Recommend me an ev (or not)!

[ADogg]

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

[off_again]

Having available charging, at home or work, is the game changer. If you can wrangle that, it makes the whole ownership experience so much easier. If you cant, you really need the longest range you can afford so that it doesnt become a problem. Of course, if there is a high speed and large charging station down the road from you, that would change things too.

Personally, I wouldnt go for an EV in your situation. 16k is a fairly low amount (I am in the US so cant directly comment on the state of the UK market) and since you want a long range, this might be a challenge. I know a few owners on here have mentioned that the MG models are honest transport.

And of course, if you can stretch to a Tesla, the availability of charging simplifies that side of things, but at that price it might limit you to something that is very leggy and with the smaller battery, which isnt ideal. Nah, get a super economical alternative and dont worry about it for the moment. A few years down the line when the charging network is better then consider it. Best to not be the beta tester. Oh, and maybe dont spend the whole budget on an ICE - save a chunk and put it away for the time you want to swap it for an EV.

[anonymous-user]

In the Uk, most Tesla chargers are open to anyone.This map shows them:-

https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/findus?bounds=51.74891...

Usually cheaper than the rest, if one nearby
(I rarely public charge in my Enyaq, but only Tesla ones if I do)

Enyaq are great cars, can get one close to your budget!

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 25th November 21:38

[PBCD]

off_again said:

Having available charging, at home or work, is the game changer. If you can wrangle that, it makes the whole ownership experience so much easier.

I may be mistaken, but I don't think the OP said that they won't be able to charge at home,
just that they don't (currently) have a dedicated EV charger, which is understandable as
they don't have an EV yet!

The most important thing is that OP has off road parking, so he can still charge an EV using
a 13amp 'granny' charger, which shouldn't cause any issues whatsoever with such a low
daily mileage.

[5s Alive]

Perhaps you're aware but you need to open the filter options and then tick the box to view only those available to non Teslas.

[Ste-EVo]

ADogg said:

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

If you have the ability to charge at home then I'd say go for it. With only doing 20 miles per day then you could easily get away with using the granny charger, however I'd suggest biting the bullet and getting a proper EV charger and energy tariff (I'd recommend an Ohme Epod based on my own experience).

As for the car, a quick search of Auto Trader shows up some nice 24 and 74 plate MX30 in or around your budget. Don't discount the Nissan Leaf, there are some great buys out there on nearly new, 23/24 plate leafs around 13-14k.

I've been running an EV now for about 2 months and 1600 miles and I can honestly say it's the best automotive decision I made, making the switch to an EV. It's not for everyone, especially if they don't have the facility to home charge as a private buyer or doing huge daily miles. But it sounds like your circumstances would fit well.

Best of luck.

[plfrench]

ADogg said:

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

Assuming you’ve got mains power to your off street parking, then 20 miles would take about 3 hours to charge at a granny charger rate of 2.3kW so that would work perfectly well for you.

I think the Mazda MX-30 is a good shout. Not driven one, but the biggest drawback flagged in reviews was the small battery but with your usage, that’s a benefit as you’re not carrying around unnecessary mass, so handling should benefit.

[kurokawa]

My partner just got a Zoe, I use her car once a week doing a 30 miles round trip.
If we use the 3 pin and plug in as soon as I get back it get more than 60 miles range charge next morning (roughly 12-13hr charging time)
I have not drive the MX-30 but after the i3 I do not want suicide door. It is cool looking and great gimmicks until I need to lift our kid out from back seat in tight parking spot
There are some EV would do your daily 20 miles with in budget. Zoe, Leaf, 208e etc

[ADogg]

Thank you all! I’ll get hunting and have a few test drives. Ideally I’d need 5 doors too as I have dogs, think the Teslas almost in the price range are saloons.

[ZesPak]

Isn't the MX-30 one of the fastest depreciating cars on the market? Sounds like a bargain to be found, but I would have a test drive to see how you get on with the suicide doors.

[Skodillac]

If you've got dogs, an MG5 would be my choice as it's the nearest thing to an estate car EV at your budget, and has a roomy enough cabin to seat 5 also. MX-30 is a more SUV shape, so the boot lip is higher than it needs to be, making dogs getting in and out more difficult, and the interior boot shape is less suitable for dogs than an estate car, IMHO.

Your use case sounds ideal for EV, and it sounds like you could charge comfortably from a 3-pin without the need for an expensive charger. If you get an electricity tariff with an off peak cheap rate it might also make good sense. Should be easy and cheap enough to get a local electrician to install simple outdoor weather proof 3-pin outlet.

I've been driving Nissan Leafs for a similar use case for 7 years now 920 miles a day and the odd sub-100 mile a day round trip for days/evenings out), makes absolute sense. I've just "upgraded" mine to a 2023 40kwh model, with 5k miles on the clock, from a main dealer, for £13k screen price. Absolute bargain.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410014...

Edited by Skodillac on Tuesday 26th November 10:11

[ZesPak]

Oh forgot, one more thing about the "granny charger" thing. It absolutely works, and will be plenty for your use.

BUT a number of independent tests have shown that the convertors in the car (that convert the AC plug current into the DC battery) work most efficiently at their peak. And the efficiency difference isn't to scoff at. Another reason might be that some cars keep themselves "awake" when charging, adding vampire drain so the longer charger at low voltage uses more power (same as using your phone while being plugged in will of course charge your phone slower).
https://insideevs.com/features/711659/ev-charger-e...

Depending on the car the difference in losses can be as much as 10% between a 240v plug vs an 11kW charger. That is quite significant and might go some way justifying the cost of a wall box along with the possible added convenience.

[ashenfie]

ADogg said:

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

It has to be said that if you do around 20 miles ( i assume a day) the benefits are about zero. A medium sized 5 seater car Kia Sportage or i3 as you suggested. Petrol is likely £30 a month and massive choice of car around £10k saving you £6k

[ZesPak]

ashenfie said:

It has to be said that if you do around 20 miles ( i assume a day) the benefits are about zero. A medium sized 5 seater car Kia Sportage or i3 as you suggested. Petrol is likely £30 a month and massive choice of car around £10k saving you £6k

Don't forget extra maintenance though.

And I couldn't get my wife driving an ICE again. I think the words she used were "over my dead body".

[Skodillac]

ashenfie said:

ADogg said:

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

It has to be said that if you do around 20 miles ( i assume a day) the benefits are about zero. A medium sized 5 seater car Kia Sportage or i3 as you suggested. Petrol is likely £30 a month and massive choice of car around £10k saving you £6k

He could also buy an EV for £10k, saving that £6k and benefitting form the cheaper running costs too.

I never understand this approach. Budget for car is budget for car. Running costs are running costs. He could save £15.5k by buying something for £500...

Also, an i3 is an EV...

[Ste-EVo]

ashenfie said:

ADogg said:

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

It has to be said that if you do around 20 miles ( i assume a day) the benefits are about zero. A medium sized 5 seater car Kia Sportage or i3 as you suggested. Petrol is likely £30 a month and massive choice of car around £10k saving you £6k

20 miles per day, 7 days per week (assuming) would be more like £70 per month fueling an ICE car based on around 12p per mile, which is roughly what my last ICE car cost per mile, the difference in the increased electricity usage on charging the EV would be minimal, likely not even noticeable. Add in the savings in maintenance costs and it's definitely beneficial moving to an EV. Granted, the saving would be greater based on a higher mileage but still, a decent saving not to be scoffed at.

OP - a little over your 16k budget but possible to get it a little closer, but shows the decent savings out there on these MX30's... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024102154...

Edited by Ste-EVo on Tuesday 26th November 17:29

[plfrench]

Ste-EVo said:

20 miles per day, 7 days per week (assuming) would be more like £70 per month fueling an ICE car based on around 12p per mile, which is roughly what my last ICE car cost per mile, the difference in the increased electricity usage on charging the EV would be minimal, likely not even noticeable. Add in the savings in maintenance costs and it's definitely beneficial moving to an EV. Granted, the saving would be greater based on a higher mileage but still, a decent saving not to be scoffed at.

OP - a little over your 16k budget but possible to get it a little closer, but shows the decent savings out there on these MX30's... http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024102154...

Edited by Ste-EVo on Tuesday 26th November 17:29

This one's even better value - similar mileage albeit 24 plate rather than 74:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024112165...

[Ste-EVo]

plfrench said:

This one's even better value - similar mileage albeit 24 plate rather than 74:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024112165...

Good find, looks a great buy 👍🏻

[Jag_NE]

ADogg said:

Daily I do around 20 miles. I don’t have a dedicated EV charger, but have off road parking. I would need a 5 seater ideally, otherwise I’d get an I3. I enjoy driving for what it’s worth.
I quite like the idea of an MX30 (as I have an MX5). Budget is up to £16k…
Thanks in advance.

What are you changing from or is it a new addition to the fleet

[this is my username]

£16k will get you an ipace. I love mine, but it will ruin me if it breaks out of warranty.

It will also buy you a very respectable Tesla Model 3 - which is what I would probably buy if I was buying today.

Kia e-Niro is worth a look too.