SharpesTriumph
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Appreciate the post.Wife went with EVs since 2015, once her last Subaru blew it's engine. First one was a VW e-Golf, fun to drive, very shoddy build quality. It was replaced in 2018 with a Kia Soul EV - most boring car ever, but nothing went wrong on it, absolutely perfect reliability.
She has since got a 2020 Kona Electric. A lot more fun to drive than the Kia, about as much fun as the VW was (much more power, handling is not as good but very entertaining). Like all EVs, they require a once a year service - in the last one they said they heard something with the steering column and decided to replace it just to be sure there is no issue (we never heard anything ourselves and the car never failed).
Unlike the previous 2 EVs, I think this one is a keeper and she will likely buy it at the end of the lease. My in-laws have a TM3, very good car but we have a tight turning area at the bottom of our long driveway and the wife prefers the shorter wheelbase of the Kona. Also, it is much cheaper than the TM3, I think she got it in 2021 as the last one of the 2020s they had and after all the rebates paid about as much a Civic SI - and it's a much more interesting car to drive, imho.
I can't really tell you anything about the overall reliability of the new Hyundai / Kias, but our experience has been excellent and I suspect the huge poaching they have done from the other companies in the last 10 years is starting to show (I have many friends at the local automotive design studios that are mostly located in SoCal and that's been the talk about them in the last decade - they invested a lot in improving their design, engineering and production).
But, car reputation takes a long time to build, I remember being stuck on the far side of Cyprus with a broken Hyundai Excel that had a broken clutch cable, at least it was kind enough to do it where we could find a pay-phone (before mobile phones) instead of the Trodos (mountain range in the middle of the island) we traversed before where we were 3-4 hours away by car from anyone else.
I would, btw, agree with can't go wrong with Toyota, but I have seen enough Hondas with broken gearboxes to know that's less of a safe bet... FWIW
What do you think of CCS charging options on road trips?
Everything I've seen personally and reviews online lead me to believe it's many years away from being dependable. I like the idea of getting a Rivian R1S if my 2024 reservation ever is actually built. But I just can't imagine being stuck unable to charge on a snowy Colorado ski trip with two little kids.
I have zero concerns of it with Tesla superchargers. I drove from Palm Springs to Austin nonstop in under 20 hours including superchargers/diapers/bottle breaks.