Best fully electric family car

[mobear]

Any recommendations? We’re only a family of 3 but would like extra space for camping/ driving holidays and ferrying DS’ friends around when he’s older. We’re currently looking at the Kia e-niro or Audi Q4 and likely to run it into the ground rather than upgrade.

We have a Kia e-Niro. Absolutely love it. Charger at home so it charges whilst we sleep on cheap rate.

Rarely charge away from home as we get range of over 300 miles in summer and no less than 255 miles in winter. If we do a longer trip away we just stop at motorway services and charge it on fast charger whilst we have lunch (less than an hour).

I personally wouldn’t have an EV without a home charger (or if I regularly did more than 300 miles in one trip). Home charging is superb and I prefer it to petrol stations!

@Shade17

i wouldnt have one if they gave them out free! they wont do what we need a vehicle to do, and i couldnt be arsed having to book an overnight stay somewhere just to do what would normally be a 5 hr journey

You’re taking out of your arse there! A 5hr journey is what, 300 miles? I can do a 280 mile journey in a Polestar with two charging stops totalling 23 mins, hardly an inconvenience, I’ll break for longer than that anyway!

@Shade17 no im not talking out my arse, thanks i need to tow a 1800kg and would be lucky to get a range of 100-150 miles as i know someone who had the same caravan as mine and thats all the car could manage, which is absolutely no good seeing as i need a range of 450 miles,

Hyundai ioniq 5 seems to be making lots of waves if Automotive magazines for all the right reasons it seems. Have you considered that?

@caddyshackGirl Not yet - but I’m going to look into it!

Some people are going to get a shock when electric vehicles are the only choice.

Re Teslas - I bloody love ours and wouldn't swap it for anything

Look at

ID3 or 4
Ford Mustang (amazing)
Or of course a Tesla

Agree with the Skoda recommendation too

If you can afford one, a Tesla is the answer. Range - no problem, charging - dedicated charger network that you can interrogate to check charging spaces available from the car (yes, using that screen), long lasting battery - our first (Model S) is now nearly 8 years old and has lost about 5 miles of range to about 220 miles but was one of the earlier models.
Tesla manages the batteries so the use of heating etc in the car does not affect range performance.
And the acceleration away from traffic lights!

Another vote for Tesla. Both my OH and I have one.

no im not talking out my arse, thanks i need to tow a 1800kg and would be lucky to get a range of 100-150 miles as i know someone who had the same caravan as mine and thats all the car could manage, which is absolutely no good seeing as i need a range of 450 miles,

Your original post said nothing about towing, only that you’d need an overnight stay for a 5 hour journey. Now you say you’re towing and doing a 450 mile journey. A 450 mile journey will take around 9 hours towing. A BMW iX will do that journey with around 2hrs of charging stops, so no, you don’t need an overnight stop and yes, you’re talking out of your arse!

We test drove the VW ID3, Skoda Enyaq and Kia e-niro. Ended up ordering the e-niro long range, hopefully coming Feb or march.

EV man on YouTube has really good videos about all the electric cars and everything to do with them.

We have an Ioniq which we love but is possibly not big enough for you

Looking to upgrade to Ioniq 5 or Kia Ev6 (these are very similar) or Skoda enyaq as our kids get bigger. We are hoping to get a dog too so will need something somewhat larger.

@Doubleraspberry

Thanks for this thread.

I’m looking for a second hand electric car right now, so useful information.

I was planning to get a home charger and I’m not expecting much advice from the dealers. Any tips on the best way to go about it?

You want to get in there with the grant which I think stops at the end of March. That will save about £350 I think. You may need to prove you have an EV first though to get the grant (not sure) We have a pod point and never had issues. You’re right dealers are pretty clueless. Don’t be put off though EVs are great.

I think we’ve decided on the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

@LadyCatStark

I think we’ve decided on the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Ooh great my husband is really keen but we can’t upgrade before next year. A small thing I know but I am put off by the boring colours.

DH wants an i-pace.

The most environmentally friendly thing to do of course is to keep what you have and maintain it well. And buy a bike.

Anyone interested in an EV that lives in Scotland should check out Home Energy Scotland loans for EV's. Up to 6 years interest free for up to £35k. There is also a huge network of free chargers (paid for by Scot Gov). I didn't actually know about all of this when I first started looking, but once I did it became a no brainer for us. Saved us a fortune in fuel costs, and bought the car interest free. These incentives won't last forever so I think it's a great time to switch.

Someone up thread has mentioned Robert Lewellyn's Fully Charged podcast / you tube channel. In addition there's an event called Fully Charged Live which brings together electric vehicles, solar panels and other technology with the shared aim of moving to sustainable power generation and use.

At their event last September I sat in a variety of fully electric vehicles and particularly liked the Jaguar i pace, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Volvo XC40. The Kia e-Niro was nice but didn't set my heart on fire. I wasn't keen on the Hyundai Ionic though I can see how many people would like it.

My husband has a fully electric car already and so we're experienced with home and public charging, and know that range anxiety is misplaced. As long as you can do your daily commute and charge overnight at home, the rare occasions you need to do a longer journey you just need to accept that you'll charge en route the same way you would stop for a coffee, a bite to eat, the loo etc. Don't expect to go from nearly empty to fully charged. Instead plan your longer journeys to charge from 20% to 80% and keep your battery in the optimal range.

In preparation for home charging, also look at whether you are with the best supplier for your purposes. Consider whether your motivations are cost saving, or environmental. If environmental, look for a supplier that prioritises sustainable generation.

Just tried a top of the range Mach-E in “untamed” mode. Hubba hubba.

Just tried a top of the range Mach-E in “untamed” mode. Hubba hubba.

Was that the GT? Sub 4s to 60? Hilarious obviously!

A couple of colleagues have Audi etrons and speak highly of them, as does another colleague with a Jaguar ipace.

We sold our Audi A3 and leased a ŠKODA enyaq and took delivery in October. It’s amazing. Feels huge (family of 4) and drives really well. The main body is the same as the ID 4 just way cheaper. We leased as an experiment but will definitely be happy buying next time. The Tesla model 3 just wasn’t big enough and the model X can’t get through the road narrowing things we have everywhere in London. Highly recommend the Enyaq. I’ll be interested in the model Y once it arrives though.

@Shade17

Just tried a top of the range Mach-E in “untamed” mode. Hubba hubba.

Was that the GT? Sub 4s to 60? Hilarious obviously!

Yup.

@SadieAdler They've now changed so you have to pay for charging in Scotland. It was good while it lasted though and still pretty cheap.

We have the id4 on order.
It’s been delayed due to chip shortage ( although I think that’s all brands). So 7 month wait so far.

We did test drive the Tesla y ( we are in mainland Europe where it’s available), as it was available within 3 weeks but I really didn’t like it.

We have had a Tesla model S for 3 years, it’s great. We regularly long distances and with the supercharger network it’s a breeze. Range anxiety is a much touted issue with EVs but honestly it’s never been an issue! Tons of boot space as well.