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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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Just wondering ... are any BCFrs trying or buying fully electric cars?

As a dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon, I'm still not convinced the EV is practical, at least not yet. Recharging for a couple of hours in a public parking lot, or overnight in your own garage, is quite a difference from a ten minute stop at a gas station. And the batteries gradually lose maximum capacity.

If EV is "the way of the future", then for pete's sake have easily replaceable batteries. A few standard EV battery designs, service stations stocked up with fully charged batteries - and the hours-long wait for full recharging becomes a ten minute "swap my battery" event.

Any EV owners here?
 
A conversation I had with my old boss when he bought a Nissan Leaf here in the UK,
Me : whats the life expectancy of the batteries.
Him : about six years.
Me : how much are new batteries.
Him : about six grand at todays prices.
Me : so what will the car be worth in five years time.
Him : stares blankly for a while, then looks at me like i have two heads.
Me : Sod all !!!
 
I’m not in the market for a new car at the moment but I would certainly consider it. By the time I do start thinking about it things will have only gotten better (infrastructure, range, tech etc etc). I’m hopeful that my wife’s 2020 Subaru Ascent will be the last gas powered car we buy but we also keep our cars for a long time…
 
Two days ago I read an article saying that there is a big inventory of EV’s sitting on dealers lots for many reasons. Range aversion, availability of charging stations and no tax credits if the cars don’t meet the percentage of US made.
The article went on to say that hybrids are more in demand right now.
 
My son-in-law has a Ford Mach E and Lighting. They regularly drive from central Michigan to Western Pennsylvania. The drive means a stop along the way. It takes 20 minutes, plenty of time to grab a bite and use the restrooms. Same as a gas station.

The car anticipates when a charge is needed and directs you to the nearest location. All the rest stations along the Ohio TNP are getting charging stations, and Ford will be able to use the Tesla chargers soon. More and more charging locations are being added to shopping centers, restaurant parking lots, and other non-traditional places. You have to get out of the notion of the fill-up. If a charger is available, add as much as you get while you're doing what you need to do.

At his home and the destination in PA are home charging units. He and I installed one of the units, and all it took was a 220-volt circuit and the proper wiring. That takes longer, but it's easy just to plug in the cord anytime you're at the house.

Acceleration is fantastic with all that instant torque, plus the quiet ride.

The battery life and replacement costs are a fantasy, and the distance on a full charge is getting longer and longer. Plus, battery technology is changing rapidly, making them longer-lasting and less expensive.

Maybe it's not for you, but the advantages overall point to EVs as the individual transportation of the future.
 
The one thing I note is that "zero emission" is more like "emission elsewhere" considering that most electricity is still generated by burning something. The ability for large scale recharging of 100s of 1000s 24/7 with few or now emissions is a problem to be solved to make it truely a step forward.
 
I'm not overly interested in switching to an EV. The range is getting better, battery techology is slowly improving but math just doesn't add up. The purchase cost is still way past what anyone like me could ever hope to afford, and even with that out of the equation its an expensive proposition. Access to the charging network requires a smartphone with a data plan, internet access/accounts and credit card - that is an additional $150.00-$200.00 or so per month above and beyond what the actual car costs. If charging the car were as simple as plug it in, hand over some money to someone at the counter for the cost of the charge and then leave it would be far more appealing to me than current model of having to have a smart phone app tied to a credit card and internet account, and if your phone goes dead or the internet is down you can't get the charge.
 
Never, ever EV. Won't even buy a new car, either. My 12 yr old MINI Countryman S runs great and sees 30-36 mog. My 2003 Mini S get 25mog too because of supercharger pulley for track. My 2011 Land Rover LR4 5.0 gets 22 on highway and can pull 7000 reg or 12,000 low off road. My older Jags are comfortable and my Valiant will hold 6 and get 20+ with less headaches than the new electronic cars and the GT6 is more fun to drive. No EVs unless you can put a sweet sounding exhaust on it. And most EVs are faceless, as l like grilles.
 
NutmegCT said:
Just wondering ... are any BCFrs trying or buying fully electric cars?

As a dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon, I'm still not convinced the EV is practical, at least not yet. Recharging for a couple of hours in a public parking lot, or overnight in your own garage, is quite a difference from a ten minute stop at a gas station. And the batteries gradually lose maximum capacity.

If EV is "the way of the future", then for pete's sake have easily replaceable batteries. A few standard EV battery designs, service stations stocked up with fully charged batteries - and the hours-long wait for full recharging becomes a ten minute "swap my battery" event.

Any EV owners here?
Click to expand...
My wife had a 2013 KIA Sportage with a instrument cluster that would not show the check engine light.
So it couldn't pass smog unless we bought a new cluster from the dealer for $1000.
At the same time she got the EV bug in her head so we went shopping.
She found a 2020 KIA Niro, $30,000!!!!
I tried to persuade her not to get it, told her if anything goes wrong I can't help her, but She was adamant.
We had to get a charging station installed for the house, about $400, plus installation.
Just got our electric bill yesterday, went from $130 to $230 and we haven't had it for a month.
I think it was a BIG mistake but I'm not in charge of her $$$.
 
Basil said:
Maybe for some people. Not for me. Period.
Click to expand...
I take a middle of the road stance.... It's not for me ~yet~.... maybe when Range, Batteries, and infrastructure improve then yes. Just not now.
 
Gliderman8 said:
I take a middle of the road stance.... It's not for me ~yet~.... maybe when Range, Batteries, and infrastructure improve then yes. Just not now.
Click to expand...
I believe people should be free to take whatever stance they want and buy whatever type of car they want and dealers and manufactures should be able to make and sell whatever sells, without arbitrary outside influences.
 
Our newest car is 14 yo, 78,000 mi with no plans to replace it. By the time we might consider replacing a vehicle, the only new cars available will be EV (at least in California).

My BIL bought a used Tesla. That knocked the price down considerably. He's happy with it. Around here, Teslas are really common. We see more here in one block than we saw in all of Oregon, Idaho and Montana on our recent trip.
 
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mikephillips said:
The one thing I note is that "zero emission" is more like "emission elsewhere" considering that most electricity is still generated by burning something. The ability for large scale recharging of 100s of 1000s 24/7 with few or now emissions is a problem to be solved to make it truely a step forward.
Click to expand...
Whether total emissions are more or less than dino-fueled cars depends on where the car is driven. I read in Poland, because their electricity is generated using coal, more emissions are released by driving EVs. In other parts of Europe and in the US, generally there are less total emissions driving an EV, especially in sunny states.

A major problem yet to be solved is recycling of EV lithium batteries.
 
Electric vehicles are not perfect; like IC cars, they have their use cases and compromises. (Best thing for energy use: simply use less of it - fossil, wind, or anything else. Turn the lights off, etc.)

To answer your question, I don’t have an electric vehicle. If I had unlimited garage space and funds, I would consider one as a “drive to work” car. Not sure if I would pull the trigger, but it would be on the consider list. Given realities, I need one car that I can take on long drives*, not to mention the enjoyment of shifting gears.

*Many major routes, eg NYC to Chicago, etc., have excellent charging infrastructure. But Boston-Quebec is a different story.
 
NutmegCT said:
Just wondering ... are any BCFrs trying or buying fully electric cars?

As a dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon, I'm still not convinced the EV is practical, at least not yet. Recharging for a couple of hours in a public parking lot, or overnight in your own garage, is quite a difference from a ten minute stop at a gas station. And the batteries gradually lose maximum capacity.

If EV is "the way of the future", then for pete's sake have easily replaceable batteries. A few standard EV battery designs, service stations stocked up with fully charged batteries - and the hours-long wait for full recharging becomes a ten minute "swap my battery" event.

Any EV owners here?
Click to expand...
 
There are a lot of "if's" in the EV equation.

I could never afford a $60K car, and like Mike, I'd need a car for commuting *and* for long drives. A friend in Lake Tahoe says there are usually lines of EVs at every charging point, waiting an hour or more to charge their car's battery.

If you only partially charge an EV battery, does that cause the battery to lose its original charging capacity?

If you need heat and/or air conditioning while driving, doesn't that also lower the miles per charge?

Our electric rates (Connecticut) actually doubled (!) back in January. Our gasoline prices have dropped about a dollar per gallon since January.

Details, details.
 
On my third EV.

I bought a Kia Soul many yrs ago. Paid $200 a month, nothing down for three years. Got $2500 state rebate. The state rebate paud for a year of the cost. Saved at least $700 a year on gas, over three years paid another third. Basically eorked out to $90 per month. Cheaper than a bus pass. But the range stunk. Only good for my commute.

So I next got a used BMW i3. 18000 miles paid 18k. Its awesome. Gas equivalent price is about $1.40 per gallon of gas. I put 20k miles a year on it. Figure my gas costs are half. Oh, and with regenerative brakes - its on the original brakes now w 80k miles on the car. Why so great? It has a gas range extender. Its a generator that runs at constant rpm, so its also very efficient. When I need to go more than 110 miles, I can.

My wife has a mach e ford mustang.

After much experience, I have come to the conclusion that the BMW has the best design. Every single electric vehicle should have no kore than 100 mile range. No more. Just use the weight savings on the battery to put in a little generator like the I3 has. When you need to go 350 miles, you can. Use the generator and gas. But since the vast, vast majority of all trips are under 50 miles, you would be using highly efficient and cost effective electricity 95% plus of the time.

You don’t solve the range problem with bigger heavier and environmentally unfriendly batteries. You solve them with a small gas generator. You don’t have to cut emissions 100%. I’ll settle for 95%.

If anybody is interested in Evies, it’s hard to beat the BMW. I three. They sell them cheap. Super fun to drive. Cheapest how to run. Might has coming up on 100,000 miles and zero battery loss.

And honestly, when I do have battery loss, I won’t care. The generator gets about 40 miles to the gallon equivalent. The only real design flaw is that the generator only has a 2 gallon tank! It should have an 8 gallon tank, and I would keep 3 gallons in it until I wanted to drive 300 miles.
 
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