Thinking about it, but don't know anyone personally that has one.
Anyone Here Have An Electric Car?
- Thread starter Chuckinden
- Start date
You might want to hold off a little while. The dems were pushing for a $7,500 to $12,500 (if US union built) EV tax credit in their big social spending bill. There is a fair chance that this may end up in another smaller bill later this year. The tax credit was to go to the dealer at the time of sale thus reducing the purchase price.
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GM only sold 26 total EV in the 4th quarter. Going green will be a tough sell for most people. I'm in no hurry to add a car payment when I just paid off the one I have. Especially not for some garbage technology that isn't ready for heavy use by the average consumer. Plus how many people can afford to replace the battery when it inevitably goes bad? I'll stick with my ICE with only 70k miles on it until it falls apart.
I have a hybrid and I love it. It's a Ram 1500. I typically use the electric motor at the beginning of my trip. 12 volts with 800CCA does a fine job of firing up the hemi. Range is about 450miles. Would buy again. Call me green if you like, I'm just trying to do my part.
Is that the e torque?
Is that sarcasm? If so, it was better than mine.
I can understand that. My BMW (not my primary car) is almost 10 yrs old and nearing 100K miles. May not do anything, but looking at alternatives just in case.
hAD A Ford Fusion Hydrid .. I HATED it , not so much because of the electric hybrid engine but so many other features were a terrible PITA ... its a longer story really .. I have life long friends in the rebuild business .. I buy all my vehicles from them .. HS friends from 30 years ago . So I pick out what I want , they find it , fix it .. done deal. So I was dropping about 300 a month on gas in my truck and thought it was foolish so I bough the Ford .. It only came with one key .. So the previous owner had set the volume at a max sound of like 1/2 way up .. I couldnt hear the radio . The fix - 300-400 for a new key at the dealer .. and it had this weird feature where you couldnt open the trunk if the car was running , and yes , it was a total dog . but got 42-45 MPG . You could actually program a MAX speed of the vehicle also , it was called the " MyKey " system . I will never ever buy a Ford with that system . I found it a major PITA .
Tesla sold 308,600 in the same quarter.
While most automakers were hamstrung by the chip shortage (and waiting on specific chips programmed by their suppliers), Tesla took on whatever chips would work and used their own software engineers to rewrite the software to accommodate different chips than they had originally planned for.
My wife has a BMW i3. One of the most fun cars I have ever driven. I am planning on replacing my car with an EV at some point this year assuming the market doesn't go crazy. Was thinking about an F-150 Lightning or the Genesis GV60. Kind of waiting on a test drive and the reviews. I am interested in the Polestar 2 and the BMW i4, but I don't know how practical they would be for me. They just look like a lot of fun to drive!
We added a level 2 charger at home a few months ago and it has made a huge difference. Car can charge from 0 to full in about 4 hours. I decided to get one from a Canadian company called Grizzl-E that will allow me to charge two cars at once. Should make getting a second one a lot easier.
Electrical Bill probably went up about $30 or $40 a month in case you are wondering, and there is pretty much no maintenance excepts for tires. We did explore getting a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y, but we were kind of scarred of by the reliability/service issues. The i3 was refreshed in 2017 and it had nothing but glowing reviews so after a test drive my wife was sold. She loves it and I doubt she would even consider going back.
We added a level 2 charger at home a few months ago and it has made a huge difference. Car can charge from 0 to full in about 4 hours. I decided to get one from a Canadian company called Grizzl-E that will allow me to charge two cars at once. Should make getting a second one a lot easier.
Electrical Bill probably went up about $30 or $40 a month in case you are wondering, and there is pretty much no maintenance excepts for tires. We did explore getting a Tesla Model 3 or Model Y, but we were kind of scarred of by the reliability/service issues. The i3 was refreshed in 2017 and it had nothing but glowing reviews so after a test drive my wife was sold. She loves it and I doubt she would even consider going back.
I know Teslas and other EVs have an issue where their tires go bald extremely quick. I'm sure someone can explain why, I'm not a gear head. But two coworkers gripe about it all the time and it's well documented I guess.
So between that, relying on charging stations, and the fact that, to me, these cars are no better for the environment (battery manufacturing, disposal, etc), I'm good for now.
I also have a 2014 mazda6 that's been paid off for almost 4 years, it gets 28mpg, and I barely need to use it as I WFH. I'm not taking on a new car payment unless I have to.
So between that, relying on charging stations, and the fact that, to me, these cars are no better for the environment (battery manufacturing, disposal, etc), I'm good for now.
I also have a 2014 mazda6 that's been paid off for almost 4 years, it gets 28mpg, and I barely need to use it as I WFH. I'm not taking on a new car payment unless I have to.
The master key can be used to set almost every level on the car .. speed , radio volume etc etc .. without the master key you are at the mercy of the previous owner
Don't even plan on looking at one until the US improves the infrastructure for charging and the cost for replacement batteries comes down significantly. I'll stick with gas engines for now thank you.
I can understand that, but whatever I buy will not be my primary car.
I’m all in on EV technology… have a reservation for the Lightning and Silverado both, will choose when the time comes (I’m looking at my next truck in late 2023-24 so I’m a late holder on the ford and early on the Chevy).
Still trying to convince my wife, as she’s due soon, that for an SUV she should look at a Tesla or the Mach E.. wish the id4 was a little bit more well regarded. The equinox looks great too but is still a ways off.
For me personally, the range anxiety is overrated. I drive across town to take my daughter to and from school, but that’ll change once she starts kindergarten in two years. Outside of that, my longest drive is to Cumberland and I can easily afford to put a charger in at my parents where we stay (or they may be going the EV route soon too), plus there are options there to grab a quick charge. If I’m road tripping to Florida, i can handle 3 stops for 20-30 mins each to charge.
Just remember that buying right now, you’re still an early adopter. The landscape is going to change rapidly over the next five years.
Still trying to convince my wife, as she’s due soon, that for an SUV she should look at a Tesla or the Mach E.. wish the id4 was a little bit more well regarded. The equinox looks great too but is still a ways off.
For me personally, the range anxiety is overrated. I drive across town to take my daughter to and from school, but that’ll change once she starts kindergarten in two years. Outside of that, my longest drive is to Cumberland and I can easily afford to put a charger in at my parents where we stay (or they may be going the EV route soon too), plus there are options there to grab a quick charge. If I’m road tripping to Florida, i can handle 3 stops for 20-30 mins each to charge.
Just remember that buying right now, you’re still an early adopter. The landscape is going to change rapidly over the next five years.
The Director has a Ford Escape.....it has the MYKEY ...... can't go over 75 mph in that car with my key......I don't drive it enough to get the manual out and change the settings.......it is a 2016 and has 32K miles on it......I have a 2017 F-150 with 34 K miles and it had 13,200 on it when I bought it......we are almost 70 yrs old......these will be the last two vehicles we own unless something happens to them........we normally drive a vehicle 20 yrs.......because we don't put many miles on them. I sold a 1994 C-10 chevy van that only had 62K miles on it in 2019......
Agree. I think that's about 3-5 years out for me. I still don't know how they expect apartment dwellers & those in houses w/o driveways to conveniently charge.
My RAM probably has another 4 years left, and I will take a long look at an electric. Most of our travel down here is no more than a 2 hour trip, and going from Florida to Tennessee to see family, we usually make several stops anyway.
I know Tesla has had issues with motor control sensors that cause it, but I think part of the problem is from balancing weight and 0-60 times. A model X is over 5k pounds and under 4 seconds to 60. Even the Nissan Leaf is almost 4k, which is what a full size pickup weighs. I think as battery tech gets better and lighter it should help.
I know a retired couple who bought a Leaf as their “home” car. They love it but they’re the optimum user - it’s just driven in town, they don’t drain the battery very low, etc. They keep a gas suv as their “traveling” vehicle.
When it comes to EVs there are two batteries. One is just a standard battery like any car has that powers the lights and radio. The other is the High Voltage (HV) battery that makes the car go. Electric cars from companies like Nissan, Tesla and BMW have been on the road for a decade now and those original batteries are pretty much still holding up. When they do get to a point that they need to be replaced, the batteries are not just thrown away. You can sell your old battery and it will get repurposed into commercial and residential applications. The HV batteries will continually be recycled.
As for cost of replacement, that keeps dropping. Had a friend who made a decision to upgrade the battery in his leaf. Cost him $4000. Not too far off from getting a new transmission, but at the end of the day it more than doubled his range. I personally did not purchase my EV because of any environmental concerns. I bought it because 1) I am a tech geek, 2) It was incredibly fun to drive and 3) It is much cheaper to operate. But if you are concerned about the environment, they have a much lower impact than traditional cars. For me, it is a bonus, but it didn't impact my decision one way or the other.
The charging infrastructure will keep getting better, but for most people it will only impact them while they are travelling. We have taken our i3 on trips to Asheville, Columbus and Atlanta. Planning on taking a Florida trip this summer. It isn't a big deal. Lots of fast charging options off the interstate and it just takes a little extra thought and time. That will only keep getting better. Both the range and the charging times on the new cars are improving dramatically. I just watched a video on a Hyundai Ioniq 5 and it charged from 0-50% in around 10 minutes and it gets roughly 300 miles of range. That is going to meet the needs of a lot of people.
As for cost of replacement, that keeps dropping. Had a friend who made a decision to upgrade the battery in his leaf. Cost him $4000. Not too far off from getting a new transmission, but at the end of the day it more than doubled his range. I personally did not purchase my EV because of any environmental concerns. I bought it because 1) I am a tech geek, 2) It was incredibly fun to drive and 3) It is much cheaper to operate. But if you are concerned about the environment, they have a much lower impact than traditional cars. For me, it is a bonus, but it didn't impact my decision one way or the other.
The charging infrastructure will keep getting better, but for most people it will only impact them while they are travelling. We have taken our i3 on trips to Asheville, Columbus and Atlanta. Planning on taking a Florida trip this summer. It isn't a big deal. Lots of fast charging options off the interstate and it just takes a little extra thought and time. That will only keep getting better. Both the range and the charging times on the new cars are improving dramatically. I just watched a video on a Hyundai Ioniq 5 and it charged from 0-50% in around 10 minutes and it gets roughly 300 miles of range. That is going to meet the needs of a lot of people.
How do you recharge you’re battery if it dies cause you left something on? Can you just jump it with a gas car and jumper cables. What about those people that got stuck for 24 hours running the cars to stay warm? If half of those were EV and ran out of juice what happens? You can’t just pour electric in em
You can charge it with a generator if you were somehow broken down on the road with no charge. AAA and other tow services have this as an option.
It would take an incredible amount of time running the heater to run the battery down. The HV is giving you enough juice to hurl thousands of pounds down the road for hours at high rates of speed. The heater is nothing compared to that.
To take this into perspective, the new F-150 Lightning can be set up with a reverse charger. If it is fully charged, the car can be used as a home generator for up to three days. One of the reasons that the EV versions of the F-150 and the Silverado will be game changers is because it eliminates the need for generators at the job site. You can power your tools off the truck. We are already seeing this with the Hybrid versions.
It would take an incredible amount of time running the heater to run the battery down. The HV is giving you enough juice to hurl thousands of pounds down the road for hours at high rates of speed. The heater is nothing compared to that.
To take this into perspective, the new F-150 Lightning can be set up with a reverse charger. If it is fully charged, the car can be used as a home generator for up to three days. One of the reasons that the EV versions of the F-150 and the Silverado will be game changers is because it eliminates the need for generators at the job site. You can power your tools off the truck. We are already seeing this with the Hybrid versions.
For me, I'm waiting. I can certainly see the future of vehicles, but right now the market is limited to only a portion of the population. Below are some of the key points why I'm for or against them......right now.
1. Range - Our vacations are generally longer road trips. Infrastructure is sparse currently.....and we might have to sit for long periods while it recharges.
I also tend to pull a trailers or boats. In my Silverado, my range drops from 420-430 miles down to about 300-350 depending on loads. I've heard of many EV manufacturers claim 60% or more loss in range under load. That is a huge change.
Now, certainly things will change. It would not surprise me that with developing battery tech that you could see 1,000 mile ranges before too long.....and, of course, charging tech.
2. Price - I have heard some praise EV's saying that they save money on gas........well, yeah, but you likely spent thousands more on the initial cost. Not to mention if it increases your utility bills. As of right now, the price just hasn't adjusted yet.
3. Benefits - There are some really cool things that come with EV's. They're silent and are wicked quick. They produce gobs of torque which is great for towing. They also change the engineering of the vehicle themselves. They often have a much lower center of gravity because they place the batteries low in the floor.....and the motors are often low in the vehicle near the wheels. An EV drive train takes up much less space than a ICE engine, trans, and drive train. This usually means the ride quality is great, the interior space is larger, etc. Even the new EV Silverado has a frunk which is just awesome.
4. Environment - This one is tough as well. Many praise EV's because they're better for the environment. Wellllllll, they will be at some point. A typical EV is more harsh on the environment initially......and at the end of the life of the car. Where it does better is in the middle of the life of the car. There was a study down fairly recently between a Rav4 and a Tesla. The Tesla was actually worse for the environment until about year 5-6 of ownership......then the Rav4 started to have more of an impact. And this didn't take into account the impact of EV's draining the grid either. Once again, things will change in the future and will improve.......but it's not there yet.
5. Reliability - Elon Musk has said several times that he knows that Tesla has severe reliability issues. He notes that he wants to have stellar customer service to fix the issues......and they'll address reliability in the future......but right now, they just want to advance tech as quickly as possible and get a car in every home in the world. Now, other manufacturers may be more reliable......but it's early. EV's are not a new concept, but they haven't been done on a world scale. How reliable are they? What is the cost and availability of parts? Can average mechanics fix the issues?
There are some really cool things shaping up for the future.....and I certainly could purchase an EV, but I'm thinking about 10 yrs away for our current situation. I could certainly see why some are looking to buy now though.
1. Range - Our vacations are generally longer road trips. Infrastructure is sparse currently.....and we might have to sit for long periods while it recharges.
I also tend to pull a trailers or boats. In my Silverado, my range drops from 420-430 miles down to about 300-350 depending on loads. I've heard of many EV manufacturers claim 60% or more loss in range under load. That is a huge change.
Now, certainly things will change. It would not surprise me that with developing battery tech that you could see 1,000 mile ranges before too long.....and, of course, charging tech.
2. Price - I have heard some praise EV's saying that they save money on gas........well, yeah, but you likely spent thousands more on the initial cost. Not to mention if it increases your utility bills. As of right now, the price just hasn't adjusted yet.
3. Benefits - There are some really cool things that come with EV's. They're silent and are wicked quick. They produce gobs of torque which is great for towing. They also change the engineering of the vehicle themselves. They often have a much lower center of gravity because they place the batteries low in the floor.....and the motors are often low in the vehicle near the wheels. An EV drive train takes up much less space than a ICE engine, trans, and drive train. This usually means the ride quality is great, the interior space is larger, etc. Even the new EV Silverado has a frunk which is just awesome.
4. Environment - This one is tough as well. Many praise EV's because they're better for the environment. Wellllllll, they will be at some point. A typical EV is more harsh on the environment initially......and at the end of the life of the car. Where it does better is in the middle of the life of the car. There was a study down fairly recently between a Rav4 and a Tesla. The Tesla was actually worse for the environment until about year 5-6 of ownership......then the Rav4 started to have more of an impact. And this didn't take into account the impact of EV's draining the grid either. Once again, things will change in the future and will improve.......but it's not there yet.
5. Reliability - Elon Musk has said several times that he knows that Tesla has severe reliability issues. He notes that he wants to have stellar customer service to fix the issues......and they'll address reliability in the future......but right now, they just want to advance tech as quickly as possible and get a car in every home in the world. Now, other manufacturers may be more reliable......but it's early. EV's are not a new concept, but they haven't been done on a world scale. How reliable are they? What is the cost and availability of parts? Can average mechanics fix the issues?
There are some really cool things shaping up for the future.....and I certainly could purchase an EV, but I'm thinking about 10 yrs away for our current situation. I could certainly see why some are looking to buy now though.
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This answers my question for sure and makes sense. So you could take the f150 camping and run electric stuff for quite awhile and have a regular ole generator to charge the truck back up real quick. Or if the f150 is running your house for longer than a few days and still no power just charge it with a regular generator.
There are several companies making portable charging banks right now that will eventually replace generators. Think of a portable battery that you use for your phone. SparkCharge is one of the main companies, but there are others. In countries where EVs are more popular, there are companies you can call that will essentially bring a charging truck to a place like your work and charge the car while you are working. Some Chinese manufactures are even selling you essentially a lease on the battery. Just swap it out whenever you want for a full one. You just drive into something that looks like a Valvoline and they pop in a new battery. Takes 5 minutes or less.
A couple of other options for those that like off-roading and/or camping, Jeep is installing charging stations at the most popular trailheads. Also, if there is an RV park nearby, you could drive over there and charge up for a few hours and be good to go. They have level 2 charging at the campsites and they usually will try to help out EV owners.
For those that are thinking about an electric car, couple of important things to know. The first is about charging. There are three types. Level 1 is your basic household 120 plug. This is slow and can take several hours if your battery is really low. This is what I used when I first bought my car, and it normally took about 12 hours or longer for a depleted battery.
Level 2 charging is 240, or basically what your dryer is using. This will charge my car from empty in about 3-4 hours. It makes life a lot easier and there are actually a lot of level 2 chargers just sort of hanging around out there and many are free. There are several apps that you can use to find these.
Level 3 is DC fast charging. This can be incredibly fast. Think the Tesla super chargers. These are normally found near the interstates, in a lot of big shopping centers, or at major retailers like Walmart or Meijers. For my car I can normally charge in about 30-40 minutes if empty.
The charging rate is the other thing to understand. Every car has an on-board charger that regulates how fast it charges. Up until this year, most of them were about the same. Now we are starting to see companies putting out better and better on-board chargers which significantly increases the charging rate. So, a Hyundai Ioniq 5 will charge a lot faster than my car even though the battery is over twice as large. This tech is getting better and better all the time.
As charging times become faster, then range drops in importance. The average gas car gets about 300 miles on a tank of gas. If an EV can match that, and only take 10-15 minutes to charge, then it becomes more like a normal driving experience.
A couple of other options for those that like off-roading and/or camping, Jeep is installing charging stations at the most popular trailheads. Also, if there is an RV park nearby, you could drive over there and charge up for a few hours and be good to go. They have level 2 charging at the campsites and they usually will try to help out EV owners.
For those that are thinking about an electric car, couple of important things to know. The first is about charging. There are three types. Level 1 is your basic household 120 plug. This is slow and can take several hours if your battery is really low. This is what I used when I first bought my car, and it normally took about 12 hours or longer for a depleted battery.
Level 2 charging is 240, or basically what your dryer is using. This will charge my car from empty in about 3-4 hours. It makes life a lot easier and there are actually a lot of level 2 chargers just sort of hanging around out there and many are free. There are several apps that you can use to find these.
Level 3 is DC fast charging. This can be incredibly fast. Think the Tesla super chargers. These are normally found near the interstates, in a lot of big shopping centers, or at major retailers like Walmart or Meijers. For my car I can normally charge in about 30-40 minutes if empty.
The charging rate is the other thing to understand. Every car has an on-board charger that regulates how fast it charges. Up until this year, most of them were about the same. Now we are starting to see companies putting out better and better on-board chargers which significantly increases the charging rate. So, a Hyundai Ioniq 5 will charge a lot faster than my car even though the battery is over twice as large. This tech is getting better and better all the time.
As charging times become faster, then range drops in importance. The average gas car gets about 300 miles on a tank of gas. If an EV can match that, and only take 10-15 minutes to charge, then it becomes more like a normal driving experience.
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Thanks Perrin75. You are wealth of information on this subject. I also am not getting an EV "just" to save the environment (that's an added bonus), but gas stations are usually nasty, crowded, but a necessary inconvenience.
I have test driven two Teslas....the 3 and the SUV. They both drive phenomenally well.
I have researched the Lightning and the Silverado and they have piqued
my interest. I like the appearance of the Silverado better. I just don't want to wait another couple years to get one.
I will take the boss (wife) and let her test drive the TESLAS in a couple days.
Thanks again for you input.
Now is the time to buy a gas guzzling classic and hold onto it. Mark my words, there will be a covid vaccine like push to get everyone in an electric car within the next 10 years. It will start with incentives, which will be the carrot before the stick. We will rapidly cross over to charging stations and closing gas stations.
15 to 20 years from now, there will be nearly no gas car infrastructure. The so called “climate crises” will push us to do unreasonable things at a rapid pace.
15 to 20 years from now, there will be nearly no gas car infrastructure. The so called “climate crises” will push us to do unreasonable things at a rapid pace.
