ᐅ BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle Experiences and Recommendations
Created on: 23 Jan 2025 15:14
T
Tolentino
Dear forum members,
I know this is a homebuilding forum, but relevant car forums tend to be either very brand-loyal or strongly critical of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Since I assume there is a significant overlap between homeowners and BEV owners, I’m posting my question here. I chose this subforum because it seemed somewhat related—discussing household technology felt off topic.
I’ll soon be returning my ZOE and am currently exploring options for a replacement. It should again be a small to compact car, with 80-90% urban driving and average daily distances of about 25 km (15.5 miles). Occasionally, I drive 40-50 km (25-31 miles) in the city (about once a month) and very rarely 180 km (112 miles) on highways and country roads.
Absolute exclusions:
Tesla, for ethical reasons
Vehicles with a new price over 50,000 EUR (approx. $53,000), because the financing rate would be too high
Less preferred:
VW Group cars
Obvious SUVs
Another ZOE
Models I am interested in:
Renault 5 (possibly too new and expensive)
Hyundai Kona Electric (this is my upper limit for SUV styling)
MG4
Opel Corsa-e (though it didn’t perform well in ADAC tests)
Mainly looking for personal experience reports.
So, please share your thoughts—thanks in advance!
I know this is a homebuilding forum, but relevant car forums tend to be either very brand-loyal or strongly critical of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Since I assume there is a significant overlap between homeowners and BEV owners, I’m posting my question here. I chose this subforum because it seemed somewhat related—discussing household technology felt off topic.
I’ll soon be returning my ZOE and am currently exploring options for a replacement. It should again be a small to compact car, with 80-90% urban driving and average daily distances of about 25 km (15.5 miles). Occasionally, I drive 40-50 km (25-31 miles) in the city (about once a month) and very rarely 180 km (112 miles) on highways and country roads.
Absolute exclusions:
Tesla, for ethical reasons
Vehicles with a new price over 50,000 EUR (approx. $53,000), because the financing rate would be too high
Less preferred:
VW Group cars
Obvious SUVs
Another ZOE
Models I am interested in:
Renault 5 (possibly too new and expensive)
Hyundai Kona Electric (this is my upper limit for SUV styling)
MG4
Opel Corsa-e (though it didn’t perform well in ADAC tests)
Mainly looking for personal experience reports.
So, please share your thoughts—thanks in advance!
Feel free to ask.
I’m currently paying a monthly lease of 185. 48 months, 7,500 km/year (as mentioned, Trend, 42 kWh, without additional packages).
1,300 transfer fee.
Apparently, there are no flat fees upon return, but I might just get an inspection done myself to be on the safe side.
Select without any extras would have been possible for 136.
Cross would have cost 229.
I didn’t ask about Prime.
I’m currently paying a monthly lease of 185. 48 months, 7,500 km/year (as mentioned, Trend, 42 kWh, without additional packages).
1,300 transfer fee.
Apparently, there are no flat fees upon return, but I might just get an inspection done myself to be on the safe side.
Select without any extras would have been possible for 136.
Cross would have cost 229.
I didn’t ask about Prime.
Last week, we leased a 2023 Kia EV6 demonstrator for 3 years with a mileage limit of 15,000 km (9,320 miles). Since it is used, there were no delivery fees, and fortunately, the winter tires from our current non-leased Ioniq 5 fit as well. We’ll see how it goes.....
It’s not the newest model with the facelift, but it works for us.
It’s not the newest model with the facelift, but it works for us.
Make sure to keep an eye on maintenance and service intervals… I can report from 4 years of owning an ID3 that it required scheduled service every 24 months, but in reality, it went to the workshop every 15,000 km (about every 18 months). Not much was done except checking the brakes and reading the software, but I paid 500 euros each time...
The incredibly poor software, which VW never managed to fix during the entire ownership period, is supposedly better now... I also had 5 unscheduled workshop visits due to the stabilizer link (which was never properly fixed), charging performance (also not resolved), alarm system (which finally worked ;-)) and so on...
The incredibly poor software, which VW never managed to fix during the entire ownership period, is supposedly better now... I also had 5 unscheduled workshop visits due to the stabilizer link (which was never properly fixed), charging performance (also not resolved), alarm system (which finally worked ;-)) and so on...
Just wanted to give an update:
I successfully canceled the Inster order because it simply was never delivered.
It finally ended up being a...
Vinfast VF 6!
What?! Yes, really a Vietnamese car.
What can I say—it drives well (however, winter consumption is quite high). It has all the features (360° camera, HUD, all the bells and whistles). For an incredibly low lease rate.
That balances out the extremely high insurance cost. I need to keep an eye on the consumption; it got quite cold shortly after pickup, and the fuel use on short trips hasn’t been great. Let’s see how it turns out over the whole year.
I successfully canceled the Inster order because it simply was never delivered.
It finally ended up being a...
Vinfast VF 6!
What?! Yes, really a Vietnamese car.
What can I say—it drives well (however, winter consumption is quite high). It has all the features (360° camera, HUD, all the bells and whistles). For an incredibly low lease rate.
That balances out the extremely high insurance cost. I need to keep an eye on the consumption; it got quite cold shortly after pickup, and the fuel use on short trips hasn’t been great. Let’s see how it turns out over the whole year.
N
nordanney15 Dec 2025 14:15Tolentino schrieb:
What?! Yes, really a Vietnamese car.
What can I say, it drives well (although winter consumption is quite high). It has all the features (360° camera, HUD, fancy extras). For a very affordable lease rate. Congratulations. May I ask about the lease rate? We plan to look for a private BEV early in 2026, and I have never heard of Vinfast before (I know the brand but never anyone who actually drives one of their cars).
Who handles the servicing? And what do you mean by "high" consumption? For comparison, my ID7 GTX uses about 20 kWh on average during winter.
110,- with a special color. The promotion was 99,- for standard white.
10,000 km (6,200 miles), 36 months.
As far as I know, the deal is over. For the regular price (189-199), I wouldn’t lease the car.
Regarding service, there are a handful of dealers (I believe there are now 5-6, unfortunately not evenly distributed across Germany) and also 7 ATU locations.
I haven’t had any direct contact with service yet; it seems to be quite mixed. On one hand, Vinfast seems to make an honest effort, but they often also miss things.
Energy consumption depends on the route, around 20-30 kWh per 100 km (12-19 kWh per 62 miles) according to the WLTP standard. Honestly calculated with losses, I once measured 50 kWh per 100 km (31 kWh per 62 miles). That happens when you drive only 10-15 minutes at a time in various stores during freezing temperatures.
It doesn’t have a heat pump, and the heating control is designed to run at full power right from the start.
I’m not sure if this can be optimized by software.
10,000 km (6,200 miles), 36 months.
As far as I know, the deal is over. For the regular price (189-199), I wouldn’t lease the car.
Regarding service, there are a handful of dealers (I believe there are now 5-6, unfortunately not evenly distributed across Germany) and also 7 ATU locations.
I haven’t had any direct contact with service yet; it seems to be quite mixed. On one hand, Vinfast seems to make an honest effort, but they often also miss things.
Energy consumption depends on the route, around 20-30 kWh per 100 km (12-19 kWh per 62 miles) according to the WLTP standard. Honestly calculated with losses, I once measured 50 kWh per 100 km (31 kWh per 62 miles). That happens when you drive only 10-15 minutes at a time in various stores during freezing temperatures.
It doesn’t have a heat pump, and the heating control is designed to run at full power right from the start.
I’m not sure if this can be optimized by software.
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