Up to £12k EV - Ionic or...?

[Turtle Shed]

Hello all.

Had a Leaf for a decade, love the EV experience, but I'm now looking for a range and techonolgy upgrade. The 38kWh Premium SE Ioniq is in budget and ticks the technology box, and a real-world range of around 170-190 miles is perfectly acceptable. Reliability is important too, and I trust the brand.

If the 40kWh Leaf would do that range I'd buy one without hesitation, but it's some way off and in the depths of winter might struggle to do the 120 mile round trip that we'll be doing a fair bit.

Looking for suggestions really. Don't fancy a Zoe or an i3, but the MG5 seems to have the range and is available in budget.

Other suggestions welcome but a minimum of 160 miles in bad weather, and a low possibility of throwing up a big bill are priorities. The kind of kit that the SE Ionic has are fairly important too. Doesn't need to charge fast, don't care about depreciation, as I'll own it for a decade. Size not important either.

Cheers.

[doolie]

As an ioniq owner of 3+ years, you can't go wrong with the 38kW. We rarely see less than 4m/kW, and in summer regularly over 5.

Decent value at the moment.

Ours has only had 2 minor issues since new (21 plate), 12v battery and one of the door handle trims breaking off (known issue with these)

[Shabaza]

Seen this on Facebook
Cracking deal

[kambites]

You might find a 64kWh Kona for that. You certainly can for £13k.

[Ste-EVo]

How about a Citroen E-C4? There is a small few online coming in around your price range and the range should be sufficient.

I drove a new one a few months back and I was really impressed by it, it was really comfortable and had a decent amount of tech in the spec that I was in. IMO a better-looking car than the Ionic but I suspect the Ionic is probably the better car.

[Simon_GH]

Ste-EVo said:

How about a Citroen E-C4? There is a small few online coming in around your price range and the range should be sufficient.

I drove a new one a few months back and I was really impressed by it, it was really comfortable and had a decent amount of tech in the spec that I was in. IMO a better-looking car than the Ionic but I suspect the Ionic is probably the better car.

We bought an e2008 knowing your logic - the Korean cars are probably technically better but it’s a good looking vehicle and that was important to the main driver,

[Ste-EVo]

Simon_GH said:

We bought an e2008 knowing your logic - the Korean cars are probably technically better but it’s a good looking vehicle and that was important to the main driver,

Absolutely, I would think how a car looks are what attracts most buyers. I can't imagine many people (especially those actually interested in cars) would buy a car that ticks all of the technical boxes yet looks like a pig - not saying the Ionic looks like a pig btw I would certainly compromise on tech etc in favour of a car I preferred the look of.

I like the e2008 btw, nice choice. OP - there are actually some of these coming in with your price point too having looked on Auto Trader.

[Turtle Shed]

Thanks for replies so far, and for those two French options. I had taken a brief look at those models, will do so again. Range/tech looks like it ticks those boxes though I do have an inbuilt (and probably well-outdated) preference of Kia/Hyundai over Peugeot/Citroen.

Not too fussed about looks to be honest, it's reliability/range/tech that are the key factors in my £12k car.

Cheers for now.

[ZesPak]

Shabaza said:

Seen this on Facebook
Cracking deal

Anyone seen this one? I'd be surprised if it has less than half a million kilometers at that price

[Snappy89]

Turtle Shed said:

Thanks for replies so far, and for those two French options. I had taken a brief look at those models, will do so again. Range/tech looks like it ticks those boxes though I do have an inbuilt (and probably well-outdated) preference of Kia/Hyundai over Peugeot/Citroen.

Not too fussed about looks to be honest, it's reliability/range/tech that are the key factors in my £12k car.

Cheers for now.

Not sure it's an outdated preference. But you can certainly pick up something a bit newer with the French options at that price point, unless you'd go for something like an electric Kona.
The newer Ioniq 5 and 6 haven't dropped to that sort of pricing yet.

[danp]

Seeing as you’ve found the Leaf good but the 39kWh doesn’t have enough range - Leaf 62kWh?!

[Turtle Shed]

danp said:

Seeing as you’ve found the Leaf good but the 39kWh doesn’t have enough range - Leaf 62kWh?!

I'm afraid those aren't in budget, too new I think.

Appreciate the reply though.

[Skodillac]

Just to add to the list of various Stellantis ones, don't forget the DS3 Crossback exists:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410295...

MG5:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411086...

62kwh Leaf creeping into budget:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412046...

[danp]

Turtle Shed said:

I'm afraid those aren't in budget, too new I think.

Appreciate the reply though.

There are 16 under £12k on Autotrader, starting with an ex-taxi with 130k on it at £7k!

[Turtle Shed]

danp said:

Turtle Shed said:

I'm afraid those aren't in budget, too new I think.

Appreciate the reply though.

There are 16 under £12k on Autotrader, starting with an ex-taxi with 130k on it at £7k!

So there are. Apologies, I'll factor those into the search.

[Europa Jon]

Soul First Edition. You may not like it's styling, but they're well made, can do the very 250 miles in summer, are very reliable and come with lots of kit.

[codenamecueball]

I've got one approaching 23k miles. It's been a trusty vehicle, averaging 3.9mi/kWh on a mix of town and long runs. Probably going to move it on in the new year for a cheap lease but the £9.5k WBAC valuation is putting me off at the moment, plus the fact it does it's job perfectly well.

[Turtle Shed]

Europa Jon said:

Soul First Edition. You may not like it's styling, but they're well made, can do the very 250 miles in summer, are very reliable and come with lots of kit.

Interesting. Style doesn't bother me, Mrs Shed will embrace it.

Another to consider for sure.

[M1C]

Any updates?

I'm soon to get an EV charger fitted and considering options.....

[Turtle Shed]

M1C said:

Any updates?

I'm soon to get an EV charger fitted and considering options.....

Haven't taken the plunge yet, no hurry as the current Leaf is fine for most duties. I'm keeping an eye out for a 64kWh Leaf or 38kWh Ionic to appear in budget at a local-ish dealer.

Will of course update the thread when I buy.