BEV - Battery Electric Vehicle Erfahrungsberichte und Empfehlungen

Dear Forianer,

I know this is a house-building forum, but relevant car forums are either very brand-loyal or very BEV-critical. Since I simply assume that there is a large overlap between homeowners and BEV owners, I am posting my question here. In this subforum, because I thought what you post here isn’t so off-topic, and home technology somehow felt wrong.

So I have to return my ZOE soon and am scoping out the market for a successor. It should be a small to compact car again, 80-90% city traffic and average distances of 25km per day. Regularly also 40-50km (about 1/month) (both city) and very rarely 180km (highway and country roads).

Absolute exclusion: Tesla, for moral reasons Vehicles >50,000 EUR new price, because then the rate becomes too high Not so preferred: VW Group Obvious SUVs Another ZOE

Interest has been sparked by: R5 (but probably still too new -> expensive) Hyundai Kona Electric (that is about the upper limit of SUV appearance for me) MG4 Opel Corsa e (but didn’t do so well in the ADAC test)

I’m mainly looking for user experiences.

So go ahead, thanks in advance!

For me, it's mainly about personal experiences.

Since I'm currently switching to an ID7 GTX Tourer or A6 Avant e-tron, those cars probably don't suit you....

But when it comes to the new price, you shouldn't set any limits. Especially the ID models from VW are now really well positioned and unbeatable in leasing when it comes to price-performance.
After tests, if I had to pay attention to medium size, I also wouldn't avoid an "SUV". That's now the standard, regardless of the size class.
- Ioniq 5
- EV3
- Kona Electric driven by friends - experiences are rather mediocre
- ID4/5 - positive experiences of my colleague after approx. 30,000 km
- ID3
- new Enyaq (the old model was also driven by a colleague who, however, was constantly in the workshop for all sorts of reasons)
- Cupra Tavascan
- MG4

The private leasing rates without down payment start at under €200 per month.
Kona, Corsa, ID3/4/5, Tavascan, MG4, Cupra Born, among others, range from around €175 to €275/month (not all directly from the manufacturers).

We have two electric cars and the leased Ioniq5 will be returned in summer, which is why I’m slowly starting to look around again. On the common platforms, there are always changing offers whose leasing price ultimately doesn’t always fit the purchase price. Currently, we are paying €220 for 15,000 km/year for the Ioniq with the large battery and much more. Whether I will find such a great offer again, I don’t know. Currently, the Toyota, ID 3+4, MG 4, and sometimes the Ora are interesting in leasing. You really have to be very fast with both special offers. I had the MG standard for a short time but then exchanged it for the Marvel because it didn’t have a rearview camera and only weak charging at the wallbox. You can also buy the MG4 or MG5 quite cheaply, which makes sense with a 7-year warranty. I want to spend about €200 again; I believe that the brand or similar should play a lesser role with your requirement profile. At first, we had the Kia E-Soul, which gave us a lot of fun despite rather weak charging performance.

I have been driving an ID.4 since the end of 2021, and although this rather belonged to the earlier models, which then went through the teething problems (especially software-related), I am overall more than satisfied. In your position, I would not necessarily write off the VW Group models in advance.

The newer software versions on my model have also become significantly better – however, the model year can no longer be updated to the very latest releases, which are then even a bit better. Overall, though, in terms of driving feel, equipment, and even build quality, it is a good to very good vehicle.

Since the vehicle will be returned at the end of 2025, I am slowly looking around for the successor – it will probably be either an ID.5 or an ID.7 Tourer, although both in the full equipment package are clearly above your budget.

Maybe the Skoda Elroq? Excellent price/performance (in my opinion), very good platform, and not quite as SUV-like as the bigger brothers (ID.4/Enyaq).

Unironically, but without a personal experience report: Dacia Spring? Long distance with it is rather so-so..m

Yeah, then go ahead, thanks in advance!

We bought a 3-year-old BMW i3S with the "large" battery in February 2024. Both of us prefer to use it for all short trips.
The driving behavior is quite "mature" and the performance is very agile and more than sufficient. The very small turning circle is impressive. Short bumps are audible but do not come through harshly. We are not among the economical drivers and need between 13 and 18 kWh/100km depending on the weather and mood. That gives us a range of about 180 km in winter, and easily 250 km in summer. I assume that the low weight of under 1.3t contributes to this, since technologically the vehicle is kind of a "grandpa" among electric cars. The iPhone integration is sufficient for me – of course, the "Professional" system in the i3S is now somewhat outdated.
The maximum charging power of up to 50kW is not exactly generous – however, the charging curve only flattens out slightly after more than 90%. I only tried this once, because since the little one is charged at the wallbox at home and the distances are similarly short as yours, charging speed doesn’t matter at all and the car is always charged enough. There is no need to charge away from home. To not forget how to do it, I sometimes plug the car in somewhere – even if it’s considerate of parking spaces. Charging at low power is a key for long battery durability. Our i3S still has 100% of the capacity specified by BMW – and that after about 75,000 km.
You have to like the design. I find the interior materials very appealing and when buying used I paid attention to a fully ordered option list with leather upholstery. Unfortunately, it was only available in black – wrap helps. And of course, as a music lover, I also treated the car to a sound system upgrade by Audiotec Fischer.

[ATTACH alt="IMG_9109.jpeg"]90120[/ATTACH]
Here is a typical dirty mountain-region picture.

It goes without saying that this car is not intended for long-distance travel. It fits the mentioned route profile almost perfectly.