Exactly the same running costs, would you go ICE or EV?

[Tindersticks]

The question is too binary

[Tye Green]

A Hyundai Ioniq 5 N for £60k offers all the thrills of the ICE gearchanges / clutches / brum noises (if that's your thing) and outperforms everything ICE in that price bracket.

in a couple of years there will be an app for £20 which will allow such fun to be enjoyed in any EV. there will be lighter & faster charging batteries with longer range. still want an ICE then?

[crofty1984]

911Spanker said:

Already the talk in favour of EVs is either about cost or how easy they are to drive.

Yippee.

Which is what 90% of new car buyers want.

[Glenn63]

_Neal_ said:

Glenn63 said:

ICE because I like brum brum noises. If you’re not a powerfully built PH director of many business you can put a brand new top end electric car through and have a budget of say £20-30k, there’s zero fun or interesting electric cars at that price point compared to many many ICE cars I can get excited about.

I'd say there are quite a few interesting electric cars at that price point and lower - examples including Hyundai Ioniq 5/6, Honda E, Polestar 2 and (the one I chose) BMW i3. Whether you can get excited about them is another matter, but I'd say they are definitely interesting.

Anyway, it's all about horses for courses IMO - we went for a used i3 as a daily commuter/run around, basically bought it because I wanted an EV and I liked it - it's only ever been charged at home, has a range of 60-80 miles which is plenty, is nice to drive (partly because it doesn't weigh very much I think) easy to park, quick 0-50 and more environmentally friendly than the equivalent ICE assuming you do a few miles. Basically bought for a whole bunch of reasons of which cheaper running costs wasn't one.

It's not our only car though, but it's the one that is used the most by far. Whether running costs are lower than the equivalent ICE I'm not sure - we do about 3000 miles per year in it and suspect costs are similar, possibly higher when you take depreciation into account.

True, it’s very much user dependant. But for instance Honda E or S2000? BMW i3 vs E90 M3? There’s just no contest for me when it comes to interest/excitement/enjoyment of ownership.

[WonkeyDonkey]

durbster said:

Do you think you may be stretching the "Exactly the same running costs" scenario a bit there?

Just a tad!

Like most things... It depends. If I just wanted a commuter and an electric would do my commute and back comfortably on one charge then I'd go electric as I'd be happy to never see a petrol station again.

For a weekend car that is using sparingly then something petrol as I still want the sounds and the smells and the odd bit of tinkering.

[_Neal_]

Glenn63 said:

_Neal_ said:

Glenn63 said:

ICE because I like brum brum noises. If you’re not a powerfully built PH director of many business you can put a brand new top end electric car through and have a budget of say £20-30k, there’s zero fun or interesting electric cars at that price point compared to many many ICE cars I can get excited about.

I'd say there are quite a few interesting electric cars at that price point and lower - examples including Hyundai Ioniq 5/6, Honda E, Polestar 2 and (the one I chose) BMW i3. Whether you can get excited about them is another matter, but I'd say they are definitely interesting.

Anyway, it's all about horses for courses IMO - we went for a used i3 as a daily commuter/run around, basically bought it because I wanted an EV and I liked it - it's only ever been charged at home, has a range of 60-80 miles which is plenty, is nice to drive (partly because it doesn't weigh very much I think) easy to park, quick 0-50 and more environmentally friendly than the equivalent ICE assuming you do a few miles. Basically bought for a whole bunch of reasons of which cheaper running costs wasn't one.

It's not our only car though, but it's the one that is used the most by far. Whether running costs are lower than the equivalent ICE I'm not sure - we do about 3000 miles per year in it and suspect costs are similar, possibly higher when you take depreciation into account.

True, it’s very much user dependant. But for instance Honda E or S2000? BMW i3 vs E90 M3? There’s just no contest for me when it comes to interest/excitement/enjoyment of ownership.

Agreed - horses for courses and personal taste of course, I was just pointing out that interesting electric cars do exist. Are they as interesting as an S2000 or E90 M3? Probably not, for most on here at least.

PS - I wouldn't want to take an i3 or Honda E on a trackday or European tour, nor would I want to do a daily stop-start commute with kids in the car in an S2000 or E90 M3.

[T_S_M]

_Neal_ said:

Glenn63 said:

_Neal_ said:

Glenn63 said:

ICE because I like brum brum noises. If you’re not a powerfully built PH director of many business you can put a brand new top end electric car through and have a budget of say £20-30k, there’s zero fun or interesting electric cars at that price point compared to many many ICE cars I can get excited about.

I'd say there are quite a few interesting electric cars at that price point and lower - examples including Hyundai Ioniq 5/6, Honda E, Polestar 2 and (the one I chose) BMW i3. Whether you can get excited about them is another matter, but I'd say they are definitely interesting.

Anyway, it's all about horses for courses IMO - we went for a used i3 as a daily commuter/run around, basically bought it because I wanted an EV and I liked it - it's only ever been charged at home, has a range of 60-80 miles which is plenty, is nice to drive (partly because it doesn't weigh very much I think) easy to park, quick 0-50 and more environmentally friendly than the equivalent ICE assuming you do a few miles. Basically bought for a whole bunch of reasons of which cheaper running costs wasn't one.

It's not our only car though, but it's the one that is used the most by far. Whether running costs are lower than the equivalent ICE I'm not sure - we do about 3000 miles per year in it and suspect costs are similar, possibly higher when you take depreciation into account.

True, it’s very much user dependant. But for instance Honda E or S2000? BMW i3 vs E90 M3? There’s just no contest for me when it comes to interest/excitement/enjoyment of ownership.

Agreed - horses for courses and personal taste of course, I was just pointing out that interesting electric cars do exist. Are they as interesting as an S2000 or E90 M3? Probably not, for most on here at least.

PS - I wouldn't want to take an i3 or Honda E on a trackday or European tour, nor would I want to do a daily stop-start commute with kids in the car in an S2000 or E90 M3.

A fairer comparison might be a BMW i4 M50 vs BMW M3. Similar size, power and price(ish).

I honestly don’t know which I’d take given the same running costs.

[cayman-black]

WonkeyDonkey said:

Just a tad!

Like most things... It depends. If I just wanted a commuter and an electric would do my commute and back comfortably on one charge then I'd go electric as I'd be happy to never see a petrol station again.

For a weekend car that is using sparingly then something petrol as I still want the sounds and the smells and the odd bit of tinkering.

I suppose for the above its ok but every other scenario it would be ICE.

[GeniusOfLove]

If it's between an EV and some four pot turbocharged dross then EV.

If it's an EV and a proper big boys car? Not much of a decision really, is it?