Used EV - 2nd car

[325iMSport]

We have a G05 BMW X5 as our main family car and a 2012 BMW X3 as the second car. The X3 is getting old and unreliable so thinking about replacing it with a small efficient EV.

As it's the second car in the family, range is not too much of an issue as long as it does a genuine 100 miles all year round.

Space wise it needs to be a standard hatchback size so nothing too small like a Corsa or Mini.

Price wise were looking around £13k. Looking around I have found these three contenders;

VW e-golf
Hyundai Kona
Nissan Leaf

Other cars I've ruled out due to size;

e208
Corsa e
Mini e
i3

I am leaning towards the the e-golf as like the mk7.5 golf. My mum has a standard 1.4 version and I find it a brilliant every day car.

I believe the Kona is slightly smaller especially in the rear?

Any other options?

Thanks

[SWoll]

I wouldn't necessarily throw the i3 out immediately due to it's exterior dimensions. We ran one for 6 months as an only car with 4 adults regularly onboard as its a ground up EV that uses that to great advantage from a packaging perspective. The boot is dinky but fine or a weekly shop, it has a fairly useable frunk and is a cracking car for around town.

One of the later 120ah models you'd get in budget will do 130 miles (winter) and 180 miles (summer) with ease.

[sjg]

Kona is pretty tight in the back, yes. They seem to have given all the space to the front seats and boot and squeezed the back seats as a result.

I've had an egolf (after two other mk7 Golfs) and now have a Leaf. egolf can be less than 100 miles on motorway in winter (no heat pump as standard) but fine for that the rest of the time. 40kwh Leaf will be good for it all the time, and you get easily get a top spec Tekna in budget.

Big difference in approach. The egolf is very "normal". Regular key, regular auto gear selector, no % battery reading just a "fuel gauge". If you know Golfs you'll be right at home, all very intuitive controls - it's also a much lower seating position if you prefer it. The Leaf isn't afraid to show it's an electric car: weird gear selector, lots of menus on the display showing you all sorts of things. The epedal (regen braking then physical braking for proper one pedal driving) is great, the boot is much bigger, the driving position is higher (it's very similar height to Qashqai, just no faux-SUV styling). It's also a much better understood platform if anything were to go wrong, the independents have seen loads of them.

[andy43]

Also add on the Kia Soul - 8 grand now for an early one - they’ve lost about 5 grand in the last few months. Ten grandish gets a 2018 with some of the seven year warranty left on it. We had one for 2.5 years - zero problems. CarPlay, heated seats etc - good bit of kit and less challenging looks wise than the Kona imho.

[325iMSport]

SWoll said:

I wouldn't necessarily throw the i3 out immediately due to it's exterior dimensions. We ran one for 6 months as an only car with 4 adults regularly onboard as its a ground up EV that uses that to great advantage from a packaging perspective. The boot is dinky but fine or a weekly shop, it has a fairly useable frunk and is a cracking car for around town.

One of the later 120ah models you'd get in budget will do 130 miles (winter) and 180 miles (summer) with ease.

Interesting reply. I sat in one a few weeks ago and I did like the driving position but found the rear cramped and less space than a mk7 golf.

[325iMSport]

sjg said:

Kona is pretty tight in the back, yes. They seem to have given all the space to the front seats and boot and squeezed the back seats as a result.

I've had an egolf (after two other mk7 Golfs) and now have a Leaf. egolf can be less than 100 miles on motorway in winter (no heat pump as standard) but fine for that the rest of the time. 40kwh Leaf will be good for it all the time, and you get easily get a top spec Tekna in budget.

Big difference in approach. The egolf is very "normal". Regular key, regular auto gear selector, no % battery reading just a "fuel gauge". If you know Golfs you'll be right at home, all very intuitive controls - it's also a much lower seating position if you prefer it. The Leaf isn't afraid to show it's an electric car: weird gear selector, lots of menus on the display showing you all sorts of things. The epedal (regen braking then physical braking for proper one pedal driving) is great, the boot is much bigger, the driving position is higher (it's very similar height to Qashqai, just no faux-SUV styling). It's also a much better understood platform if anything were to go wrong, the independents have seen loads of them.

I think I need to try a Leaf to be honest but at the moment I like the normal car approach of the VW.

[325iMSport]

andy43 said:

Also add on the Kia Soul - 8 grand now for an early one - they’ve lost about 5 grand in the last few months. Ten grandish gets a 2018 with some of the seven year warranty left on it. We had one for 2.5 years - zero problems. CarPlay, heated seats etc - good bit of kit and less challenging looks wise than the Kona imho.

I'm the opposite, I dont like the looks of the Kia!

[autumnsum]

The Leaf is the biggest and the seats go down and it can take a huge amount of cargo if that matters to you.

Only the 40+ will get 100miles guaranteed.

[325iMSport]

sjg said:

Kona is pretty tight in the back, yes. They seem to have given all the space to the front seats and boot and squeezed the back seats as a result.

I've had an egolf (after two other mk7 Golfs) and now have a Leaf. egolf can be less than 100 miles on motorway in winter (no heat pump as standard) but fine for that the rest of the time. 40kwh Leaf will be good for it all the time, and you get easily get a top spec Tekna in budget.

Big difference in approach. The egolf is very "normal". Regular key, regular auto gear selector, no % battery reading just a "fuel gauge". If you know Golfs you'll be right at home, all very intuitive controls - it's also a much lower seating position if you prefer it. The Leaf isn't afraid to show it's an electric car: weird gear selector, lots of menus on the display showing you all sorts of things. The epedal (regen braking then physical braking for proper one pedal driving) is great, the boot is much bigger, the driving position is higher (it's very similar height to Qashqai, just no faux-SUV styling). It's also a much better understood platform if anything were to go wrong, the independents have seen loads of them.

How many miles were you getting in the egolf in summer and winter?

[sjg]

135 quite easily in summer if there's not too much motorway. Usually planned around 100 miles before charging on a longer/motorway trip unless it's cold and wet. Did quite a few 200+ mile trips in it, including getting it home from the dealer in Bradford to London.

In the winter you can use loads of power warming the cabin each time you use it - we were doing twice daily nursery runs of about a mile each and a few other local trips, could use half the battery a week just on that.

[Bannock]

Hyundai Ioniq 38kwh.

And whatever you get, the fueling costs are going to be so much lower than your current main car, and you'll enjoy driving it so much, that the EV will become your main car before you've realised it.

[325iMSport]

sjg said:

135 quite easily in summer if there's not too much motorway. Usually planned around 100 miles before charging on a longer/motorway trip unless it's cold and wet. Did quite a few 200+ mile trips in it, including getting it home from the dealer in Bradford to London.

In the winter you can use loads of power warming the cabin each time you use it - we were doing twice daily nursery runs of about a mile each and a few other local trips, could use half the battery a week just on that.

I thought the e-golf had a cabin pre warming feature which means it can be heated whilst plugged in?

[sjg]

Yes it can, but can do it on battery too if it's not too low. If you're setting off on a longer journey then it makes total sense to top up the battery and do the preheat from the mains.

After 2 years in a Golf GTE that we plugged in every day it's nice to not bother unless the car actually need topping up.

[Discombobulate]

i3 120 Ah every time.
Fab little car and VERY efficient (mine has averaged 4.5 miles / kWh over last 20k).
Bought as white goods for work / commute, it has worked its way into our hearts.

[Max5476]

Bannock said:

Hyundai Ioniq 38kwh.

And whatever you get, the fueling costs are going to be so much lower than your current main car, and you'll enjoy driving it so much, that the EV will become your main car before you've realised it.

My suggestion also, (particularly as that's where my money went) if you are considering the e-golf then the first generation 28kWh would also be a contender, as its such an efficient shape it gets great range for its battery size.

To me the Kona is the same size as the corsa so would be too small for you.

[clockworks]

325iMSport said:

I thought the e-golf had a cabin pre warming feature which means it can be heated whilst plugged in?

Pre-heating whilst plugged in sounds like a good idea, but most users would be pre-heating on daytime rate electricity (30p or more), even if all their normal charging was done at off-peak rates (9p or less).

Probably worth doing if it means avoiding using a public charger to top up to complete your journey, but not worth it for short trips.

[Still Mulling]

Bannock said:

Hyundai Ioniq 38kwh.

This. We love ours. Worth the additional cost over the 28 kWh (we've owned both).

And yes, I'm happy to take flack for my constant putting forward of this car as being the perfect second car-EV.

[dvs_dave]

We have a 2016 e-golf, bought off lease in 2019 as a second car. All the benefits of the golf platform, good under-the-radar looks, practicality, improved considerably by the electric drivetrain. Peppy performance, good handling (especially with better tyres), and a great car overall. For us its also been faultless.

They all have cabin pre-heating/cooling that will work off the battery, or use wall power if plugged in. 2016 on have upgraded infotainment with apple carplay/android auto as standard.

My recommendation would be to go for a 2017 on SEL trim. All 2017 on have an approx. 50% bigger battery, and a more powerful/efficient motor, so have an according range bump. 100 miles winter, easy. But the SEL brings a lot of nice extra features such as 50kW DC/7kW AC charging as standard (optional on lower trims), heat pump, LED lights all round, leather seats, adaptive cruise with stop/go, active lane keep, blind spot/traffic assist, auto park, front/rear parking sensors, upgraded infotainment, and a few others. Basically the SEL's are fully loaded, and significantly better specced then the SE.

I think the 2019's added a full LCD instrument cluster, and a few other tweaks.

We're very happy with ours, and you would be very happy too.

[essayer]

Another vote for the ioniq. Well specc’d, decent size and very economical, just let down by a lack of fast charging (50kW max)

[M4cruiser]

essayer said:

Another vote for the ioniq. Well specc’d, decent size and very economical, just let down by a lack of fast charging (50kW max)

Strange how the word "fast" has changed its meaning over the last 12 years of Leaf existence.
This is the standard set-up:-
Slow = Granny lead, i.e. 2Kw. (8 to 10 amps)
Fast = home wall-box (and some lamp-posts), 3.3 Kw or up to 7Kw max. (15 to 30 amps)
Rapid = up to 50Kw (100 to 200 amps)
Ultra-rapid = over 50 but up to 150Kw. (a lot of amps)