EV general discussion

Journey said:
There a 77kWh V3 for sub £20k.

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk
Click to expand...

Thank you for taking the time to look but a bit too much miles for my liking and I have set a limit of 30,000. There is a V2 a few grand cheaper than the local one I tested that has some extra features but it is battleship grey.

Things it has I genuinely don’t really care about, though always nice to have I suppose.

Pluses
360 camera
Adaptive cruise
Blind spot monitoring

Negatives
Boring battleship grey
6,000 more miles (about 1 years driving for me).
No bucket seat with adjustable squab
No electric adjust front seats.

It’s in Ipswich and a 313 mile drive to Holyhead for a boat to Dublin the another 90 mile drive home. So about £250 for that trip and a full days travel. Could ask if they deliver but I do prefer to check in person.

If I opt to go for the local one I will of course point out the £2000 cheaper one in mainland UK and that I could take an adventure and get a car with more options. See if they offer a free service plan or such. Can very easily live without the 360 cam, ACC and BLIS.

Then sensible me is saying the 58kWh versions have ample range. I might do 250 miles once a year and hardly a problem.
 
Last edited:
ICDP said:
Thank you for taking the time to look but a bit too much miles for my liking and I have set a limit of 30,000. There is one a few grand cheaper than the local one I tested that has some extra features but it is battleship grey.

Things it has I genuinely don’t really care about, though always nice to have I suppose.

Pluses
360 camera
Adaptive cruise
Blind spot monitoring

Negatives
Boring battleship grey
6,000 more miles (about 1 years driving for me).

Then sensible me is saying the 58kWh versions have ample range. I might do 250 miles once a year and hardly a problem.
Click to expand...

To be fair I didn't really look at the mileage, I'm way more confident of a high mileage BEV than ICE, I supposed it could have more suspension wear and tear, and more interior scuffs and marks.

If it were me personally I'd take a higher mileage 77kWh version over 58kWh with lower mileage at a similar cost, since the range will be greater on the 77kWh regardless of any deg. and you still have 40k miles of warranty on the drive train and battery, which for you is nearly 7 years, so the warranty would expire before you hit that any how. I think the re-sale value will be much the same in 4-5 years or however long you keep it in 2030 and 8 year old car with 90k miles, or just over 11k per year would be seen as 'normal' mileage.

Adaptive cruise is a nice to have, as it the blind spot monitoring. Colour is personal preference, but something that has never bothered me at all.
 
ICDP said:
My I-Pace lease ends in a few weeks and I have begun in earnest to find a replacement. I’m going used this time at around 2 - 2.5 year old so most of the depreciation is over.

I just test drove a 2023 77kWh Born V3 and was impressed with the driving dynamics, comfort and overall quality. There were cheaper V2s and V3s with 58kWh batteries but the longer range would be a nice option, despite lack of middle rear seat. I was convinced I wanted 360 camera, but that’s more because the I-Pace is quite a bit bigger with poor rear visibility and quite hard to judge distance to kerb when parking. Then I saw how decent all round visibility was from the Born and thoughts of needing a 360 camera quickly faded. I guess the problem is if you give a driver decent visibility, all this tech becomes moot.

I also tried a 2023 Megane E-Tech Iconic and it was just not as nice as the Born. A decent EV with a nice quality feel overall but the driving dynamics were lacking. It also felt a lot more cramped and claustrophobic and significantly worse visibility compared to the Born. It did also have a reverse camera with the 360 view, but both were practically useless as they were low res on a smaller screen. This helped confirm my previous point about decent visibility being more important than tech.

I have previously tried a basic spec 2021 ID.3 58kWh and found it OK if a little bland.

Now I keep trying to convince myself the Born V3 is worth the extra at the top end of my budget.
Click to expand...

The 20 inch wheels on the V3 are too big in my opinion. Looks stupid.

19 is the sweet spot on these i think.
 
Last edited:
Yeh the v3 wheels do look cheap too. Bolted on plastic bits. Think a 58 works better on the first ones. Lighter car etc.

2024 get the MEB+ 59kwh battery, bigger screen and better infotainment.
 
The V3 also has an adjustable squab for the front seats and I find that very important as I have a dodgy right knee. So that extra support is quite a lot more important than how the wheels look. :)

I could even live without the electric adjustments and massage function, but not the lack that of extra lower thigh support.

Getting old is a bitch :(
 
ICDP said:
I also tried a 2023 Megane E-Tech Iconic and it was just not as nice as the Born. A decent EV with a nice quality feel overall but the driving dynamics were lacking. It also felt a lot more cramped and claustrophobic and significantly worse visibility compared to the Born. It did also have a reverse camera with the 360 view, but both were practically useless as they were low res on a smaller screen. This helped confirm my previous point about decent visibility being more important than tech.
Click to expand...
ruled out an ioniq 5 at similar budget/age ?- rwd in so much that that contributes to dynamics, not too heavy . bit too tall, pointy elbows, but nobodys perfect. - 5year 'warranty'

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk
 
jpaul said:
ruled out an ioniq 5 at similar budget/age ?- rwd in so much that that contributes to dynamics, not too heavy . bit too tall, pointy elbows, but nobodys perfect. - 5year 'warranty'

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk
Click to expand...

I like them and think they are reasonably priced used. But the security issue has put me right off.

Oh and extending warranty with Hyundai is a bit on the expensive side.
 
jpaul said:
ruled out an ioniq 5 at similar budget/age ?- rwd in so much that that contributes to dynamics, not too heavy . bit too tall, pointy elbows, but nobodys perfect. - 5year 'warranty'

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk
Click to expand...

Unfortunately as a marmite car I am on the side of do not like. Even if I did I wanted a smaller sized car as large cars are no longer practical for my needs. Though thank you for the suggestion.
 
Journey said:
Not sure why you'd bother extending a warranty on a £20k car, especially given the battery and drive train have 8 years.
Click to expand...

You make it sound like EV's never have issues. These days they want silly money just to diagnose an issue. Unless you are also the type that says "don't know why you would ever go to the main dealer" :p
 
Last edited:
Jono8 said:
Yeh I don't like the ioniq 5 at all aesthetically. Inside or out.
Click to expand...

So what car are you looking at now then? I am leaning towards KIA Niro. But not ruled others out.

Others may not care about warranty or brand rep, but I do.
 
The Cupra Born V3 does look interesting. Slightly on the smaller side of what i want, but makes up for it in other departments. Adding it to my shortlist.
 
jpaul said:
ruled out an ioniq 5 at similar budget/age ?- rwd in so much that that contributes to dynamics, not too heavy . bit too tall, pointy elbows, but nobodys perfect. - 5year 'warranty'

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Find your next car with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used cars. Over 400,000 cars online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk
Click to expand...
Looks like a jvc adagio cassette player too. Born dynamically beats everything. Why people still comment without driving any of them is beyond me. The EV6 is great on paper but dynamically flawed in my experience. But hey it can do 200kw charging right ?
 
TNA said:
Do you guys all buy on pcp? Thus far I have only done cash as can't stomach the interest. Between interest and depreciation around 10K or more gone over 3 years..
Click to expand...
£310 a month for my V2 on SS. Don’t really worry about anything else. Cheap motoring including work commute and my BMW M3 does everything else. If I used that for work would be £200 in just fuel. The thought of spending £20k on a EV to buy outright makes me feel sick tbh
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom