I wrote in 2021 that my dream car is a mythical 3-year-old electric minivan (that doesn’t exist). Later that year, I wrote up a summary of the prospects of an electric minivan (as of 2021). As of 2023 there wasn’t much of a change.
Here in 2024, I’ve given up on the dream of an electric minivan, at least for my purposes and for now. The dream is closer than ever.
- I was actually able to sit in a 2024 Kia EV9 at a local dealership. It’s a big 3-row SUV, but it’s the closest thing to an EV minivan that actually exists. It’s not cheap, but it’s not ridiculous either.
- Volkswagen says their EV minivan, the ID.Buzz is “coming to Canada in late 2024.” I suspect that means I wouldn’t be able to test drive or buy one for at least another year, and even then, I expect it will be quite expensive.
For my family, we still have (and love) our 2013 8-passenger Honda minivan. We’ve been finding we’re driving it around a lot more with one or two people in it lately though. With three kids often heading in three directions, we’re also reluctantly accepting that we have use for a second vehicle.
So, we’ve added a 2024 Hyundai Kona EV to our fleet.
- It’s the cheapest and least cool EV we could find.
- It was actually available on the lot to test drive and buy.
- Provincial and federal rebates add up to $10,750.
- It doesn’t have stupid door handles (though it does have a stupid key fob).
Farewell electric minivan dream. I hope we meet again.
I also dream of an EV minivan, but my use case is different: I sold my 1984 VW Vanagon Westfalia camper a few years ago, and I really need to replace it with something more practical. I’d love to take all but two seats out of an EV minivan and create a custom camping interior in the rear. There are even a few companies offering (expensive!) custom pop-tops.
In the meantime, I read that the Chrysler Pacifica is one of the best minivans available, and the Pacifica plug-in hybrid model is available now. The AAA used car buying service lists a 2021 Limited model near me for around $30.5K. I’m planning to go look at it.
That AAA service offers lease-return vehicles through dealers, no haggling. That’s how I got my 2017 Outback in 2021, and I still love it. But the Outback too small for comfortable car camping. I bought a small trailer and towed it with the Outback on a coast-to-coast trip. That was a great experience, but it taught me that I’m really a van person.
The Pacifica PHEV has a 32-mile electric range, and Edmunds says they got 44.1 mpg on their 115-mile test course. My Outback got 37.2 mpg on my 333-mile trip last week, including the Grapevine, so I might not be disappointed with the Pacifica!
There are rumors the Pacifica EV may be available in 2028. Can I wait that long? Will democracy even last that long?
I’ve had a plug-in Pacifica for 3 years. I like it. I don’t know if I will continue to like it out of warranty, because it has had a few problems that would have been expensive as out-of-warranty repairs. And mine only has 18k miles on it. I go through about a quarter of a tank of gas per year, now that we have an EV for long trips and just use the Pacifica around town. I wouldn’t go through any gas, but the computer insists the gas must be burned from time to time, lest it go stale. So, I keep a quarter tank of gas in it and about twice a year the computer puts it into “fuel refresh mode” which is all-gas driving.
In gas mode it gets about 31 MPG. That 44.1 mpg sounds unrealistic — maybe that was over a flat course at 45 mph? Or they started out with a fully charged traction battery so the 115 mile was 30 at infinite mpg and the rest at 31 mpg?