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!
Since we are currently getting a photovoltaic system and I’m not sure if my wife will eventually switch to an electric vehicle for the second car, I’m following your thread with great interest and have done some research myself.
What I believe hasn’t come up yet is the Citroën C4 and the Peugeot 208, which is the counterpart to the Corsa. The 208 looks a bit sportier to me than the Corsa but probably has the same technology, which you weren’t too impressed with.
What I believe hasn’t come up yet is the Citroën C4 and the Peugeot 208, which is the counterpart to the Corsa. The 208 looks a bit sportier to me than the Corsa but probably has the same technology, which you weren’t too impressed with.
On the relevant car platform, someone test-drove both the R5 and the Inster and confirmed that despite having less interior space, the Inster has a higher "want-to-have factor." This surprised me and makes me feel positive, especially since it is also available at a significantly lower price.
Musketier schrieb:
Since we are also getting a photovoltaic system and I’m not sure if my wife will eventually agree to an electric vehicle for the second car, I’m following your thread with great interest and did some research myself. For us, having a second electric car is an advantage because one is often parked and charging at home while the other is on the road. Depending on the need, we switch between the cars, and from March/April onwards we won’t need any electricity from the grid for the cars. With only one vehicle, you usually can only charge in the evening when the sun is gone or during the weekend. That might be enough in summer, but during the transition months, having both electric vehicles definitely makes sense.
Tolentino schrieb:
On a popular car platform, someone test drove the R5 and the Inster and said that despite the Inster having less interior space, it has a bigger “want-to-have” factor. That surprised me and makes me positive, since it is also clearly cheaper. I don’t know either one yet, but for me, I realized that people get hooked in completely different ways—or not at all. For example, I really like my very large screen and the rear visibility, which is extremely helpful in winter on our driveway. Our Hyundai is very modern in every aspect, but the app is much slower and rather clunky, and the narrow screen, though stylish, feels too small for me. I think you have to have sat inside the cars because people’s impressions vary greatly.