Family EV cars with room for two car seats, big dog and pram?

[LeafyYork]

What cars are people driving that actually comfortably fit 2 adults, 2 kids in car seats, large dog (retriever), decent size pram and other daily luggage?

Our hatchback can't fit the dog and the pram in the boot at the same time which is a nightmare. We have an off road out n about pram for dog walks so it is bulky.

We've looked at SUVs but they seem to be style over substance and don't actually have much more boot space.

I've looked at the Berlingo but it's so, so ugly I'm trying to find alternatives.

Ideally it would be an EV. Around £12k second hand. Kia PV5 looks perfect but it's too new to buy within budget.

Thanks!

I doubt you'll get anything decent in that price bracket unfortunately. Also, you have to factor in battery degradation on a second hand electric vehicle. While batteries have proved more reliable than initially thought, their performance still degrades, so the range won't be that of a new vehicle, and is dependent on what charging the previous owner subjected the car to.

Have you thought about a hybrid?

Hiya, thanks for the reply. Our current car is an EV (bought second hand) and it works so well for us given how we drive and charge, we're looking to stick with an EV if possible! We do understand how the range/ battery etc works as we've had our current car for quite a few years now but as I say it works really well for us. Hybrid seemed like the worst of both worlds, for us at least.

A 2023 plate Berlingo EV is within our price range so I guess I was just looking for possible alternatives before pulling the trigger

I think you’ll have to opt for dog or pram. We had a Skoda Kodiaq, and while a bit shit (I’d not buy another), there is an electric version. It probably wouldn’t be in your price range. But also I couldn’t have safely fit both the dog and the pram and luggage.

I do now also have a Volvo XC70, which is great (but a big ole diesel). Again, the boot wouldn’t safely fit both pushchair and dog, unless the dog went in the front seat.

Your best bet would probably be a van. Our van fits all 4 of us, plus we could fit pushchair, dog, bikes and luggage in back. But it’s also diesel and it’s not a nice family driving car. It’s a big cargo van.

Interesting to hear you can make it work. What has your experience been of the reduction in range over time, and have you had difficulty with longer journeys?

I had a diesel Berlingo in 2008, and it was one of the most versatile vehicles I've ever had.

I would be tempted to keep track of the lease prices, not because you necessarily want to lease, but because it gives you an idea of the depreciation, and hence second hand values. For example, many companies are fully depreciating a VW ID Buzz over 4 years, so they are essentially saying that they're worth nothing at the end of the lease. I haven't seen the second hand values drop that much, but an ex lease vehicle at auction could be an option.

We have a VW ID4.

We've just bought an electric combo life (same as Berlingo but vauxhall badge, a bit cheaper but exactly the same underneath). It's definitely substance over style!! We are going to have 3 car seats and double pram but no dog. Beware the battery changed in 2024 from 50kwh to 52kwh, which gives the newer models (74 plate onwards) a bit better range. We are currently getting about 180 miles out of our 74 plate, despite the 'real world range' reportedly around 140!

In all honesty we haven't noticed a reduction in range. Whenever we've gone on long journeys (i.e. yorkshire to London), we've had to charge once while we eat lunch, but it's never been a barrier. We always stop multiple times on long journeys regardless of battery as neither of us like long stints driving so that's just not an issue for us.

Thanks for the idea re auction!

Thank you! Good to hear from someone who's got one.

I agree that you’ll struggle in your price range. There is a new Kia EV I’ve seen about that looks like it has a good boot.
A colleague with two kids and a dog has just got a Buzz. Loads of room in the boot for dog and all the kid stuff too.
Way out of your price range though.

We are admittedly people who are more about functionality and price than style! Our criteria for a new car was electric, could take 3 baby/toddler car seats in the back, and under about 18k. The Berlingo/Combo life was literally the only thing we found and we did a fair bit of searching. The other options we considered if we had only needed 2 car seats was a Vauxhall astra sports tourer or a Skoda enyaq, but both a bit more pricey and not as good boot space.

Unfortunately the market for electric family cars that are a good size and not expensive Mercedes/BMW/Audis is still pretty limited.

We’ve got a Kia EV 6 which would meet that criteria but I don’t know what they’re going for second hand.

Just bought a 2022 Audi etron, would tick all your boxes, the boot is huge. We paid 17k but this one is very low mileage, should think you’d find one for 12k or thereabouts a bit older/more mileage

Do you have access to any company salary sacrifice schemes? That’s how we got our Buzz.

We've got a Skoda Enyaq and I'm pretty sure it would take all of that pretty comfortably. A friend took ours for a spin at the weekend and he was impressed by the boot space and said he'd get his large male labrador in alongside luggage, obviously with a proper divider.

We paid about that for ours a few months ago. Only 5 years old but 100,000 miles. Battery tests had it still running at 95% and we're getting around 260 miles from a full charge.

We have an ID Buzz and it’s roomy. 4 dc and room for luggage, pushchair and bike.

My brother has 2 kids, 2 dogs and a 4 year old Enyaq so that might be worth a look. Id also have a look at the BYDs we both have EVs and my husband's BYD is much much cheaper and at least as nice as my Cupra.

I have a Skoda Enyaq with 2 kids, pram/bikes fit fine in the boot, so a dog should be fine.

I got mine new but its coming up 4 years old so there should be some in the used market just not sure on pricing.

We have a Skoda Enyak too. We're having baby no.2 soon so will have 2 adults, 2 carseats, big pushchair in the back, changing bag etc. We don't have a dog but I'm sure you could give half the boot to the dog. We're also considering at roof rack for when we go on holiday too as we previously had an Octavia and that boot was a little more spacious.

We absolutely love the car and would recommend if you can find one within budget. Ours is a 73 reg one.

MG ZS?

We bought a Berlingo when DD was little as we needed a car that could fit bikes, a bike trailer and a running buggy. We knew it was ugly, but it fitted our needs. We then realised it was a dream to drive so 8 years later we’ve bought an eBerlingo. It’s a bit bigger and incredibly comfortable, so I don’t worry about the looks. Also, the sliding doors make it easy to get children in and out and not have to worry about the doors hitting anyone else’s car.

Also have an enyaq

You might be looking at a 60 model over an 80 for that price. However i don't think that's a huge disadvantage myself. I have an 80 but day to day you don't max out the range and on long journeys you need to stop anyway.

Not sure about a dog as well as a pram in the boot. It's a big boot but I don't think it's big enough for that unless it's a small dog. I would take the pram with you when you look at cars!

Hyundai Ioniq 5. Love ours! Second hand online I have seen for £11.5k up to £35k!

I think this is what I needed to hear, thank you.

We've been looking at this! Thank you.

We actually test drove an enyaq and loved it but I wasn't convinced the boot would be big enough (we brought the pram but couldn't bring the dog!). Thank you