Need some help deciding which EV to buy SUV or station wagon as far as vehicle type goes, need a bigger car this time and would like to ask for some tips on which are reliable and as a secondary parameter good range or battery capacity, features and esthetics are not important also i’m in Germany and how best to approach buying a used EV, any tips are appreciated.
I’m in Canada so I can’t comment on anything to do with Germany, but I own a Volvo EV (2023 C40 Recharge) and it has been excellent. They don’t make this model anymore but they have a lot of EVs in their lineup. Bought mine used and saved a ton of money that way.
One trap people often fall into is massively overestimating the range they require. Plan your selection based on day-to-day rather than the outlier road trips. If you have cold winters, look for one with a battery heater. I got one without and that’s my only regret.
Thanks for the tip about the battery heater, not really THAT necessary but the winters can get pretty cold where i am.
What is the heater for
The batteries perform much worse in subzero temps so having the means to heat it helps to mitigate that.
Ah gotcha so like, the car drives slower without it?
Less range is the more significant impact
Whoa so even thought it uses stored energy for the heater, it makes a net gain in energy for range?
Batteries are complicated!
Usually to improve range you would plug it in so it’s charging at the same time. But they can also heat batteries on the go if the temperature is so low that it’s starting to limit power.