Todays EVs. Which ones are future classics?

n.d.os

I thought this might be a fun topic. What EVs do you see becoming future classics in 20 years' time? I'll start.

Polestar 2

On looks and performance alone, I think the Polestar 2 is a future classic. It's Polestar's first all-electric EV and it is the last car it will ever produce with strong links to Volvo. I think this car will be collectible among Volvo fanatics and people who like sporty sedans.

Volkswagen ID Buzz

If history is anything to go by, this car should be up there with collectible VWs in the future. It's very expensive now, but give it some time and it may be the perfect camper in 20 years' time.

Audi Etron GT

Like the C5 RS6, I expect you will see many classic Audi fans driving one of these in the future.

Porsche Taycan

It's a Porsche and a very good one too.

Tesla Model 3

Perhaps a controversial one, but I think Tesla will become a cult brand among Millenials in the future. The Model 3 is their go-to car and I see a lot of people having one of these in the garage in the future as their weekend fun car.

RM Ernest

BMW i3

Proper ground breaking EV with real novel engineering around the carbon fibre body, style and space in a small package.

I'd love a 120ah one if it didn't have 4 seats only!

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120665918#Comment_120665918

I forgot about the i3. Damn it.

the_amazing_raisin

I'll add a few:

Honda E - the range and charging are poor but somehow everyone wants one despite that

BMW i3 - way ahead of it's time

Nissan Leaf 24kWh - the battery will be too badly degraded to make it to a car show (or will have been swapped) but who could forget one of the first mass market EVs that sold in big numbers

Microlino - you know you want one 😉

Renault Twizy - this is what happens when you give the design team free reign 😂

Kia E-Soul - marmite in car form, but it's too far out there to be forgotten

I'm going to add one final car which isn't commercially available (and there's only one built)

VW ID.R - Volkswagen had one go at electric motorsports and built a 670hp moster machine which shattered almost every record it ever attempted and could accelerate fast than an F1 car.

There's already faster cars being built, and records will be broken, but to me the ID.R was a big step forward in electric motorsports

Orebro

As above, the Nissan Leaf 24 I think will be the Volkswagen Beetle classic of the future.

n.d.os

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120666276#Comment_120666276

I'm not convinced. Doesn't a classic car have to look good?

Old diesel

Model S has to be a certain future classic.....

Was a massive leap forward for EVs in range and charging.

Impressive machines.

eagerv

I think the Ioniq 28kWh could be a future classic. Sleek lines and a heavy Cobalt battery, not a huge number in the country.

Also agree with the i3, the carbon fibre body will make longevity easy.

Gumbo

BMW i3

Tesla Roadster

September1

Excellent thread idea @n.d.os

I would say BMW i3 because it has unique looks and I guess limited supply.

Leaf 24 indeed would be classic for all currently youngpeople for whom it was first EV.

@Gumbo I think Roadster is already classic car.

Another rare car would be Fluence Z.E., it has a very classic analogue dashboard.

ELM327

Twizy, the triplets, fluence ev, RHD model X, honda e would be classics based on rarity

I think the first leaf would also be a classic, as well as the ioniq28. Depending on how history writes who drove the change, which was the one car that opened up EV to mainstream (eg was it model 3 or is it Y or has it happened yet) that car would also be a classic

Stevie2001

i3 for sure, maybe Taycan but that will age pretty bad when newer higher performance ones arrive

Rest are all very generic, no decent hot hatch or anything has come out in EV form

Why would you have EV classics anyway, it's not like with ICE and you having lovely sounding V10's and different driving characteristics eg MX5 lightweight or Focus RS fighting front end or LFA for that F1 sound, EV's all make no sound and weight close to 2000kg besides the i3

creedp

Will be interesting all right to see how current EVs will be perceived in classic timeframes. Agree the i3, Tesla Roadster and probably original Leaf will be future classics but we'll have to see how it all pans out for the more mainstream models. For eg while the Ioniq 28 is certainly a very competent car compared to Leaf, other than the fact that its battery is durable and it very efficient, it doesn't exactly set the juices flowing. Same with most mainstream EVs, strip out the technology, which will age very quickly and will probably be obsolete in the medium term, your left with what are essentially white goods on wheels. Time will tell

afatbollix

I know people get older and buy their father's car when they were kids but no one is buying a classic Leaf or a i3 in 20 years' time.

To be a true classic it needs to be rare or as it doesn't have an amazing noise under the bonnet look amazing. Honda e, Fiat 500 or the Porshe will be desirable.

Tesla Roadster is so far the only one rare and a true classic as far as I can tell.

Orebro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120666416#Comment_120666416

Definitely not a requirement for classic cars.

Busman Paddy Lasty

i3 variants like the S or the REx. Think they will be sought after big time.

Miscreant

I would be curious about the state of the batteries at 20 years plus. Hopefully there are more options out there for 3rd party solutions by the time EVs start to become classic, otherwise the cars are just going to go to the scrapper.

Early Tesla Roadsters, Leaf 24, Ioniq 28 and BMW i3 would be on my list anyway. Funny thing with the classics market is that it can be hard to predict. Something that was derided in it's time, can be very sought after later on.

Red Silurian

The Peugeot VLV. I accept that it's a classic today

allinthehead

Ioniq 6, ducks and runs for the exit.🤣

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682688#Comment_120682688

The 1950s Crosley is considered a classic so we know it isn't a beauty contest

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120681457#Comment_120681457

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with batteries as they become more degraded

There's presumably a floor at which the car is effectively worthless, however ever a car that only goes 20km is useful to someone who only ever goes to the shops and back, particularly if it only costs €500 or so to buy

However, the point was made in some other threads that there's a load of valuable rate earth metals tied up in a battery which are always going to be worth something, and therefore the idea of a sub €1k EV is a bit unreal

I was thinking about this a bit, and there is a couple of flaws in that argument. One is that the material costs will likely decrease as battery recycling becomes cheaper since we don't need to extract and refine as much. Ironically this will make recycling less profitable so there'll be a balance point struck at some point

The second consideration is the cost of recycling the car. Battery recycling isn't exactly the cheapest process and is probably beyond the abilities of your typical breakers yard (although I'm willing to bet St Margarets car recycling will go up in flames again because they tried recycling an EV battery). So if the car is worth €5k in battery materials and spare parts, but costs €4.5k to recycle, then as long as it can sell for over €500 it's worth keeping it running

A lot depends on the viability of battery recycling and battery repair. A lot of the time a worn out battery is down to a couple of bad cells and replacing those can give a big chunk of range back. However it's only indy garages that'll even contemplate that kind of job and it needs to make financial sense compared to the cost of the vehicle

KildareMan

Any of the Renaults so far, Twizzy, Zoe and the new Megane E-Tech

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682895#Comment_120682895

I’d be more concerned with their bodies and wiring lasting rather than the batteries!

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682895#Comment_120682895

Yes to the first two, solid no to the Mégane. Absolutely nothing interior or unique about it, it's a copy and paste of every other CUV out there

Might be a good exhibition beside all the other current crossovers to demonstrate the apparent collective brain death that occurred among car designers in the early 2020s

And yes, I realise I'm being hypocritical since I drive an ID.4, but I never claimed it was particularly unique or good looking 😉

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682895#Comment_120682895

Whatever about the Twizzy, the e-tech is really just another competent vanilla EV. Interesting to hear what are the attributes that suggest it's future classic status

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682962#Comment_120682962

Hey if Soviet apartment blocks can be considered classical then there's hope for all the crossovers today 😂

KildareMan

Well the ID series as a whole certainly won't be classic status other than examples of how to cheap out. VW USED to make good cars, many of which could claim classic status.

We can all play top trumps but a classic doesn't necessarily have to be the best.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120683434#Comment_120683434

Never said they would be (except maybe the Buzz) 😜

My point is more that current car design in general is incredibly bland and every brand just seems to copy each other shamelessly with little to no imagination

I'll actually give Tesla some credit here with the Model Y. Even though I don't like the look of it, it is at least different to it's competitors

I agree classics don't necessarily need to be good looking, but they tend to have some unique appeal

I think the Mégane is actually a decent looking car, but beyond the Renault badge I don't see much that differentiates it from the competition

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120682968#Comment_120682968

True but I suppose for a particular brand or model to be a classic it must be possible to differentiate from other similar brands using some objective or deemed criterion, but to me anyway, with the odd exception, just like soviet apartment blocks, all EVs are pretty similar with invisible factors like range and technology being their USP. Can't see excelling on those factors affording classic status in 30+ years time. But who knows, stranger things have happened

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120683840#Comment_120683840

Oh I agree, if you look at an ID.4, Peugeot 3008, Hyundai Tucson and Renault Mégane all from the side you'd almost struggle to tell them apart. A lot of the details just get copied and pasted across brands

Actually the analogy to Soviet apartment blocks might be a good one; boring, generic but strangely functional and generally well designed

D_D

Have read all the comments so far and no love for the Hyundai Ioniq 5?

I think it has a unique look which will stand the test of time since it doesn't seem like it comes from any recent decade... the styling could be from the 80s or the 00s, it's hard to tell