Next EV?

[in2insight]

In less than a year (10 months to be exact) my lease will be up and a new EV will be welcomed home.
The question is, of course, which one.
Was hoping that the Volvo XC40 electric would be out in time, but found out that it is two years away.
The MB C is too big, as are the I Pace and E-Tron.
Would love to have a higher car like the B, but options seem limited to Kia and co, and at the full tech package level, they only offer leather seating. (Vegan here, so no go on those)
Yes, I could purchase the B, but from what I have read here, seems like it means paying a higher price vs. purchasing used.

For those nearing the end of the lease, what is your next EV going to be?

Thanks!

 

[JeffRay]

in2insight,

In the same boat as you as my lease runs out in 11 months. I am going to see about the I-Pace. My next electric has to have 200 mile range and like our B250e, it has to be comfy for my two teenagers in the back seat. Not doing the Tesla thing, not even used. Push comes to shove, I can revert to my gas cars to bridge to the perfect electric. Right now, in the cold, I have to charge 2-3 times a week offsite as I dont live in a house with a garage. If I did, I would consider buying my B250e off lease so long as it remained trouble free for rest of lease.

 

[Dracula]

One option is to wait for the upcoming EQC. I went for the GLE Hybrid, since I needed a family car and earlier in the year I drove a rental GLC Hybrid in Europe for 3000 km and loved it. I know, limited EV range

 

[TonyWilliams]

Not doing the Tesla thing, not even used.

What is the “Tesla thing”?

 

[JeffRay]

Tony,

Ah, good question. Falling into the Tesla trance and taking on a car that is made well in certain regards but not so in other regards. It is fast and fun to drive but I am looking for a car that can last 10 years plus. Maybe they will and maybe not. Time will tell.

 

[in2insight]

Thank you for the kind answers.

The EQC may be too big a car for me.
The Kona is a wait and see what options they offer.

Happy holidays to you all.

 

[GlennD]

I really do not think it will ever happen but I want a base Tesla 3 with only the color option for 37K. That is 35K plus 2K for the color.

 

[JeffRay]

Electrons,

This was the last next EV thread. My lease runs out in November and I am turning mine in. Timing off so I may have to sit without and put miles on my ICE cars until something strikes me.

I will look at:

- MB new car but I think it will be expensive, like $75K
- Jaguar iPace. also pricey
- Audi eTron
- Kia

 

[GlennD]

I am looking at the Hydindi Kono EV. A dealer in tiustin should have a demo in a week. Deliveries in late April . I just might get on the list. It is a small car that looks to be good for me.

 

[Electrons]

My B-class lease ends in 8 months. I can’t go back to a gas burner, just can’t, so I’m going to have to find an EV replacement (the RX hybrid is my wife’s). I would be interested in either the Kia Niro EV or Hyundai Kona EV. Surprise, surprise - neither will be offered in North Carolina (I emailed both Kia and Hyundai to confirm).

I bought my B-class (both times) from a dealership in Maryland, who shipped it to my front door here in NC for free. Getting my car serviced and supported has been a nightmare. The car itself has been a dream except for the short range. For the first couple of years it was a fun game to see how I could make charging work for short trips. Now, driving anywhere outside of my metro area, in the mountains of NC, especially in winter, has been majorly limited by range. The bigger complaint is the utter refusal of any MB dealer within a couple hundred miles to even look at my car. I will never again buy a car that I can’t get serviced in my state.

So for the time being, when my lease runs out later this year, my only options look to be the BMW i3, the Nissan LEAF, the Chevy Bolt, and Tesla - the only EVs that are sold (and supported!) universally.

- The BMW is fun to drive, but suffers from the same range limitations as the B-class, and more importantly the back seat is not practical for my kids’ car seats
- The Bolt is a good option, but having driven one a bit, the seat is just torture and not worth it. Also the rest of the car feels cheap and like anything could break at any time.
- Tesla Model 3 is a decent choice, but still out of my price range (unless I could get a killer lease deal some day, like I did with my B)
- That pretty much leaves me with a LEAF. I’m not that excited about the car but it does check all the boxes for now, until more options become available in my state or my finances improve enough to get a Tesla.

I love where I live. The city is beautiful, the mountain views are amazing, the people are great. But man it does suck living in a red state sometimes, especially when it comes to my choices in EVs.

 

[GlennD]

I got the two Koren cars mixed up. The Hyndui is a Kona and the Kia is a Nero. Both are the same car so it bwill depend on price.

 

[hallcp]

Sadly, the options for this year don't look good. All the 1st gen of EV's are deleted (Volt, B-Class, range extender BMW i3) but the next gen just aren't coming online soon enough (Tesla Model Y, EQC, e-Golf, Mini-E) and those Kia and Hyundai offerings don't look like they'll be sold in any quantity in 2019. Not sure the BMW i3 is an option for you, I understand the rear seat is cramped. Fiat 500e likewise is great to drive, but rear seat access is really not practical.

Too bad your M-B dealer has been a pain. The one here in Cary, NC has been very gracious. They've only seen one other B-Class in their lives but seem to have at least one tech trained on them.

My guess is we're two years away from real EV options aside from the Tesla Model S/3/X. I hope I'm wrong.

C. Hall
Raleigh, NC

 

[JeffRay]

How about the IPace and the Audi thingee?

 

[hallcp]

The latest on the Audi is that they are re-thinking things since they got a close look at a Model 3. It sounds like they realized their car would be too expensive for what it offered. Seems like others are learning how hard it is to make a mass-market EV.

The i-Pace on the other hand sounds like it may be for real. Some of these are out in the wild and all the reviews I've seen were good. I understand it will be priced more towards a Model S than a Model 3 however.

I wonder if my local Jaguar dealer will get one in? They're across the parking lot from my M-B dealer!

Charles.

 

[JeffRay]

Charles,

Funny, same here, the Jaguar dealer is caddy corner across from the MB dealer. Yes, pricey so looking for the base version to start with. Will compare to the MB ERC or whatever it is called. To justify the cost, will intend to replace both my trusty wagon and the leased B250e with one that I can plan to own and drive for 5+ years.

We shall see.

 

[oilerlord]

Hey guys,

Haven't been around here in a while. I'm still digging my 2014 B250e though it's now approaching 40K miles and the battery is showing it's age - mostly in the last two weeks of extreme cold conditions (between -20C and -30C). With that said, spring/summer/fall range is still excellent, and I still love the car. I still have the goal of getting it to over 80K miles but it's winter range isn't going to be getting better, only worse. Not really that big of a deal since I can just take the keys to my wife's X3 whenever cold weather dictates the "right" car to drive. Just reporting my experience in winter.

Since we have one gasoline, and one EV vehicle; our bases are covered. Jeff I like the Jaguar too but damn, that's a lot of cake for any car. Considering I only paid $23K for my B (used/6K miles) - no way can I justify buying a brand new EV for $75K+.

When the time comes, I might comb through the Internet looking for a newer battery that came from a wrecked B. If I could pick up a used pack with very low cycles for around $5K - I think I'd jump on it a couple of years from now to extend the life of my car. Short of that, I think a Bolt EV Premier is a pretty solid deal on used market these days. Not quite the level of the 3-point star in terms of quality & luxury, but a decent EV nonetheless.

Anyway, feel free to catch up on where are with your B, and if you're still digging it. Again, I still love mine. The good news is that it isn't -30C all year round. My "normal" 100 mile range will come back soon.

 

[rrattie]

Did your 2014 have the range extender package? Just wondering because you mentioned "usual 100 mile range". I bought mine in October with 10k miles on it and haven't had a change to see what it's like to drive in actual nice weather yet.

 

[oilerlord]

No, my car didn't have the range extender but because I own (not lease) the car - it's a "feature" I wouldn't want to use anyway. Yeah, you'll get 100 miles pretty easily on the standard 28 kWh's of usable capacity...that is, unless you drive with a lead foot. The difference in range between driving in winter & summer really is like night & day. The combination of running the heater (that I believe uses at least 9 kW) and a cold battery = losing half your range - easy.

My car had 6K miles on it when I bought it in 2016. It's crazy how cheap you can (still) buy these for.

 

[rrattie]

That's great to hear. Mine was just under $20k with taxes and tags and it's basically brand new. It was 48 this morning in my garage and outside and I had 73 miles of range on the GOM. I drove to work, 9 miles away, and used 3 miles of range. I love this car.

 

[oilerlord]

Yeah, the "GOM". I find it's really only fairly accurate once you get down to the last 10 or so miles of range remaining. Beyond that, all bets are off...especially in winter. It makes range "guesses" based on how you drive. What screws it up is when different drivers are behind the wheel. Suffice it to say, my wife is no hypermiler.

This is the first winter that I've had some close calls - and the first time I didn't have enough juice left to make it home. My wife and I went out to our club for dinner, and though I knew I was cutting it close on round-trip range - I figured I'd just plug into a 120v socket in the parking lot since we were going to be there for a few hours. When we got there, the parking lot was jam packed because there was an event being hosted there. I tried to baby the car home on 8% remaining. Ended up being about 3 miles short. We took an Uber home, and invoked the free AMA car pickup service (as part of the membership). Oops.

My wife took the B to yoga last Saturday. For whatever reason, I didn't plug the car in the night before. She drove the car without looking at remaining charge. When she was coming back, had the "battery on reserve level" message. I came to get her, and we ended up having brunch at a restaurant that had a 120v plug I could plug in for an hour. Barely made it home. Of course, this was all "my" fault, but I digress.

I know this sounds like I'm a total noobie when it comes to driving electric, but I'm not. Between life's "shit happens" moments, and the car's winter range degradation, this sort of thing can happen to anyone.