Recommendation for a compact PHEV SUV

I would have thrown the Enyaq in maybe too?

We went thru same thought process and were surprised at how little charging would be needed while pottering around ireland (depends what part to an extent). The current set of EVs are capable for approx 400km which is plenty if you can destination charge (even granny cable).

Best advise, play about with Abetter route planner and model some of your typical journeys. And see what you think of the charging required.

We ended up getting Ioniq 5.

Fair enough. Just sharing our experience, we started at exactly the same spot as you, even only looking at PHEV or ICE then ended up doing a total u turn.

Re the West of Ireland, that's what I meant by looking at ABRP. To see if what you wanted was possible in a long range BEV.

Yes you can. That's a granny charge, and is slow. Depending on car, that can take approx 24 hours to go from 0 to 100%.

But in reality, we realised that going from 20% to 80% would be enough which would be mostly possible over night at our destination (family, air bnb etc)

Great plan. Phev is already being phased out by several manufacturers as ev becomes the standard. I would just stick with an ice if it was that critical.

Enyaq is a beast but tough to spec at 45k. 50k more realistic but a lot of options not great value for money so research very carefully. The family pack with trays and other stuff is less likley.

Ioniq 5 and ev6 are both good SUV type alternatives.

I always find these threads interesting. I have no doubt BEV cars are the future, but a PHEV is a far better bet for living and driving in Ireland now.

I think buying a current gen BEV at the moment like buying a DVD+RW recorder 20 years ago. It might work long term but it might not.

Says the person with no EV experience ;)

Look at the people above who were in the same boat and against the odds and what people in the pub said, went BEV instead of PHEV. Like the OP, it is mostly a matter of not being familiar with BEVs and the way the work. Most people are afraid of change and wait until most other people have adopted new technology first before they finally jump in.

PHEV only ever was a compliance solution...

@Miscreant - the only reason car manufacturers are still releasing (relatively long range) PHEV is that is makes them compliant. These cars count the same as BEV, so lets them produce a few more profitable diesels without having to pay crippling CO2 penalties. Without having to use up as much battery capacity (of which they are all short) as for making a BEV

Compliance...

Toyota, for once, have been completely open and honest about this and have stated this many times.

Absolutely agree with you @unkel, however "compliance" cars are not necessarily any less suitable for someone over a BEV model.

The writing is definitely on the wall for the IC engine, and I don't think anyone can deny that. I am a big fan of BEVs of all different types but would not immediately discount a vehicle with a combustion engine if it met my needs.

As for the OP: Depending on where in the West of Ireland you are going, you could seriously look at either PHEV or BEV. My trips rarely exceed 220kms in one go when travelling West so you could definitely get by with a BEV such as the ID4, Enyaq, Ioniq5, EV6 in around the price range you are looking at. Charging with a granny charger when you get there is OK but you will only be putting about 2KWh back in the battery every hour (or thereabouts) so you would have to factor that into your return calculations. Otherwise, take a look at the Rav4, Kuga and Tucson PHEVs as compact SUVs or the XCeed, Niro, Ioniq PHEVs if they fit the bill. For your budget, the choice is very broad so it will all come down to your own preference.

Nobody knows for sure, but you can bet money that the only type of car that will have relatively low depreciation compared to others is pure EV. Particularly if / when the €5k subsidy is dropped. There is likely to be a big gap and then PHEV is likely to be the next best thing compared to petrols and diesels and any non plug in hybrids that can only be fueled with fossil fuels.

I don't believe they will be worthless. PHEV is not going to die by 2030 and there are still 8 years to go before then so if you buy a PHEV now and keep it for the usual PCP period of 3 years, there is still plenty of time to go. The second hand market for ICE/PHEV/hybrid is not going to disappear over the next few years and there will still be demand for good used cars.

I've had a PHEV for almost 4 years. It was great and I reckon 80-90+% was done on battery. But that takes its toll.

I'd charge at home, drive to work use all the battery, charge in work, go out at lunch to move it so the other phev owner could charge after lunch, drive home and use the battery, charge again at home.

I'm living pretty rural so even a pop to the shops or school run was over 10km.

I'm forever plugging it in and would usually charge and use up the battery 3-4 times a day.

That is a pain in the ass, but worse it hits the battery health. It's a 2015 with only 65%, and now only does 22km in winter, so even more charging.

I can get about halfway to work now on battery.

Moving to full EV. Getting the MG ZS EV which will do 400+ km on a charge when pottering around these small roads. So it will be one charge a week now.

If you travel to the west a lot, the great secret is the chargers here are nearly always empty. Most people charge at home.

Train station, Lidl, and local hotel have 6 between them and they are rarely in use. Most of our bigger beaches like kilkee have chargers at the beach.

If you are popping down west for a week you won't be stuck.

You'll find whatever works best is more a mindset than anything else. Some people are innovators / early adopters, others are late majority or laggards. The world would be boring if we were all the same 😂

Ford kuga phev, 42k. lowest spec.

BMW 225xe, cannot find a price, boot is as big as the outlander, newer models coming with 80 km range,

Opel grandland x 43k lowest spec, 46k highest spec.

Did you think about estates?

If your going electric give the MG a look.

Driving phev's 3 years now, if you listened to most here, you would have gotten leafs,(battery degradation) ioniqs (short range & newer not as good as old) Hyundai (battery replacements) Tesla ( every S 85 battery replaced) ID's still have niggly bits to be fixed and phevs are a tax dodge compliance car.

I have never planned a trip, never worried about a charger, just get in and go, plug in when and where available and I don't really care what any one else drives.

With brexit, 2nd hand cars are expensive, I think supply will depend on UK, Japan and new sales here. A 400 km range EV is fine now but in 8 years what range will it be, and who is going to take a chance on it, at least a 7 year old phev will do 22 km and average trips are only 15 km

Its up to you, best of luck

You don't need to public charge at all if you can granny charger overnight at your destination.

Thinking similar SUV myself for 2023. Possibly XC40 Single Motor which I haven't seen discussed much in here but is similar price point. My big concern is plonking a roof box on a BEV during the longer summer trips will massively reduce its range. Has anyone been doing this?

Very interesting re battery health - is it typical the PHEV's that are charged 3/4 times a day would lose so much battery range? I know quite a few rural drivers with peeve's using them in this manner though their cars are newer so maybe this issue is coming?

I guess every battery suffers some loss due to use. The more times it gets filled and discharged the more of an impact this will have, bigger batteries in modern EV won't really run into this. But my 2015 phev has a much smaller battery.

If you consider it got on average 2-3 charges a day for 1200 days. That's 2400-3600 cycles. It's no surprise it is going down.

OP We have had a BEV for six months ( ID.3) and we haven’t needed to public charge once. Not once. It’s such a joy to drive that even for long journeys it’s always chosen in preference to the other car an Audi Q5 unless we have specific need for the Q5. I really don’t think you’d regret going full BEV.

also if you like to camp consider something that can do v2l and give your camp power. Would be so handy for us.

Nissan Ariya and the Toyota one to be launched. Might get them as soon as anything.