[RSQ3John]

I'm enjoying the current RS, have no change pressure, owned outright and with a little less than 4 yrs warranty remaining but find myself idly wondering what the next car will be. I've said previously that the RS will be the last ICE vehicle I'll own and I've made no secret of the fact that I took quite a bit of interest in the Kia EV6...glad I didn't jump as there seem to be quite a few software bugs.

I've read that later this year Audi are planning a Q6 launch (around the same size of a Q5) which will be a pure EV built on an 800volt architecture with a 380-400 mile range - most likely on a warm day! I get all the concerns over charging infrastructure but figure I rarely drive more than 300 miles in a day mostly starting and returning back to home - car is garaged so charging overnight is a none-issue. So a real-world 300 mile range EV would work for me...

Is anyone else indulging in a spot of fence-sitting?

 

[Tigre64]

Yep firmly on the fence collecting splinters 🤣 and watching with interest. My q3 sline will also more than likely be my last ICE. But whilst there are a few good candidates out there, EV6, Ioniq5, q4 for example, charging infrastructure is still far from where it needs to be, battery technology is not quite there, in terms of efficiency, the average mile per kWh I would think needs to be double (or more) the current average figures, just adding bigger batteries just adds more weight. (And therefore makes better efficiency hard to obtain)
Wltp range is imho a useless calculation, which manufacturers exploit in their favour, and any wltp figure should be reduced by at least 25 to 30%. Things can only get better and I hope by 2025 Manufacturers will be producing EVs that don’t increase driver angst over range, 400+ real miles on a single charge should be the absolute minimum.

 

[PWS]

Not sure about 'fence-sitting' but I'm on a related glidepath, albeit with different requirements. I'd be 100% happy to order an EV now; I follow the EV market quite closely and appreciate that a lot of the criticism of range, infrastructure etc is in the rearview mirror now, but with the proviso that you need to be able to charge at home.

But there isn't an EV currently that really ticks all the boxes for me.- other than the city cars, all the more premium models are too large and too heavy for my taste. I know I'm a bit odd in preferring smaller cars - even a Q3 is slightly larger than I'd ideally like. Modern packaging means that a 4.3-4.4m (sub-)compact SUV/crossover can comfortably hold 4 adults and/or a reasonable amount of cargo. and also offer 4WD and be pretty nimble & chuckable on the road.

Nearest I've come across in a BEV is a Cupra Born, but the 4WD version still seems to be some way off - probably announced later this year with 2023 delivery at a guess. But by all accounts the VAG software (though not necessarily the Audi version) still needs quite a bit more shaking down and I'm not sure anyway how sensible it is to order a new variant in say the first 6-12 months of production. Waiting a bit might also improve the battery tech slightly and give somewhat better power or energy density, ideally both. That said, I don't think there are going to be step changes in batteries in the near future and anyway manufacturers might well use any such benefits to reduce kerb weight rather than increase range. An increase in EV efficiency to reach say current Tesla Model 3 LR benchmarks is perhaps also a realistic aim worth waiting for - seems to be happening slowly and incrementally with eg OTA updates but Tesla still sets the targets.

So what I'm currently considering is ordering a Mini Countryman JCW (not very different in concept to a BMW SQ3) as an interim next ICE car and then look to make the EV jump after that. (Though if Lexus were to introduce a UX model with the P810 eCVT drivetrain in the near future then I'd certainly give that a test.)

 

[spike107]

I've been watching on Quest the new fifth gear "recharged"... They had the Cupra Born, EV6 and Ioniq5 reviews all in there if your intersted... Its certainly got me on the fence as to what to replace my 8U RSQ3 with for sure...