I am sorry if I asked this before, but I couldn't find a thread I created. It might have been mentioned partly in other threads or my own journal. Now I create a dedicated subject for our situation, as we still haven't decided and I would appreciate more points of view than our own.
Our situation is that we have a 10 year old Subaru Outback on diesel (195.000 km) and an 18 year old, small Suzuki on petrol (110.000 km).
We currently live on a hill where we need 4x4 to get up in the winter. Both our cars have that. The house is on sale and we don't know yet where we will end up living after this. Probably not at an equally steep hill. But still in Norway with lots of winter weather.
We also own a cabin that is 150-200 meters from away the parking place and the parking place has no electricity. The village where that cabin is, also doesn't have a fast charger. The nearest fast charger is about an hour driving and we pass that charger on our way there.
Our
typical car usage is either very local (like 20-50 km trips). Or very long: 380 km one way to our cabin, 2000 km round trip to visit relatives abroad, up to 6000 km round trip up to north Norway for summer vacations. We do local trips very often (3-10 times per week) and long trips once a month or so. On long trips, we often bring along a shitload of camping stuff. For this, we prefer to have a station car. Maybe a car with a roof box would also work.
We sometimes use a trailer, especially when we sell a house or move.
We could like to drive more electrical (my country has a lot of water generated clean energy). And I also generally prefer 4x4 cars as they don't get stuck so easily in winter time. I want a fuel efficient car, not a 4x4 square car.
Norway has made EVs very attractive, as you don't pay VAT and don't pay the approx 600$ registration fee when you buy a car and you don't pay the yearly 350$ fee for having the car on the road. The tax advantages for EVs might disappear after 2020, we don't know yet.
We don't feel like buying a Tesla. We know that Tesla model 3 would be a good, affordable alternative with 4x4 and optimal distance per battery size. Only, Tesla has produced so many Monday morning cars in the later years because of lacking quality control. They have very long waiting time on repairs in Norway. And when you need to replace e.g. a window, you need to do it at Tesla, and can't go to a general window repair shop. We are just become a bit skeptic towards that brand. We also don't want to spend a fortune on a new electric car. That disqualifies cars like the Jaguar iPace.
Soon we will stop working and we think we could manage living with only 1 car, like we did for many years. We are in doubt between the following scenarios:
Replace both cars with one plugin Hybrid car, a used Mitshubishi Outlander PHEV 2018 model that had 7 years of guarantee when new.Pros: - Allround car, no worries about charging at cabin or during long trips.
- Can drive electric on most local trips. Has lower fuel consumption than fossile fuel car during petrol driving.
- Has 4x4 and can pull a trailer.
- Has enough space to take along our stuff during vacations.
- Still 5 years of guarantee.
- Only one car to take care of. Only one insurance.
Cons:- The car is not very streamlined compared to the best EVs.
- The use of petrol during long trips is expensive.
- Does not get the tax advantages of EVs.
- When driving on petrol, the car pulls along a heavy battery. Smaller petrol tank than normal fossile fuel car.
- Less good conscience.
Replace both cars with one reasonably priced new EV, for example the new Scoda Vision iV that is supposed to come in 2020.Pros:- Has 4x4.
- Reasonably long driving distance on full battery in summer time, ca 500 km.
- Tax advantages
- Cheaper and cleaner energy on all trips.
- Car is very streamlined, designed for low energy use.
- Good conscience.
- New car means 5-7 years of guarantee.
Cons: - Need to let an electrician install a good quality electricity outlet with lock at our cabin's parking place. Or be able to use someone else's. Not sure if they want to install it over such a long distance.
- More planning around loading stations during long trips. There are popping up more and more loading stations.
- Loading stations can have queues, especially for non-Tesla cars. Loading takes generally half an hour. Sometimes there is a 1,5 hour queue. We as retirees might not be so effected, as we will avoid the typical rush hours.
- It is probably smaller than our current station car, but might be big enough for our use.
- Not sure it can pull a trailer. But maybe we could swap cars with someone else on those few occasions we need a trailer. We might need a trailer regularly in the next year.
Replace only the Suzuki with a cheap, used EV, like a Nissan Leave and keep the Subaru.Pros:- All local trips can be done with the EV, but diesel car available for the long trips.
- Car for trailer pulling available.
- Cheapest alternative. You can get a used Nissan Leave very cheaply. And other Nissan Leave owners like that car a lot.
- Two cars available for the times when that is practical (one in repair).
Cons:- The Subaru could become rusty of little use by the time you need it.
- Need to store two cars, two sets of tires, buy two insurances. Currently not a problem, but we don't know if our future house will have a double garage or enough parking space.
- An EV without 4x4 needs to wait until we have moved away from our current home. I really hope to sell it before next winter.
- The Nissan Leave is probably a bit small for DH's very long CC skis. We would need to install something on the roof for the skis.
Replace both cars with a not-plugin hybridPros- Can buy a (used) 4x4 station car, lots of choice.
- Can pull trailer.
- Lower fuel usage than normal fossile fuel car, as it changes while driving downhill.
Cons:- No whole electric driving.
- No tax advantages
- No good conscience
- This type of car might become unattractive in future, like our diesel car is now. Low resale value.
What is your advice or input?
@habaneroNorway @gaja or others?