EV comparison

Grumpy_chap

Jenni_D said:

I've taken a look (online) at the new Niro EV ... looks like a good compromise option vs the EV6. 

Except the EV6 looks space-age and really desirable.  The Niro looks like a box on wheels, about as up-to-date as that actor that advertises it.

It is a real shame that the choice of EV's is so restricted - very few EV's that are just "cars" like just an Focus or just a Mondeo, but happen to be electric.  I am not convinced that all potential EV-purchasers really want a massive SUV but that is where they are forced to go.

Herzlos

Is that because you don't notice the electric variants of regular cars? Like the Golf, Corsa, etc? I've seen some pretty normal looking cars plugged in.

Grumpy_chap

Many of those are substantially compromised compared to the ICE base plus absurdly priced.

dd95

Martyn1981 said:

dd95 said:

Martyn1981 said:

Same thoughts here. Nice car, but a step up, so will cost you more. You can find a lot of cars for £10k-£15k less but with similar range, though some will be smaller.

[Looking at prices today, so possibly the cheaper BEV's that got the PiG will rise in price with the Gov announcement that they are ending the £1,500 subsidy scheme.]

is there anything you recommend Martyn? i dont want a zoe or a leaf!

Part of me is thinking looking at something in the 20-30k range and buy it monthly. the payments would be similar to a lease and at least i'd have 10-15k worth of car at the end if i wanted to sell

Hiya. I'm assuming from your EV6 choice that you don't want the smallest choices. Though the Leaf may teeter on the balance.

Have a good nose through the EV-Database, as you'll find all the cars, most of which I'd forgotten or hadn't heard of, there are so many now. I simply started at the main page and scrolled down looking at range and price, then opening a tab for any that jumped out. The newest on the list are the Megane, MG ZS and Niro, all of which have reasonable prices and ranges, just as examples.

What sort of range are you thinking? And Grumpy's reply right at the start raised a really important point:

You also need to consider not just total 20k miles per year but how those miles will be driven - type of road, journey pattern etc.

If you are mostly driving, say, 150 mile round trips at most, with home charging, then smaller range doesn't matter as much, as if you are driving lots of, say, 300 mile trips. The more you pay, the more range and versatility you will get, but why pay for something you don't really need.


I agree with others that the sister cars Kona / Niro may be a good choice, and they were actually ones I quickly checked before suggesting £10k-£15k could be saved, if you are happy to look at slightly smaller cars.

But get out there and have some test drives (if you haven't already). You will be shocked at how easy and pleasant BEV's are to drive. I'd also suggest as you start to zero in on a make and model, to join some chat groups and ask for help. People will be honest and typically love to help and share.

A few years back we were moving from a 2014 24kWh Leaf to a 2018 28kWh IONIQ. The Leaf could do about 60-70 miles, the IONIQ was rated at 130 miles. Wifey and I couldn't believe the difference, so we asked for comments, thoughts etc, and they all came back saying 130 miles was easy, and 150 if you drove carefully. We drive it in Sport mode for a bit more instant power, but are still averaging 4.7m/kWh long term, which is a smidge over 130.

very much appreciated post. My commute is roughly 80 miles a day - 95% motorway. Charging provided free at work so dont even think i'll bother with a home charger.

Bigphil1474

GrumpyChap - I've been looking at a Peugeot e208 as my employer has just joined the NHS lease scheme (all inclusive lease). Worked out it will cost me £250 a month (about £160 net of insurance/petrol/servicing/tyres etc.) plus electricity costs over 3 years @ 7k miles a year. RRP is about £30k so could never afford to buy one.
Seems to be loads of normal cars that are now fully electric. There was a Lexus on there as well, think it was a crossover SUV that worked out about £250 a month net.

Jenni_D

Grumpy_chap said:

Jenni_D said:

I've taken a look (online) at the new Niro EV ... looks like a good compromise option vs the EV6. 

Except the EV6 looks space-age and really desirable.  The Niro looks like a box on wheels, about as up-to-date as that actor that advertises it.

Have you looked at the new Niro EV? (I suspect you're thinking of the previous eNiro - the new Niro EV has a very different look to it).

Martyn1981

dd95 said:

Martyn1981 said:

dd95 said:

Martyn1981 said:

Same thoughts here. Nice car, but a step up, so will cost you more. You can find a lot of cars for £10k-£15k less but with similar range, though some will be smaller.

[Looking at prices today, so possibly the cheaper BEV's that got the PiG will rise in price with the Gov announcement that they are ending the £1,500 subsidy scheme.]

is there anything you recommend Martyn? i dont want a zoe or a leaf!

Part of me is thinking looking at something in the 20-30k range and buy it monthly. the payments would be similar to a lease and at least i'd have 10-15k worth of car at the end if i wanted to sell

Hiya. I'm assuming from your EV6 choice that you don't want the smallest choices. Though the Leaf may teeter on the balance.

Have a good nose through the EV-Database, as you'll find all the cars, most of which I'd forgotten or hadn't heard of, there are so many now. I simply started at the main page and scrolled down looking at range and price, then opening a tab for any that jumped out. The newest on the list are the Megane, MG ZS and Niro, all of which have reasonable prices and ranges, just as examples.

What sort of range are you thinking? And Grumpy's reply right at the start raised a really important point:

You also need to consider not just total 20k miles per year but how those miles will be driven - type of road, journey pattern etc.

If you are mostly driving, say, 150 mile round trips at most, with home charging, then smaller range doesn't matter as much, as if you are driving lots of, say, 300 mile trips. The more you pay, the more range and versatility you will get, but why pay for something you don't really need.


I agree with others that the sister cars Kona / Niro may be a good choice, and they were actually ones I quickly checked before suggesting £10k-£15k could be saved, if you are happy to look at slightly smaller cars.

But get out there and have some test drives (if you haven't already). You will be shocked at how easy and pleasant BEV's are to drive. I'd also suggest as you start to zero in on a make and model, to join some chat groups and ask for help. People will be honest and typically love to help and share.

A few years back we were moving from a 2014 24kWh Leaf to a 2018 28kWh IONIQ. The Leaf could do about 60-70 miles, the IONIQ was rated at 130 miles. Wifey and I couldn't believe the difference, so we asked for comments, thoughts etc, and they all came back saying 130 miles was easy, and 150 if you drove carefully. We drive it in Sport mode for a bit more instant power, but are still averaging 4.7m/kWh long term, which is a smidge over 130.

very much appreciated post. My commute is roughly 80 miles a day - 95% motorway. Charging provided free at work so dont even think i'll bother with a home charger.

That really opens up your options then. So for range you need to get from work to home to work on a charge, so let's say 100 miles, add in the coldest winter day, perhaps a wet road too, so an initial estimated range of 150 miles should suit you. And as a fall back, if all goes wrong, you can slow down on the Motorway to minimise consumption.

So 150 miles pretty much opens the door to almost all cars, give or take a few particularly low range vehicles, more aimed at city runabout.

Next question, will this be the only car? And if so, do you do much longer range driving, since you don't want to be too compromised by minimal range if you want more flexibility.

Not a recommendation, but an initial thought would be the MG EV5 long range £29k, as it has decent range and practicality, and you use to be able to haggle prices, but I suspect demand has risen.

Since you are in no rush to charge at home, you can take your time deciding, and will be able to use a granny charger at about 2kW, if you have a suitable socket. So that's still 24kWh (8pm to 8am), so around 80 miles or more.

I don't know what mpg you get now, but perhaps 2.5 gallons per day, around £15 per day, or £20+ with current prices? That's gotta hurt.


Edit - Just noticed that the Hyundai IONIQ isn't on the ev-database, don't know why. It's proven to be so good that Hyundai called their new BEV only range Ioniq. At £32k with around 190* miles from the 38kWh battery, it may be of interest, also you can get second hand models. That's what we did buying our 28kWh model. Very aerodynamic, but the sloped roof means you can't get massive objects in the back.

*Our experience suggests you should get 150+ even in bad conditions.

Herzlos

Grumpy_chap said:

Many of those are substantially compromised compared to the ICE base plus absurdly priced.

Substantially compromised how?

I don't think many are that absurdly priced, though there's obviously a premium over the ICE version.

Petriix

I do recommend the MG5; as long as you're not too bothered about the finer details, it's basically the best £ per mile of range EV available (depending on discounts etc). The e208 is a reasonable choice at that price, but slightly lacking in range.

Grumpy_chap

Jenni_D said:

Have you looked at the new Niro EV? (I suspect you're thinking of the previous eNiro - the new Niro EV has a very different look to it).

Thank you - I was not aware of a "new" Niro.  There is something on the Kia website that looks like a face-lifted version of the "old" Niro.  Is that what you mean?  Still very boxy and dull.

Petriix said:

I do recommend the MG5; as long as you're not too bothered about the finer details, 

Like NCAP rating...