Quote:
Originally Posted by IT
I looked fairly closely at these, but ended up studying in more depth the virtually identical, cheaper (and better looking) Golf GTE.
I was looking from a company car purchase perspective, where there are various initiatives to make it seem a good idea.
As a personal purchase, I would concern that the technology should move on fairly quickly in this area, which could lead to very questionable residuals.
I was also put off by the (fairly standard across manufacturers admittedly) warranty on the batteries that shows no interest until the batteries are down to at least 70% effective.
I've been in both the E tron Hybrid and an E-Golf (pure battery). The battery modes are eerily quiet, but don't worry, because the battery will last only a very short while, so then you can switch to fossil fuel and pay extra mpg to lug around the batteries and motors all day long whilst enjoying the compromised handling due to extra weight...... 
At the end of the day, how ever I sliced it - A golf R was working out cheaper to buy than a Golf E, and there was no getting past that......
Watch the government grant also - only applied if you're the first keeper, so ex demos are instantly worth 5 grand less.
The tech is cool. If a Tesla cost half as much, I'd likely have one. But the VW group (or anyone else for that matter) just doesn't seem to have anything decent to offer.
Let us know you're own conclusions though.....  |
^Have to agree with what seems to be a very balanced and well informed response.
I want a Tesla. I do see it as a step forward in technology. While we ICE car owners have little individual power stations under our bonnets, the electric vehicle draws its power from a power station, ideally a super efficient one.
The Tesla Model S, the power, the speed they (super)charge and the range they can achieve is staggering. But, I don't want it so much to spend the going rate for one. But then I could say the same about the D3. When new 7/8 years mine was ~£52k standard and I liked it then but wouldn't have spent that on one.
My problem with the other electric cars available from VAG, Nissan and BMW is the compromises. While the Leaf seems to have a decent range at least, it still entails driving around in a Leaf. Yuck. The VAG Hybrid things have issues, listed above and the i3 from BMW will likely only do 70 miles, realistically, on a full charge. Currently I'd frequently be getting home on a prayer, gritting my teeth and paying a premium for the privilege.
Until there's a sort of Tesla style electric car, that's more affordable I'm just going to stick with DERV. Which I think is a shame.
For me the only electric car there is, is a Tesla Model S. The rest just seem to have made one compromise too many.