Recommend me an EV

Mark Hamill

Is there an EV for my situation?

Travel: from navan to dublin, twice a day, 5-6 days a week
Budget: 20-25k (will be looking for every grant I can get, trading/scrapping my 07 honda fit)

I can install a home charging point (have a front garden were I can park).
There is a public charging point around the corner from my work and I can charge it at work (cable through window to domestic plug socket).

Its currently costing me about €80 a week in petrol, I'm willing to take a loan, purchase on finance or nearly anything else I need to do to stop wasting all this money.

KCross

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Travel: from navan to dublin, twice a day, 5-6 days a week

How many km's door to door? What speed is it at... motorway or N roads?

Is it your only car in the house?

Do you do any regular long trips at weekends?

Mickeroo

Navan to dublin is about 60km each way yeah? Hyundai Ioniq would fit the bill pretty well though you'd be going 2nd hand with that budget.

Mike9832

191 e-Golf

Loads of them in UK for €25,000 or so, all in.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201903286376246?make=VOLKSWAGEN&postcode=m52ty&sort=price-asc&fuel-type=Electric&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&year-from=2019&radius=1500&page=1

krissovo

2nd the Ioniq with that budget & range.

adunis

3rd the Ioniq
Or a brand new zoe

Gumbo

Most EV's will be more that suitable.
Even a Gen 1 Leaf would do considering you can granny charge during the day in work.
You'd have as close to a full battery at home time again, but you'd have little room for any other travels.

With your budget id look at an Ioniq.

Orebro

Ioniq all day long - go for it!

unkel

Ioniq and eGolf are sound suggestions. But for your budget you will have to import one from the UK yourself. Easy job, lots of us have done it, but it is not for everyone

Another suggestion: BMW i3 94Ah (the very late 2016 model). Again for your budget you will have to get it from the UK

For a bit under your budget you could get a Leaf 30kWh. But in winter in bad weather, you might be pushing it

Go test drive Ioniq / eGolf from the main dealers and see what you think. It is usually possible to get a 24h test drive, so you can do your commute in it, try and fit golf bags / baby buggies, the whole family in so everyone can see what it is like

Mark Hamill

Thanks for all the replies.

KCross wrote: »

How many km's door to door? What speed is it at... motorway or N roads?

Is it your only car in the house?

Do you do any regular long trips at weekends?

As Mickeroo said, its 60km each way, I do it 5 days a week for work and usually 1 extra day a week for family/social visits (on Sundays). It will be the only car in the house.


Hyundai Ioniq seems like my best bet. Now I just need to figure out the best way to finance it.

Alkers

Mark Hamill wrote: »

There is a public charging point around the corner from my work and I can charge it at work (cable through window to domestic plug socket).

Just to be aware that even the granny chargers are very heavy on a standard plug socket so you would want to be sure of the wiring before going with this option. Especially on older buildings, it's recommended you use a socket on it's own circuit. Also, feeding the granny cable out through a window each day will brake your heart, only consider this as an emergency option as opposed to relying on it.

Mark Hamill

Alkers wrote: »

Just to be aware that even the granny chargers are very heavy on a standard plug socket so you would want to be sure of the wiring before going with this option. Especially on older buildings, it's recommended you use a socket on it's own circuit. Also, feeding the granny cable out through a window each day will brake your heart, only consider this as an emergency option as opposed to relying on it.

Thanks for this info, I'll keep it in mind. I might be able to get an external wall socket fitted in work, with a switch on the inside to turn it on/off.

unkel

Mark Hamill wrote: »

I might be able to get an external wall socket fitted in work, with a switch on the inside to turn it on/off.

Wouldn't be that much more expensive to install a proper EV charger at work. And your employer can write the total cost of the install off against corporation tax in the first year. Will make the company look good too for their general image and for new recruits. It's getting harder to find staff now.

Markcheese

How soon would you be looking to buy?
Cos with brexit uncertainty hammering sterling, your euro is going further at the moment..
It could go up or down in the short term,
But no one really knows what's going to happen after Halloween, so get it done by then...

irishgrover

I'd also look at a Leaf 40 - you could probably bring one in from the UK within your budget.
There are not going to be many trade in / scrappage deals on EVs due to simple supply and demand - so you might be better off just cleaning up your car as best you can, and then doing a really good add for donedeal etc.

Commuting from Navan will not all be motorway speed so the better efficiency of the ioniq is not king here.

I think ioniq, Leaf 40, i3 would all do what you need. Then it comes down to personal choice and preferences. If you drive them all you may have differeng opinions.

(Obviously I think the Ioniq would be best, but I have bias as an ioniq owner)

Third_Echelon

+1 for the eGolf. Would handle that daily mileage no problem. Lovely drive too. Great car!

adunis

Just a dampener on the UK IMPORT idea,
Don't forget when the Muppets crash out you will be importing from OUTSIDE the EU haven't looked at the numbers but I'm pretty sure it will negate any savings unless sterling absolutely tanks.
Better selection)spec arguement remains however.

Black_Knight

adunis wrote: »

Just a dampener on the UK IMPORT idea,
Don't forget when the Muppets crash out you will be importing from OUTSIDE the EU haven't looked at the numbers but I'm pretty sure it will negate any savings unless sterling absolutely tanks.
Better selection)spec arguement remains however.

I was sad reading that until you reminded me that sterling is going to tank.

SmithySeller

Total EV novice, but is there a reason why nobody has suggested a Leaf Gen2 given there are a few across the pond sub 23K? Im only asking as Im in a similar boat with circa 25K budget.

Mike9832

SmithySeller wrote: »

Total EV novice, but is there a reason why nobody has suggested a Leaf Gen2 given there are a few across the pond sub 23K? Im only asking as Im in a similar boat with circa 25K budget.

Basically

Tesco value battery ( Leaf Gen2 ) vs rest like Ioniq/Golf/i3 etc that have high end Duracell type battery

Google Leaf40 rapidgate, battery degradation etc

Other than that fine cars, loads of power, battery issues might be over exaggarated but a battery is pretty important in an EV :pac:

unkel

If you can get it cheap enough, and you don't do regular long distance driving, the Leaf 40 would make a decent choice. Personally I wouldn't pay more than about €18k for a 2018 one but they haven't come down that far yet.

Soarer

Mike9832 wrote: »

Basically

Tesco value battery ( Leaf Gen2 ) vs rest like Ioniq/Golf/i3 etc that have high end Duracell type battery

Google Leaf40 rapidgate, battery degradation etc

Other than that fine cars, loads of power, battery issues might be over exaggarated but a battery is pretty important in an EV :pac:

Again with the Tesco stuff.

What is it in the Leaf battery that makes it "Tesco"? How/Why is the chemistry in other manufacturers batteries better?
Or is it the fact that the batteries are sound, but the lack of active cooling is doing the car no favours?
Battery degradation is a fact of life for all EVs. But it seems only Nissan are up front about it. Ioniqs and i3s still showing 100% capacity after a few years' worth of driving? Impossible.
Rapidgate is obviously a known issue. But the odds of the OP or SmithySeller encountering it are minimal.

SmithySeller

I have a 181 5008 for the family. We have a second car that I do 22km daily Monday to Friday. I dont think all 5 of us have ever gotten into the second car, and I also cant remember ever doing a long trip in it, maybe 100km at most.
I may be willing to spend circa €25K on a Company Car for the current benefits available.
I have a long eye possibly on a Tesla Model Y, but we'll see. This might be the better approach for now given both Company benefits and also Brexit.

Mike9832

Soarer wrote: »

Again with the Tesco stuff.

What is it in the Leaf battery that makes it "Tesco"? How/Why is the chemistry in other manufacturers batteries better?
Or is it the fact that the batteries are sound, but the lack of active cooling is doing the car no favours?
Battery degradation is a fact of life for all EVs. But it seems only Nissan are up front about it. Ioniqs and i3s still showing 100% capacity after a few years' worth of driving? Impossible.
Rapidgate is obviously a known issue. But the odds of the OP or SmithySeller encountering it are minimal.

They are made by envision who don't supply anyone else in the auto industry, even though the owner has talked about having the cheapest batteries in the business, $50kWh by 2022 etc

While LG, Samsung, Catl etc supply the whole auto industry including the Alliance

Must be some reason the Alliance of Renault etc are not going/went with these cells when they owned them at one stage, especially with battery supply problems

Degradation is in all EV's, Nissan are for sure the worse, can't be argued

moonlighting_1

I thought the main issue with the leaf batteries was no proper cooling system. Although I can imagine that only affects certain climates.

TimeToShine

moonlighting_1 wrote: »

I thought the main issue with the leaf batteries was no proper cooling system. Although I can imagine that only affects certain climates.

You are correct, they use air cooling instead of liquid coolant which lead to battery degradation problems.

Mark Hamill

So I ended up not getting an EV last year as my financing was delayed. I hope to have the finance sorted by the end of the month, so I want to check if an Ioniq is still the best option for me:

Travel: from navan to dublin (60km), twice a day, 5-6 days a week
Budget: 20-25k (will be looking for every grant I can get, trading/scrapping my 07 honda fit)

Did I read that the newer Ioniq have a worse battery than the old one (larger capacity but slower charge)?
How do the Renault Zoe, Kia eSoul or Peogeot e208 compare to it?

Black_Knight

Mark Hamill wrote: »

So I ended up not getting an EV last year as my financing was delayed. I hope to have the finance sorted by the end of the month, so I want to check if an Ioniq is still the best option for me:

Travel: from navan to dublin (60km), twice a day, 5-6 days a week
Budget: 20-25k (will be looking for every grant I can get, trading/scrapping my 07 honda fit)

Did I read that the newer Ioniq have a worse battery than the old one (larger capacity but slower charge)?
How do the Renault Zoe, Kia eSoul or Peogeot e208 compare to it?

2017/18/19 Ioniq should be within that budget. Less so the 19, but it's not far off it. 2019 only have 1 or 2 things extra from the previous version (heated steering wheel and I think maybe blind spot detection as standard). Not worth the 1000s IMO. Any of those years will easily do your 120km per day.

2020 Ioniq, while having more range, has been slated for a few things. 1, as you mention, the slower charging speed. From near empty you would be talking an hour (or more) to charge it at any fast charger. 2. The price increase. It got a few small upgrades, but nothing to justify the price. For similar money you could get a Kona/eNiro/eSoul with more range, and (excluding the Kona) I believe a better spec. But you're talking high €30s so we'll leave them out.

Zoe (i know little about them) but should be on budget for a 2019 version, and has plenty of range.
e208, not out yet as far as I know. Others (or the dedicated thread) might have a better idea on that.


Are there any practicalities you need to consider with the car?

KCross

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Did I read that the newer Ioniq have a worse battery than the old one (larger capacity but slower charge)?

Worse battery is probably the wrong term. A slower charging one, yes.
Its a higher capacity battery so has longer range but for your needs I dont think it would matter as presumably you will be 99% charging at home?

In this country range is king, not charge speed.

The old Ioniq would suit you fine if all you need is 120km and that would be within budget. The new Ioniq is €34k+

Mark Hamill wrote: »

How do the Renault Zoe, Kia eSoul or Peogeot e208 compare to it?

As a comparison e208 has a WLTP range of 340km. New Ioniq is at 312km.
So, they are similar enough. Obviously you wont get that range if you are driving it hard on the motorway.


Your budget of €20-25k will rule out the eSoul, e208 and New Ioniq though.

MightyMunster

The Kona doesn't have the adaptive cruise control, might be a deal breaker if you're mostly on the motorway.

Shefwedfan

Test drive the eGolf....that is all I would say