Interested in the enyaq but nervous about switch to electric

[Eyeofthetiger]

Hi everyone. I currently have a bmw 320d with 60mpg average and £20 Road tax a year. The car has done 120000 miles and is in need of a change. I viewed an enyaq this week and I must say I was very impressed with its space and lovely appearance. I am interested in the 80kwh car

I am lucky to have funds to purchase a new car outright. I would love to cut on running costs and purchase a car but am nervous about switching to electric. My main concern is about future resale values and concern that if the battery was to fail would I be left with an expensive scap car.

I would be grateful if owner's could answer a few questions.

1. What is your average range on full charge?
2. I love the looks of the 21 wheels but would be concerned that these would negatively impact on the cars range and ride. Opinions of 19 vs 20 vs 21?
3. Will heat pump really increase range or is it a gimmick?
4. In your opinion is it advisable to buy this car outright or too risky with depreciation, or risks of battery failing?
5. Any extras that you would recommend?

Thanks

[Ken3966]

Range is only an issue if you do long trips and have to charge away from home.
Ideally you should keep the car between 20and 80% charge as routinely going lower or higher is not good for battery life. You can charge to 100% but should then use the car as soon as possible as the damage is done leaving at this level.
80 owners with single motor are getting around 4 miles per kWh in summer and less in winter. Capacity of battery available to use is actually 77kWhso max range is about 300 miles in summer and maybe 250 in winter.
Practically day to day use is 60% of this so 150 miles or less in winter.
EV only really makes economic sense if you can charge at home and get an off peak rate. I get about 3.3m per kWh in my more sporty Enyaq Vrs. At home I charge at 7.5 p so under 2.5p a mile. To charge away from home where some chargers are £1 a kWh that would be 30p a mile so only done in desperation. If you don’t have an off peak rate it would be around 7p a mile.

Budget around £1k to fit a home charger. I plug mine in every day even if only used slightly, so it is always at 80% in case a longer trip is suddenly necessary. Yesterday charged to 96% before setting of on an all day trip, but could have got away with 80% as still had 43% left on return.

I went with 20” wheels as smallest for my Vrs, happy with them. 19” would be even more comfortable and cheaper to change.

Extras worth having are a personal choice really as to what you want or need. I have heated rear seats, heated wheel and windscreen. I also have ACC which I think is Fantastic as only ever had cruise control before. However you can now only get packs of options which can be expensive. My car was built when individual options could be ordered

[Ken3966]

I have a heat pump as I bought a cancellation and it was included.
It uses about a quarter of the energy to heat or cool car.
It seems to use up the equivalent of 3 miles range for each hour of car use, so would be 12 miles without one. So in a no heat pump car doing 2hr trip you would lose 18 miles range.
I suspect in winter it woul help even more. Again you can do a lot of top up charges for £1k cost and if you always home charge for the mileage you actually do it would not be required

[metalmadhammer]

1. What is your average range on full charge?
Summer = 280 miles motorway/320 miles around town. Winter reduced to @180 motorway/220 town (Depth of winter).
2. I love the looks of the 21 wheels but would be concerned that these would negatively impact on the cars range and ride. Opinions of 19 vs 20 vs 21?
It will make a difference - I would guess each size up will cost you approx' 3% lower range so not massive if looks are more important. also note you will go through rubber more than your beamer and elec tyres cost more.
3. Will heat pump really increase range or is it a gimmick?
If you are doing long range in the winter it will help significantly.
4. In your opinion is it advisable to buy this car outright or too risky with depreciation, or risks of battery failing?
How you pay for the car won't make a difference to the NET cost of ownership regardless of depreciation.
5. Any extras that you would recommend?
Really depends what you need/want. I have the sunroof which I love but its expensive. I would really like elec seats, remote boot release and better lane assist which we had all of in our previous Kodiaq. Faster charging may be of use to you but not me as well as the heat pump which you have mentioned. As I tend not to do long journeys in winter, its not of much value to me.

[Eyeofthetiger]

Thanks for the replies so far.

A local dealer is offering free installation of a OHME charger. Is this recommended? Apparently they are £1k to install.

[Choppsie]

Thanks for the replies so far.

A local dealer is offering free installation of a OHME charger. Is this recommended? Apparently they are £1k to install.

OHME and Pod Point seem to be the main Home Chargers, if they are offering free install, that is good. How long is the lead time for OHME?

[Aragorn]

I switched from 19" to 20" on mine and didn't really notice any difference in range or comfort. I suspect you can get bigger differences depending on which tyres are fitted even within one wheel size.

The battery has an 8 year warranty, I don't have any worries about mine. If the manufacturer are prepared to apply such a warranty they are confident it will last just fine.

Heat pump is one of those things that varies wildly depending on loads of factors. Lots of comments when the car was new saying the heat pump did not offer the increased range promised. My car doesn't have it, and it's fine.

How often do you drive more than 150 miles a day?

[IanJ]

Before ordering my Enyaq, I pondered whether to select 19" or 20" wheels before deciding on the former. The reasons were;

1. the extra rubber on the 19" provides more protection against pothole damage (I'd had at least one replacement per annum on my previous car with lower profile tyres)
2. the higher tyre wall gives a better chance of avoiding wheel damage from kerbing
3. and most importantly, there is a significant price increase of replacement tyres from 19" to 20/21"

[RichR]

Don't worry so much about maximum range to a full charge - that just isn't relevant in real life. When you drive long distances, you generally need to stop every couple of hours for the loo, coffee/tea and to stretch your legs. If you stop where there's a 100kW+ charger (motorway services, most out of town McDonalds/Costa/Starbucks/KFC etc on major roads), then pop the car on charge, go to use the facilities and get a cup of tea. By the time you've got back to the car you'll probably have added over 150 miles of extra range - which will more than cover your next couple of hours of driving. I've driven from North Yorkshire to Cornwall many times, and never had to worry about not having enough charge. A couple of 20 minute charges whilst I'm stopping anyway for lunch or whatever easily covers it.

Ideally you charge mostly at home, where you can use off-peak (or solar if you have it) so it's very cheap. I know that from where I live (near York), I can get to Birmingham, Peterborough or Newcastle and back without needing to use public chargers (except in rare situations). Have done so many times, with four people and two dogs in the car. And if I do worry that I'm not going to have enough, I've never yet been unable to find somewhere for a quick 10 minute top up.

I wrote a big article on how the heat pump system works on here. TL;DR: if you regularly drive more than 30 minute journeys with the cabin temperature set to higher than outside, it's worth it. If you mainly do short journeys, maybe not. Think of it like the heater in a diesel car - if you don't get the motor hot then you won't get much cabin heat (it'll use an electric heater like many modern diesels do instead - which isn't efficient). Remember many EVs have a heat pump for heating (all have one for aircon) as standard, but VW/Skoda give you the option of removing it from the spec. My car has one, as does my house

I think 20" wheels are a good compromise. I've driven Enyaqs with 19, 20 and 21. 19 is more comfortable, but look a bit small to me. 21s do affect the ride quality but look good. My Sportline came with 20".

[Aragorn]

Before ordering my Enyaq, I pondered whether to select 19" or 20" wheels before deciding on the former. The reasons were;

1. the extra rubber on the 19" provides more protection against pothole damage (I'd had at least one replacement per annum on my previous car with lower profile tyres)
2. the higher tyre wall gives a better chance of avoiding wheel damage from kerbing
3. and most importantly, there is a significant price increase of replacement tyres from 19" to 20/21"

I ordered the 19's, decided after a few months that i couldnt stand the look of them and spent a fortune buying some 20" Vegas from ebay and sorting tyres for them. It'll work out alright as i'll use the 19's for winter tyres, but sometimes the cosmetics do win out