Electric car thread

[reckless toboggan]

I agree, although I too had some irrational range anxiety too, buying an electric car. I was ready for some compromise and inconvenience though.

One year later, 14k miles, and I've never once stopped to charge it. Only charge it at my house. Anytime I'm home (or I bike to work) my wife takes it instead of her SUV (our road trip car) so the SUV miles have been cut drastically. With 300 miles of range, I can drive it fast, charge every other or third night, I don't need the aero wheels on, I have a roof rack and box and it doesn't matter, and I want to get it lifted a hair, aerodynamics be damned (I scrape bottom a lot on it). So much for a compromise purchase, it's working out better than I thought. I think people in 2-car families just have to try it like you said.

Just give me a fucking manual knob for the wipers though, fuck that drives me nuts.

What car?

[MultiVerse]

On that note, one cost that is rarely mentioned: my first year of savings from gas is almost negated by the purchase of and installation of a car charger in my garage.

On the other side of the equation is not having to stop for gas. Probably not a big deal, but it saves some time & hassle.

[dunfree]

You might want to keep track of these costs better.

You might not want to make such stupidly smug assumptions, but that's the point of this thread isn't it? I mean if we are talking about wasting money and time shouldn't' we cringe at all the time we've "wasted" spewing stupid shit on this website for free?

For data - I changed by front brake pads a couple months ago. It was $22.91 in parts total cost delivered to my door and an hour of my time. Econoboxes are really reliable and really cheap to operate now, and I'm speaking from my experience. But past experience does not predict future results; and you are if I am correct, using a spreadsheet of future predicted costs.

[PNWbrit]

So all of you dentites driving electric cars, are you getting free charges somewhere? Not sure how you can skip the cost of a charge in yearly operating expenses?

Isn't the average # that's used around $500 per year?

[bodywhomper]

On that note, one cost that is rarely mentioned: my first year of savings from gas is almost negated by the purchase of and installation of a car charger in my garage.

There are areas where the utilities do not have the infrastructure in place yet for one to have a car charger that will function. I’m not sure how wide spreads, but this is the case in at least some areas of med/high income Oakland residential areas.

[adrenalated]

I'd love to drive an EV. But between the # of miles I drive daily, winter weather conditions, and inability to charge at work I really do need 200+mi rated range. Those start at $30k (new).

Even after considering fuel costs both for gasoline and electric, the tax credits available, maintenance costs (I do all my own service so it's really just parts), etc. an EV still can't come even remotely close to the total overall cost of a $16k (new) economy car. And that's not including the expense of rewiring the power distribution to my detached garage to bring enough amperage out there, and the charging hardware.

I'm hoping as the tech improves there will be more (affordable) options but I just can't justify it right now.

[MontuckyFried]

I'm hoping as the tech improves there will be more (affordable) options but I just can't justify it right now.

Well as with anything, YMMV. For some it makes great financial or logistical sense. For others like yourself it simply won't. However, just because it doesn't make sense for the minority of people doesn't mean an EV can't work totally fine for the majority of urban/suburban dwellers who really don't drive as many miles as they may think they do. Even an old Leaf with very limited range would be great for being a grocery getter, errand runner, and even commuter in our family. We'll just take the ol' Volvo when we gotta go out of town.

[adrenalated]

Well as with anything, YMMV. For some it makes great financial or logistical sense. For others like yourself it simply won't. However, just because it doesn't make sense for the minority of people doesn't mean an EV can't work totally fine for the majority of urban/suburban dwellers who really don't drive as many miles as they may think they do. Even an old Leaf with very limited range would be great for being a grocery getter, errand runner, and even commuter in our family. We'll just take the ol' Volvo when we gotta go out of town.

This is 100% true.

[jhyatt]

I checked out the plug in hybrid Crosstrek today and it sucks. They bumped up the floor in the trunk by about 6 inches for the battery leaving very very little trunk space and the seats no longer fold flat. It also not supposed to have a roof rack.
The salesman admitted that he can't sell the thing between the added cost and loss of space.
He said it's only if you want to be green. It's less practical and costs more. Gets 35 mpg, how is that green?

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[plugboots]

No roof rack? wtf, it's right on the website:


This is just another reason car buying sucks.

[muted]

No roof rack? wtf, it's right on the website:


This is just another reason car buying sucks.

And it shows folding seats on the site.

[jhyatt]

And it shows folding seats on the site.

They fold down flat same as the regular Crosstrek, but the floor of the trunk has a bump up of a good 6 inches that stores the battery. So no one big flat area where you could put skis, sleep, etc
Maybe the salesman meant the rack was optional?

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

[The AD]

My wife is interested in the Hyundai Kona EV, but it seems extremely difficult to get ahold of right now in the states that do have it, and more or less impossible in Washington.

[MultiVerse]

They bumped up the floor in the trunk by about 6 inches for the battery leaving very very little trunk space and the seats no longer fold flat.

It's less practical and costs more. Gets 35 mpg, how is that green?

The newer hybrids put the battery underneath the backseat. Subaru's design is older and wasn't engineered to accommodate a battery so it ends up being a kludge.

Some of the newer designs also forgo a driveshaft and use an electric motor to drive the rear wheels instead. The advantage is AWD becomes almost a free lunch by getting rid of the inefficiencies of a mechanical system.

[muted]

They fold down flat same as the regular Crosstrek, but the floor of the trunk has a bump up of a good 6 inches that stores the battery. So no one big flat area where you could put skis, sleep, etc
Maybe the salesman meant the rack was optional?

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

Gotcha, you were just saying they fold, not 'flat' though. In no way I'm disagreeing the car sucks or trying to 'gotcha' you, that looks like they bolted on a electric battery to a small car to give people access to the HOV lane, gov rebates, etc. Make it 75-100 miles of range and it'd be sweet.

[plugboots]

My wife is interested in the Hyundai Kona EV, but it seems extremely difficult to get ahold of right now in the states that do have it, and more or less impossible in Washington.

That thing was very well reviewed as I recall.

[PNWbrit]

My wife is interested in the Hyundai Kona EV, but it seems extremely difficult to get ahold of right now in the states that do have it, and more or less impossible in Washington.

?

[The AD]

Hyundai is only selling them in the ZEV states. Kinda lame that with Inslee as governor Washington is not one of them.

[reckless toboggan]

https://www.carscoops.com/2019/09/el...in-22-minutes/

Electrify America Charges Porsche Taycan From 5 To 80 Per Cent In 22 Minutes

[gravitylover]

No roof rack? wtf, it's right on the website:


This is just another reason car buying sucks.

That's not a factory rack, those are aftermarket feet and bars. They do fit the front to rear rails that are already there though.

[Tamburello Rouge]

My sister picked up a Tesla Model 3 recently. We were hanging out yesterday and I got to drive it. Very, very nice. Smooth, quiet and quick as hell. Best of all, no stopping for gas, ever. Just plug it in at night and wake up every morning with a full charge.

[riser4]

I can't even remember to plug my phone in. How am I going to remember to plug in a car?

[dcpnz]

So having had our model 3 for about 6 months now I can share some thoughts.

The car itself is pretty darn amazing, fun to drive, really quiet, and fast.

Range and range anxiety:
Quite frankly simply a non-issue for the vast majority of usage. Just plug it in overnight whenever you feel its getting a bit low.
Now that doesn't mean it's not a very real concern - we live in small mountain town so travel to the big city (Denver), to kids sports tournaments and over mountain passes fairly frequently. Many trips here are just not possible yet because the infrastructure doesn't exist off major highways. And if it's possible its somewhere between a logistical challenge and a huge pain in the a$$. Either plan to stop and wait at superchargers or find hotel with a charger and hope it's available when you need it. So far fast chargers have not been where we've needed to be and the range estimator sucks traveling in the mountains so the anxiety is real. Despite being by far the most efficient vehicle we have I'm rapidly realizing its just not practical for longer trips and will likely take the large gas guzzling ICE SUV most of the time.

Charging/costs:
We installed a chargepoint at home instead of the Tesla charger - went that way cos our electric utility gives the charger for free and I could piggy back existing wiring - Tesla charger would charge quicker but would have cost me extra $2k for wiring upgrade and actual charger.

I get about 30mi range in an hour for about $1 in electricity at home and there's a few free chargers around town. I figure a comparable vehicle might get 30mi/gal in mixed driving and gas is about $3.50/gal here .


Vehicle specific issues:
I don't find the seats at all comfortable - yes they're highly adjustable, no it doesn't seem to matter. They're awful compared to recent Audi and Volvo seats we've had and i also prefer seats in our 'merican made vehicles too.

I fricken hate the huge central touchscreen - it's distracting as heck, shit flashes when you pass something (whether that's another vehicle, a tree, a parked car). Something simple like changing a radio station is downright dangerous and requires taking eyes off road for too long and too many screen taps

Muted mentioned the wipers - yeah they work fine most of the time but if you got anything on your windshield like pollen or sap (or likely snow/ice but i haven't had it in winter yet) they go bonkers and there's no manual control.

Visibility is awful - rear view mirror is pretty useless, and the A pillar is really fat which creates a pedestrian and cross traffic blindspot. I guessed that's how they get safety and rigidity with glass roof

Auto cruise control is scary - frequently jams on brakes for vehicles in adjacent lanes. No way I'm trusting autopilot if that's the best they can do. And makes me think full self driving is a long long way off.


TLDR:
Car is (mostly) awesome
Range is fine for daily use but anxiety is real if you travel longer distances
Not going to get rid of my gas burner yet but I would buy again in a heartbeat.

[SB]

By the time they get electric cars figured out we all will have personal drones flying us around for free.

[Deebased]

https://www.carscoops.com/2019/09/el...in-22-minutes/

Electrify America Charges Porsche Taycan From 5 To 80 Per Cent In 22 Minutes

Pretty bummed with the Taycan as that was going to be my daily driver. Can't justify fucking up a 200k car Apparently I can make 30k off my pre-order though...should be a decent deposit on the Rivian.