range rather than 200 miles to zero.

Seat 4 adults 

Get a 29er mtb in the boot with seats down

A little luxury would be nice

Comfortable


There are so many nearly new cars on sale between 20 and 30k and i'd want 2023 on, ideally with manufacturer's warranty and/or extended. 


Not overly keen on tesla.


Looking on AT there's the volvo c40, Honda E Ny1, Toyota bz4x, Nissan Ariya, Megane e-tech, cuppa Born etc etc.

So much choice but where to start? 

[Mammasaid]

Skoda Enyaq or Polestar 2 would be my 1st choices, but there's loads in the 20-30k range with a ~300 mile range.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertisin...

[Chris_i8]

Used Audi e-tron's appear to be very good value at the moment, it's certainly what my B-i-L has homed in on on his next car search with a similar buying criteria as the OP.

EV6 and Polestar 2 are the other contenders apparently.

As always its well worth going to poke around your shortlist and potentially driving them back2back which will highlight any positives and indeed weaknesses.

Happy shopping.

[gmaz]

I wouldn't rule out a Tesla model Y until you have checked one out. They do EVs better than any other company.

Otherwise, look at Kia EV6 (7 year warranty) or Hyundai Ionic 5 if you can live with the stying. VW ID5, Ford Mach-e

Avoid Stellantis group

[Evanivitch]

Zippee said:

Looking on AT there's the volvo c40, Honda E Ny1, Toyota bz4x, Nissan Ariya, Megane e-tech, cuppa Born etc etc.

So much choice but where to start? 

Cupra Born isn't big enough, I would have thought. Not without both wheels off?

Kia Niro 64kWh has good equipment levels and value for money. Genuine 200 miles range but rapid charging is poor.

Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 can both be had in that range. There's a known 12V charging issue that if it's already fixed should give you trouble free miles.

I'd avoid Honda and Toyota, they're just not good EVs IMO.

Enyaq is a good shout, possibly ID4 too.

Avoid Audi etron, iPace for a quiet life. MG5 "estate" isn't all that big. Some later estates like Astra electric estate but not a genuine 200 miles.

[samoht]

Be aware that official (WLTP) range is much higher than real motorway range (30mph vs 70mph), I think https://ev-database.org/uk/ is the best place to check actual ranges, look at the two 'Highway' numbers (although their 'cold weather' is -10 so probably overly pessimistic for the UK).

Hyundai/Kia are generally strong in EVs so worth considering, and have longer warranties.

Avoid the Jag I-Pace if reliability is your first criteria.

Agree that Polestar 2 is worth considering, it's the same platform as the Volvo C40 but longer body so likely a bit better.

BMW i4 looks like a strong performer, although has held value better than others.

VW ID4 is good value now.

[Martyn76]

I would deffo suggest taking a look at the Model Y, test drives are easy to arrange, loads of space for your bike and anything else, the Long Range model gets you 300 miles plus the extended drivetrain warranty and has all the go you would want.

ID4\ID5 from VW would also be worth a look IMO if you are after load space or maybe the new ID7 estate although you would be into finance territory.

[FourGears]

Zippee said:

I'm considering my first EV and have no idea what to look at. I'll be coming from my uber comfy 2020 volvo s60 t5 inscription so comfort, reliability and serenity are a must;

Needs to be reliable

200 mile plus genuine range rather than 200 miles to zero.

Seat 4 adults 

Get a 29er mtb in the boot with seats down

A little luxury would be nice

Comfortable


There are so many nearly new cars on sale between 20 and 30k and i'd want 2023 on, ideally with manufacturer's warranty and/or extended. 


Not overly keen on tesla.


Looking on AT there's the volvo c40, Honda E Ny1, Toyota bz4x, Nissan Ariya, Megane e-tech, cuppa Born etc etc.

So much choice but where to start? 

200 miles on the motorway?

[Trevor555]

gmaz said:

Avoid Stellantis group

I've only driven one, an E-Berlingo thingy.

Range on set off was 170 miles.

Just 20 miles up the road it dropped to about 100

Car was empty apart from me, and I'm not that much overweight.

[66HFM]

We have one of the Honda e:Ny1's that we got on the cheap PCP deals last year, its ok but you won't be getting 200 miles in the winter even with the heating / air con off.
We only got it as we're paying £180/month on the PCP and with a home charger and solar panels it was a cheap way of trying an EV.

We also got it as we also have a Discovery Sport for the longer journeys

[bennno]

Model y if you can stomach the badge, plastic seats, rattles and slightly brittle ride.

Ionic 5 if you want something that big, but buyer beware few have a heat pump or battery pre heating, so choose carefully as they otherwise are a PITA in the colder weather. Ours had trim that rattled on a cold day and the driver interface feels 10 years behind the best from others such as BMW.

Avoid Jag i-pace or Audi. Perhaps look at an EQC as they are very good value used, big battery offsets limited efficiency.

Personally id go Renault 5 with the big battery on their new car offer, or a Megan E tech if thats not big enough.

Volvo EX30 might be a shout if it's not too small for you. R5 / EX30 / Model y can be had with dealer fit towball for a bike carrier.....

[Scabutz]

Be careful with range as figures are quoted for 100% charge but its not practical to charge to 100% every day. Most people charge to 80% on a home AC charger. I charged mine last night, from 46 to 80% on 3.6kw charger. 9pm to 6am. Would take almost the same amount of time on top to get it to 100.

I have a Kia EV6, had it from new for nearly a year. I love it. It has over 200 mile range (in summer). 80% charge shows 197 miles today. Winter will harm it. No it doesn't have a heat pump but it's not a big issue. Heated seats and steering wheel are nice. Plus you can turn the heating on from the app 10 mins before you leave.

Go for a least a GT Line, the entry level styling is boring.

I've had no issues at all with it. The gripes are minor. A pillars are huge and visibility isn't great in that area. The rear recliner seats are good but have a bit of a tendency to rattle sometimes. Boot isn't vast for such a large car. Other than those its brilliant. Great to drive, interface and gizmos all work well.

[Ed Banger]

Was it new or used?

If new just go for a Tesla Model Y as they were giving those away for £299 a month not long ago but it was something like 12 upfront but fully amortized, still less then £400 a month for a brand new car.

If used, EV6, the GT is 30k now and has insane performance. LR Model Y's are late 20's for a good one but not luxurious. Jag I-pace is decent for the price. I think the VAG stuff is a bit guff but cheap. and the Taycan and E-Tron GT won't do the range you want.

[Evanivitch]

Scabutz said:

Be careful with range as figures are quoted for 100% charge but its not practical to charge to 100% every day. Most people charge to 80% on a home AC charger. I charged mine last night, from 46 to 80% on 3.6kw charger. 9pm to 6am. Would take almost the same amount of time on top to get it to 100.

Why's it not practical to charge to 100% everyday on a 7kW charger? You can do 42kWh of that on cheap rates, sometimes even more depending on tariff.

[clockworks]

I think all of Hyundai/Kia group's ground-up EVs (except for the Inster) are built on the same E GMP platform, including the EV3, EV6, EV9, Ioniq5 and Ioniq6.

I've had an EV3 for 4 months. I've never seen less thanc3.5 miles per KWh in normal, mixed, driving, closer to 4 now that it's warmer. With 78KWh usable, that's an absolute minimum of 270 miles range.

Ex-demo top spec models are coming on sale now, around £38k. Base model with long range battery is £36k list.

Probably the best all-rounder that I've owned in 50 years of driving, and 7 year warranty is a bonus.

[Zippee]

Thank you all - lots of food for thought.
I'll look further into the EV6, Polestar, Megane and also the R5E, something I'd not really thought of.

Daft question but what should I look for/ask when considering an EV over a petrol? Obviously range but what's essential/

[Evanivitch]

Zippee said:

Thank you all - lots of food for thought.
I'll look further into the EV6, Polestar, Megane and also the R5E, something I'd not really thought of.

Daft question but what should I look for/ask when considering an EV over a petrol? Obviously range but what's essential/

Certainly don't ask the sales people, they're largely useless.

If you're planning 400+ mile journeys then look at the 20-80% rapid charging rate, that’s a big difference between an EV3 (rough 100kW charging) and an EV6 (250kW) in total journeys times.

Otherwise, pick a car, choose a charger and if you're doing big mileage then get an EV tariff.

[Scabutz]

Evanivitch said:

Why's it not practical to charge to 100% everyday on a 7kW charger? You can do 42kWh of that on cheap rates, sometimes even more depending on tariff.

Most manufacturers recommend routinely charging to 80% for long term batter health.

The time it takes to charge from 80 to 100 is the same as from 40 to 80 so you might struggle to fully charge overnight even on a 7kw charger. Especially if you want to charge on cheap tariffs which is of course a major benefit of an EV, as they have restricted hours.

[gmaz]

Scabutz said:

Evanivitch said:

Why's it not practical to charge to 100% everyday on a 7kW charger? You can do 42kWh of that on cheap rates, sometimes even more depending on tariff.

Most manufacturers recommend routinely charging to 80% for long term batter health.

The time it takes to charge from 80 to 100 is the same as from 40 to 80 so you might struggle to fully charge overnight even on a 7kw charger. Especially if you want to charge on cheap tariffs which is of course a major benefit of an EV, as they have restricted hours.

If using Octopus Intelligent Go, you will generally get enough hours to complete the charge, so if I was at 5% and needed 70kWh to get to 100%, the app would schedule 10 hours at the off-peak rate.

The 80% battery health thing is just for NMC battery chemistry i.e. it is recommended that you don't leave the car for days at 100%. LiFePO4 batteries can be charged to 100% anytime

[Evanivitch]

Scabutz said:

Most manufacturers recommend routinely charging to 80% for long term batter health.

The time it takes to charge from 80 to 100 is the same as from 40 to 80 so you might struggle to fully charge overnight even on a 7kw charger. Especially if you want to charge on cheap tariffs which is of course a major benefit of an EV, as they have restricted hours.

Wrong.

EV manufacturers recommend not keeping a car at a high state of charge for a prolonged period. Charging to 100% then using the car is fine.

You've confused rapid and AC Charging. AC charging at 7kW is the same across the whole SOC, 0-100% except for some.cell balancing steps on certain cars which are a brief interruption.

Yes, on a DC rapid charger you'll see on most, not all, a significant drop in charging rate at 80-90% and often it's quicker to drive to next charger than wait longer (100% is even unachievable on some rapids, they don't want you doing it).

On some companies all your EV charging measured at the charger is low rate, regardless of day. On others like octopus intelligent setting a 100% target will unlock additional hours to the core 6 hours on the tariff.

Anyone doing 80% discharge every day would still get roughly 70kWh (210+ miles) in a 10 hour overnight stop on a home charger.

Edited by Evanivitch on Thursday 8th May 12:54