I just bought my first EV (yay!) and thought I would share my shopping experience in case it helps anyone. It’s long…
Importantly, if I lived somewhere other than where I am now, I might have made a different choice. I lived in San Diego for quite a few years, and now live in western Mass. Might have made different choices if I was still in SD.
What we looked at/drove:
1a. Hyundai Ioniq 5. The first to look at… we didn’t drive it the first time because my husband veto’d it. He thought it was too small (it’s not) and was still not sold on 100% electric. More on this later.
1b. We also looked at the Santa Fe PHEV at the same dealer. The trim felt a bit cheap, but I wasn’t really serious about it because I knew I would eventually win the all EV battle.
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Volkswagen ID.4. Also didnt drive. I liked the look of it, husband didn’t like the trim. For a small SUV/crossover, the trunk seemed a bit small for golf clubs. Dealership seemed really invested in selling EVs - they had a EV specialist that was busy when we were there, but even the non-specialist seemed very well informed. Husband was still holding out for PHEV, so he might have just been grumpy when we looked at it.
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Nissan Ariya. First one I drove, took out the FWD version. More than any other car, it felt like an ICE. Both in the interior appointments (which maybe some folks like) but also in the driving feel. Sure, it was zippyier than our ICE, but I expected a bit more and was kinda disappointed. I suspect the AWD might have felt better. A rare FWD instead of RWD for an EV non-AWD version. No “real” one pedal driving. I wasn’t sold for these reasons… (The very young salesman did tell us a nice story during our drive about how last summer he hitchhiked all through western Mass because he was growing weed in the forest).
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Ford Mustang Mach e AWD. I really liked this car. A lot. Really, really a lot. It was definitely the experience I expected and wanted from an EV while driving. The seats themselves were probably the most comfortable. Nice large screen, but still with tactile buttons. Plenty of storage. They only had high end models that were $65k plus. They also had an EV specialist, who clearly LOVED cars, including his own Mach E, and honestly was indifferent about selling cars - he just knew a lot and loved his, and would happily chat cars and EVs all day long. Pretty good experience. Really, the only negative was price point (especially since MA has a rebate for cars under $55k only).
At this point, I (and salesman) have inundated my husband with enough info he is willing to go all electric.
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Tesla Model Y AWD LR. Really fun car to drive. Seats felt a bit stiff/uncomfortable to me, and I really hated that there was no console over the steering wheel with basic info like speed (which the S and X both have). The center screen is very nice, but it felt distracting to the point of unsafe to have to look to my right to see and/or change anything. Lots of storage space. The price point is almost unbeatable now, with the price drop plus state and federal rebates. And of course the fast charge network is unparalleled. Other than the fact that Elon Musk is completely nutter butters, my other concern is that the closet service center is 2 hours from my house. While I know they are mostly remote for service, I had a concern that if I did need work done at a service center, it would mean taking a whole day off work. I almost bought this car though, regardless.
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Kia EV6. This was also very comfortable and was very fun to drive. In a lot of ways, felt similar to the Mach E, but I liked the Mach E better. Salesman here was a bit clueless. I asked about one pedal driving, and he said “what do you mean?”. I asked him “you know, when you don’t use the brake?” He looked absolutely horrified and said ,“uh, you have to use the brake”. In the end, it was nice, but too pricey to justify over the Tesla.
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Subaru Solterra (& Toyota bZ4X). Longtime Subaru ICE owners, so had to check this out. Also felt sluggish, similar to the Ariya. No glovebox really frustrated my husband (whatever). All the cars have voice control, but I liked saying “Hey Subaru, turn on the heat” instead of hitting a button first. But, feeling so sluggish, never really considered it - especially since they had none in stock and expected a 4 month wait. The Toyota is the same car - also none in stock.
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Volvo C40 and XC40. Didn’t drive, just looked at/sat in. We didn’t drive them because they were so much pricier than the Tesla it was hard to justify, but they were really nice. Felt very premium and comfy inside. If you want a nice vehicle, I would drive it. Felt a step up from both the Mach E and Kia which were plenty nice IMO.
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Genesis GV60. Didn’t drive this either, for the same reason - it’s a premium car and I just couldn’t justify the price - but the differences, sitting in it were noticeable.
10/1. Ioniq 5 AWD SEL (again!). So we were at the joint Hyundai/Genesis dealership kicking tires and a salesman came and started chatting. We said we were gonna go Tesla (more or less decided at that point, despite my dislike of the interface and 2 hr drive. Salesman tells us about a $7500 manufacturer rebate… which puts this into range of the Tesla. My husband is less grumpy about all electric now, and suddenly the car is much more appealing to him, size-wise. (He put his golf clubs in the back on the test drive and was well satisfied, they can fit crosswise no problem).
We test drove it, and it felt good. I liked the console a lot more than the Tesla, and had a good experience at the dealership. They seemed knowledgeable about the car. Will let me use their lvl2 and lvl3 chargers for free. (Free EA charging isn’t that useful for me in my area, unless I drive into Boston I guess).
Now owners of a Ioniq 5 AWD SEL and absolutely love it. Feels good driving, I like the console, plenty of rear storage.
If I lived in a city (like SD) that was close to a Tesla service center, I might have bought a Tesla right away, in spite of Elon and console, but I am very happy (so far!) with my decision. If the Mach E had a dealer incentive/model to bring it to 55k, I would have got that - really loved the feel of that car. The Tesla & Mach E felt the most “zippy” on the road to me, with the EV6 and Ioniq very close behind. The Solterra and Ariya were noticeably sluggish, comparatively speaking.
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You experience and many others like it tell me why tesla is not in a great position in the long run unless they get more models rolling.
Thank you for taking the time to do this!!
I am in Massachusetts and recently did a similar test drive and buy experience and made the same decision! Insurance was another big decision factor for me - insuring teslas was a much higher cost than the Hyundai for me. Hope to see you on the road!
still amazing inspite of its Nazi leader folks would spend money at Tesla. the poor united states.
Do you know the Semitic positions of all CEOs of all products you buy? Do you even largely care?
Lol bc of elon. Bad decision makers get to live with those decisions haha. Tesla is by far the best. Software matters
Do you per chance get snow in your area? I test drove the Ioniq 5 in winter conditions and it handled very poorly with the tail end sliding when cornering. Also it was a bit too wide for narrow streets and parking lots so it also required more concentration while driving.
Did you put it in Snow driving mode? It’s a hidden mode you have to press and hold the Mode button to switch to Snow Mode.
The Ariya salesperson sounds like quite a character. But I believe it; distracting you on a test drive is a classic sales tactic to get you less focused on the car, and therefore less prone to finding faults with it.
Congrats on getting the Ioniq 5!
We have an Ionic and two Mach-e’s in the family. after a year and a half, everyone prefer’s the Mach-E’s. Neither are GT’s. I honestly couldn’t tell you all the reasons, other than I’ve heard that the Mach-E was more like driving a normal car, day to day. We had one of them, for a year and a half, but sold ours to a Sister, while waiting on a Lightning. We had zero issues with our Mach - E over that time. I have not driven the Ionic.
For anyone looking at these cars, only the Kia and Hyundai have 800V batteries. These will allow you to charge faster at stations with lower range cables and will produce less heat due to lower current because of higher voltage. This will likely keep your battery from failing as soon as the others.
Go Google or YouTube before you buy other brands. Soon a lot will likely become higher voltage as well - it will likely bring more reliability to battery longevity.
OP, glad you shared your experience, I think it helps make these more mainstream. I can’t wait for the day city smog and engine noise is a thing of the past.
Hold up, I knew the Mach e has a dial, but it has buttons too?
The dial (which is very helpful) but also the steering wheel had a few more options that just made it feel a lot more functional. A couple others here and there. Not a lot, and much less than most other non-Teslas, but enough that it felt more functional to me.
And how much does it cost per KW?
I’ve had the Ioniq for a year and still love it. Congrats!
Great story, thanks for sharing! In defense of your husband, the first time I saw an I5 I jokingly told my wife it was so beautiful I’d leave her for it (it was the dark grey matte, so no debate).
But, back seat comfort was the #1 showstopper requirement for any vehicle, and the I5 looked way too small from the outside to provide it. I’m glad I decided, after six months of evaluating what’s on the market, to finally test drive it. Bought it the next day. It was literally everything I was looking for, so easy choice.
It’s been two months today and I still love every minute I sit in the car, every minute I spend thinking about the car, and every minute while I’m on a conference call looking out the window at it. Lol
Thanks for sharing! I have an EV6, and as much as I love it, I completely agree that it is just not worth the money right now compared to what you can get away with spending on a Model Y. You’ll be very happy with the Ioniq 5 SEL. That actually was originally the car I hoped I’d wind up with, but there were none for sale in my area back when I was in the market. Wound up with an EV6 Wind RWD because, out of those two models, it was the only one that was for sale within 50 miles of where I live. I thought I’d be a bit disappointed by the slightly smaller rear cargo area, but it has come to pass that I am A-OK with it. I like the EV6 styling just a bit more, but there’s no doubt at all that the Ioniq 5 SEL is a very fine sister car to this one.
It’s nice to hear that your husband came around on the subject, too! I find that almost anybody who gets near my car and talks to me about it walks away a lot more comfortable with the idea of living with an EV than they started off. Enjoy the car! Also make sure it has all the software updates that are available both over the air and also from the dealership–a lot of improvements have been made to these cars through said software updates.
Drove ID.4, Kia Niro, Tesla 3 & Y. Bought Bolt EUV. Why? Price Handling Cargo (way more useful than expected) Not too high tech (for wife) Rear leg room Getting in and out of (we’re old) 100% home charging
Very happy.