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Used test: BMW i4 vs Porsche Taycan costs
The BMW i4 and the Porsche Taycan are both stunningly quick electric cars. And you can now buy either one used for a fraction of its new price, but which one should you go for?...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
At three years old, the BMW i4 M50 has gone from £63,905 as a new car to £49,000 as a used one. Meanwhile, the Porsche Taycan 4S Performance Battery Plus, at four years old, has gone from £87,541 as a new car to £49,000 as a used one.
So, depreciation has been harsh on the Taycan, but is this set to continue? Well, our resale value experts predict that it will lose £12,025 of its current value over the next three years. That suggests the worst is over, whereas the i4 is expected to lose a further £17,475 over the next three years.
Then again, the Taycan sits in the highest insurance group possible: 50. As a result we were quoted £1195 for a year's cover, whereas the i4 is in insurance group 43 and we were quoted £1054.
We couldn't get a fixed price service quote via Porsche, but owners say servicing the Taycan – which is required every two years or 20,000 miles – can vary in cost and significantly so depending on your chosen Porsche dealer, with one owner saying it cost them £750 and another saying a service set them back £1200. Either way, the Taycan will be more expensive to service than the i4 will. Via BMW, you can buy a two-service plan for £540 – or £14.99 over 36 months.
If you go for a 4S and seek out the Performance Battery Plus version, the maximum charging rate increases from 225kW to 270kW, potentially allowing you to charge from 10-80% in 20 minutes. The i4 can charge at a maximum speed of 200kW, which allows a 10-80% top up in 31 minutes.
While the i4 was absent from the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, the Taycan made an appearance, but only to prove itself as the least reliable electric car in our survey. Owners cited the air-con and infotainment system as the main trouble spots. And while all remedial work was done for free, two-thirds of the stricken cars were out of action for more than a week.
As car brands, BMW ranked 12th out of 32 manufacturers featured, while Porsche was down in 20th.
During safety testing conducted by the independent experts at Euro NCAP, the Taycan received the maximum five-star rating, whereas the i4 received only four stars.
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