situation

Leasing of the Model3 is running out, the current leasing company would almost double the leasing rate if I took the same vehicle again. Because of that and because of the experiences with Tesla and electric driving, it's a good moment to look for alternatives.

Experience with Tesla

Yes, I was and am actually quite satisfied with the Model 3. Unfortunately, I also had some not so nice experiences with Tesla. As far as service is concerned, it's really a bit difficult. A lot was rebuilt and changed at Tesla, restructured and some things improved. But all of these changes naturally took some time to take effect, leading to "teething troubles" and "birth pangs" - unfortunately almost all of them to the detriment of Tesla drivers.

All in all it's ok with Tesla because normally you don't need any service at all or anything like that. According to Tesla it would be ok to do a service after 4 years, but it is not necessary. In contrast to the other manufacturers who force you into their workshop at least once a year.

Still, the whole thing gives you a "weird" feeling. But I also wanted to include this point in the calculation and wanted to document my decision-making a little and to compile my assessment of the various criteria.

candidates

Since leasing has become significantly more expensive and there are still a few problems with the Tesla service, I also want to take a look at other vehicles - fortunately there is already a small selection in the electric vehicle segment. And yes, I wanted to stay with Elektro. On the one hand, because I think I get more car for the money and because it's also nice not to leave exhaust fumes where you drive. In my opinion, the fact that you only visit gas stations to have your car washed is also an advantage.

The candidates that could be considered as successors should of course be "similar" to the Model3. I paid particular attention to driving pleasure, suitability for travel and the driver assistance systems / software, which is why candidates such as a 'Renault Zoe' or a 'Mini E' are ruled out for the time being... The price is of course also an important factor that influences the decision. In order to be comparable with the Model3, the "large" equipment variant had to be used for comparison in almost all vehicles. Very often there are also cheaper options, but it should be similar in terms of range, performance, etc.

Delivery time was also a problem, the leasing expires in June 2023 and then a vehicle should be there again. Surprisingly, this is now a serious factor in August 2022 - some vehicles are eliminated due to delivery problems (Volvo, for example).

I've given a few very subjective ratings here. This is my personal opinion on the subject and everyone can come to a different conclusion. In particular, the weighting of the individual categories will differ for one or the other.

Valuation

As already mentioned, the evaluation is very subjective and, above all, comparative. This means that if a vehicle has more points in a certain category than another, it only means that it was subjectively better in this comparison. This is not an absolute statement! Please keep that in mind when looking at the reviews.

I award 0-100 points in each category, although this is really only a subjective assessment.

Each category has different weights for me. Since I value driving pleasure more than e.g. range, these points are counted twice.

So when I put it all together, I come up with the following weightings:

Road trip calculation

For the vehicles discussed here, I also calculate a (theoretical) value for the time that would probably be needed for charging on a 900km trip.

I assume that the real range is not really reached at 100% when charging during the trip, but you do start with 100%. Then each of 10-80% loads and progresses accordingly.

Example: with a theoretical range of 500km, you would probably get pretty much exactly 450km before the battery only has 10% left.

Then you would have to load up to 80%. Let's assume that this takes 30 minutes. Then you would try to continue driving, since you have only charged to 80%, you only have a range of approx. 350km (you don't drive to 0, but to 10%).

Then there are still 100km missing, which you could reach again by charging - in this case you would have to charge again for about 10min for the remaining 100km. But then you would probably arrive with 0% SOC, which is normally not wanted. In other words, to arrive at the end with at least 10%, you would probably have to charge for about 42 minutes on a 900km trip.

Of course, this assumes that there are no fluctuations in consumption (differences in height) or similar factors, this is a purely mathematical value that can probably not be achieved in reality. But it clarifies a little how the charging speed and the range (and thus also the consumption) in combination influence such a trip.

Range/Load

Because the WLTP range in itself says little and the total charging time on our road trip described above may be somewhat misleading, I generate a point number for this point "range / charging" from the normalized product of charging time on the road trip and maximum charging power ( because the latter is an indicator for good charging electronics for me).

So the range is the real range listed on ElektroautoVergleich and the average charging time listed there for 10-80% and the average charging capacity of 10-80%.

Put together, these values ​​then result in the rating for range / charging.

Vehicles

Polestar 2

I was really looking forward to the Polestar 2. The car looks great and I think it's really nice to look at. The space in the trunk is good, at least larger than the Model 3. But of course there is a "but": I found it super "stocky" in the vehicle. The very wide center console in particular (according to Polestar, this is only due to the combustion engine base) was really annoying. For me as a driver it was too narrow and uncomfortable. The rear seats are quite roomy and ok so far. But the Polestar 2 is really super sporty to drive, it performs well and is also good around corners. The software is a bit "strange" - I found Android Auto (which is the operating system used there) surprisingly unintuitive and I got "lost" in the menus. In the meantime we had 2 navigation systems running, A Better Routeplanner was installed on our demonstration vehicle and ran in the background, together with our own Google navigation. That would be ok so far, but the two had different destinations - and we didn't manage to switch off either of them for a while.

The driving assistance is ok so far, but the lane keeping assistant has a problem finding the "middle". Sometimes it drove too far to the right, sometimes too far to the left... then it wanted to turn off on the Autobahn. I had no real faith in the thing.

The "smart" cruise control was ok so far, although it's very weird that the Polestar recognizes the speed limit but doesn't automatically set the cruise control!

The Polestar cannot really score points when it comes to charging technology either, because 1. its consumption is too high with a good range (486 WLTP and approx. 395 km in real terms) and 2. it charges too slowly on average. On the ElektroautoVergleich page, an average charging capacity of just over 100kw was measured - that's a bit low. But loading from 10 to 80% is done in just over half an hour with 32 minutes. Nevertheless, the Polestar (purely arithmetical) has a pure charging time of at least 74 minutes for a 900km trip.

The price is worth mentioning, in the Model3-comparable equipment we are around 71000,-€. However, leasing is a problem. Polestar couldn't offer a corporate lease without a down payment, I phoned umpteen people, pestered the salesman in the branch. Everyone said it couldn't be done. At some point, a supporter wrote me an email saying I had to "submit an application". That was the amazing thing: contrary to what the sales staff in the Polestar branch said, it does work, but only as the last step in applying for leasing for the vehicle, which works 100% online, similar to Tesla! The service was once again the real problem.

Unfortunately, I have to give the Polestar lower marks:

Volvo C40

You would have to compare it to the Polestar, since both are built on the same basis. There are actually only major differences in the built-in infotainment system, which - from what I've seen - is a little more confusing than that of the Polestar. Unfortunately I couldn't drive the car and unfortunately it wasn't a real alternative for me due to the delivery problems. The Volvo has a slightly shorter range than the Polestar (448km WLTP / 350km real), but probably the same charging technology. In purely arithmetical terms, the car takes about 92 minutes to charge on a 900km road trip - that's surprisingly bad, only the Mach E is slower.

Hyunday Ioniq 5

The Ioniq was also one of my favorites, it looks really futuristic, offers a lot of space and with Hyundai you would think that they can do electric cars. They can too, the Ioniq is in a great position when it comes to charging performance.

Unfortunately, I found a few problems in my tests - the driver assistance systems in particular were more dangerous than helpful in my case. Apart from the fact that the lane departure warning system had trouble staying in lane, it simply switched itself off without an audible or any visible warning! However, the cruise control remains activated, i.e. you do not notice at all that the vehicle is now simply driving straight ahead. In the display in front of the steering wheel (an advantage) there is an icon that shows whether the driver assistance is on or off. When it's off, the icon is gray; when driver assistance is active, the icon turns light green. With changing light conditions, it's almost impossible to tell the difference! I'm not the only one who noticed this. There are also some videos on youtube about it. Unfortunately... If such an assistance system is installed, then it must be safe! The excuse: That's just a "normal" car, doesn't apply.

What is also a real problem: the navigation has no integrated charge planning. If you also want to use the vehicle for longer distances, this is really rather impractical. That should actually be standard in 2022.

On the other hand, the built-in entertainment system supports Apple Carplay and Andriod Auto, so you can make up for a few small problems (strangely enough, the cordless version is only available in the "smaller" model variants).

Charging performance is really where the Ioniq can shine. Super fast 190kw is loaded from 10-80% on average, this is the fastest in this class! But unfortunately the range is a bit lower, it is given as 481km WLTP, in real terms it should be around 390km. On a 900km road trip, you would only need to spend around 40 minutes charging the car. Still undefeated!

And in this class, the Ioniq is the cheapest vehicle at just over €66,000

Genesis GV60

Genesis is Hyundai's "luxury" brand, so the GV60 is the closest comparison to the Ioniq 5. The charging technology is identical, but the vehicle is a bit sportier and a bit smaller! So there is less space here. However, the infotainment system is structured differently. There are lots of gimmicks here too. The Genesis also has a lot of power, especially in the sportier version, and can even drift! In terms of fun, it is probably unbeaten in this price segment, but unfortunately 1. not available and 2. relatively expensive at €78,000 (for the sports version). Unfortunately not so interesting in leasing because the residual value is set relatively low.

What I found amazing is that the maximum power is not just available here, but you have to press a stupid button and then the power is on for 10 seconds or so. Feel like a crutch, especially in 2022.

Ford Mustang Mach E

One of the most expensive here in the ranking. If you take the configuration with the large battery, all-wheel drive, the price is around €74,000.

The Mustang Mach E is really fun, it's a really good electric car. The infotainment system supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, bypassing the Ionity binding in the navigation system. Battery preconditioning is not supported anyway, so there really is no need for the car itself to know the route you are driving.

The software is really good compared to what else is offered. If you like, you can get lost in the settings menus and adapt every important and unimportant little thing to your own needs. It's really nice and there's always something to "play". Even a small app to pass the charge time was thought of - a sketch app with which you can paint small pictures (Tesla sends its regards).

The navigation system is also really good, shows everything you need, especially the charging stops and how long you have to charge where and with how much SOC you arrive. Unfortunately, you are tied to Ionity charging stations, which is a problem. Because after one year you lose the free customer status with Ionity and have to register there for 12€ a month in order not to pay 79ct/kwh. This is a no go. But as already mentioned, you can circumvent this quite well with the integration of AppleCarPlay.

Unfortunately, there is also no heat pump, which reduces the range, especially in winter. As far as that is concerned, the Mustang is doing quite well with WLTP 540km (in real terms around 430km). Unfortunately, the average charging power is rather slow at 86kw between 10-80%, it is by far the worst in this comparison. Above all, there is the fact that the charging curve in the Mustang breaks down very strongly from 80% - sometimes to less than 22kw!

Arithmetically, you would have to allow at least 93 minutes for loading times for a 900km road trip! That's really a lot and here in comparison with the slowest.

However, the driver assistance systems are really ok, the lane departure warning system was really good and kept the lane well, the cruise control works well, does not brake too harshly and does not drive too close. The only vehicle I've tested where I could build trust in the driver assistance systems similar to Tesla!

A special feature of the Mach E are all the 'gimmicks' - you can set it up so that there's an engine noise in the cabin when you accelerate (it sounds a little like a V8 - but really only a little). The Mustang also lights up when you approach it in the dark with the key. And a Mustang logo is projected onto the road! Really nice gimmicks - everyone has to decide for themselves whether that justifies the additional price. Not for me.

The space available in the Mustang is relatively good, although not really outstanding in comparison. Although the Mustang is not built on a combustion engine basis, there is still very little space inside. The "floor" of the vehicle is relatively "thick", which takes away the depth of the whole thing, and you can also feel it in the trunk. In comparison one of the smaller trunks.

The frunk has a nice feature though: there is a hole through which water can drain. This is good in that you can easily wash out the frunk. Ford gives the example that you can store ice in the front so that drinks can be chilled. Nice gimmick, really.

Tesla Model Y

If you're a Tesla driver and familiar with the system, there are no surprises with the Model Y. The Tesla is relatively cheap in comparison (€67,370.00), and is also one of the cheapest in leasing because the residual value can also be set relatively high (anyone who has ever tried to find a used Tesla knows what I mean).

The special feature of the Model Y is - in my opinion - better optics and the significantly better space. According to the manufacturer, the trunk with a volume of more than 900l (if the rear seat is not folded down) is twice as large as, for example, the Ford Mustang (of course, the numbers are typical American embellishments, but Fords too!).

The seating position on the Model Y struck me as very comfortable. You don't sit as sportily deep as with the Model 3 and yet you still have the go-kart feeling. The fact that the higher seating position is good for me may also be due to my advanced age 😉 . Nevertheless, the chassis has really gotten better and compared to my Model 3 from 2019, the Model Y (even the Performance variant) feels much more comfortable. In general, it has become much quieter in the car. The wind noise could be heard very clearly in the Model 3, especially on the motorway. Which is why you didn't want to drive so fast 😉 . But with the Model Y it's much quieter, hardly anything to hear. And compared to the other vehicles I've tried, there really isn't much of a difference.

If you now examine the numbers more closely, the Model Y is the second fastest "loader" in this list (shares the place with the other Teslas 😉 ). Charging from 10 to 80% takes just under half an hour in 27 minutes, a really good value. Together with the real range of approx. 435km, we get a total charging time of 53min on a 900km road trip!

Tesla's software is the most mature and best to use. There are no problems with the navigation, there are no problems with the settings or anything. Yes, you could say the Tesla is a "computer on wheels" - that doesn't have to be a disadvantage. Especially since the driving experience is largely due to the infotainment system and its appearance.

The binding of the navigation to Tesla's own supercharger network could be seen as a disadvantage. But that's not really the case, as Tesla has more charging points in Europe than the rest combined. I.e. I don't have to load somewhere else. And that's one thing, especially when it comes to the price: Ionity charges "non-members" 79ct / kwh - if you don't want to pay that, you have to pay a fee of €12 per month. This is really a stupid way to retain customers. In addition, you can find other charging stations in the app of the Tesla, but they are not included in the route planning - unless you add them manually.

At Ford, the connection to Ionity is more of a disadvantage, because they have many charging stations, but not as many as would be necessary in some areas. Tesla's charging network is clearly a very big plus point, which you can see in the rating under Range / Charging - 10 points are added for the super easy-to-use charging network.

And that is exactly the advantage of Tesla over everyone else here: I can get into my car at any time, with any charge level, tell the computer to please navigate me to XYZ and I don't have to do anything else. With the other vehicles, no matter which one, I always have the problem that I need authorisations, cards, roaming etc. for the charging stations on the way. This is really unnecessarily complicated.

And yes, that advantage is fading as Tesla wants/needs to open up the charging network to other non-Tesla vehicles. But then these are certainly not stored in the navigation systems and using them is just as stupid as with the other providers: download the app, use the payment method, activate the charge station, etc.

One "downside" is that Tesla doesn't support Android Auto or AppleCarPlay. With Tesla, however, I only noticed this a little negatively, since the functions of the on-board software are sufficient. Apple Car Play is particularly helpful if your own system doesn't offer all the features (like the Hyunday) or isn't that great in itself.

If you mention the software at Tesla, the most important non-driving-related features should not be missing:

• You can pre-air-condition, or just let the air-conditioning run when you get out
• There is a "dog mode", then a little dog is shown in the display with the text "My owner will be right back" and the air conditioning stays on. Great feature
• there is a sentry mode that records when someone approaches the vehicle.
• there is a game box in which a number of triple-A games are also available. This is a great way to pass the loading time
• and if you would like to watch a little film: Disney+, Youtube and Twich are also available in the car (of course only when you are not driving)
• Spotify is available directly in the car and with it you can listen to almost anything you like.
• I have the vehicle unlocked with a credit card or with my cell phone, normally I just have to have the cell phone in my pocket and open the door.

Speaking of the software. This can not only be found on the vehicle itself, but also in the Tesla app. And that's something special. Not only can I control the air conditioning, see what the battery level is, open the trunk and frunk, unlock or start the vehicle. I can see where the vehicle is, I can even "remote control" the vehicle (in Germany you have to be nearby for this to work). And all of this works super easily and quickly. You can even use the app to schedule service appointments. The app is a great feature!

I'm currently awarding 50 points for service because it really wasn't that great. The whole thing is getting better, but planning via the app is actually not that much of a problem. The problem is the processes and the people behind them. I hope Tesla gets this under control. But since you (hopefully) hardly ever have to go to the Tesla service, it doesn't matter that much.

Here you also have to make a little difference between the performance and the normal variant. The performance variant clearly looks better and offers clearly more driving pleasure... that's why several points are awarded here. When charging, the Performance model only has to plan 5 minutes longer on the 900km trip than the LongRange model. So the two are about the same. On the other hand, the performance model looks a lot better than I had previously thought. The car is kind of weird in that context. It doesn't look that great on the internet, but in real life it's a super nice car to look at, especially the performance variant!

Tesla Model 3

In this comparison, my current vehicle should not be missing in the new version. Since I am concentrating here in particular on driver assistance systems and software, the Model3 comes out with almost the same rating as the Model Y - with deductions in terms of space and appearance (a matter of taste).

Unfortunately, the Model 3 LR is also a little behind because it is significantly more expensive to lease than the comparable Model Y.

The charging time for a 900 km trip of only 44 minutes is also interesting here! That's really a good value - and despite the significantly lower average charging capacity of 124kw, the Model 3 LR is on a par with the Genesis GV60 Sport, which can offer a charging capacity of 190kw, but unfortunately has to stop to charge more often because of the shorter range!

The comparison to the normal Model 3 (i.e. rear-wheel drive, no long range) may also be interesting here. With the same calculation basis, this takes 61 minutes to load on the 900km trip.

By the way, the Model3 Performance only needs 49 minutes for the trip - and according to the comparative evaluation scale it is clearly ahead.

Audi Q4 Etron

Unfortunately, I was not able to test drive the Audi, i.e. these values ​​here come from online research and friends and acquaintances that I asked. I've driven other Audis and I can make sense of things I've found on the internet.

I find the strange "castration" of the charging capacity of the Audi astonishing. If you take the small battery, you can only charge with a maximum of 100kw. That sounds a bit as if this were one of the first electric cars ever. All the more astonishing, because with the big e-tron they have shown that things can be done better.

The large battery charges with a maximum of 125kw and the top speed is 160 or 180 km/h. Funny concept too. However, what is really strange is the performance that you only get in full if you press a button before and then only for 10 seconds max. Why?!?!? I find that unnecessarily cumbersome.

Well, based on what I read there, the Audi was eliminated from the start. As an electric vehicle in the Tesla squad only in terms of price - approx. 69000€ in the Tesla-like equipment and the leasing was one of the most expensive of those listed here.

Also on our 900km road trip, the Q4 Etron is only in the middle. At 47 minutes, it's not the worst (that's the Mach E), but it's not really up there either. The reason behind this is the low charging capacity (on average 103kw of 10-80%) and the relatively poor range of reel 385km.

I also don't find the car attractive, but that's my subjective opinion.

Skoda ENYAQ

The ENYAQ is the most sensible of the vehicles tested here. At least it looks like a sanity car. Unfortunately. There's no real fun with the tame look. The driver assistance systems and the software have probably been taken over by the ID3/4 and not the best in the ranking (albeit better than with the ID models). For the road trip we would have to add 67 minutes pure loading time, which is really one of the worse values here in comparison.

##BMW iX3 I was really disappointed with the BMW. I thought that the people of Munich would manage to put up a great electric car, especially after their experience with the i3. Unfortunately this is not the case. In terms of design, I think they have galloped a little too.

The iX3 is by far the most expensive to lease, the slowest to charge (80min for the 900km road trip) and offers the least power. However, I assume that the software is typically BMW good and easy to use.

VW ID3/4

Our industry leader, so hyped by the media, now also makes electric cars. Yes, unfortunately just "also". Unfortunately, the software in particular is a real weak point in the ID models. It has been improved (fortunately there are OTA updates), but compared to Ford, for example, Volkswagen still has a lot of homework to do. But there seems to be some hardware issues here too: looking at it, I'd say the CPU/GPU is undersized, as lame as the screen builds up at times. Seems like they have clearly saved money at the wrong end!

There is virtually no vehicle in the same performance category as the Model 3, so the comparison is a little unfair. If I rate the driving pleasure relatively poorly here, that's because I could only configure the ID4 with a maximum of 256 hp. So it's not really a competitor in that area either, because from 0-100 it's almost 4 seconds slower than the Ford Mustang (and the Model 3 is 3.5 seconds to 100!).

Here, too, you are tied to Ionity in the navigation system, with which you can probably charge cheaper for the first year - but again from the 2nd year then 79ct/Kwh or 12€ per month.

For our virtual road trip, a total of 72 minutes to charge needs to be planned, because of the charging capacity of just 100kw.

It could also be better in terms of space. Neither the ID3 nor the ID4 offer a frunk that could be called that. Also, both are based on VW's combustion engine platform, which wastes space. The trunk is comparable to that of the Ford Mach E. This is far from "THE car".

Apart from the fact that I find the car to be quite boring in appearance. However, I wanted to list it here for the sake of completeness.

Conclusion

It will probably be a Tesla again. And yes, I can almost hear them shouting "You fanboy, why didn't you check out the car XYZ". And yes, there are many other electric cars out there. I intentionally wanted to stay in the same/similar price and performance segment. But the air is already getting thinner.

And yes, Tesla's minimalist design isn't for everyone, I get it. But I'm fine with it. For those who don't have enough screens etc., I can warmly recommend the Ford Mustang.

But of course, these are all SUVs. If you don't want that, then maybe you should give preference to the Model3.

however. I tried to rate the categories from my point of view. And I can truly say that I was open to all of these vehicles. And my personal favorites are the Model Y and the Ford Mustang Mach E! Both super great electric cars, no question.

Here is an overview of the evaluation points: