Electric car thread

[VTeton]

Talking heads are high on the Ford Mach E after driving this week. TFL & DeMuro both really like it. Autopilot coming in Q3.

My ford stock is up 44% but I think it has legs once the Bronco, Mach E and F150 sales are in. Watch out Elon....

[carlh]

Anyone driving a new gen leaf? Seeing $90/month zero down lease deals and thinking of biting.

[adrenalated]

Anyone driving a new gen leaf? Seeing $90/month zero down lease deals and thinking of biting.

I drove one before buying my Bolt and really liked it. The semi autonomous mode (ProPilot or whatever) is fucking awesome. The interior on the Bolt was slightly better. It came down to whichever dealer could get me a better deal, and the Chevy dealer was a few grand below the Nissan dealer a the time even considering the tax incentives available. If I could have bought them for the same price, I'd have gone Leaf Plus over the Bolt.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Anyone driving a new gen leaf? Seeing $90/month zero down lease deals and thinking of biting.

We have one. It works. I like it more than I thought I would.

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[Dromond]

Anyone driving a new gen leaf? Seeing $90/month zero down lease deals and thinking of biting.

That is a pretty crazy lease deal. Where is it?

[MontuckyFried]

That is a pretty crazy lease deal. Where is it?

Anything I could find on lease deals like that said "California only." Bummer because I'd be all over a Leaf for $90/month. That's a heckuva cheap city runabout! Perhaps cheaper than what I'm spending on maintenance alone on my aging Euro cars. Haha. In my area, I'm only seeing Nissan Leaf lease "deals" for like $239/month, 36 months, and $3000 down, which is a hard pass.

[skaredshtles]

You can be sure, at lease rates like that, there's fuckery afoot.

[Dromond]

Anything I could find on lease deals like that said "California only." Bummer because I'd be all over a Leaf for $90/month. That's a heckuva cheap city runabout! Perhaps cheaper than what I'm spending on maintenance alone on my aging Euro cars. Haha. In my area, I'm only seeing Nissan Leaf lease "deals" for like $239/month, 36 months, and $3000 down, which is a hard pass.

I'm seeing two deals listed here for my area (WA) that total $7,500 or less for 36 months, which is pretty appealing: https://electrek.co/best-electric-vehicle-leases/

I've been wanting to swap out one of two gas cars for an EV for when AWD, high clearance and the road-trip-ease of my larger gas car is not needed. I've been on the fence for a while because - for purchasing a car - I really want AWD and 240+ mile range, but I am not wanting to pay for a new Tesla. I've never leased before, but with the usual non-Tesla EV depreciation curve, 36 months with a 2WD EV is starting to sound pretty good (if the price is low enough) until more and more AWD models hit a good price point.

[frorider]

You can be sure, at lease rates like that, there's fuckery afoot.

I recall the fiat 500e leasing at that rate too.

[Dromond]

You can be sure, at lease rates like that, there's fuckery afoot.

Do tell tales of such fuckery.

[Mazderati]

Massachusetts to require all new car sales be electric by 2035 with the goal to get statewide carbon emissions 45% below 1990 levels. These are some of the most ambitious goals in the world per the Globe.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/...ange-measures/


California and Japan have something similar in place for 2035 and the EU is shooting for 30M electric cars on roadways by 2030 compared to the 2M now.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...line-cars-ban/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idUSKBN28E2KM

[carlh]

https://www.quirknissan.com/manager-...BoCCXIQAvD_BwE

Not sure what you have to do to qualify and it is only on a base model. I want lumbar support so will keep looking.

[dschane]

fwiw, I'm super impressed at how our 2017 Bolt with Blizzak tires handles snow and ice. Same for Leafs.

[The AD]

Watch out Elon....

Watch out for Ford? I guess I'll believe it when I see it.

[jackstraw]

Watch out for Ford? I guess I'll believe it when I see it.

Via Rivian I'm guessing

[Long duc dong]

Via Rivian I'm guessing

Electric F150 is coming too. I don't know about the timeline.

I really can't wait to hear about Rivian from customers. It will be nice when they actually start making deliveries.

[Long duc dong]

For those of us socal folks who hit Mammoth on the weekends the Tesla Chargers in Bishop are now open:

https://www.tesla.com/findus/locatio...casupercharger

That is definitely a good thing.

Here is an example from ABRP about how such a trip could look:

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?pla...e-44b07044ce9f

Basically three 5-7 minute stops. That is not as convenient as ICE, but it is getting better. The extra charging stops allow one to charge at ideal points in the curve.

The Bishop chargers will also probably help alleviate crowds at the popular times. I usually drive at 4 am, so not as big of a deal for me, but this is good progress. I have found the Mammoth drive more doable than I thought it would be, these new chargers will make it even easier.

[Name Redacted]

I really can't wait to hear about Rivian from customers. It will be nice when they actually start making deliveries.

I’m really interested in hearing how the Rivian and all other fully electric vehicles perform in routinely very cold weather. Like if I leave it outside at my house overnight and it gets down to -15F, will it have a tough time firing up? Will plugging it in be required? Until that is answered I’m sticking with my gas Tacoma. But if that isn’t an issue, I can see myself buying one in the next 5 years.

[adrenalated]

I’m really interested in hearing how the Rivian and all other fully electric vehicles perform in routinely very cold weather. Like if I leave it outside at my house overnight and it gets down to -15F, will it have a tough time firing up?

Obviously it's not as consistently cold down here in the city but no, starting up in subzero temps is not an issue.

Will plugging it in be required?

Required no, advised, yes. My Bolt (and I assume most/all other EVs) has a heating and cooling system in the battery. That's why starting in cold weather isn't a problem - the car keeps the battery warm even when the car is turned off. Or in hot weather, it keeps the battery cool. If you're not plugged in, it's going to draw power from the battery to do that. So plugging in is advised so that you can use shore power for the battery conditioning rather than driving power.

If you have the capability to install a Level 2 charger at your house (and you should have one if you're planning to own an EV) then it's a non-issue.

[gravitylover]

The Ford dealer a mile away is running a E-Mustang event this afternoon. Gonna head over and check it out in a little bit.

[Sirshredalot]

I’m really interested in hearing how the Rivian and all other fully electric vehicles perform in routinely very cold weather. Like if I leave it outside at my house overnight and it gets down to -15F, will it have a tough time firing up? Will plugging it in be required? Until that is answered I’m sticking with my gas Tacoma. But if that isn’t an issue, I can see myself buying one in the next 5 years.

I owned a first gen Leaf in the Summit Park area for years. Really cold weather degraded the battery performance a bit, but not noticeably compared to running heavy, studded snow tires or running the heater hard. A modern EV with a temp-controlled battery wouldn't have that problem at all. Running the resistance heater while driving up Parleys with a three passengers on studded snow tires in the dead of winter was dicey by the time I sold the car.

But the OG Leaf is ten years old now and was only rated for 70 miles of range when it was brand new. I'm looking forward to getting a modern electric car soon, but I'm a cheap bastard. Tesla prices aren't for me.

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[Long duc dong]

I’m really interested in hearing how the Rivian and all other fully electric vehicles perform in routinely very cold weather. Like if I leave it outside at my house overnight and it gets down to -15F, will it have a tough time firing up? Will plugging it in be required? Until that is answered I’m sticking with my gas Tacoma. But if that isn’t an issue, I can see myself buying one in the next 5 years.

That is an interesting question. If I still lived in Tahoe I would be wondering about that too.

This is not a starting issue, but cold weather definitely limits the battery power. The other day I started my model 3 at around 7 am after leaving it with an 11% charge from the night before. The temperature said 43 degrees, which I have a hard time believing because I have actually lived in cold weather, which is very cold for Newport Beach. Granted, it was 7 am and the sun was barely up and the car was parked under a tree. It gave me the cold weather warning and said the battery was at 8%. As I drove, and got out in the sun, the battery bumped up to around 10%. Cold weather definitely hurts the battery. For us Mammoth weekenders this is not THAT big of a deal, you rarely hit cold weather until the top of the Sherwin Grade, at which point the drive is 90% done, but living in a cold climate I would really want to be able to charge at home. -15F is some serious cold, it rarely got that cold in Tahoe or Mammoth or even growing up in the Hudson Valley, you would definitely lose lots of range, and in cold weather you really don't want that.

If you have a home charger, or there is a charger very close by, and you don't drive great distances it might not be too much of an issue. But if you live in a place like Montana, where it is always cold in the winter as opposed to mild like the Sierra, it could be an issue. You don't want your battery to die in the middle of nowhere at night when it is 20 below.

[nickwm21]

I’m really interested in hearing how the Rivian and all other fully electric vehicles perform in routinely very cold weather. Like if I leave it outside at my house overnight and it gets down to -15F, will it have a tough time firing up? Will plugging it in be required? Until that is answered I’m sticking with my gas Tacoma. But if that isn’t an issue, I can see myself buying one in the next 5 years.

Watch Long Way Up on AppleTV. Ewan McGreggor and his entourage ride Harley E Bikes and Rivians from Ushuaia to LA. The first few weeks of their journey is basically in Polar and high desert climates with extreme cold. The bikes don’t do well at all. The Rivians seem to do better...


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[Name Redacted]

Obviously it's not as consistently cold down here in the city but no, starting up in subzero temps is not an issue.



Required no, advised, yes. My Bolt (and I assume most/all other EVs) has a heating and cooling system in the battery. That's why starting in cold weather isn't a problem - the car keeps the battery warm even when the car is turned off. Or in hot weather, it keeps the battery cool. If you're not plugged in, it's going to draw power from the battery to do that. So plugging in is advised so that you can use shore power for the battery conditioning rather than driving power.

If you have the capability to install a Level 2 charger at your house (and you should have one if you're planning to own an EV) then it's a non-issue.

Good info thanks. Also would plan on camping with it in winter so I wonder how that’d do. Maybe a solar panel on sunny days.

[adrenalated]

Good info thanks. Also would plan on camping with it in winter so I wonder how that’d do. Maybe a solar panel on sunny days.

Yeah... that math don't work. A big fucking solar panel like this one https://www.renogy.com/320-watt-mono...e-solar-panel/ produces 320 W (max) in a 66" X 40". That's pretty much your entire roof. In reality you're not getting anywhere near the full 320W when you account for sun angle etc... let's say you actually get 50%, so 160W. The mid-level Rivian battery pack is supposedly 135 kWh. So, it's going to take 8hr to get 1% additional charge out of your 320W panel running at 50% efficiency. Even if you got the full 320W you still need 4hr to get 1% capacity. (This is super rough and ignoring some variables but close enough for our purposes).

So yeah... recharging your battery off a solar panel on the roof of the truck ain't happening.

FWIW I'm losing about 25% of my range in the winter in the Bolt. If parking overnight not plugged in maybe assume another 5% is going to be lost. Then think about how far you're going to drive and relative to the overall range. As good as EVs are for typical daily driving, there's still a ways to go when it comes to use in remote areas.