Anyone Driving Electric?

[mso489]

I don't mean a hybrid like a Prius and other hybrids. I mean entirely electric vehicles. Right now both the range and recharging time seem to be drawbacks for anyone not devoted to the idea of these, and also the lack of visible, dispersed, accessible charging stations. Motor Trend had an article in their last issue taking a positive tone. Personally, having driven internal combustion vehicles for about 56 years, I'm not sure I'll ever make this leap, but I'm intrigued by the possible cultural shift. I snort when electric vehicles are billed as emitting no pollutants -- right, not from the tailpipe, but probably from at least some of the power plants producing electricity. But okay, less/fewer pollutants. And pollutants from batteries and other materials involved. Progress is sometimes ... progress. People forget this isn't the electric car's first rodeo. My great aunts used to tool around suburban Chicago in a Studebaker Electric, and for their purposes, it was a pretty good ride, back in the 1920's/30's.

 

[saintpeter]

Umm...does my power chair count?

 

[BROBS]

yeah the battery cells are hugely wasteful and made of toxic materials...
disposal is a problem. they are also incredibly expensive... and only last so long.

range is a problem.. speed is a problem... recharging them is a problem....

and you're right.. the electricity unless you live somewhere with "clean or green energy" is probably from burning coal. which one produces more pollutants?

so basically you are buying a half-useful vehicle with problem after problem listed above. Most people don't want to deal with the headache.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Only when I'm playing golf.

 

[mso489]

'saint, I'd say your power chair counts. I met a good pipe man at the rehab where my wife was for some weeks, a retired long-haul truck salesman. He was such a spirited driver in his power chair that the staff took it away from him, afraid he'd run down fellow residents. I bought him two pipes, after a friend not in the facility ruined his pipes, gone crazy with a reamer, to "help him out." Before the trucks, he sold Dodge cars.

 

[jaytex1969]

I've been watching them with great interest. I had an electric scooter for a while, but it was "old school" lead acid batteries. Things have changed quite a bit since then.

The Nissan Leaf has my eye as a good combination of affordability and performance. A well cared for, slightly used one may be within my grasp soon enough.

No one buys (or should be buying) an EV if their transportation requirements exceed the vehicle's purpose. You have to do your homework to see if it's a good fit.

I live 5 miles from work and, besides bike rallies, most of my life travel is within a 20 mile circle. The EV would serve me well, most likely.

 

[Casual]

Poor spot for electric vehicles here. Lots of cold weather reduces range, and we’re too spread out. It’s a 900km round trip to make a Costco run or take the kids to the grandparents.

 

[saintpeter]

'saint, I'd say your power chair counts.

Well they come with an inherent problem (one I am dealing with now) if you run them dead you run the high risk of the chargers refusing to charge them. Evidently because when totally discharged the charger no longer identifies them as a battery.

 

[danish]

My family has had several electric cars on monthly leases. A Nissan van, a BMW i3 and presently a Renault Zoe, which my 18 yo son now uses for daily commuting. My brother, who can afford it and needs more range, is a happy Tesla owner for 6 years. If you want to learn more about the advantages (and disadvantages) of EVs, I can recommend an entertaing pro-EV site like

FullyCharged.Show | Home Energy | Electric Vehicles

Fully Charged Show, the world's number 1 home energy & electric vehicle channel, news, videos & reviews for home energy & electric vehicles.

fullycharged.show

They also have lot of youtube videos.
There is of course also a lot of anti-EV propaganda out there, since disruption is not always nice for established industries. In this case: the oil industry.

 

[Ronv69]

My family has had several electric cars on monthly leases. A Nissan van, a BMW i3 and presently a Renault Zoe, which my 18 yo son now uses for daily commuting. My brother, who can afford it and needs more range, is a happy Tesla owner for 6 years. If you want to learn more about the advantages (and disadvantages) of EVs, I can recommend an entertaing pro-EV site like

FullyCharged.Show | Home Energy | Electric Vehicles

Fully Charged Show, the world's number 1 home energy & electric vehicle channel, news, videos & reviews for home energy & electric vehicles.

fullycharged.show

They also have lot of youtube videos.
There is of course also a lot of anti-EV propaganda out there, since disruption is not always nice for established industries. In this case: the oil industry.

We smoke pipes. We are not exactly into New Ideas. ?

 

[danimalia]

I have thought about them but currently it's just not ideal for me. I can see that changing though as my living situation and the cost and range of batteries continue to improve. They're becoming quite popular here in the Bay Area. I've ridden in the Leaf and Chevy's version (can't remember if it's Volt or Bolt) and both are very nice. Teslas are beautiful and seem to offer the best performance and range, but you'll pay for it.

They probably make the most sense, environmentally and economically, from people who can get solar power from their own panels.

 

[Old School 3319]

I cant justify an electric vehicle or a new vehicle. I drive 8 miles to work and 7 to the feed store.

 

[Mis Pipas]

Apparently, there are still high energy costs involved in making batteries for electric vehicles and transporting electricity to the gas stations to recharge the cars.
In Israel the venture failed, there are no more electric cars, but there are many hybrids.

 

[tbradsim1]

A problem not addressed is range, hook up a trailer and tow on a journey you cut half the range , according to a test BMW did. Electric Grid is old, teetering, we don’t want coal, or Neucular, leaves only Nat Gas, but that requires the horrible thing called drilling. One solution leaves another in its wake. My wife’s Prius makes no noise, the sound of a fine tuned engine is so beautiful.

 

[craiginthecorn]

I have driven a BMW i3 since 2015. I love the thing. I have had absolutely no mechanical problems. My only gripe is that I bought it mostly for my 22-mile commute, but since I'm retired my use of the car has changed and now its relatively low range of roughly 85 miles in ideal weather is becoming a hassle at times. I will be getting a Tesla model Y the replace it.

If anyone needs a car for in-town errands, the i3 is perfect and as a used vehicle, it's dirt cheap and has almost no maintenance cost, apart from tires, which only last about 25k miles.

Be forewarned that apart from Tesla, EV depreciation is startlingly high. My 2015 i3 was $50k new. I bought it in 2017 with 5k miles for $22k. If I were the sell today with 26k miles, I'd get $13k from CarMax.

 

[daveinlax]

No, but I've noticed Tesla's are very common where I live in Southeren AZ but are a rare sight here at home in WI. ?

 

[mso489]

brad makes a point. If you've spent your whole driving life listening to engines, the silence of an electric vehicle is deafening, besides which it's a killer for pedestrians, other drivers listening for approaching traffic around a blind curve, wildlife, and so on. But I'd even miss the aesthetics; I turn off the radio to listen to my little four-banger commuter hatch sing. In an electric car, what do I do, play a recording?

 

[Mr.Mike]

Well they come with an inherent problem (one I am dealing with now) if you run them dead you run the high risk of the chargers refusing to charge them. Evidently because when totally discharged the charger no longer identifies them as a battery.

My brother has a charger that has a "rehabilitate" function. Not sure how it work but it fixed his battery in his Dodge ram that was dead for months and would not take a charge. He's been driving it for 8 months with no issues now.

 

[mso489]

Remembering the Studebaker Electric from the 1920's, they were excellent town cars, and seemed to have a special appeal to women who didn't like the back-fire and cranking involved with internal combustion. At about the same time, speed demons liked the steam engine Stanley Steamer auto which had very high speed if opened up. People think the current crop of cars is futuristic, but everything old is new again. All of this was before seat belts, air bags, safety glass, etc. All was a wing and a prayer.