EV purchase - lower end of market (Nissan/Hyundai)
Discussion
Hi all
We are in the process of buying a used Diesel as our main car, but we will be buying a new Electric as the local run around/town driving. We don't want to spend the earth as we will have two cars to manage, so want to keep costs as low as possible.
Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona look to be at the cheaper end of the market, probably leaning towards Kona. Anyone here had any use or knowledge of the two or any alternatives?
Given it's not our main vehicle, is it worth going for the bigger battery (at an extra cost) given we wont drive long distance with it and can charge on the driveway?
We are in the process of buying a used Diesel as our main car, but we will be buying a new Electric as the local run around/town driving. We don't want to spend the earth as we will have two cars to manage, so want to keep costs as low as possible.
Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Kona look to be at the cheaper end of the market, probably leaning towards Kona. Anyone here had any use or knowledge of the two or any alternatives?
Given it's not our main vehicle, is it worth going for the bigger battery (at an extra cost) given we wont drive long distance with it and can charge on the driveway?
Kona is quite good for what it offer. I have only done a test drive on it. It is quick, have a decent range, and well equipped if you go all the way to ultimate, even the premium are nice to sit in. Small boot and lack of rear AC vent are the deal breaker for us
For lower end worth looking MG as well, the ZS and upcoming MG4
For lower end worth looking MG as well, the ZS and upcoming MG4
The Kona gets good reviews and seems to be pretty efficient, the larger battery car gets over 200miles (nearer 220 I think) and the smaller battery is about 150 miles according to the EV database site (which references real world reports).
https://ev-database.uk/#sort
ath~type~order=.rank~number~desc|range-slider-rangerev~next=0~600|range-slider-towweightrev~next=0~2500|range-slider-accelerationrev~next=2~23|range-slider-fastchargerev~next=0~1100|range-slider-leaserev~next=150~2500|range-slider-topspeedrev~next=60~260|paging:currentPage=0|paging:number=9
https://ev-database.uk/#sort
ath~type~order=.rank~number~desc|range-slider-rangerev~next=0~600|range-slider-towweightrev~next=0~2500|range-slider-accelerationrev~next=2~23|range-slider-fastchargerev~next=0~1100|range-slider-leaserev~next=150~2500|range-slider-topspeedrev~next=60~260|paging:currentPage=0|paging:number=9Max_Torque said:
How many miles do you realistically need for you second car?
A gen 1 leaf, even a knackered one can do 40 miles a day, why spend any more??
Agreed. Our leaf is on 94,000 miles, has a range of 85 miles, is worth, what, £6k?A gen 1 leaf, even a knackered one can do 40 miles a day, why spend any more??
It’s been 100% reliable over 72,000 and returns 4 miles/kWh.
I've been looking at a Leaf ~6k budget. I just want a run around I can dump at the station and take the kids to school in. I have a diesel car I will use for longer trips.
OP budget might be more than mine but out of a Leaf/Zoe/Kona which appear to the cheapies on the market I would probably go for Kona, then Zoe, then Leaf on aesthetic reasons.
OP budget might be more than mine but out of a Leaf/Zoe/Kona which appear to the cheapies on the market I would probably go for Kona, then Zoe, then Leaf on aesthetic reasons.
_Mja_ said:
I've been looking at a Leaf ~6k budget. I just want a run around I can dump at the station and take the kids to school in. I have a diesel car I will use for longer trips.
OP budget might be more than mine but out of a Leaf/Zoe/Kona which appear to the cheapies on the market I would probably go for Kona, then Zoe, then Leaf on aesthetic reasons.
looks like we're in a similar boat, i dont want to be totally dependent on Electric solely hence keeping the diesel SUV for main drives. OP budget might be more than mine but out of a Leaf/Zoe/Kona which appear to the cheapies on the market I would probably go for Kona, then Zoe, then Leaf on aesthetic reasons.
My wife has some car programme through work, so we get a really good incentive to get an electric car. But yes, dont want to be going full whack on a Tesla or BMW right now as we will mainly do town driving. We dont do super long distance but i dont want the risk of relying solely on Electric, for example we have a wedding up North next weekend, 3.5hrs drive each way.
DiamondLights said:
Ioniq comes in at a higher price than the Kona, around £50-100 per month, is it worth the extra increase?
I prefer the Ioniq over the Kona in so many respects, whether it's the room inside, the smoother ride, and crazy efficiency. It just blew my mind how it manages to sip electricity when so many others guzzle away. I just bought one this week (almost new 38kwh version), mostly convinced by getting 5.4 miles per kwh on the test drive that was made up of a lot of 60-70mph motorway cruising, and some urban driving, all whilst on a hot day, with the AC on and the lovely ventilated seats switched on.
Ok, the rapid charging capability is way slower than the older version, and woefully slow compared to many of the recently launched EVs, but I'm not going to be doing many road trips that require rapid charging, so didn't bother me.
Is it worth it for you? Drive both and see what you think.
DiamondLights said:
_Mja_ said:
I've been looking at a Leaf ~6k budget. I just want a run around I can dump at the station and take the kids to school in. I have a diesel car I will use for longer trips.
OP budget might be more than mine but out of a Leaf/Zoe/Kona which appear to the cheapies on the market I would probably go for Kona, then Zoe, then Leaf on aesthetic reasons.
looks like we're in a similar boat, i dont want to be totally dependent on Electric solely hence keeping the diesel SUV for main drives. OP budget might be more than mine but out of a Leaf/Zoe/Kona which appear to the cheapies on the market I would probably go for Kona, then Zoe, then Leaf on aesthetic reasons.
My wife has some car programme through work, so we get a really good incentive to get an electric car. But yes, dont want to be going full whack on a Tesla or BMW right now as we will mainly do town driving. We dont do super long distance but i dont want the risk of relying solely on Electric, for example we have a wedding up North next weekend, 3.5hrs drive each way.
My wife is in the NHS and they do some good deals via salary sacrifice but I don't we're at that level of needing a really fancy EV (plus there is an impact on her pension).
I'm not a huge Leaf fan, the current model looks nice, but there isn't anything else at the lower end sadly.
DiamondLights said:
Ioniq comes in at a higher price than the Kona, around £50-100 per month, is it worth the extra increase?
Are you sure you're comparing the right Ioniq?Ioniq 5 is the new SUV. The Ioniq 28 and 38kWh are the saloon-hatch model. It's no longer available brand new but as I said there are cars with delivery miles on autotrader.
12 months ago the older Ioniq was dirt cheap on lease.
We have a Kona and have been really impressed with it.
We went for the 'ultimate' trim which seemed like a no brainer for a couple of grand more. The spec is fantastic - heated steering wheel, heated and cooled seats, premium sound system etc.
The range has been one of the standout surprises - we have the larger battery version and it's been easily doing 260 miles in the warmer weather. My other half uses it to commute 75 miles a day at, ahem, motorway speeds and it's always managed over 240 miles on a full charge which is super impressive. I have a brand new Macan GTS as a daily and still opt for the Kona for trips into town as it suits it perfectly. It's also surprisingly fast in sport mode.
The only downsides are that it's not very big (boot especially) and as much as I love it, it's really not a looker! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one for the money though, we've been happy with it.
We went for the 'ultimate' trim which seemed like a no brainer for a couple of grand more. The spec is fantastic - heated steering wheel, heated and cooled seats, premium sound system etc.
The range has been one of the standout surprises - we have the larger battery version and it's been easily doing 260 miles in the warmer weather. My other half uses it to commute 75 miles a day at, ahem, motorway speeds and it's always managed over 240 miles on a full charge which is super impressive. I have a brand new Macan GTS as a daily and still opt for the Kona for trips into town as it suits it perfectly. It's also surprisingly fast in sport mode.
The only downsides are that it's not very big (boot especially) and as much as I love it, it's really not a looker! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one for the money though, we've been happy with it.
Ioniq hatch is known as the Wind Knife, IIRC. So efficient. It’s why I’m holding out for a saloon (Ioniq 6?) to replace my family car instead of an SUV. I regularly see over 6 mi/kW on journeys. Average over a year (i.e. including low efficiency winter months) is currently 5 mi/kW and improving all the time.
McAndy said:
Ioniq hatch is known as the Wind Knife, IIRC. So efficient. It’s why I’m holding out for a saloon (Ioniq 6?) to replace my family car instead of an SUV. I regularly see over 6 mi/kW on journeys. Average over a year (i.e. including low efficiency winter months) is currently 5 mi/kW and improving all the time.
Hyundai Kia generally have good efficiency scores, they just have a good efficient package in general, but yes the Ioniq is very similar to the Prius in Kamm back and efficiency. We have a hybrid that does 65 MPG without trying.The only downside of the pre-EV6/Ioniq5 cars is they have pretty poor rapid charging rates. But the efficiency and range somewhat makes up for that.
Evanivitch said:
Hyundai Kia generally have good efficiency scores, they just have a good efficient package in general, but yes the Ioniq is very similar to the Prius in Kamm back and efficiency. We have a hybrid that does 65 MPG without trying.
The only downside of the pre-EV6/Ioniq5 cars is they have pretty poor rapid charging rates. But the efficiency and range somewhat makes up for that.
Agreed. We home charge and generally don’t take trips that out-distance it’s range (as we’d take a larger car for the family’s comfort, and mine is still ICE. For now.)The only downside of the pre-EV6/Ioniq5 cars is they have pretty poor rapid charging rates. But the efficiency and range somewhat makes up for that.
Used Leaf would be my vote too.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207187...
No need to spend more on a runaround, we love ours.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207187...
No need to spend more on a runaround, we love ours.
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