For those EV owners out there, what was the hardest part about choosing your EV?

The hardest part was overcoming the "Osborne effect".

Once I determined that having experienced service near me wasn't a real cause for concern, the leap wasn't great. I looked for something in the middle; features, size, cost and quality and leased a KIA Niro which I bought out early.

This past year (and perhaps this year, too) saw the depreciation curve reverse - I would anticipate any car purchased this year to suffer terrible losses in value. If you plan to drive it until the wheels fall off, that won't matter.

FWIW - at less than $30,000 usd the Chevy Bolt is a smokin' value.

 

For me, it was DC charging power as it relates to vehicle cost. All the vehicles with 150kW+ DC charging power were out of my budget, so it became a choice between which of the "cheaper" EVs (Bolt EV/EUV, Nissan Leaf+, Hyundai Kona/Ioniq EV, Kia Niro/Soul EV) had the best road-tripping capability given their lower DC charging power. In the end, I went with the Kona. What sealed it for the Kona was the fact that it had literally everything I wanted aside from the DC charging power, and it had the best "road-tripping capability compared to the other options. Long range, great infotainment and onboard navigation, comprehensive set of driver assists and safety sensors and good size for a city car.

 

For me, it was simply - What can I get a good deal on? The first was a used Leaf that I got for $10,000. Loved driving electric. For the next car, I wanted electric, but didn't have the money for a long range EV. Leased a Clarity PHEV for long trips. Great lease price, and great timing on the lease end last year. When the crazy lease deal on the Ioniq Electric came up, I sold the Leaf and got the Ioniq. That lease end is now coming up, and I'll have a ton of equity in that. Then, our ICE SUV got totalled last year. Was leary about going with three plugins. The used market was in full crazy mode too, but it was before the gas prices went crazy. Bit the bullet and paid what I thought was a crazy $20k for a 2017 Chevy Bolt. Gas prices went nuts, and it's worth even more now! Timing for all of this stuff just worked out really well for me.

If I was looking for my first EV right now, I couldn't afford one. The prices are just nuts. The other thing right now is - there are simply almost no new EVs available. So, you can analyze, but there is such a long wait for them, sometimes the decision comes down to whatever is available.

 

I count myself extremely fortunate to have snagged a Kona EV when I did. It was the only one on the lot, and the markup wasn't completely unreasonable.

 

Before, affordability and range anxiety.

Today, affordability and availability.

I wasn't sure if I could go full EV so I bought a PHEV (Chrysler Pacifica) with 30+ mile electric range 4 years ago and only used 120v charging overnight at home. In that time frame, I gassed up maybe only about 8 times (it was a local driver).. so I knew I could go full EV, esp with remote work from home.

Now we have 2 EVs, a 21 Model Y (the cheapest single motor one back in early 2021) and a 22 Leaf SL+. We bought the Y first because I was still a bit wary of range (having got the lowest range Y) and at least there was Superchargers nearby. Got the Leaf later that year and with distributed driving between those 2 cars (and occasionally our ICE vehicle) we still just use 120v charging at home overnight for both vehicles.

I actually like the Leaf more than the Y for it's softer ride, driver display and physical controls. As much as Tesla and others want to go with that minimalist center console, electronic vents, etc design... if you want to get people into you cars, it has to be transitional. A touchscreen display for your phone is fine, but when driving, physical buttons are easier to use.

And one pedal driving is awesome but there should be a setting for coast like there should be a setting for brake-hold on ICE vehicles.

GM made the right move in making the Bolt very affordable and I think Toyota is looking at that too while not focusing on range as much which is perfect for local commuters.

 

Well said!

 

I have an Ioniq 5 arriving this Saturday. For me the hardest parts in choosing which EV to buy were:
1. The lack of current availability.
2. Finding one I could afford. The only Tesla that met my criteria (except possibly availability) was the Model Y which costs more than I’m willing to pay.
3. Finding one with sufficient cargo space. We travel with our 2 cats. Their crate takes up most of the back seat in our Kia Niro PHEV, which forces us to use a car-top carrier. I wanted to avoid that if possible with the EV.
4. Finding one with a fast charging speed. On a road trip with 2 cats, the shorter the trip the better.
5. Finding one with as much range as possible.

The Ioniq 5 seemed to best meet these criteria for me (except possibly the cargo space issue). We’ll see how well it works out as we have our first road trip from Wisconsin to Florida coming up in September.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed my 2019 Model 3 Std Rng Plus.

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

 

Great timing to order your I5 for just-in-time-delivery before its $7,500 federal EV tax credit evaporated on August 16th, when Joe Biden signed the Inflation Retirement Act into law!