Buying an EV for the first time

littleredhen

I currently have an Hyundai i10 17 plate that has done 80,000 and would like to change my car.

I do a lot of miles annually in the sense that I live in a rural area but not on a daily basis so can charge overnight rather than using an expensive rapid charger at a charging point.

Would need to get an EV charger fitted and not planning on buying a new electric car - wanting to spend about 15k inc part exchange so would probably get about £3500 for mine if I am lucky so budget for the car would be no more than £12k - any comments, suggestions, advice gratefully received

Cornucopia

There's a fair number of feasible EVs in that price range. Also they tend to be better spec'd than their petrol equivalents in the same price range.

A non-exhaustive list that you might want to look at could be: Tesla Model 3, Mk2 Nissan Leaf, Vauxhall Mokka and Corsa, Hyundai Kona and Kia Niro.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6682027/buying-an-ev-for-the-first-time

What do you call a lot of miles on a weekly basis? or between home visits?

Something like a E-Niro or Niro EV will give you a good 250 miles a week.

I would avoid any stelantis ev

daveyjp

Purely based on brand reliability and dealer experience (because in reality with an EV they are more important than anything else - EVs at that price will all drive very much the same) a Lexus UX. £15k will get you in a 4-5 year old model and should have a warranty renewble up to ten years.

littleredhen

Thanks, not sure on my weekly mileage just mean that it's a drive to the supermarket and anywhere I want to go is always a car drive - when I last did my insurance I thought I only did about 10k a year but it is nearer 20k and I really don't do any long distances

middlewife

I've driven an older style 5 year old e-niro ( owned from new). You should get a couple of years warranty. They're a good spec, I get 300 mile range in high summer, 220 in winter. If you don't mind installing, or already have a smart meter, then it can be really cheap to charge overnight on EV tarriffs, as long as you can shift dishwasher, oven, washing machine and device charging to overnight too. I've never yet met anyone who regretted going electric….

facade

Look at brands with a "Service Renewed Warranty" that goes up to 10 years, and doesn't matter if a service was late before, which AFAIK, are Toyota & Suzuki (& Lexus). Kia/Hyundai only offer 7 years from new, and are very picky about exact service timing, which can be a problem with ex-lease/PCP cars that were returned just before it was due, and sat "in trade" for months.

Dacia offers the same with "Zen warranty", so I'd expect Renault to have one too.

Don't buy anything Stellantis, (Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot, Jeep, Fiat) they are not the most reliable, the warranty is only 3 years and then an eye-wateringly expensive 3rd party one, and (possibly due to all the recalls over air bags) the wait for them even to look at a fault is literally months.

Generally accepted "good" EVs are Tesla, Renault Zoe (but the motor bearings fail at 50-60,000 miles, Nissan Leaf, Kia Niro.

There are independent garages who will repair Zoes & Leafs, Stellantis cars are too locked down for most independents to bother with.

daveyjp

And whatever you consider you need a battery health check report, don't just rely on a state of health figure. Example below

https://www.bca.co.uk/buy/ev-battery-grading/aviloo-report

Bigwheels1111

There are a good few MG4 long range from, 13,049.

Not a bad car, main issue is boot is small.

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124964#Comment_82124964

Based on our neighbours experience the main issue with the MG4 is the terrible software, and the lack of OTA updates meaning you need to go to a dealer to download the new version every time they fix one of the issues….

carly

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124964#Comment_82124964

Based on family experience I would avoid like the plague. Problem after problem after problem with the software which the supplying main dealer was unable to fix. Car was in the service centre more than at home and eventually dumped after 12 months as became undrivable.