Lately, it has become clear that we need a second longer-range EV. The LEAF works well in town, but is down to about 90 miles of range, which in reality is about 68 miles. (My rule of thumb is to take about 25% off an EV’s range at 100% and that’s your real-world mileage, which accounts for climate control, terrain, temperature, and leaving about 15% in the battery.) We are realizing that in the near future we may both need to drive to the Bay Area to see family, and that won’t work with the LEAF.

So, we’ve been checking out new EV’s! Always one of my favorite activities, not so much Scott’s. We initially thought we’d go with a Tesla Model Y so we could have access to the Tesla Supercharger network. A friend of ours brought over his Model Y and took Scott for a test drive. When he came back, I asked him how it went. He said, “I could live with it.” Not exactly the response I was hoping for.

Next, we visited Nissan and found a Premium Nissan Ariya in the showroom. Wow! What a beautiful car! Scott slid into the driver’s seat and started playing with buttons (embedded in the wood veneer trim with haptic feedback when you press them) and the next thing I saw was a big grin. Ok, now we’re talking! Meanwhile, I’m styling over in the passenger seat, feeling very comfortable and thinking, this is as nice as my car. (I don’t usually have thoughts like that as I am totally in love with my Ioniq 5 and I don’t cheat on her.) Then we took the Ariya out for a test drive, and we were sold! What a comfortable and quiet ride, like the Ioniq. We were in a FWD model, so it didn’t have the power of the AWD, which is still coming off the production line as I write. We hope that one will be available soon for us to test drive, but looking at the YouTube test drives, it sounds like they did an awesome job with the e-4orce AWD model.

Other things we love: roomy and spacious cabin, very comfy and adjustable seats, the blue Nappa leather is beautiful, rear seats are comfortable and can be heated, there’s lots of leg and head room, the HVAC system in the back is better than the Ioniq’s, the panoramic sunroof can be opened above the front seats, the automatic drawer comes out from below the dash and doubles as a storage compartment and a table for your iPad or laptop (the Ariya is billed as a driving lounge, and it is), the console between the front seats can be moved forward and back with the touch of a button, the car has haptic buttons built into wood veneer that disappear when the car is off,  the screen is curved and sits low and long across the dash (not in your face like the Tesla), the heads up display is easy to see, it supports wireless Apple CarPlay, it has driver assists (ProPilot 2.0) and cameras that we are used to in the Ioniq, the ability to use the camera in the rear view mirror if you have the live view blocked by stuff (often the case on our road trips), and the whole overall look and design of the car. Scott particularly liked feeling more snuggled into the driver’s seat in the Ariya. The Ioniq is more open and spacious, which is my preference but not his. Although, I didn’t feel like I was at all constricted in the Ariya. He was also glad to see regular door handles and a less flashy look than the Ioniq.

The Nissan has a little more range than the Ioniq—267 vs. 256, but charges at about ½ the speed (10-80% in 40 minutes vs. 20 minutes). Taking 25% off the Nissan’s 267 advertised range (100% to 0%–who does that anyway?), it has a real-world range for us of about 200, which would leave 15% in the battery. It will be fun to compare these two to each other on road trips! We’ll have to spend more time at chargers with the Ariya, but that just means a longer walk for us and that’s ok. Nissan’s goal is to lengthen battery life, so that will be another interesting experiment over time.

Being human, we then began to second guess how easily this had come. Maybe we are missing something, we thought. We found a Car and Driver article that listed all the EV’s available in 2023. Scott looked through it and decided he’d also like to see a Mustang Mach-E and a Toyota BZ4X (he’s driven Toyotas for over 30 years).

We went over to the Ford dealer one day and found an ugly yellow Mach-E available for a test drive. We also sat in the high-end model sitting next to it. We instantly disliked the feel of this car. It was like sitting in a race car—low down in the seat which wraps around you more tightly than the Ariya (too much of a good thing for Scott), large center console that makes the leg room area feel boxed in, high and small windows, and challenging to get in and out of compared to the other EV’s we’d driven. We felt claustrophobic in this car. The trim was disappointing, and the screen was in your face like the Tesla, but not nearly as well designed. The drive was ok, and honestly, we can’t recall much because we were so turned off by that point. I imagine this car is a scream if you are on a racetrack or speeding around curvy roads. Oh, and it has a woofer in the back if you like to pump your base while you’re racing. So not our thing! And it was the most expensive car we looked at, plus on back order for about two years according to our salesman.

It took us awhile to find the Toyota BZ4X, which we finally found in Auburn on our way to the Trinity Alps. I had originally wanted this car but changed my mind once I saw it compared to the Ioniq on YouTube. So, I was curious to see it in person. What a disappointment. I liked it even less than I thought I would, but then I’ve been driving the Ioniq for 9 months and there’s really no comparison. But I reminded myself, this is not your car…

Meanwhile, Scott was taking in all the familiar Toyota buttons and finish that he is used to. (We were in a Limited.) He decided he liked the driving screen that sits high up above the steering wheel but didn’t like the way it had been designed. It is Toyota’s answer to heads up driving. The computer screen sits low and forward but had not been set up and was not functioning. This seemed odd to us, like it wasn’t really integrated with the car, but with your smartphone? The salesperson showed us how to adjust things like the driver assist features using buttons on the steering wheel and multiple menus. This should be in the screen. It felt smaller and tighter than the Ariya and had a solid center console, more like the Mach-E. It was not as claustrophobic to us, but definitely not as comfortable as the Ariya. The panoramic roof is split in the center and we couldn’t see why, as it doesn’t open, like the Ariya does. It did have a cover for the pano roof, which is a must in our hot climate (one of the things Scott didn’t like in the Tesla). The BZ4X has a lot of shiny black plastic surfaces inside and out. It throws off glare and I imagine would show dirt and fingerprints. Neither of us liked this. Scott likened the outside of the white car as “looking like a soccer ball.” Good analogy!

Then we took it out on the road. First off, not the kind of acceleration we are used to. Secondly, lots of road noise! Nothing like our Highlander, which was much quieter. This car reminded us of our Subaru Forester which was really noisy on the road. The Limited AWD also has only 222 miles of range, so taking the 25% off, about 167 miles realistically. It is also a slow charger, going from low range to 80% in about an hour. Well, scratch this one off the list. Toyota does hybrids well and I’ve heard good things about their plug-in hybrids. Clearly, this is the niche they are focused on and not the EV, at least not yet.

What We Learned

We are like a cross between the Princess and the Pea, and Goldilocks. We like our cars comfy, luxurious, and spacious and we want that just right feel. We seek a comfortable and quiet ride, stable handling, especially on snow and ice (hence why we are looking at only AWD’s). Speed is fun, but not the main attraction. We want lots of cargo space since we seem to take half our house with us on vacation. We like our driver assists and prefer buttons to screens, but we can work with a screen and prefer it for more advanced settings. We are tickled by cool and thoughtful design features. Our range is about 150 miles before we need to get out of a car and stretch our legs, but we like to have a little more available if necessary. We get range anxiety below 15%, plus it isn’t great on the battery, so we factor that in (included in the 25% we take off a car’s advertised range).  We like big windows and panoramic roofs that can be closed in the hot summer months. We both think the Ariya’s split window with the ability to open over the front seats is very cool. Scott likes his car to be less flashy and more what he’s used to. He has come to terms with the reality that all modern cars have screens and are more helpful than he prefers, but he’s getting used to this after driving the Ioniq.

And The Winner Is…

Scott picked the Ariya. Frankly, he never really looked back once he sat in it for the first time. This car is his “just right.” So, we will keep an eye out for a white Platinum AWD e-4orce and see when it shows up.

The Runners Up

#2. Tesla Model Y. He liked the drive ok, but it “ran away with me.” He couldn’t gauge how fast he was going, and this bothered him. It lacks the luxury and ingenuity he likes in the interior. He didn’t like not being able to close off the pano roof. There’s too much screen and not enough buttons. He doesn’t want to drive a computer, or to have it drive him.

#3 Toyota BZ4X.  A decent EV but lacks the pizzaz of the others and falls short in the range and charging department. He didn’t like the road noise or the exterior look.

#4 Mustang Mach-E. Claustrophobic interior was an instant turnoff. For Scott there is such a thing as too much snuggly, it turns out! This car is probably great fun if you’re into drag racing or performance driving, or you like the feel of what it must be like in a race car, or if you really must have a Mustang.