What car will you be pursuing, or have your eye on next?

[SmoothJ]

I have been reading around, and I know quite a bit of you are going to be ending your lease maybe this year or even the next. What car will you be pursuing, or have your eye on next?

For me, I am torn. I am so early in this lease, that thinking at least 2 years in the future is a bit hard. I wouldn't mind a Tesla, even a used one. However having that much money tied up in a car is hard for me to swallow (regardless of how much money I would save on gas/maintenance).

 

[vanillagorilla]

Its funny, we were recently talking about this...

The idea of a Model 3 or Bolt is interesting, but for example the Bolt lease is about double the cost of the Soul EV, while the range is nice...the Soul EV range is good enough that we don't even L3 charge monthly. Given the price difference I can afford to rent a car for a long trip and still net out savings.

We also discussed picking up a little runabout like an off lease 500e or Spark - but neither crash tests nearly as well as the Soul nor do they have the amenities.

The Ioniq is interesting, we considered waiting to see it. But with an uncertain future about tariffs and EV rebates due to our new orange overlord...we got another Soul EV. Which is great...my wife and I are Soul mates .

 

[mtndrew1]

Model 3 or Ioniq for me in October. The Bolt is fine but is missing ACC and the seats are extremely uncomfortable for me (too narrow).

I'll also look at the '17 eGolf with its increased range but I've had a bad experience with VW in the past and the lack of battery cooling makes me hesitant. Eight months to go until my final lease payment on the Soul!

 

[tractioninc]

I had hoped for a Tesla, but it seems that Model 3 is still a long ways off from volume production and used Model S models are (in my option) unreasonably expensive. Other used EVs, such as the Leaf and 500e, don't offer much range but have become so inexpensive that it might be worth purchasing one until the EV I really want becomes available. I still have 14 months left in my lease so I'm hoping that some more compelling options may be on the market at that time.

On the other hand, after three years driving an EV, I may be hungry again to daily drive a performance vehicle like another M3 or 911.

 

[SmoothJ]

I worry about that as well, but at the same time, I have a long way to go in my lease so I am pretty certain something will come out that will have a nice range to it (Ford, Kia, Tesla, Hyundai, etc).

On the other hand, after three years driving an EV, I may be hungry again to daily drive a performance vehicle like another M3 or 911.

I sold my truck so my wife can get a nice eco car (Ford C-Max) so I feel the same way since I miss my truck. However after possibly paying quite a bit of money for not only a panel upgrade (100A to 200A) and the EVSE (OpenEVSE), I am inclined to use my purchase as much as I can...

 

[slobodanc]

In preference sequence:
1) Ioniq EV or plugin
2) Ford Focus EV
3) Prius Prime

Out rebates make certain cars interesting, such as Focus EV:

Base $31K
rebate $14K
base net $17K

I am still trying to figure out if the old 30ish kWh packs are big enough for my needs. Hence looking at hybrids with bigger packs.

 

[SmoothJ]

In preference sequence:
1) Ioniq EV or plugin
2) Ford Focus EV
3) Prius Prime

Out rebates make certain cars interesting, such as Focus EV:

Base $31K
rebate $14K
base net $17K

I am still trying to figure out if the old 30ish kWh packs are big enough for my needs. Hence looking at hybrids with bigger packs.

As stated before, my wife has a Ford C-Max Energi. Currently at the moment with her 7.7 kWh battery pack, she is getting ~11 miles of use per charge. Wife drives around 20 miles to work, and 20 miles back. In this case, it doesn't seem "worth it" to charge the pack every night. During the spring/summer when I picked up the car, I got around 20+ per charge.

 

[vanillagorilla]

Out a ways...Kia Stinger EV!!

 

[henderrj]

I have a Model 3 reservation but I'm thinking I might try to find a salvage Tesla Model S. Quite a few people rebuilding them. Still, a lot of money though! Might keep the Soul as well. Or see if they'll let me update my lease to the new one, which is supposed to have much better range (150 miles would do me but 200 would be great).

 

[BEC]

We're a couple of days short of 5 months into a three-year lease so I expect there will be several attractive options when our Soul EV's lease is done. The Tesla Model 3 is of course of interest. By then it should be real and have some kind of a track record (hopefully a good one). And by then the Chevy Bolt should also be available here. I would also be open to another Soul EV if the range is significantly better. I would be open to other options that I am not currently aware of as well. Two years from now will be the time to start really seeing what's available to me.

That said the for our local operations the one we have is generally adequate. There is only one trip that we take from time to time that it can't do in the winter without a recharge somewhere enroute. Otherwise, at least so far, we've been able to charge at home almost exclusively on our Clipper Creek level 2 EVSE.

(Our long range car is my 2013 Mazda 3 5-door....and the Skyactive Diesel CX-5 that is due at the end of this year is sounding very attractive to succeed it, especially if it has the towing ability that they have in other markets where they are already available. I also want to replace our dead motorhome with a 17 foot travel trailer, which will need a tow vehicle. I don't see us - in the next 10 years at least - going all electric unless the infrastructure between here and the US Southwest grows significantly - Tesla or non-Tesla - since we have family there and take road trips that direction most years.)

 

[reggie52]

I might get a bmw i3. I took a test drive last week and I'm impressed about its handling and ride quality.

 

[fanbanlo]

eGolf or Model 3 for me.

 

[FtWorthKat]

I realize this is an old thread, but I didn't see someone list the same option I'm considering, so...

I just leased my Soul EV for 3 years. However, I am hoping Nissan will bring the e-NV200 van to the US and that it will get the range updates that the Leaf gets in that 3 years. Of course, by then it probably won't qualify for tax incentives.., But I saw pictures of the e-NV200 having a back seat that folded up flat against the backs of the front seats, leaving a nice big cargo space. I bought the Soul EV because I felt it was the EV with the best cargo space to transport my English Mastiffs. But I would love the even better cargo space in the e-NV200 van, and with longer range I could drive it on short trips to visit relatives and sleep in the back. I could also go to campsites with RV plugins and enjoy climate-controlled sleep space.

 

[tractioninc]

I've test driven several BMW i3s since I last posted in this thread. What a strange car. It's still a contender for when my lease is up, but of all the cars I've ever considered buying, the i3 causes the most polarizing feelings I've ever experienced.

The i3's acceleration and handling is far superior to my Soul. On the other hand the i3 is a very compromised vehicle--the cargo hatch is tiny, it only seats 4, the suicide doors make rear-seat access awkward (I have kids in carseats), the 'instrument cluster' is the size of a mobile phone held at arms length, the controls for starting and changing gear are totally unintuitive, the interior materials are bizarre, and the RX gas tank only holds 1.8 gallons (thanks California!). It's essentially like BMW made a daily driver out of a concept car with little regard to what owners would actually want.

 

[ewaynek]

Tractioninc makes very good points.

We leased a 2014 BMW i3 for 2 years. Acceleration was great, but not enough to offset the others issues we encountered.

The AC compressor failed in the middle of summer. Not only were there none available in the US, even the German warehouse was out of stock. It took over 2 weeks for the part to arrive. Imagine having that happen when the warranty expires and you also have to pay for it!

The front and rear tires are a different size, wear extremely quickly and are expensive to replace.

Also, the tires are skinny and this cause the car to "wander" while driving at highway speeds.

Even though the local dealer's service was excellent, we have now placed BMW on our "Never buy again" list.

We enjoy our Kia Soul EV+ very much more than the i3!

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'm on the other side of this window: I've been driving a Leaf for 4 1/2 years - most on lease extensions now - and was planning to lease a Leaf "2" next year. The Republican tax bill, however, has me making contingency plans. I've already driven a Bolt, and while I didn't hate it, the car just isn't right for an old guy like me. Not comfortable enough, and too harsh and noisy on the road. So having discovered a local dealer with a whole bunch of Soul EVs that I can lease for $173 a month (less than half a Bolt Premiere lease) I'll next be driving a Soul, and seriously considering leasing one if the EV tax credit gets ended as of 1/1/2018...

 

[LeftieBiker]

I have a few questions about the 2017 Soul, if anyone can answer them...

* How are the battery packs holding up? Is there a problem with rapid capacity loss, as there is with the 2016-2017 Leaf?

* Can you set a charge limit lower than 100%?

* How much lower is Winter range in very cold weather, like single digits Fahrenheit?

* Are there any design or build issues with these cars? I read that the remote access app is flaky. Anything else?

* Can you get the parking sensors on the EV model, or only the EV+?

 

[tractioninc]

I had hoped for a Tesla, but it seems that Model 3 is still a long ways off from volume production and used Model S models are (in my option) unreasonably expensive. Other used EVs, such as the Leaf and 500e, don't offer much range but have become so inexpensive that it might be worth purchasing one until the EV I really want becomes available. I still have 14 months left in my lease so I'm hoping that some more compelling options may be on the market at that time.

On the other hand, after three years driving an EV, I may be hungry again to daily drive a performance vehicle like another M3 or 911.

I recently visited a Tesla store and was told that if I put a deposit down now on a Model 3 I might not receive it until 2020. :lol:

EV technology is changing so rapidly that I'm not interested in buying a used one, and I'm not that interested in the handful of new EVs that are available in my area. With that in mind, I just purchased a Jaguar XK coupe. I figure that the world is fast moving to electification, so if I have one last gasoline car why not get a big sexy V8?