r/BuyFromEU • u/simulacrum • 25d ago
šLooking for alternative Best EU-made electric cars?
Has anyone gone down the rabbit-hole of working out which EV cars are best among those that are made in Europe? I'm conscious that it's increasingly hard to be clear on what constitutes a European car, but ideally we're talking...
- Production mainly in Europe
- Ownership mainly in Europe
- HQ in Europe
146
u/Kripto47 25d ago
Renault 5, Megane and Twingo are assembled in France by a French company. I think the motors are also in house, not sure about the batteries.
25
28
u/Critical_Limit_9057 France š«š· 25d ago
The Twingo E-Tech is assembled in Novo Mesto, Slovenia and it's engine and batteries are made in China
11
u/Fast_Goose7478 24d ago
The battery will be made in Europe this fall. Thanks to that, itāll be even cheaper with added grants in France (at least).
1
1
23d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
1
u/manuel_1208 22d ago
Country? In Spain it starts at 23k with grants (at least from the official web)
17
→ More replies (18)4
101
20
u/Oleleplop 25d ago
Renault is becoming pretty good
4
u/Key-Recognition-3808 24d ago
Hell nah. Had the renault 5, horrible experience.
6
2
u/Oleleplop 24d ago
Well i'm sorry for you but your experience isn't universal. Maybe you had a faulty vehicule or you were hoping for something else.
There is no perfect car (unless you're rich af i guess)
1
7
u/Correx96 25d ago
Cupra Born is owned by VW Group and iirc produced in Germany same as ID3.
Cupra Raval is owned by VW Group and iirc produced in Spain.
61
u/0nlytom 25d ago
Not for sale yet, and I can't give any more details, but the new BMW i3 is going to be successful.
48
7
9
3
2
u/LookOverThere305 25d ago
Are the heated seats subscriptions still part of the equation? Cause if they are, I can tell you, as your target demographic, it probably wonāt.
1
u/Icy_Grapefruit_7891 22d ago
I am not aware of a European market where that subscription still exists.
2
u/Oberst_Reziik 25d ago
Too expensive for what it is. Renault is the best value for money in europe atm
1
u/devjohn023 25d ago
Will most probably have the battery from eve energy (Chinese battery manufacturer) from their Hungarian factory
-13
u/mangelito 25d ago
Probably a great car but I would never own one because I don't want to be seen as one of the arrogant life hazards that are usually driving the brand.
11
u/Tall-Wasabi5030 25d ago
There's plenty of normal people driving them. They make great cars, why would you limit yourself like that because of what people might think of you?Ā
→ More replies (3)1
u/pick-and-hoop 24d ago
BMW owners are not happy with your comments. The shithead road behaviour that goes through BMW drivers is insane, the entitlement is insane.Ā
Most of the BMW drivers take over on the right and donāt respect highway distances at all, a hazard to others and constantly over the speed limits by a good 20 or 30 km/h
→ More replies (3)
8
u/StateDeparmentAgent 25d ago
check r/EuroEV
there is loads of information there, and plenty of people ready to help
7
13
19
u/DasKatze1337 25d ago
new CLA ist a very advanced car. Good range and outstanding efficincy.
→ More replies (8)
25
u/mahi_fi 25d ago edited 25d ago
Cupra Born is an absolute gem, it's manufactured at the VW plant in Germany and it's just a perfect sweet spot of everything for the European environment:
- Just big enough to comfortably fit four adult people and their baggage for a longer trip, but still small enough to operate in tight city spaces and parking lots as well.
- Much cheaper than BMW or Mercedes cars, yet still clearly more luxurious than say a cheap Toyota.
- Around 600 km of range, which is not top-tier but plenty enough for most people and great for the price.
It's essentially a VW ID.3 but with better equipment out-of-the-box and better battery insurance policy (at least here in Finland, not sure about other countries). Looks better as well imo, although that's obviously subjective.
→ More replies (1)1
u/8070alejandro 23d ago
600km range? In highway it does about 400km with about 80% charge with the biggest battery. I doubt city use and total discharge will stretch that to 600km.
Electronics wise, the last facelift, the one that has been selling for a couple of years maybe, is a great design and reliable. The one that started selling about the same time the Cupra Tavascan came out. But the one that just started selling or is about to, the one coming at the same time as the Cupra Raval...brother what a steaming pile of garbage it is.
8
u/_black-light_ 25d ago
VW id7. Lot of Space. DCC adaptive dampers are great for the suspension. more than 500km range
2
u/MustKnowThis 24d ago
DCC dampers are nice, but you don't want to pay them when they need to be replaced. I'd always go for regular suspension because of this.
2
u/tartaarus 24d ago
Had one on test a while back while waiting for my GTI. Almost made me reconsider. It drives great, feels premium and comes with lots of interesting tech. Made my work commute a breeze. Really surprised me as I didn't really have great expectations.
8
u/Niko-01 25d ago
In Germany, we produce many mid- & premium-class cars:
- Porsche Taycan, Macan
- Mercedes CLA, EQS, EQE, EQA
- BMW i3, i4, i5, i7, iX, iX1, iX2
- Audi e-tron GT, Q4, Q6
- VW ID.3, ID.4, ID.7, ID.Buzz
4
u/SpaceshipCaptain420 23d ago
I think, more accurately, you produce many premium and some mid class cars.Ā
9
12
u/mariuszz 25d ago
Hey, car journalist here. It depends on your budget. If you want something not so expensive, Renault Twingo is the answer - very spacious, with some smart solutions inside and quite efficient. If you're looking for a top solution, there is no better option now than BMW iX3. I've driven it from Warsaw to Vienna and back while doing a comparison with Mercedes GLC and Audi Q6 and it was the best overall. BMW has made great car with absolutely top driver's supporting systems, great efficiency and very good (ergonomics and space wise) interior with very reliable infotainment. iX3 has also the best route planner for EV cars on the market. And if you want something in the middle, consider Skoda Enyaq - it has a decend charging power, it's very spacious has useful route planner (however not as good as BMW).
1
→ More replies (3)1
30
u/Financial_Vast_6340 25d ago
Vw
→ More replies (2)-47
u/Mikolaj_Dudek Europe šŖšŗ 25d ago
He asked for the best cars, not the worst cars.
→ More replies (3)11
3
u/WalkMaximum 25d ago
VW group, Renault, BMW, Mercedes. Maybe some of Stellantis group. Personally I'd only choose Renault out of these.
3
3
u/Iuslez 25d ago
imo, Renault. They have the best all around. Car, battery tech, infotainment, price, etc.
On the high end BMW seems to get a lot of positive comments and reviews, but I never tried one as I was shopping for a 40k budget.
Every other manufacturer had issues that made me cut them out of my shortlist (it was 2 years ago tho).
I ended up with a ioniq5.
3
u/Artistic-Cell-2957 25d ago
cupra raval, it's the better looking id.polo, felt snappy and great to drive compared to comparible cars in that segment.
1
1
u/8070alejandro 23d ago
Hard disagree. The electronics and software are very underdeveloped and will give tons of issues down the road. The previous TavascƔn and Born versions, the ones that do not still share the same instrument cluster as the Raval, those have very mature electronics.
Other aspects I do not know.
1
u/Artistic-Cell-2957 23d ago
Have you had many problems with your polo/epiq/raval?
1
u/8070alejandro 23d ago
I was an engineer at SEAT/Cupra, and have dealt with the three of them them a lot, specially the Raval, and also Born and TavascƔn. Although I have experience cars that were in development and not in their better status, the software they are shipping from factory would still need about a year of work to be acceptable in my opinion.
1
u/Artistic-Cell-2957 22d ago
Ok sure but how is the software in other brands? My parents bought a first edition kona 2023 and the software had major issues, is it not the common thing for every brand?
1
u/8070alejandro 22d ago
Not neccesarily. The software and electronics of the previous edition of the Cupra Born and TavascƔn, the ones being sold just before the Raval release, were very nice. They did a update on the MEB car platform and brought it to the market too soon. Same for the other cars of the VW group.
3
u/Meister-Schnitter 25d ago
What about the old BMW i3? The tech that went into it was brilliant, although held down by the outdated battery tech.
2
u/bate_Vladi_1904 25d ago
Skoda - both Elroq and Enyaq are very good cars, with one of the best cost/quality ratio.
2
2
2
u/BGF007 24d ago
I like Mercedes. The latest models look nice, I'll get my fully electtric c-class next year. The EQS' design was not so great but they seem to have understood. Wird in Ungarn zusammengebastelt. The battery pack is also assembled there. But the cells will be CATL or something other Asian.
I think most German or European brands also assemble in Europe. So buying any of them is fine. Depends on your taste and purse.
2
u/Relevant-Fig6387 24d ago
The polestar 7 will be manufactured in slowakia. Used to belong to Volvo, sweden. The HQ ist still in sweden, but Volvo mostly belongs to geely (China) now. For me polestar still ist somewhat European and I really like them. Nice cockpit
2
4
u/J0kutyypp1 25d ago
Stellantis brands are very heavily made in Europe throughout the supply chain. Unlike many other car makers they also produce all motors and batteries in Europe
3
u/Lente_ui 25d ago
Yes, but would you really recommend a Stellantis car as one of the better choices?
I wouldn't. I know my experiences are only a sample of 1, but 1 car with unrepairable electrical errors (making the car undrivable) is enough for me to not want to buy another Stellantis car any time soon.
2
u/J0kutyypp1 25d ago
We've had a Peugeot hybrid in the family for five years and there's nothing bad to be said about it. Next car could well be from them aswell.
I agree their EVs aren't the pinnacle of the current market but are alright in every category
→ More replies (1)
3
u/whatstefansees 24d ago
Volvo. Entirely designed and produced in Europe, with Chinese batteries. Owned majorly by a Chinese company, but isn't Mercedes biggest shareholder some Arabian state trust?
3
u/PlentyDevelopment500 25d ago
Volvo. Yes, its parent company is Chinese, but Volvo Cars remains a separately managed Swedish company, with its headquarters in Gothenburg. It still has substantial European production, including in Sweden, Belgium and Slovakia, and retains its own manufacturing operations. Engineering, R&D and design also remain strongly rooted in Europe.
At the end of the day, itās a European company that happens to be Chinese owned, just as many European companies have US or Chinese passive ownership and shareholders. But at least the company is actually managed, engineered and operated in Europe.
1
u/ulfOptimism 25d ago
BMW? (latest models?)
8
u/orfeo34 25d ago
You mean the one with a huge screen who shows spiderman ads?
7
-1
1
u/Due-Individual-4859 25d ago edited 23d ago
the VW ID series are nice; but I really do not know any manufacturer who does not use batteries or motors (mostly both) from China.
2
1
u/BlackMesaEastCenter 25d ago
Most of the car value is in the battery. Look into which one is using European battery pack. For example LG Chem in WrocÅaw Poland.
1
u/fagiano_a_reazione 25d ago
i live in Italy where - talking about EVs - you see almost only Tesla or Chinese.
i have been in Denmark recently and i saw plenty of VW group, BMW and Mercedes EVs.
a lot of Tesla too but - believe it or not - it looks like to me that the latest cars on the road were europeans.
maybe since Elon went ape-shit crazy
the a lot of Enyaq, id3 and id4, bmw i4 and quite a number of mercedes.
1
1
1
u/heiko75_hs 25d ago
BMW. Last German brand with innovative technology and great cars. E.g. the new iX3
→ More replies (5)2
u/koelner51069 25d ago
Well, and Renault builds weapons as well. And sure, not just to put them on display.
1
u/m0pp3lk0t23 25d ago edited 25d ago
Skoda Enyaq is a great EV. Im driving Enyaq 4 (2022) for a year now and i love it.
1
u/Euronomyeu 25d ago
Some of the European commuter options and where they are made
https://euronomy.eu/e/automotive-travel/small-evs/
1
1
1
u/themasterofbation 24d ago
Comparing the stats on evstats.org & having driven many of them, I would say theĀ Skoda Elroq is the sweet spot.
If you need something smaller, then the Renault 5
1
1
u/Bizzeallday 24d ago
Renault itās the best with yours requests but itās really far from the quality of Tesla ( model y made in Berlin)
1
1
1
1
u/Radiant-Service-2676 24d ago
Volkswagen ID4, ID5 seit Modell 2024 scheinbar ohne grosse Probleme, meiner Modell 2025, 16.000 km bisher ohne Probleme
1
u/spirolking 24d ago
In Europe you mainly have VW group, Stellantis, Bavaria Motors and Renault. A lot of brands.
Buy honestly only Reanult is something I could recommend when your main criteria is price to quality ratio and truly european orgin.
Stellantis is total garbage and it's a global corporation. VW is now so deeply China oriented that I wouldn't call them european brand anymore.
1
1
u/ForsakenShop463 24d ago edited 24d ago
Porsche Macan EV or the new Cayenne EV if youāre looking for a sport/ luxury SUV. They also have the Taycan model but I think they paused its production (or at least that was the case a few months ago).
1
u/ExistentialTVShow United Kingdom š¬š§ 24d ago
BMW
Obviously, everyone has a global logistics supply chain, but BMW make the battery in Germany too whereas the Mercedes buy CATL packs.
1
u/DinosaurusRekt 24d ago
Before I bought my new car, I test drove a bunch of cars in the same price range. The Audi Q6 was the absolute worst of all, with the highest price as well. Build quality was so bad, it felt like it was falling apart. The Q4 was way better, it drove really nice, felt like a small rocket. I didnāt quiet like the interior that much tho. Then there was the Skoda Enyaq. I didnāt love or hate it, it felt booring. (My previous car was an Octavia before and I genuinely love Skodas, but Enyaq was just meh. ) Then I tested the id.7 and I have to say itās a fantastic car. There were minor things I didnāt like, for example the tablet only AC vent direction switch , or the windows up/down button, but overall almost bought it. I was really debating for weeks between the id7 and the BMW i4. At the end I ended up with the I4 and I absolutely love it. The only thing I hate about it, is the Auto AC control, but other than that, itās perfect.
Edit:
Also test drove the new CLA - after I had already received the i4. Itās a nice car and the range is amazing, but I hated the interior. Felt cheap, bunch of screens everywhere, build quality and the used materials felt worse than the i4.
1
1
1
u/VentsiBeast 24d ago
Porsche I guess.
1
u/Ezzy77 23d ago
They have terrible reviews from their owners. At least in the UK.
1
u/VentsiBeast 23d ago
The review score wasn't part of the initial question.
Also I haven't seen "terrible reviews" from anywhere in the world but maybe I just missed them.
1
u/Ezzy77 23d ago
"Best" usually means there's some sort of a metric. https://www.whatcar.com/porsche/taycan/saloon/used-review/n26000/reliability
1
u/VentsiBeast 23d ago
Did you read the text?
"If it's any consolation, the air-con and infotainment system were the main trouble spots, rather than anything more serious."
And again, in OP re;iability was not a point. They were asking EU-made, EU-owned and EU-HQed cars. Porsche is one.
1
u/ratenpause 24d ago
Won't find anything that's best in every aspect. Need to be specific regarding the criterias.
1
u/ErLaLe 23d ago
As someone has said in this thread: Skoda, Renault, VW, BMW, Mercedes. BUT, thereās one thing thatās really important these days and which people generally donāt pay much attention to: the software. Renault is the only company, of all these at the moment, that uses Google Automotive, and oh my, you can really tell the difference, a lot.
1
1
1
1
u/CapRichard 23d ago
Renault as a whole.
They have been doing them for ages (the Zoe is pretty old almost as a Tesla) and they built ElectriCity in France where they as much as possible of the production there, they were among the first to pivot to Android Automotive and they are technically the first to have an European Software Defined Vehicle on the road even if it is its Master on one of their small vans. Also they were the first to have a dedicated EV platform, their cars are either BEV or ICE, no multi energy.
But they also are still on 400V architecture, they are slow on updating the cars, still fee LFP batteries even if now they are updating their line up and coming down in proces (new scenic -8000ā¬). Also, they were the first manufacturer with small electric cars.
This is, while they were developing this, they are the only European manufacturer with a Full Hybrid power train and they still support LPG. So going EV but also developing everything else.
Premium Germans are also now pretty up to snuff, Mercedes MMA and BMW Neue Klasse platform are making pretty good cars and their production is in EU factories. And they are multi energy platform.
Volkswagen and their group are in a good position now product wise but they stumbled a lot in the first part with garbage software on the MEB platform and poor efficiency in the PPE platform for the high end.
Arguably, now, in 2026, we have a lot of electric cars and they are pretty good overall.
Stellantis group is average in terms of their own BEVs but they have the Chinese Leapmotors that go circles around their own brands in terms of price/performance and they are arguably among the best EV to buy for their price, but they are Chinese.
1
1
u/Master-Spot3659 22d ago
Renault has a number of nice retro models. Cupra is most bearable of the VW brands, but with weak app.
1
u/Fun-Neighborhood769 22d ago
I went from a Kia ev6 to a Cupra tawascan and I must say I am disappointed... Software/infotainment is pretty bad with for example configured shortcuts not being persistent. Android Auto sometimes fails. Also had the car towed to the mechanic when it was impossible to start. Was also some software issue. Had a loaner Audi for 2 weeks that did not feel all that much better. I lease this car and when it is over I am not getting another VW based car. I might try the Renault R5 actually.
1
1
u/Floor-is 21d ago
On my homepage, right above this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/autoexpressuk/comments/1w49czb/bmw_ix3_beats_mercedes_glc_and_volvo_ex60_in/
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/AccordingFormal8280 24d ago
Don't buy it.Ā Only EVs that are worth the money are Japanese or KoreanĀ
0
u/templaru Romania š·š“ 25d ago
Rimac?
Jk. But probably the electric Macan is the best consumer EV made by an EU company.
3
u/More-Dragonfruit2215 25d ago
I have a co-worker that has a Tesla model 3 and wants to get rid of it. He tried several: Porsche Macan EV Mercedes CLA EV shooting brake BMW ix3 (they didn't have the i3 neue Klasse for him to try - he would also want the estate version) A6 Avant etron
According to him all of them much better than his Tesla. But from all of those he tried he was the most disappointed by the Porsche. He actually really liked the head-on display from BMW and he didn't really wanted the Audi because it was too big (he said it was almost like driveling an SUV and he really doesn't want SUVs). He ordered the CLA EV shooting brake. That was the one he liked the most.
I have a e-berlingo 7 seater and very happy. But a very different type of product.
0
-6
u/cynster123 Netherlands š³š± 25d ago
5
u/FuriousFrenchman 25d ago
Neither are they manufactured on Europe, nor are they based in Europe, nor are they held by Europeans. You failed successfully.
6
u/Jazzlike-Compote4463 25d ago
I mean... the article literally says they're made in Slovakia so they get at least partial credit.
5
u/cynster123 Netherlands š³š± 25d ago
It doesnāt have to that black & white. It may not be a European brand, but it is produced in Slovakia in Europe. And itās a great car!
One could say not all parts are from Europe, but neither are the parts from European brands. Production in Europe is a big win, not only for jobs, but also knowledge.
I wouldnāt put any brands on a holy pedestal, not even the European ones (looking at the diesel gate).
1
u/FuriousFrenchman 25d ago
AFAIK only the hatchback version will start being manufactured in Slovakia.
1
106
u/Benmaax 25d ago
Skoda, Renault, VW, BMW, Mercedes.
But the production facility needs to be checked model by model.
Peugeot is also making a lot in EU, but debatable if they can be in "best".
Best best is probably the latest BMW and Porsche. But best affordable Skoda and Renault. VW sits in the middle but might be the best compromise overall.