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Thread: Electric car thread
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01-31-2020, 05:59 PM #151Dad core
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02-01-2020, 05:18 PM #152
I just drove a fully loaded Tesla Model 3 sport around the San Mateo mountains and car is the bomb. Quiet (cabin is quiet too), powerful, excellent handling, good ride for 20 inch rims. The only negative I found was wind noise through the roof but I drive S-Class so I'm spoiled in that respect.
Also, when I was driving i mentioned that the car felt a lot like a Mercedes. Mercedes did own 10% of Tesla and a lot of the parts are sourced from Mercedes
"I am picking up my new P85D tomorrow! I know from reading this forum that a number of components in the Model-S come from Mercedes or their suppliers. I believe they include:
- The "transmission" shift stalk
- The indicator stalk
- Cruise control stalk
- The steering wheel
- The air suspension (if fitted)
- The door window controls."Last edited by 4matic; 02-01-2020 at 07:40 PM.
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02-14-2020, 12:39 AM #153
I drive a Subaru 2016 Impreza manual trans 38 - 45 miles RT about 5+ days a week which adds up to an average amount, maybe 12,000 miles annualy. I bet 10k miles are these short trips and 2k miles are longer drives. It's a good car, I like it, it's good for going skiing, but I don't drive it to the mountains that much in winter. We have a Forester which we prefer for skiing 90% of the time. The resale on the Impreza seems decent at the moment. I'm getting tired of burning gas for all of this city/highway/lowland/traffic/commute driving where its not necessary. It's just starting to feel stupid. I love going places and don't like spewing shit into the air when there are legitimately good alternatives. I would also like some QOL improvements for commuting that are more common with EVs like a quiet ride, no shifting, and adaptive cruise control.
I'm thinking about a 2017 Chevy Volt for these reasons:
-The used prices are pretty cheap, like $20k with every option including adaptive cruise control. When I factor in the low cost to drive, I think I would actually save money compared to my Impreza. I like the idea of getting something that has depreciated a lot already.
While I love AWD, I don't really need it on my commute car 99% of the time.
-I like the overall size/length of the Volt, seems very similar to the Impreza which I find ideal. People seem to say it handles well.
The back seats are small, but this car will have 1-2 passengers 90% of the time.
-People who have owned this car generally seem to like and it the battery range does not seem to diminish too much.
-There is no sales tax on this car if purchased used in WA state
-While the all electric range is not huge at 53 miles, I think that I would still be able to drive about 90% of the miles on this car electric only just because I do so many trips in that range. I honestly think it is just enough. I do still need to be able to occasionally drive the car further without range anxiety and don't want to be stopping to charge on the side of the highway at this point. A 200+ mile EV would probably be fine, but outside of the Bolt those seem much more expensive at this time.
-The Bolt does not have Adaptive Cruise Control. I have to creep along in highway traffic several times a week and it sort of makes me crazy. I want it to be more tolerable.
Feel free to make other suggestions or convince me otherwise! This area is filled with Tesla nuts. I'm sure the Model 3 is amazing, but I just don't want to sink that much money into a car that is for utility. I would much prefer to get something already used and not worry about every tiny scratch and ding. I'm sure the Volvo XC40 Recharge and other forthcoming AWD EVs will be great, but I don't want to be an early adopter, don't want the steep depreciation curve on a new/expensive car, and other than the Tesla none of them are really out yet. The Rav4 Prime will probably be very good (I rode in the hybrid and liked it) but it's not out yet, the electric range is not quite as much as the Volt, it will be more expensive, and I want a compact car for commuting.
I think a 2018 Nissan Leaf has adaptive cruise, I could consider that. Range is a little shortish, and the car looks smaller/less substantial overall. I do a lot of highway driving on horrible pavement and am less psyched on that car for some reason. I wish that AWD Leafs, Bolts, Imprezas, Kona EVs were already out and about, but they are not going to be for a little while, I think.
So you can see I've thought about it a bit - still interested to hear what the brain trust has to say!
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02-14-2020, 09:10 AM #154
^^^ you seem to be on the right track. The other one worth considering is a 2019 Nissan Leaf Plus with ProPilot, if you can find one at a deal. That gives you a 200+mi range and ProPilot (adaptive cruise control plus nearly self steering) is really really good.
Why they don't offer the Bolt with adaptive cruise control is a mystery to me. That said, creeping along in traffic with one pedal driving is infinitely more tolerable than doing it in a traditional car.
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02-14-2020, 09:55 AM #155
Quite a few new Bolts advertised for around $25k on Autotrader.
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02-14-2020, 10:03 AM #156Registered User
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02-14-2020, 10:55 AM #157
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02-14-2020, 11:01 AM #158
Mercedes owned the stock and took profit.
I read but can’t verify that the Tesla Model S chassis is same as Mercedes S- class but all aluminum.
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02-14-2020, 03:31 PM #159
Yeah, I want to say they were using their actual frame to begin with. I cannot recall, but certainly a strong connection was there for a bit.
How are you liking the new ride?
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02-14-2020, 10:04 PM #160
It appears that ProPilot was introduced to the 2018 Leafs and the non-plus version go for less the $20k used which is not too bad. 150 miles range is ok, but that becomes a pure commute/day trip car - albeit probably a very good one. I don't think the Volt has one pedal driving, so it probably makes sense to try a few different options and see what seems most useful to me.
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02-15-2020, 12:43 PM #161
FWIW I really, really liked the Leaf when I test drove one. Only reason I went with the Bolt instead is I couldn't find a dealer in CO that would give me a decent price on a Leaf Plus. I liked it a little better than the Bolt overall, mostly because of ProPilot and exterior styling, but I wasn't filling to pay several thousand dollars more for one (there were a few places the Bolt won out - telescoping steering wheel, interior styling/layout, arguably more durable batteries)
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02-16-2020, 09:52 AM #162
This is a great website. It allows you to plan routes effectively and and get charging times and such. It gives information about cars that are not out yet.
https://abetterrouteplanner.com/
This is another exciting option. I really like the idea of BOTH FCEV and BEV, with 600 miles between the two. Mammoth is 340 miles from my house and with this car I would be able to drive to Mammoth and not have to charge the battery until Bishop on the way home. I really like that idea. Unfortunately like Rivian, the Cybertruck and the Fisker Ocean it is not available yet.
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02-16-2020, 04:15 PM #163
Tesla forums use a 2 KWH loss per 1000 ft climb rule of thumb for the lightish sedans. So around 20 KWH extra loss for your Tesla, which is around a loss of 70 miles in range.
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02-25-2020, 09:21 AM #164glocal
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02-25-2020, 11:02 AM #165Registered User
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^^ It's almost as if making the same product over and over while not responding to a changing marketplace is bad for business.
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02-25-2020, 11:11 AM #166
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02-25-2020, 11:51 AM #167
I test drove a Leaf. The Propilot Assist works nicely and overall the car was pleasant. The silence and smoothness of electric definitely seems easier for commuting and daily driving. $27k (after tax and fees) still is a little steep for a 150 mile range subcompact car that still appears poised to depreciate extraordinarily quickly. It seems like a used Bolt or Volt would be a better value, but I haven't tried those out yet. A plus on the Bolt would be the very low maintenance and seemingly low likelihood that I would ever need to go to the dealer. I'm still intrigued by the Volt but the idea of having to take a super complex plug in hybrid to a Chevy dealership gives me night sweats. Also, WA has a weird electric vehicle car tab fee that you have to pay if you plug-in gets more than 50 miles on electric, which the Volt does.
I would prefer a model 3 sized car, but I'm not in love with the price tag, RWD for the low end model, or the poor rear visibility. I suppose the value at least doesn't appear to drop like a rock so that might be a plus.
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02-25-2020, 12:44 PM #168
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02-25-2020, 01:13 PM #169Registered User
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"It’s no stretch to say that Tesla has disrupted the very backbone of Europe’s largest economy."
It's a pretty fucking big stretch. What a shit article, looks like the guy wrote it in ten minutes for, CCN, the 'ol Trinadad and Tobago news source run from Norway! With links to Clean Technica as references, ha.
Maybe Tesla will be a disrupter in germany soon, but that article, now I think about it was probably written by an AI bot, is wrong. Top cars in Germany last year:
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02-25-2020, 01:19 PM #170
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02-26-2020, 11:25 AM #171Registered User
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Pretty sure car sales in Germany alone are not that important, as it's only one nation. What the article is saying is that worldwide, people are buying the Tesla Model 3 instead of the BMW 3 Series or the MB C Class. In the U.S. alone, the Model 3 outsold the 3 Series and C Class by more than three times (48,000 vs 160,000). The German auto industry is feeling this and responding. As the demand for their product decreases, they are reducing shifts, having layoffs, reorganizing factories, etc. This is what has "disrupted the very backbone of Europe’s largest economy" (Germany).
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03-04-2020, 02:23 PM #172
Interesting announcement from GM today: https://www.engadget.com/2020/03/04/...-ev-batteries/
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03-04-2020, 02:28 PM #173Registered User
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03-04-2020, 05:33 PM #174
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03-04-2020, 08:20 PM #175
Ford has announced an e-Transit van, but just for short haul urban duties.
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