NEW Electric car vs OLD electric car (vs OLDER EV!!) – are new EVs REALLY better? | What Car?

#WhatCar #MG 4 #EVRoadTrip #EVRangeTest

Is the new MG4 really better than a six-year old Renault Zoe and a 10-year old BMW i3? We go on a journey to learn.

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32 responses to “NEW Electric car vs OLD electric car (vs OLDER EV!!) – are new EVs REALLY better? | What Car?”

  1. sohail awan Avatar
    sohail awan

    I own i3 with range extender which i use as tool 😅 and as car I have Alfa Romeo Giulia V

  2. Brian Allan Avatar
    Brian Allan

    MG4 best in every way…

  3. Jonny Moxey Avatar
    Jonny Moxey

    Oh a lovely £10,000 60mile run around. Splendid.

    1. Chris Mowatt Avatar
      Chris Mowatt

      I’d have one. BMW build quality, 2p a mile to run, virtually nothing to go wrong, virtually no servicing and maintenance. If you can charge at home and never do more than 60 miles it would be perfect.

    2. AquaValet2009 Avatar
      AquaValet2009

      ​@Chris Mowatt BMW build quality? BMWs of the past 20 years have been inferior to what they built their reputation upon before this. Virtually nothing to go wrong? More modern vehicles with lots of technology and electronics have more to go wrong, and these sorts of issues are complicated and expensive to fix. OK, not limited to BMW i3 or even just electric cars, but still, it’s the equivalent of buying a 10 year old iPhone in the sense that you get old software, a degraded battery and 10 years’ worth of wear and tear. £10k for that? You could buy a petrol city car that’s half the age for half the price. And if you never do more than 60 miles, then considering the whole life costing of such a decision would probably still render the cheaper petrol car cheaper. For people doing low mileages, electric cars are currently the preserve of the well off who can afford the higher whole life costing of not doing enough mileage to save money over a cheaper petrol powered vehicle.

  4. Ian Ackery Avatar
    Ian Ackery

    One of the best videos for why you should get a Tesla I’ve ever seen. On longer trips with any other car you’re just taking a gamble (less with the MG4 but it’s still there). Oh and yes I have a (non-Tesla) EV and have had the same issues the Zoe had finding working chargers.

    1. Chris Mowatt Avatar
      Chris Mowatt

      The Tesla supercharger network is non-existent in some parts of the UK and some people never have to use public chargers

    2. DavidT Avatar
      DavidT

      @Chris Mowatt From your experience, which parts have you struggled with? Genuine question.

  5. Peter Parker Avatar
    Peter Parker

    Good video, although I think you could have mentioned the different battery capacities that the various year models of the BMW i3 and Zoe come in if you really wanted to help potential 2nd hand EV buyers

  6. TL Avatar
    TL

    The parlous state of our charging network is the real reason many people will not buy an EV. No one will risk driving long distance at night or during rush hour to find that there are no available chargers. Also imagine emergency and police vehicles running out of energy and driving around looking for a free charger. Hybrid cars are the solution not EVs. As this video demonstrates too, the range of EVs deteriorate very significantly after just 5 or 6 years of use.

    1. Stephen Collins Avatar
      Stephen Collins

      I mostly agree, but there are also a lot of people who very rarely drive long distances but cannot charge at home. There is currently no solution for this, look in any city at the tens of thousands of cars parked on the streets and ask yourself how their owners are going to charge an EV, ironically they are probably the same people who would be most suited to EV ownership.

  7. Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring Avatar
    Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring

    Can’t help but think, none of these even come close to my cars range of 545 miles per tank. Perhaps in another decade.

    1. Chris Mowatt Avatar
      Chris Mowatt

      Maybe nine years earlier than you anticipate. Nio are making the 150kWh WeLion solid state battery available across their entire range, with the ES6 being the first, which according to government filings give a range of 578 miles with a ten minute recharge from10% to 80% giving it 400 miles additional range.

    2. Rtfa Zeberdee Avatar
      Rtfa Zeberdee

      How many of those miles can you do without leaving a trail of pollution behind you?

    3. Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring Avatar
      Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring

      @Rtfa Zeberdee I don’t know, I don’t count virtue signals, it makes you lose braincells.

    4. Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring Avatar
      Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring

      @Chris Mowatt That is interesting but there isn’t enough accessible lithium ion in the world to power everyone. I’m very interested in the Hydrogen conversion tech that JCB have been working on though. I’m not a fan of batteries, way too heavy, they take the fun out of driving for me.

  8. Roy Dale Avatar
    Roy Dale

    should have used the Zoe ze50 the I3 42kWh and the MG4 SE 51 kWh for fairness

    1. Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring Avatar
      Dodgy Wheels and Ropey Wiring

      Those are newer version though aren’t they, the point of the test was to see how far the tech had come for similar budgets.

  9. Stephen Collins Avatar
    Stephen Collins

    This was really useful content, for me it made three really important points. Firstly that buying a used EV is a big gamble range wise, the claims of 1% battery degradation per year seem very optimistic, the loss on the i3 was catastrophic. The second point is that the charging capabilities of older cars are way down on what is currently available making an already painful experience even worse the third point is that the charging infrastructure is so far behind where it needs to be. We should be pushing motorists towards hybrids for now as these are probably a much more viable solution for most with many now able to come close to the i3’s range with none of the drawbacks.

    The pace of development on EV’s means that almost nobody will want a 10 year old example so they are essentially throwaway. It is like giving up your iPhone for a blackberry

    1. Chris Mowatt Avatar
      Chris Mowatt

      I don’t know, it depends on your lifestyle. If you can charge at home and never need public chargers, an older EV makes a lot of sense. There’s not a lot to go wrong with an EV and you don’t really have to service them, it’s not like the engine will cease up if you don’t change the oil and filter.

      Three years ago I bought a seven year old Peugeot Ion at an online auction for £3,600. It was a bit of a gamble, but the LTO batteries last pretty well and replacing any weak cells seemed pretty straightforward, judging by the YouTube video. A couple of days later, when I came to pick it up, the 12V battery was dead and the traction battery was virtually flat, so it didn’t bode well. Luckily, I was able to buy a new 12V battery for £75 at a local motor factor and that was liiterally the last and only expense in three years of motoring. It’s now ten years old and the summer range in hilly territory of 67 miles is about 7% greater than the 62 mile WLTP rating and the winter range is only 22% lower. The range has never been a problem, because our longest journey has been 56 miles and most journeys are 24 miles. Frankly, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we still had it in another ten years, when it will be twenty years old. It has been so good that there are now five EVs in our family.

  10. Mr Mawson Avatar
    Mr Mawson

    BMW ends ICE Production In Germany with last V8 to focus on EVs & hydrogen

    The Electric Viking

  11. Mr Mawson Avatar
    Mr Mawson

    Cheers guys

  12. sevensixtysteve Avatar
    sevensixtysteve

    Fascinating review, I was quite shocked at the degradation on the BMW but I guess it’s a combination of small capacity and fast charging capability. Shame as it really relegates the i3 to local trips only but would still be a good car for a lot of people. The Zoe obviously faired a lot better and is still a perfectly useable car for long or short trips. The charging infrastructure is the biggest let down though – ten years on, it should be well developed and convenient otherwise EVs are never going to offer a convincing alternative to ICE power – especially when you factor in the cost of public charging.

  13. William A-D Avatar
    William A-D

    this video was good you guys are driving far with electric cars the video has made it more realistic to drive electric cars but the issue I am still thinking about is driving around to find charging points

  14. Kåre Møller Avatar
    Kåre Møller

    Comparing the real range of the i3 today with the NEDC norm doesn’t make any sense as no car is normally capable of reaching the official numbers. I bought an i3 with the 27/33 kWh batteri as used with 48000 km on the clock and have my self covered nearly 40000 km since with an overall efficiency of 13,4 kwh/100 km. My range varies from the 160 km when really cold and windy to 260 km in the summer. Haven’t felt any degradation in my ownership.

  15. A Avatar
    A

    Not really comparing apples with apples there, but it definitely shows that cities are quick to look at ULEZ but not have the charging network to enhance their cleaner air stance. 30K is not a cheap car, 3K is a cheap car. Weird that the car makers don’t sell upgraded batteries, to keep cool EVs on the road. The BMW is great but who’d wanna buy a car that has less than 50% battery power left. BMW and the first few owners gain but the last sod who buys it, is getting a lemon for a rip off price. Rather buy a nice 12K petrol car and wait for the CONservatives to hunt me down, using their ULEZ cameras. One would think that the UK does not really want to EV’s if you look at the pathetic infrastructure

  16. AquaValet2009 Avatar
    AquaValet2009

    @What Car? Can you confirm, for the i3 and Zoe, how much time was cumulatively spent at the public chargers, and how much money was cumulatively spent on the charging at these public chargers? Of course, for the MG4 we know there was zero time and money effectively spent at public chargers, which is a big positive.

    1. Kuba Ya Avatar
      Kuba Ya

      240miles in MG4 is only achievable at super low speed. At 60mph you can only do 200. At 70 around 170-180. Not to mention EU motorways

  17. Steven Jones Avatar
    Steven Jones

    In 2023 80% of new public chargers were installed in the S/E of England. The ratio is hugely out of synch with where BEVs are being purchased. Less than 40% of BEVs purchased in the S/E of England.
    Source: SMMT

  18. londonbornboy Avatar
    londonbornboy

    It is entirely the lack of a proper charging network that lets these, otherwise decent cars down, what a shambles.

  19. RiverGlades Garden Railroad Avatar
    RiverGlades Garden Railroad

    I would like to have seen how many non EV’s were parked in the ZERO emissions zone Doug, instead of racing off. Typical boy racer.

  20. Steve S Avatar
    Steve S

    Great example of how the second hand EV market is a dead end.
    Who wants a car with no range.

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