RE: The best electric cars to buy in 2021

RE: The best electric cars to buy in 2021

Author
Discussion

hammo19

4,989 posts

196 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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A predictable list due to the current extent of choice. I would wait until more have been released onto the market and pricing becomes more competitive.


skint_driver

125 posts

252 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Very odd that a contemporary list of the top 10 electric cars does not mention the Polestar 2 or Tesla 3.

austinsmirk

5,597 posts

123 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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As lockdown yr 2 commences, no one needs a car. No one needs an efficient one.

100,000’s must be sweating trying to keep the lease payments up on their cars, regardless of what they are furled by.

I have an EV. Only because it saves money. If you could buy one that ran on minced brexit voters or dogs, I’d buy that.

I’d imagine buying super expensive EV’s right now would be prudent as literally no one will be buying anything. Where are you going to drive to, to save money in yr EV?

Sion111R

313 posts

92 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Where are Hyundai and Kia in this list? The Nero and Kona are technically very strong (good range) and are priced competitively.

Walter Sobchak

5,723 posts

224 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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I’d like to get a used Model 3 Long Range or Performance once they’ve been out a bit longer and are more affordable, decent range and nice to drive.

Arsecati

2,309 posts

117 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Sporky said:
Looking at it sideways, that's a lot more warranty than your 106 has.
Why would he need a warranty on his 106? For multiples less than the cost of a new Zoe battery - he could just buy another complete 106.

DonkeyApple

55,269 posts

169 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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usualdog1 said:
How, in the name of all that's holy, has someone done 27,000 miles in that Twizzy!?
It's only a few thousand miles a year, so quite easy for someone living in a city to have racked up just doing the normal daily runabout stuff.

The more bizarre one is the Tesla Roadster and the fact that PH wonders why the EV sports car is yet to take off. Yet the answer is in the next para with the fact that in ten years this example has done 15k miles. It's not a car that ever worked as a sports car. For the money required the typical potential owner lives in a city and by the time you've drive out of that city and reached the roads where a sports car is best used the battery is half empty and it's time to drive home.

There's a reason why the bulk of EVs are small battery backs in suburban runabouts or big battery packs in big SUBs. The tech does not exist yet to permit a sports car to be used as a sports car if it's powered by big clunky batteries.

JackReacher

2,127 posts

215 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Pleased to see the i3 on the list, our i3s is a genuinely great car for local driving and the commute. Quirky, very nippy, great steering, lovely minimilist interior and tardis like space inside. It's not without its faults, the ride is firm as already mentioned, the rear doors can be a pain in car parks and the boot is smallish.

While I love the look of the Honda E, it doesnt seem to beat the i3 at much (aside from ride maybe). The Tesla 3 does nothing for me, and if I wanted something bigger it would have to be the Polestar.

runnerbean 14

274 posts

134 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Howard1650 said:
It has to be a Polestar 2. Best in the market at the moment.
No mention of the Tesla Model 3, the ID3 or the Polestar? All better than the offerings mentioned. Also, evaluating on a whole life cost basis (either per mile or per month) would be a more useful metric.

I have a live interest in this topic as I am in the market for a replacement for my Model 3, which has been fun to drive, perfectly reliable over 18,000 miles and has cost a small fraction of its precursor PHEV to run, on either metric. At the moment the best replacement seems to be . . . . another Model 3.

The reasoning is a) the Tesla charging infrastructure remains superior to the alternatives, b) I will get a strong price for the one I sell and c) quite a few worthwhile improvements have been made in the past 18 months (probably 24 months by the time the replacement arrives).

Tin hat at the ready.

BogBeast

1,136 posts

263 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Meh list.

Model 3 standard head and shoulders above most of those and its not there

This is Pistonheads - any car on this list should be a decent steer with some character

So that the Leaf and the Zoe out.

The Twizzy is not a car in any useful sense - its an electric moped with 2 extra wheels

The Tesla roadster is niche limited run from years ago and I am not sure it was ever that good a car

Appear the Pistonheads don't have a lot of knowledge on electric cars - never seen an electric car feature in the PH fleet?




Cold

15,246 posts

90 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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None of those hold any appeal no matter what engine/motor makes them go.

andy43

9,717 posts

254 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Not a great list.
Twizy? Err no.

I'd get a cheap 24kw Leaf over a Zoe, easier to find as most of the Zoes have rented batteries.
Dark Leaf interior means a heat pump heater - avoid the really early light-seated ones.
And I'd still get a 24kw Leaf over a 30kw Leaf as the smaller battery is supposedly more reliable.
And I'd get a Kia Soul over both in the 10k price bracket - had a Soul and the soft-riding Leaf and the Soul drives much better. Not sporty but pointier and better - and a 7 year warranty on everything.

15k - I'd look at a Hyundai Ioniq.

35k Honda e looks funky and has a fish tank but I have fallen in love with the new Fiat 500 'lectric cabrio - as a city car I can't see past that. It's awesome. It's a convertible (ish). I want one. My PH card? Take it. Or get a Model 3 if you can put up with the seats and the build.

Tesla S - at 50k you're probably stuck with the slower MCU1 (unless you pay 2.5-3k to upgrade) and short/no warranty unless it's recently come via Tesla used scheme - they used to add 2 or 4 years from resale date but keep changing it. New cars have/had 4 years from new so you'd be aiming at a late '17 plate to get a year left on it or go for a late 68 plate to get the MCU2 (easy way to tell - it has netflix), 2+ yr wty and other bits. We have had our Model S for six months and it's genuinely brilliant but it rattles, the rear seats are too low and the phantom braking is just plain dangerous.

Can't afford one but I would like to try a Taycan - but until the charging network has improved a bit more I'd stick with Tesla, 100k-worth of ICE (which gives you a LOT of options) or maybe a semi-planet-saving Panamera Turismo hybrid thingy which makes my knees go weak looking at it.

carbonSI

49 posts

138 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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I don't like these abbreviations floating about atm like ICE. To me it will always be car and milk float in this discussion hehe

DoubleD

22,154 posts

108 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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austinsmirk said:
As lockdown yr 2 commences, no one needs a car.
I still need a car and I imagine that a few others do too.

pycraft

778 posts

184 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Zero EV have a 100hp, extended range Twizy project going on (videos on YouTube), which could be entertaining, or terrifying. Unfortunately they haven't got to the point where we find out (or what it will cost!, but it has potential.

Castrol for a knave

4,687 posts

91 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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A £50k budget would be a M3 LR, with a performance upgrade and red paint. Certainly not the older S - too much early adopter, unknown and CCS adaptor faff.

Arklight

891 posts

189 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Think i will hold out for the Hydrogen Fuel cell solution.

amgmcqueen

3,346 posts

150 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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What is this crap doing on PISTONheads.....?!

Sporky

6,237 posts

64 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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Cold said:
None of those hold any appeal no matter what engine/motor makes them go.
That's an odd comment given that putting a 4-pot in one of them results in an Elise.

g7jhp

6,964 posts

238 months

Saturday 9th January 2021
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I've always said EV's don't make economic or environmental sense right now.

- Limited range
- The Elec you put in isn't green enough
- They cost too much
- EV cars cost 1.5x a normal car (CO2) to produce
- Batteries aren't good enough

Worth watch this video from Harry's Garage.

In time they'll get there, but plenty of reason to stick with your ICE car today.