u/cave_guard

Most talk around here has been about SUVs and practicality (boot space for the pram, etc.) while still sticking to a tight budget - that's boring.

If you were in your mid-20's again with $90k and want to drive an EV that looks/feels/is shaped like a sports car with a lot of power and fast 0-100km to impress your mates, what's your best pick?

How would you rank the following criteria from most important to least important when choosing between several EVs of similar price? (Assume you're only looking at one car type eg. Sedans, SUVs, etc)

- Range

- Efficiency (kWh/100km)

- Charging speed (especially DC charge time for road trips)

- Driving experience (jerkiness, suspension, floaty feeling etc)

- Appearance (both exterior & interior including fabric type)

- Driver Assist & Displays (HUDs, 360 cameras, Central Infotainment Screens)

- Software (navigation, OTA software updates, smartphone apps / native systems)

- After-sales & support network in Australia (vast network eg. Tesla vs limited network eg. small chinese brands)

(Edit) - Storage capacity

Despite the fact that we know what News Corpse's intention is behind this clip, do you think this has any relevance to the Zeekr 7X models here in Australia, or is this purely another scaremongering campaign again?

Did a lot of online research before actually stepping foot into a showroom. A lot of comments and discussions online focused around things on paper but reality was very different.

Visiting a Kia showroom made me realise a lot of things:

- The Kia EV3 back seats were not as cramped as some youtube video reviewers made it out to be, in fact they were very comfortable to sit in. Sat in an EV3 Earth which doesn't have HUD and realised it's not really necessary, quick glances at the dashboard is perfectly fine. I don't see the need to go for the GT line to be honest, none of the extra features are must haves and I struggle to justify an extra $5-6k for those. Earth's leather seats is good enough. Some online comments made out the HUD to be a deal breaker but it's really not.

- The Kia EV5 was much bigger in person than I thought it was. Can't believe there were comments online saying the Kia EV5 wasn't big enough for some people, I can't even being to imagine what they're planning to carry with it.

- Also sat in a Kia EV4, I can see why people prefer SUVs over sedans. In an SUV the seats are horizontal so your legs are at 90 degrees when you sit down, but in a sedan the ass part of the seat is lower so you're sort of sitting a bit lying back with your knees higher than in an SUV. Over a long drive I can imagine it would feel uncomfortable.

Also visited a Mazda showroom and sat in a 6e Atenza:

- This one had 360 cameras and while it is nice, I feel like it's overkill - you don't have to be picture perfect when you park and I'm afraid relying on this technology long term would worsen your parking skills if you were to drive a regular car again. Again, some online comments made it out to be a deal breaker but you can definitely live without it.

- This one had leather, as in real, stitched leather, not synthetic leather. Not sure if I like the brown colour, to be honest I much preferred the white/black colour seats on the EV3 GT line and the synthetic leather feels much better in quality.

- The lack of buttons I don't like, moving air con and other features on to the central control panel means it needs attention to navigate.

- The roof is similar to a Tesla model 3 - tinted glass panel for the entire roof, except it has an electric operated sunshade which you can open/close at the touch of a button. It's a nice to have but not necessary. I'm more worried about hail hitting that roof glass panel if you run into bad weather in the middle of the road though.

I don't know how to describe, but the interior finishing of Kia's EV3/EV5 feels better than the Mazda's interior finishing. Mazda's interior just feels like....it's pieced and stitched up.

For those considering getting an EV, I suggest visiting showrooms and actually sitting in those cars. It's a very different experience than browsing websites and online comments and asking ChatGPT

Sodium batteries seem to perform better in hot conditions and in Australia's brutal 40 degree summers it seems like a no-brainer, compared to lithium battery cars which degrade if you're driving long distances in hot conditions where the car has to cool the battery and keep cabin air con flowing.

Sodium battery cars are already deployed in China, why are they not arriving on Australian shores yet?