Which EV for young(ish) mum?
Discussion
Daughter wants an EV. Is clueless about cars and, as reference point, currently drives 1 litre manual SEAT Ateca. Got a daughter and a dog. Does approaching 20K/yr, 65 mile round trip commute, mostly motorway (so spending a ton on petrol).
For practical purposes, I can’t get past Kona / Niro. But they seem like old people’s cars - the Gen 1 versions just look old, and the new ones look awkward.
What am I missing? One of the Volvos would maybe fit the bill but reviews are iffy and local dealer has a poor reputation. Warranty seems very limited too.
Looking to buy nearly new to a couple of years old, unless a blow-out deal on new. Her mileage kills leasing.
For practical purposes, I can’t get past Kona / Niro. But they seem like old people’s cars - the Gen 1 versions just look old, and the new ones look awkward.
What am I missing? One of the Volvos would maybe fit the bill but reviews are iffy and local dealer has a poor reputation. Warranty seems very limited too.
Looking to buy nearly new to a couple of years old, unless a blow-out deal on new. Her mileage kills leasing.
A cupra born.
The boot isn’t the biggest but holds a pram.
The rear doors open wide so easy to get kids in and out the back. Loads of room inside the cabin.
As long as she can charge from home. The smaller battery version is ideal.
My parents seem to average 4.2m/kw in theirs with local journeys and the odd 100 mile journey.
The boot isn’t the biggest but holds a pram.
The rear doors open wide so easy to get kids in and out the back. Loads of room inside the cabin.
As long as she can charge from home. The smaller battery version is ideal.
My parents seem to average 4.2m/kw in theirs with local journeys and the odd 100 mile journey.
TheRainMaker said:
Yep, they are pretty ugly. You can't help but stare 
Had one. A very competent family bus. Sufficient range for 99% of journeys - I queued for a charger once in 24k miles for about 5 mins. Sufficient performance for everyone. Coming from a small petrol it’ll feel like warp drive. Ride was poor (mine was an early one).
I’d consider a lightly used one.
If the space isn't needed, model 3 will give more choice (and less cost). Kia Nero also excellent value.
sam.rog said:
A cupra born.
The boot isn’t the biggest but holds a pram.
The rear doors open wide so easy to get kids in and out the back. Loads of room inside the cabin.
As long as she can charge from home. The smaller battery version is ideal.
My parents seem to average 4.2m/kw in theirs with local journeys and the odd 100 mile journey.
Had thought of that - a VW dealer lent me an ID.3 for a couple of days and I quite liked it, although the visibility around the A posts worried me. It was new and did have the usual software / warnings issues. The SEAT dealer we use doesn’t have Cupra and the nearest ones are an hour+ away in a directions we don’t normally go. I did similar with a car a few yrs ago and vowed never again.The boot isn’t the biggest but holds a pram.
The rear doors open wide so easy to get kids in and out the back. Loads of room inside the cabin.
As long as she can charge from home. The smaller battery version is ideal.
My parents seem to average 4.2m/kw in theirs with local journeys and the odd 100 mile journey.
I could be wrong about this but RWD slightly bothers me - daughter’s house is on steepish hill with a couple of awkward turns. The motorway she uses is notorious for being streaming wet. Her Ateca is on CrossClimates and has been fine.
Sheepshanks said:
Daughter wants an EV. Is clueless about cars and, as reference point, currently drives 1 litre manual SEAT Ateca. Got a daughter and a dog. Does approaching 20K/yr, 65 mile round trip commute, mostly motorway (so spending a ton on petrol).
For practical purposes, I can’t get past Kona / Niro. But they seem like old people’s cars - the Gen 1 versions just look old, and the new ones look awkward.
What am I missing? One of the Volvos would maybe fit the bill but reviews are iffy and local dealer has a poor reputation. Warranty seems very limited too.
Looking to buy nearly new to a couple of years old, unless a blow-out deal on new. Her mileage kills leasing.
20k miles a year should be about £3k a year in petrol?For practical purposes, I can’t get past Kona / Niro. But they seem like old people’s cars - the Gen 1 versions just look old, and the new ones look awkward.
What am I missing? One of the Volvos would maybe fit the bill but reviews are iffy and local dealer has a poor reputation. Warranty seems very limited too.
Looking to buy nearly new to a couple of years old, unless a blow-out deal on new. Her mileage kills leasing.
That doesn't go far in depreciation on 'nearly new'.
With a child, that's a lot of hours spent commuting.
Cars are quite trivial in the bigger picture.
Sheepshanks said:
Had thought of that - a VW dealer lent me an ID.3 for a couple of days and I quite liked it, although the visibility around the A posts worried me.
Visibility around the A posts was the reason we ended up with an Ioniq 5 over the KIA EV6. It's a bit larger car than ID:3, but more in terms of interior space than external dimensions.
OutInTheShed said:
20k miles a year should be about £3k a year in petrol?
That doesn't go far in depreciation on 'nearly new'.
With a child, that's a lot of hours spent commuting.
Cars are quite trivial in the bigger picture.
That’s about right for petrol and of course would still cost minimum £600 for elec. She would charge at home.That doesn't go far in depreciation on 'nearly new'.
With a child, that's a lot of hours spent commuting.
Cars are quite trivial in the bigger picture.
It’s partially a bit of an experiment for me - I’d like to get an EV into the family “fleet” and see how it goes.
She’ll need to change her car soon anyway - Ateca is 6yrs old and on 85K (she worked much closer to home for the first 3 yrs), but if you do the maths it’s amazing that even with her use case it still could be that an EV doesn’t save money vs buying a similar ICE vehicle, especially if buying new.
Commute takes a pretty reliable 45 mins, so not too bad time-wise.
Road2Ruin said:
kambites said:
We've just got an MG4 for my wife with pretty much these same criteria. We paid £23k for a 9 month old 64kWh car.
It's also RWD, mind.
That would be my choice. It's also RWD, mind.
Similar with Honda e:Ny1 - I looked at those when the bargain PCP deal came up, and it’s on offer again now (though not quite as cheap) but again 20K/yr kills it and the reviews are terrible. It’s also pretty poor on miles per kw.
Sheepshanks said:
I’m probably guilty of reading too many forums but I’d got the impression people were having various issues to the extent that a few had been rejected, I think including someone on here?
If you're worried about reports of a few duff examples, don't touch anything from VW group! I know five or six MG4 owners none of whom have had issues, but of course that doesn't mean no-one has! We've only had ours slightly over 24 hours so I can't help you much with reliability.
Check insurance on whatever you choose too. EV insurance rates seem rather... random. We've just paid £420 to insure the MG4 up from about £200 on her previous Octavia VRS. Of course the difference in VED more than covers that difference but for a younger driver with inherently higher insurance, it could be pretty eye-watering.
Edited by kambites on Sunday 25th August 12:48
kambites said:
Sheepshanks said:
I’m probably guilty of reading too many forums but I’d got the impression people were having various issues to the extent that a few had been rejected, I think including someone on here?
If you're worried about reports of a few duff examples, don't touch anything from VW group! I know five or six MG4 owners none of whom have had issues, but of course that doesn't mean no-one has! We've only had ours slightly over 24 hours so I can't help you much with reliability.
Check insurance on whatever you choose too. EV insurance rates seem rather... random. We've just paid £420 to insure the MG4 up from about £200 on her previous Octavia VRS. Of course the difference in VED more than covers that difference but for a younger driver with inherently higher insurance, it could be pretty eye-watering.
Stuff like no rear wiper on MG4 seems odd. I think it's the level of intrusiveness of the driver aids that causes a lot of comments? But I guess many / all new cars are like that. MG is in our local Honda dealer - it's always been a somewhat weird place, I walked around the showroom, opened and closed cars etc, and was totally ignored. Went next door (same dealer group) to Hyundai and I think they'd have turned themselves inside out if I'd asked them to.
Thanks for the comment on insurance - when the first e:NY1 deals appeared our insurer (LV) wouldn't quote and I checked the other day and they still won't. They'll quote on other EVs though. On comparison sites is was coming up around £700 vs Ateca's £400 (again I think her mileage bumps it up). I think things have settled a bit - I looked for myself at iPace and Tesla and was getting quotes £1500++
Left field now unless you want to buy new. Renault Zoe 50, though if an early one make sure it has DC charging as initially it was optional. I seem to remember the rear doors do open wide, however I'll caveat that's from memory and I sold mine several years ago not long after I got my Genesis. With Renault no longer making the model and the New 5 due out soon they price of these may drop.
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