Two leading, mainstream manufacturers have just unleashed state-of-the-art, European-built, pure-electric cars – at opposite ends of the spectrum. One costs around 10 times more than the other. Yup, you did read that right.
Tata-owned Land Rover kicked off proceedings on 2 September when it announced the long-overdue, first-ever Range Rover Electric – from £154,070 to £225,240 (with bespoke versions likely to occupy £250k-£300k territory). Yikes.
Days later, Renault-owned Dacia weighed in with its second-generation electric Spring, which the firm promises “will be priced below £18,000 before any potential government subsidies”. So, for the bog standard version, think around £14k – making it 91 per cent cheaper than the ‘cheapest’ Range Rover EV.
In one sense, it’s daft to compare the small, basic, 2WD, 155 mile-range (allegedly), baby Dacia with the larger, plusher, 4WD Landy said to be good for 300 miles-plus. But this pair are about as up-to-the-minute as electric cars can be. They were born on the same continent during the same week. They demonstrate more dramatically than any other just-released European-designed/built cars, the insane – but at the same time delicious, almost hilarious – price gap between some of today’s new models.
They’re so bonkers that not only can a buyer grab 10 Slovenian-built Spring EVs for the price of one UK-made electric Range Rover, he or she will still have enough change left over to pay for a 100-night round-the-world cruise. If you must have an electric car right now, go for something bigger and pricier than the Dacia, smaller and cheaper than the Landy. Here’s my checklist for how to go about it.
Be open-minded. Book dealer-provided test drives. Look around for zero-per-cent finance deals. Be aware that discounts are almost obligatory, as the Audi Q4 e-tron has lately been proving with price cuts of £17,000 or more via the Auto Express Buy A Car service.
Before ordering, clue yourself up on tax bands, insurance groups, running costs and resale values. Study Auto Express road tests, star ratings and Driver Power surveys.
After you’ve done all that, your automotive head and heart should be arming you with a shortlist of the makes and models best matching your needs. Disregarding the as-yet- unproven Spring and Range Rover, the world-class Renault 4 – currently available at a discounted price of just over £21,000 – is a true best buy.
Wealthier consumers would be wise to go for a Hungarian-made BMW iX3. It’s not as pretty or as substantial as the electric Range Rover. But it’s considerably lighter, goes further between charges and starts at ‘just’ £53,250. And that’s more than £100,000 less expensive than Solihull’s electrified finest.
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