Non-Tesla recommendations for 2nd cheaper EV

[RedMod3]

You'ld better do a youtube video of a drag race between that and an M3P and post lots of criticisms about range and speeds and build quality....

Good idea, and the biggest challenge will be picking up an 80 mile range Smart car from 260 miles away. The M3P would do the 260 miles on one charge.

 

[HenryT]

Good idea, and the biggest challenge will be picking up an 80 mile range Smart car from 260 miles away. The M3P would do the 260 miles on one charge.

If you had a Model S you could have put the Smart car in the boot.

 

[pgkevet]

Good idea, and the biggest challenge will be picking up an 80 mile range Smart car from 260 miles away. The M3P would do the 260 miles on one charge.

I assumed it would charge wirelessly from any nearby HT powerlines or a pocketful of AAA's...

 

[RedMod3]

Some of you may joke about the Smart, but it is less than 2.7 m long and has a turning circle of 6 m. It will be ideal for in-town parking and driving and the 70-80 mile range will not be a problem once I have it. If we were going for a single car, then maybe an ID3 would have been our choice.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Some of you may joke about the Smart, but it is less than 2.7 m long and has a turning circle of 6 m. It will be ideal for in-town parking and driving and the 70-80 mile range will not be a problem once I have it. If we were going for a single car, then maybe an ID3 would have been our choice.

A lady in our village owns one, and she's probably the only person that always manages to find a parking space outside the shop.

 

[Doudeau]

I get what you’re saying - not as small as the Smart but I usually take my e208 for parking in the local high streets where you need to parallel park. That little bit easier than the M3.

I’ve been doing that a lot recently so got a nice surprise today when I took out the M3 and hit the accelerator hard .

 

[Glan gluaisne]

My wife's now made the decision to replace her Yaris Hybrid with a similar sized EV hatchback, so we've spent a lot of time looking around at what's available. She initially liked the look of the ID.3, but had the chance to see one for real this morning, when when was parked outside the village shop. She's decided she doesn't like it, so she's spent hours looking at alternatives this afternoon.

The short list is now down to two cars, the Renault Zoe, probably in GT Line trim, or the Peugeot e-208, also in GT Line trim. Although the Peugeot e-208 isn't a "ground up" EV, it seems surprisingly close to the Renault Zoe in pretty much every respect, apart from slightly less range (not an issue for her, the longest trip she will ever do would be around 110 miles).

If I were making the choice between the two I think I'd be leaning towards the Peugeot, something that came as quite a surprise given that I started out by assuming that the Renault would be the hands-down better car. It's her choice, though, and could well come down to which she thinks looks prettier when we are eventually allowed to go and test drive cars again.

 

[browellm]

My wife's now made the decision to replace her Yaris Hybrid with a similar sized EV hatchback, so we've spent a lot of time looking around at what's available. She initially liked the look of the ID.3, but had the chance to see one for real this morning, when when was parked outside the village shop. She's decided she doesn't like it, so she's spent hours looking at alternatives this afternoon.

The short list is now down to two cars, the Renault Zoe, probably in GT Line trim, or the Peugeot e-208, also in GT Line trim. Although the Peugeot e-208 isn't a "ground up" EV, it seems surprisingly close to the Renault Zoe in pretty much every respect, apart from slightly less range (not an issue for her, the longest trip she will ever do would be around 110 miles).

If I were making the choice between the two I think I'd be leaning towards the Peugeot, something that came as quite a surprise given that I started out by assuming that the Renault would be the hands-down better car. It's her choice, though, and could well come down to which she thinks looks prettier when we are eventually allowed to go and test drive cars again.

Will you ever be driving it? From the YT videos I've seen I'm really not a fan of the floating information binnacle above the steering wheel.

 

[mk677]

My wife's now made the decision to replace her Yaris Hybrid with a similar sized EV hatchback, so we've spent a lot of time looking around at what's available. She initially liked the look of the ID.3, but had the chance to see one for real this morning, when when was parked outside the village shop. She's decided she doesn't like it, so she's spent hours looking at alternatives this afternoon.

The short list is now down to two cars, the Renault Zoe, probably in GT Line trim, or the Peugeot e-208, also in GT Line trim. Although the Peugeot e-208 isn't a "ground up" EV, it seems surprisingly close to the Renault Zoe in pretty much every respect, apart from slightly less range (not an issue for her, the longest trip she will ever do would be around 110 miles).

If I were making the choice between the two I think I'd be leaning towards the Peugeot, something that came as quite a surprise given that I started out by assuming that the Renault would be the hands-down better car. It's her choice, though, and could well come down to which she thinks looks prettier when we are eventually allowed to go and test drive cars again.

does nissan sell their leaf in the UK? If yes, give it a look

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Will you ever be driving it? From the YT videos I've seen I'm really not a fan of the floating information binnacle above the steering wheel.

Rarely, if ever. The only time I've ever driven her Yaris has been to park it somewhere that's a bit tight, or when my car's been off the road for some reason. I've not seen either the e-208 or the Zoe for real yet, but agree, the binnacle and (steering wheel) looks a bit odd to my eyes.

does nissan sell their leaf in the UK? If yes, give it a look

The Leaf is available here, has been for around 7 or 8 years, and a friend has one (the second Leaf he's had). It's a fair bit bigger car, though, 540mm longer than her Yaris and 45mm wider. It also has a CHAdeMO rapid charge port, which is a bit of a PITA, given that the majority of public rapid chargers are now CCS.

 

[Alan J]

My wife's now made the decision to replace her Yaris Hybrid with a similar sized EV hatchback, so we've spent a lot of time looking around at what's available. She initially liked the look of the ID.3, but had the chance to see one for real this morning, when when was parked outside the village shop. She's decided she doesn't like it, so she's spent hours looking at alternatives this afternoon.

The short list is now down to two cars, the Renault Zoe, probably in GT Line trim, or the Peugeot e-208, also in GT Line trim. Although the Peugeot e-208 isn't a "ground up" EV, it seems surprisingly close to the Renault Zoe in pretty much every respect, apart from slightly less range (not an issue for her, the longest trip she will ever do would be around 110 miles).

If I were making the choice between the two I think I'd be leaning towards the Peugeot, something that came as quite a surprise given that I started out by assuming that the Renault would be the hands-down better car. It's her choice, though, and could well come down to which she thinks looks prettier when we are eventually allowed to go and test drive cars again.

Have you considered the Corsa e some literally unbelievable deals available with a little effort.

 

[mk677]

Rarely, if ever. The only time I've ever driven her Yaris has been to park it somewhere that's a bit tight, or when my car's been off the road for some reason. I've not seen either the e-208 or the Zoe for real yet, but agree, the binnacle and (steering wheel) looks a bit odd to my eyes.



The Leaf is available here, has been for around 7 or 8 years, and a friend has one (the second Leaf he's had). It's a fair bit bigger car, though, 540mm longer than her Yaris and 45mm wider. It also has a CHAdeMO rapid charge port, which is a bit of a PITA, given that the majority of public rapid chargers are now CCS.

yes, I get the chademo thing, I thought that I read that they were moving to CCS

 

[spooksman]

My wife went for the e208, she thought the Zoe was a bit 'bland' and liked the styling of the Peugeot.

I actually quite like the car, it seems well put together and nice to drive. The 'floating' instruments are ok and work pretty well. I find the lane assist/autosteer/cruise better than the Tesla tbh, and it has a speed limiter...!

The app on the phone isn't that spectacular, but it does a job I guess.

If you want any comments/feedback from my wife, just ask!

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Have you considered the Corsa e some literally unbelievable deals available with a little effort.

Yes, it was on the list, until she watched an online review comparing the e-208 and the Corsa-e. Despite being pretty much the same car underneath, even made in the same factory, for some reason the e-208 seemed to come out on top. We'll probably take a look at the Corsa e, just to be sure, but at the moment (until she next changes her mind . . .) it's in third place, with the Renault and Peugeot tied at the front.

 

[Doudeau]

I’m very happy with my e208 but just to warn you that the range at motorway speeds in winter isn’t great.

I’ll be interest to hear what spooksman has seen but, from my POV, I think your wife might get nervous (or at least need to be mindful of her speed) on a 110mile trip in the winter.

 

[26ct2143]

Do these cars have battery cooling? That's the leaf's problem.
Although if you don't rapid charge more than twice in a day, it's not a problem.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I’m very happy with my e208 but just to warn you that the range at motorway speeds in winter isn’t great.

I’ll be interest to hear what spooksman has seen but, from my POV, I think your wife might get nervous (or at least need to be mindful of her speed) on a 110mile trip in the winter.

The 110 mile trip is mainly on pretty slow (no more than 60mph) roads, around 1/3rd of it on roads where the average speed is probably around 40mph, so hopefully there should be enough range There's one short stretch of motorway, the M5 around Exeter, but the rest of the trip is a mix of single and dual carriageway A roads (A303, A30, A38, A380, A381). I've had a look on Zap Map, and there are about half a dozen rapid chargers on the route (but sadly no superchargers for me), so if push comes to shove a mid-trip charge could be an option. She does this trip three or four times a year, so not a very regular trip. Most of the time she'll be driving round trips locally of around 20 to 30 miles, and charging at home (I put a second charge point in where she parks when I built the house - even though she was adamant then she'd never buy one).

Do these cars have battery cooling? That's the leaf's problem.
Although if you don't rapid charge more than twice in a day, it's not a problem.

It seems so, yes, the spec says the e-208 battery pack is liquid cooled, whilst the Zoe spec states that the battery pack has "active air cooling". If I had to guess, I'd say that the e-208 may have the better battery cooling system, though it's probably a moot point, as I doubt she'll ever rapid charge more than a handful of times a year, if that, and it's very unlikely that she'd ever rapid charge twice on the same day.

 

[26ct2143]

The 110 mile trip is mainly on pretty slow (no more than 60mph) roads, around 1/3rd of it on roads where the average speed is probably around 40mph, so hopefully there should be enough range There's one short stretch of motorway, the M5 around Exeter, but the rest of the trip is a mix of single and dual carriageway A roads (A303, A30, A38, A380, A381). I've had a look on Zap Map, and there are about half a dozen rapid chargers on the route (but sadly no superchargers for me), so if push comes to shove a mid-trip charge could be an option. She does this trip three or four times a year, so not a very regular trip. Most of the time she'll be driving round trips locally of around 20 to 30 miles, and charging at home (I put a second charge point in where she parks when I built the house - even though she was adamant then she'd never buy one).



It seems so, yes, the spec says the e-208 battery pack is liquid cooled, whilst the Zoe spec states that the battery pack has "active air cooling". If I had to guess, I'd say that the e-208 may have the better battery cooling system, though it's probably a moot point, as I doubt she'll ever rapid charge more than a handful of times a year, if that, and it's very unlikely that she'd ever rapid charge twice on the same day.

Interesting, I personally wouldn't buy an EV without proper battery cooling again, it's just a pain when you do want to rapid charge and the battery is just too hot. Think I had the leaf down to 15 or maybe 20kw once. Can't imagine it's great for the battery, certainly bad if your impatient.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Interesting, I personally wouldn't buy an EV without proper battery cooling again, it's just a pain when you do want to rapid charge and the battery is just too hot. Think I had the leaf down to 15 or maybe 20kw once. Can't imagine it's great for the battery, certainly bad if your impatient.

A friend has a Leaf, and complained about this a couple of years ago, when he got the one he has now, as he had a major problem on one long trip he did, where the charge rate was throttled back a lot. I've had a look inside a Leaf pack, and there's no cooling system at all, the pack relies solely on heat being conducted out by the metal cases of the modules. The daft thing is that there looks to be room in the pack to fit a similar sort of microchannel cooling strip arrangement that Tesla use, or even just fit heat pipes to a heat exchanger at the end of the pack. I can only assume that Nissan were trying to cut cost by not doing something like this.

 

[Hurricane]

My daughter has a Zoe and absolutely loves it. I’ve driven it several times and I’m really impressed. She achieved a 21% discount on a new car using an online broker. A similar discount is available on the Corsa e.

What ticks me off is that my daughter can charge her Zoe at 22KW using our three phase Andersen while my incredibly advanced M3 is restricted to 11KW.