EDIT: After research, and one test drive, I’m sold on the idea of a Cayenne demo - miles above father’s X5 in handling and will work right into where I need to get with 0 down for tax purposes. EVs are great but ultimately don’t work for me right now as you guys pointed out. Thank you so much for all your responses. I will post the deal and car when I pull the trigger in the next month or two.
I need to get within the $1100 to $1200 range AFTER CA taxes with 0 due at signing. MSDs are considered, but at this price point, I’d like to hold onto the cash if we are talking 8k+ in MSDs. Planning to pull the trigger next month or October.
Prefer an SUV as I live in the hills and do some off roading to hiking trails. No home charger and can’t place one as we currently rent a house. There is an EVGO 10 minutes down the hill from my home so not entirely throwing out EVs yet.
Thank you all so much for your replies, greatly appreciated. The only other thing I want to add is I want to get close to a 1% deal. I know I won’t get there on a regular X5 or GLE (it would have to be an exceptional car for me to paying this type of money on a 70k car, and that doesn’t quite exist in this price range).
My list so far:
Cayenne (demo?)
X5 (but as said below, the lease deals on these are not quite there right now)
Q8 or Q8 Etron (again the charging issue)
EQS580 (when these fire sale - but the charging issue)
Etron GT (but again prefer the SUV)
What am I missing - anything with favorable RV, MF, rebates that aren’t the usual players in this range?
I think the electric BMW IX should be on your list… if you have a direct 120 volt run to the garage you can convert the plug to a lower power 220 volt (15-20amp) without changing anything in a lot of cases. Just would need to add a panel breaker and rewire the plug. You could coordinate with your landlord and an electrician. Good news about it is you can convert it back to 110 in about five minutes. I like the etron as well. I like electrics overall so I’m biased. I do think on standard leases in this category Mercedes probably has some deals to be had… if you can find a loaner to lease even better.
You can also plug into a standard 110V outlet. Obviously it takes a lot longer to charge.
I’m predicting that you will regret the decision to rely exclusively on public charging options.
How bad can it be? I found out within the first three days.
A line of people waiting their turn for others to complete their 45-minute sessions (and you cannot assume that some of these mouth breathers will even be around to leave immediately when the charging is complete);
Non-functional / offline charging stations (despite what the app shows as “available” when you leave the house);
Cars that aren’t charging (or cars that aren’t even EVs) parked in the spaces specifically designated for charging, blocking legitimate users’ access;
A system of mall chargers that only adds 0.3 miles of range per minute;
Walmarts (speaks for itself);
A Park & Ride with fentanyl zombies wandering the parking lot at 7:30 in the morning (but at least it wasn’t a Walmart).
100%. Everyone is getting free charging with their EV, and they’re always full with no sort of who’s next. We’re going to start seeing headlines of fights breaking out at charging stations. And EA likes to put their chargers at giant Walmart shopping centers where you have to go through three traffic lights in the shopping center to get to the chargers.
And the EV makers, instead of making them more efficient, are just dropping giant batteries in the EVs. I have yet to see a 350kw charger. Most are 150kw. You’ll be there a long time to wait for a charger, and a long time charging your vehicle, and maybe get in a fist fight if you’re lucky.
Anyways this thread is just going to turn into one of those where everyone lives vicariously through a single guy who can spend thousands per month on a car. If you’re serious, just do some research and start test driving cars. There are plenty of broker posts on here to give you an idea of what everything costs.
I’d go for a cayenne demo if it’s possible to find one. X5 programs are mediocre at best, 53% with .0021 nah… It does fit your budget but $1200 for a 40i X5 is still kind of out of my mind considering they were much cheaper before. Q8 is cheaper than X5 but it’s also a less good car imo.
Screw the evs… (but seriously, if you do consider one ix is the way to go!)
I’d get the EQS 580. You get free charging at Chargepoint and Electrify America. And the camera can see under the car for off-roading. Perfect for your needs. I have one. Love the way it handles.
Cross the evs off your list. @trism and @cahrens did a good job but it’s hard to even begin to articulate how bad non Tesla public charging is. Why they would incentivize all these evs without first making sure the public charging infrastructure wasn’t complete crap is mind blowing to me. Ok off soap box. Without home charging it’s a no go. In that budget I’d be looking at m550, Sclass or Tahoe/Yukon personally
As a counterpoint to the other replies here my opinion is that EVs can work just fine using only public chargers.
My house wiring us so old that I can’t even do 120V charging at home. So I rely entirely on public L2 chargers at work. It’s fine for me because my weekly mileage is low enough I only need one day a week charging at work to cover my usage.
So it really depends on your specific circumstances. High weekly mileage and lack of home charging probably don’t mix. But if your driving needs are in the right ballpark it can totally work.
I love EV’s but depending only on public charging would give me a lot of anxiety.
However, if you were willing to pay and use EVGo’s instead of sticking with only free charging at Electrify America then that’s probably an acceptable plan. Too many locals trying to get free charging so they can save $3.
