For all of you EV experts: Should we sell our 2019 eGolf with 25,000 miles now to buy another EV? If not when should we sell it?
Here is the warranty info. They say the warranty is a clue as to how long they expect the battery to last.
- 3 years/36,000 miles vehicle warranty (done - held 4 years)
- 5 years/60,000 miles power train and high voltage system (5 years Aug 2025)
- 8 years/100,000 miles for the battery for defects/workmanship and net capacity below 70% (what does this mean?)
Yes and no. The battery pack warranties are actually legally required here in the US:
https://caredge.com/guides/ev-battery-warranties
So the predictive nature of the length of the battery pack warranty as it relates to how long the battery pack will actually last really doesn't have much to do with the actual length of the warranty itself, it more has to do with how the battery warranty deals with degradation - which is typically in the fine print and needs to be taken into account. For example, the 2023 Tesla MY LR that we just bought - has an 8 year 120k mile battery pack warranty - with a minimum of 70% battery retention of overall capacity. That means that if we were to keep our MY until either 2031 or up to 120k miles - and we have less than 70% battery capacity left before the end of the warranty period - then our MY LR may be eligible for a battery pack replacement under warranty terms (emphasis on MAY - there are caveats embedded in the fine print). So if our original EPA rated range miles is 318 miles - that means if the pack falls to under 318*70=222.6 miles maximum calculated range - the pack may be eligible for warranty replacement.
Here's a link to the vehicle warranties that Tesla currently offers:
https://www.tesla.com/support/vehicle-warranty
Please note if you live in Cali - the warranty requirements are even better at 10 yr/150k miles.
Pros to selling eGolf now:
- Take advantage of higher prices due to auto shortage. We were offered $15k by the VW Dealer (Paid $11,500 when lease ended last year). May get a few thousand more at CarMax, Carvana or at Audi or ??? trade-in.
- Battery still has life. May garner better sales today.
- Can lease a foreign vehicle with tax advantages. Feds may close this loophole in future
- new car will have commuter lane sticker to get to work faster
- will get longer range EV or Plug in Hybrid - current range 125 miles
- we could use our ICE cars until we find an EV worth leasing
Cons (keep the eGolf)
- Car is paid off. No lease payments or down payment.
- battery has at least 1 - 4 years of warranty remaining depending on how you interpret the warranty above
- If I pay for commuter lane access, costs only $400 in extra payment per year via tolls. A lot less than a lease.
- No freeway entrance carpool access via sticker so will still encounter delays
- ICE cars old and unreliable for long range driving 2004 and 2006
- Wait for better batteries by 2026'
- insurance lower on older vehicle
- only 125 mile range. Good for commute and in-town only. Our ICE cars are old and unreliable.
What would you do?
Since you live in Cali - you have better warranty protection already. I wouldn't necessarily be in a hurry to make a move as a result. EVs, as you know, are expensive - so there's that. Most lease deals on EVs are far from ideal from a financing standpoint from what I've observed. The residual value is set way lower than the actual proven residual values of the vehicles which is advantage manufacturer. At least in the case of Tesla - they no longer allow for leases to be bought out either - you
must hand in the vehicle at the end of the lease - the only other option is to extend the lease up to six months - then you must hand in the car at the end of the lease extension. I wouldn't lease a Tesla for this reason alone. I'd also advise to be careful with any BEV outside of Tesla or Lucid - which make the most efficient BEVs on the road today. There are many BEVs coming onto the market, but they are much less efficient as is evidenced by the fact that most of them either offer less range when using similar sized battery packs, or equal range by using substantively larger battery packs in comparison - which means you're spending more money every time you charge the vehicle for the same amount of range - which adds up over time especially over the long term and when using public charging stations. Just my two cents on this topic after having done a ton of research before purchasing our 2023 MY LR. We loved the Lucid Air Pure - but it was simply too expensive for us at around $90k with the options we wanted - and was also ineligible for any federal or state rebates given it's price point. We spent just under $60k for the MY LR - and it was eligible for both federal and state tax rebates - which saved us $10k right off the bat.
Per my prior recommendation in this thread - I'd recommend waiting 1-3 years as I think we will see nextgen battery packs coming to market that aren't NMC based - which mitigate most of the core concerns with existing packs today, including moral and political concerns surrounding mining of rare metals, fire risks, battery cycling limitations, etc. I doubt we will keep our MY LR for more than a few years before selling it and/or trading it in against a newer model with a nextgen battery pack for example. If/when I replace our 2018 RAM 1500 ICE pickup - I'll likely do so with a BEV pickup a few years from now that is using a nextgen battery pack as well.
All of that said - if you're looking for a good deal on a new BEV right now - I'd likely recommend you go drive a Tesla M3 RWD. There are models in existing inventory - and with the $7500 federal rebate plus state Cali rebates available - you'll get around $10k back from a tax rebate standpoint - which means the price of this model drops to right around $30k - and this model uses a FRP battery pack that you can charge to 100% every day without any issues - and offers 272 miles of range today. Might be worth taking a spin just to see what you guys think about this vehicle. Tesla is also offering certain regional price breaks to clear out existing M3 inventory to make room for the newer M3 models being introduced in a few months - so if you don't care about driving the latest and greatest newest whizbang model - might be worth some consideration.
