What eCar (<20k cost, 35-40km commute, ~150km range) ?

ampleforth

What eCar would you get now (or in the next 3 months) if you would have to make a move on it (e.g. because your old ICE is driving on oil instead of petrol/diesel or you can feel/hear the next massive repair coming your direction) ?

Context:

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35-40 km a day for commute (about 4 days a week on average)
150 km (reliably) would be useful
home charging would be possible
15-20k to spend
As cheap of running costs as possible, don't like battery renting etc. or other monthly fees

What eCar would you consider and why?

unkel

There's only one that fits your conditions and that's the Nissan Leaf 30kWh. Could be had even below your budget, but you would have to be very careful to get the 150km range, particularly in winter. Drive gently and well below the motorway speed limits. If you can up your budget to a bit over 20k, there's the Hyundai Ioniq. It can do that range even at the speed limit in winter. Go have a look and a test drive with both cars and report back here.

Joseph SEE

Renault Zoe 40kWh from the UK. Range of 250km to 300km in the summer. It's too expensive to purchase in Ireland, but can be had for about 20,000 Euro in the UK. No VRT for the time being with some caveats.

Just make sure it isn't a battery leased car.

fricatus

Make sure you factor in the cost of diesel and road tax versus electricity and the (hopefully lower) tax on a new EV.

Even when I bought my Ioniq new a year and a half ago, I was slightly sceptical about getting “fuel” for one fifth the cost of before, and a little afraid of the high repayments on the new car. However if anything, it has been cheaper to run than I predicted (because work installed a charger, and I use the public network on long trips - not 100% convenient, but you get used to it).

With that car, you may be able to get scrappage - though with the demand for EVs, I’m not sure anyone is doing that any more! There is talk of a government scrappage scheme in the Budget, so you might be able to hold off and gamble on that coming in?

Anyway, focus on the TCO! My TCO on the Ioniq is about the same as it was with my 2.2 TDCi Accord - only now the bulk of the money goes towards the car loan, and not diesel, (tax €994!), servicing and repairs.

ewj1978

Zoe 40, Leaf 30 (will struggle to do 150km in cold winter)

Get a Ze40 in from the UK for less than 20k.
Get a night meter installed and work away.

unkel

ewj1978 wrote: »

Get a Ze40 in from the UK for less than 20k.

Link to one that you could land for less than EUR20k?

Calahonda52

ampleforth wrote: »

What eCar would you get now (or in the next 3 months) if you would have to make a move on it (e.g. because your old ICE is driving on oil instead of petrol/diesel or you can feel/hear the next massive repair coming your direction) ?

Context:

---

35-40 km a day for commute (about 4 days a week on average)
150 km (reliably) would be useful
home charging would be possible
15-20k to spend
As cheap of running costs as possible, don't like battery renting etc. or other monthly fees

What eCar would you consider and why?

I have a L30 for 2 years and I commuted at weekends from Nenagh to Dublin: 166.7 kms

It was doable in all weathers but there are speed/weather constraints/other constraints.

One issue with the drive was that the piece from the portlaoise toll to Nenagh [60kms] is quite undulating so kWh/100km a lot more on the second leg when coming from Dublin: I needed to be at 50% at that point.
Using the leafspy app with the OBDC dongle, I squeezed the last electron out of the battery
HTH

Joseph SEE

unkel wrote: »

Link to one that you could land for less than EUR20k?

This one is a bit less than 17k Euro to buy at current exchange rates.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/new/201905167998665?advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=18000&postcode=bh217nz&model=ZOE&page=1&price-from=13000&make=RENAULT&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used

unkel

Battery lease. So you will hugely overpay for the car over time and you will never be able to sell it on.

Joseph SEE

unkel wrote: »

Battery lease. So you will hugely overpay for the car over time and you will never be able to sell it on.

Are you sure? I didn't see battery lease mentioned. There's another car that explicitly mentions battery lease all right. But it's a lot cheaper.

You're right. I see it now.

unkel

Aye. You can't do what OP wants unless they up budget by a few grand or drive slower than miss Daisy in a Leaf 30kWh and hope for the best, but still won't make it in a bad day in winter.

Shefwedfan

The 150km really restricts your choices with the budget

Do you really need 150km? or is it something you might use 1-2 a year?

ampleforth

With about 40 km a day, I would like to safely go for 2-3 days (preferably all 4 days (see original post)) without recharge. However, if I just plan my daily recharge as a habit and a strong requirement, I could lower that to 60-80 km (40 km plus a bit of buffer) --- I guess I could have a lot more choice then (or even buy a very worn out old Leaf...

About 1-2 times a month I will do 150 km though ...

I also plan to just have that car, no backup ICE... if I move away from a technology, I am out.

Joseph SEE

ampleforth wrote: »

With about 40 km a day, I would like to safely go for 2-3 days (preferably all 4 days (see original post)) without recharge. However, if I just plan my daily recharge as a habit and a strong requirement, I could lower that to 60-80 km (40 km plus a bit of buffer) --- I guess I could have a lot more choice then (or even buy a very worn out old Leaf...

About 1-2 times a month I will do 150 km though ...


I also plan to just have that car, no backup ICE... if I move away from a technology, I am out.

Might be best to see what price the Volkswagen E-Up triplets fetch. They are an A segment car with a 250 to 260km range. I'd also keep an eye on the Zoe prices in the UK.

samih

ampleforth wrote: »

With about 40 km a day, I would like to safely go for 2-3 days (preferably all 4 days (see original post)) without recharge. However, if I just plan my daily recharge as a habit and a strong requirement, I could lower that to 60-80 km (40 km plus a bit of buffer) --- I guess I could have a lot more choice then (or even buy a very worn out old Leaf...

About 1-2 times a month I will do 150 km though ...

I also plan to just have that car, no backup ICE... if I move away from a technology, I am out.

As the only car I would really vouch for 30 kWh LEAF as the extra range will make the car much more flexible. 1-2 trips a month that you don't need to look for a charger is the way to go.

At the same time there is no reason not to plug in every night unless you are 100 percent sure you don't need to go anywhere the next day. But even then it's essential to cater for emergencies and changes in plan and best to plug in just in case if you arrive home with less than 50 percent.

Get a tethered charging point where plugging in is a 5 second job instead of going to the boot to fish out the cable. And once you have gotten used to that you don't even bother plugging in at public points unless you really need juice. So the public points will then stay free for users that need to go somewhere. It's a winner.