Salary Sacrifice - What EV SUV?

[Kermit power]

Morning all!

I'm looking for an e-SUV on salary sacrifice, and suggestions are welcome!

At the moment the only things I've definitely discounted are anything remotely made by Volvo (including Polestar) as I'm never, ever paying anything to those shysters again and the Hyundai Ionic5, which was looking quite attractive until I discovered it's literally only available in about 8 shades of grey?!?

It needs to be fairly large - three adult-sized kids and a dog, but don't need 7 seats - and reasonably rapid, but no need for stupidly quick. Let's say anything around 6.5sec to 60 downwards.

The BMW iX, iX3 and i5 Touring are all just a bit too expensive, and the Mercedes EQB would possibly be a strong contender if they hadn't failed to prevent the April Fool's-level ugly design make it into production!

At the moment, my shortlist to test drive (in approximate order of preference) is...

Audi Q6
Genesis GV60
Kona EV6 (not the GT though)
Audi Q8 (which seems to have dropped heavily in price with the launch of the Q8)
Skoda Enyaq

Any thoughts on those, or anything else I should look at?

[Evanivitch]

Model Y?

[andy43]

Don’t discount an EV as being too slow based on its 0-60 - they mostly feel far quicker than the numbers suggest, although I admit I haven’t tried the Ami yet.
Model Y would be my shout too, just because of the charging network and the ease of using it.

[TheDrownedApe]

not sure if it big enough but Nissan Ariya is cheap atm.

[Kermit power]

Evanivitch said:

Model Y?

I did look at that, but because of the dog I need traditional SUV or Estate.

I'm not really sure what to call the Y - is it a saloon, a hatchback, a coupe??? - but the load height in the boot is way too low to take the dog crate.

[Evanivitch]

Kermit power said:

I did look at that, but because of the dog I need traditional SUV or Estate.

I'm not really sure what to call the Y - is it a saloon, a hatchback, a coupe??? - but the load height in the boot is way too low to take the dog crate.

Perhaps you've confused Model Y with Model 3?

My boss runs a Model Y with two young kids and a labradoodle. Perhaps worth taking a more practical check and a test drive?

Otherwise, if those are your requirements then the Enyaq is the best option for estate like features.

[Sheepshanks]

Kermit power said:

Audi Q6
Genesis GV60
Kona EV6 (not the GT though)
Audi Q8 (which seems to have dropped heavily in price with the launch of the Q8)
Skoda Enyaq

Enyaq seems a bit out of place on that list?

I was also going to suggest Ariya, or the Toyota bZ4X / Subaru Solterra - got those on my list as looking at AWD.

[ian_c_uk]

I've run a GV60 for 20mths now, just a single motor, and it's plenty quick for joining motorways \ overtaking etc, the power delivery is just "easy" and it's not my "fun" car. Coupled with range that matches it's estimations, and very relaxing active cruise with lane follow, it's a very "pleasant" thing to drive.

Whilst I'm really happy with it for my use case, I'm not sure 3x grown-ups in the rear and a dog are really it's forte. As mentioned above, Enyaq is a practical shape, or curved ball, how about the ID Buzz?

[Kermit power]

Evanivitch said:

Kermit power said:

I did look at that, but because of the dog I need traditional SUV or Estate.

I'm not really sure what to call the Y - is it a saloon, a hatchback, a coupe??? - but the load height in the boot is way too low to take the dog crate.

Perhaps you've confused Model Y with Model 3?

My boss runs a Model Y with two young kids and a labradoodle. Perhaps worth taking a more practical check and a test drive?

Otherwise, if those are your requirements then the Enyaq is the best option for estate like features.

No, definitely not confused it. I - and I can hardly believe I'm writing this! - watched enough of a 27 minute video of some bloke measuring one on YouTube to be certain!

The problem is how much it slopes down compared to, say, the Q6 or even the EV6.







I don't know how your boss transports his brood, but I've got a rigid crate in the back of my current XC60 and we can just about get enough kit in around it for a 5 adult long weekend without crushing the poor dog!

I could definitely replicate that in the Q6 or the Skoda (which is basically a Q4?) and I should be able to in the Kia or Genesis, but there's no chance I'd be able to shut the tailgate on the Y.

ETA - This is what I'm replacing. There's a smaller model of the crate that would work for something like the Kia, but nothing that would for the Tesla.

Edited by Kermit power on Wednesday 12th June 12:59

[Evanivitch]

Kermit power said:

No, definitely not confused it. I - and I can hardly believe I'm writing this! - watched enough of a 27 minute video of some bloke measuring one on YouTube to be certain!

The problem is how much it slopes down compared to, say, the Q6 or even the EV6.







I don't know how your boss transports his brood, but I've got a rigid crate in the back of my current XC60 and we can just about get enough kit in around it for a 5 adult long weekend without crushing the poor dog!

I could definitely replicate that in the Q6 or the Skoda (which is basically a Q4?) and I should be able to in the Kia or Genesis, but there's no chance I'd be able to shut the tailgate on the Y.

ETA - This is what I'm replacing. There's a smaller model of the crate that would work for something like the Kia, but nothing that would for the Tesla.

Edited by Kermit power on Wednesday 12th June 12:59

I think you're ignoring the depth on the Model Y boot, as it goes down far deeper than any of those non-EV platforms that traditionally use the boot well for batteries.

The Model Y luggage capacity (even without frunk) speaks for itself.

[Kermit power]

Evanivitch said:

I think you're ignoring the depth on the Model Y boot, as it goes down far deeper than any of those non-EV platforms that traditionally use the boot well for batteries.

The Model Y luggage capacity (even without frunk) speaks for itself.

I'm not ignoring it, but it's essentially useless!

Yes, on paper the Y has a massive boot, but it also effectively has a 35cm high lip, with a big (approx. 120l) storage bucket sitting under the main boot floor which is flush with the top of the lip.

This then leaves the space above which has a floor to ceiling height of around 68cm at the back of the seats, dropping to 55cm half way back, then 40cm at the tailgate. Useless for my requirements.

[Evanivitch]

Kermit power said:

I'm not ignoring it, but it's essentially useless!

Yes, on paper the Y has a massive boot, but it also effectively has a 35cm high lip, with a big (approx. 120l) storage bucket sitting under the main boot floor which is flush with the top of the lip.

This then leaves the space above which has a floor to ceiling height of around 68cm at the back of the seats, dropping to 55cm half way back, then 40cm at the tailgate. Useless for my requirements.

Fair enough. Seems odd it's perfectly practical to others for the same purpose...

[Kermit power]

Evanivitch said:

Kermit power said:

I'm not ignoring it, but it's essentially useless!

Yes, on paper the Y has a massive boot, but it also effectively has a 35cm high lip, with a big (approx. 120l) storage bucket sitting under the main boot floor which is flush with the top of the lip.

This then leaves the space above which has a floor to ceiling height of around 68cm at the back of the seats, dropping to 55cm half way back, then 40cm at the tailgate. Useless for my requirements.

Fair enough. Seems odd it's perfectly practical to others for the same purpose...

I'm sure it would be if you were just putting the dog in the boot loose. The problem comes with having his crate in there. You can't put it in the under floor bit as you then wouldn't be able to open the door on it, and as it's strapped down to the mounting points, you actually wouldn't be able to access the under floor storage at all without completely removing the crate.

Worth adding, btw, that both the Q6 and the EV6 are EV native platforms, not repurposed ICE chassis, so I'm pretty certain they both have the batteries under the passenger cabin too.

[gmaz]

Kermit power said:

I did look at that, but because of the dog I need traditional SUV or Estate.

I'm not really sure what to call the Y - is it a saloon, a hatchback, a coupe??? - but the load height in the boot is way too low to take the dog crate.

Really? Have you googled "Tesla Y dog crate". Loads of options available and the Tesla is the only car with a standard "Dog Mode"

edit - ok just saw your other posts, but still think a Y is the best option. Take your crate (and dog ) to a Tesla showroom and test it!

edit 2 - In my experience, most Tesla owners seldom use the under boot floor storage after chucking a spare charging cable in there. Remember you also have the frunk for easy access storage.

Edited by gmaz on Wednesday 12th June 16:57

[Tractor Driver]

Renault Scenic e-Tech could be worth a look. Decent amount of space, good reviews and (I believe) pretty good value per month on lease / salsac schemes.

Might be a bit ‘slow’ though. Just under 8 seconds 0-62 mph, if memory serves.

Even base (Techno) spec seems well equipped and the long range version has a quoted range of 379 miles.

[Kermit power]

gmaz said:

Really? Have you googled "Tesla Y dog crate". Loads of options available and the Tesla is the only car with a standard "Dog Mode"

edit - ok just saw your other posts, but still think a Y is the best option. Take your crate (and dog ) to a Tesla showroom and test it!

edit 2 - In my experience, most Tesla owners seldom use the under boot floor storage after chucking a spare charging cable in there. Remember you also have the frunk for easy access storage.

Seeing as you're so enthusiastic about it, I did just go to take a look, only to discover that I seem to be in a Tesla Bermuda triangle, at least an hour's round trip (if I'm really lucky with traffic) away from dealerships in Heathrow, Gatwick and Guildford!

Given that I can more or less walk to VW, Audi, Kia, Skoda and Mercedes dealerships from home, I'm afraid that's strike 2 for Tesla.

Strike 3 and out is my utterly irrational annoyance at the fact that for some reason they've managed to put metric dimension measurements on all the other European websites but for some reason have decided to use inches on the UK site?!? Who the hell still uses inches in the UK??? It makes me wonder if I'd have to debadge it on ordering if I didn't want it to turn up with an "I love Nigel" bumper sticker and a Reform UK membership card in the glove compartment!

[RobbyJ]

And sorry to all Model Y owners but strike 4 is the fact that it looks like the most generic EV blob ever. I'm not a fan of SUV's in general but all the other options to OP has suggested are better looking than the Y.

[Kermit power]

RobbyJ said:

And sorry to all Model Y owners but strike 4 is the fact that it looks like the most generic EV blob ever. I'm not a fan of SUV's in general but all the other options to OP has suggested are better looking than the Y.

Well yes, there is also that!

[mikey_b]

Mustang Mach-e? Calls itself an SUV, but may be a bit too coupe-ish for your needs with the dog?

[osterbo]

With those requirements, would you consider the ID Buzz GTX when it comes out? I know it's not a SUV, but there's plenty of space, it comes in interesting colours, and because they hold their value well seem to be relatively competitive on salary sacrifice.