Anyone have an electric car?

Electric is the obvious way to go for a 4x4
No more complicated transmissions
No more locking diffs and hubs
Just a motor in each wheel and go

I also feel that solar panels and an EV for commuting is a good combination.
I liked the idea to use the car as a surplus electricity storage unit.
My van sits in the garage most of the time as I go to work on my motorbike.

Why diesel and gas powered cars are still popular and ar hard to beat is because of two things:
  • filling is a lot faster than charging
  • more power/weight ratio
  • available at ambient temperatures
The last two are also important when considering alternate fuels like hydrogen.

Maybe the industry will wake up and make fuel efficient cars.
In the 50's there was an Opel Commodore that could drive more than 100 km with 1 litre of fuel.
Shell bought it and all the patents and it was never heard of again.
Same for lots of other patents for duel saving measures. All in the hands of the oil industry.

The whole patent system is flawed.
Anyone who invents something should only have to register it and anyone who wants to use is should pay some kind of copyright fee.
That way, no one, who has an interest in putting it away never to be used, can buy a patent.
 
When the Odyssey dies I’ll attempt to replace it with a hybrid minivan. Minivans are excellent electric target: they don’t have to perform well, they’re already heavy AF, they’re big and so a lowered COM would help and there’s lots of room for batteries.
 
My boss proposed one, I explained that the 40 minutes recharging time every 200 miles wouldn't be very efficient and regarding the far away places where we intervene most of the time do not have charging points. We abandoned the idea.
Also I'm personnally not yet convinced about the ecological way Lithium for batteries is extracted as well about where and how they will finish at end of lifetime.
 
I purchased a used 2013 nisson leaf 4 years ago and I have to say it has been the cheapest and most reliable car I ever owned. It had it’s first service at 30 k miles! And it cost 300 hundred bucks at the dealer! no oil changes! I added a level 2 charger to my garage and I plug in when I’m home. I can go to work and run arrands no problem. if you had a Tesla you could drive over a 100 miles one way and come home with out charging. if that works for 90 percent of what you need you will love a eletric car.
 
lauke-lux said:
My boss proposed one, I explained that the 40 minutes recharging time every 200 miles wouldn't be very efficient and regarding the far away places where we intervene most of the time do not have charging points. We abandoned the idea.
Also I'm personnally not yet convinced about the ecological way Lithium for batteries is extracted as well about where and how they will finish at end of lifetime.
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That would add roughly 8-10 hours to a cross country trip in the USA. :/
 
I have a Tesla Model 3 Performance, have had it for about 18 months - zero regret on the decision. Easy to plan trips and use chargers along the way. The auto pilot/adaptive cruise/full self drive stuff really makes a huge difference on long drives where you can relax a bit more and feel more rested when you arrive, and has avoided a number of accidents for us that we may not have caught otherwise. It has also helped me get home safely when worn out from long days or after red eye flights, I'm not falling asleep at the wheel or anything, but it is controlling my speed and keeping me in the lane and stopping the car if needed.

The thing flat out hauls and is absolutely fun to drive, I had a BMW M3 before it and it can't even compare on the fun to drive level. Yes I don't go track driving ever, but even just cruising around it is a ton of fun to get to 60 mph in 3 seconds and blow by absolutely anything else on the road.

Almost 0 maintenance, brakes last way longer because of the regenerative breaking, tires are normal life, and you have to put in some windshield washer fluid sometimes, but that's it. After buying mine I've let a number of friends and neighbors drive it, not one has bought a new car that wasn't a Tesla since (although plenty haven't bought anything else).

Tesla is a lot like Fractal as well, loyal base of fans, regular updates to their software at no cost, constantly doing new things. I still have a second car that is an ICE car, but only because it's paid off and hardly ever driven since the pandemic. It will be replaced with a Tesla soon.
 
lauke-lux said:
My boss proposed one, I explained that the 40 minutes recharging time every 200 miles wouldn't be very efficient and regarding the far away places where we intervene most of the time do not have charging points. We abandoned the idea.
Also I'm personnally not yet convinced about the ecological way Lithium for batteries is extracted as well about where and how they will finish at end of lifetime.
Click to expand...
The 40 minutes charging time every 200 miles thing is definitely not the case (my car gets 325+ miles per charge and 80% charge in 15 minutes). I won't argue that it adds time to a cross country trip though. I have no desire to drive cross country in a car of any type, nor do i do it even once every 5 years, so I'm not buying a daily driver based on that.
 
KevinP said:
The 40 minutes charging time every 200 miles thing is definitely not the case (my car gets 325+ miles per charge and 80% charge in 15 minutes). I won't argue that it adds time to a cross country trip though. I have no desire to drive cross country in a car of any type, nor do i do it even once every 5 years, so I'm not buying a daily driver based on that.
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Exact but you have to consider that
 
lauke-lux said:
Exact but you have to consider that
Click to expand...
Well, you have to decide if you are considering that. If you do that often or enough for it to be a factor, then you do consider it. But you should probably consider it based on realistic range and charging times as well.
 
FractalAudio said:
New car time and thinking about going electric.
Click to expand...

I think that the choice, budget aside, strongly depends on the quantity and distribution of charging stations in the country where you live in. And from the typical routes you will have to travel.
Here in Italy I believe it is too early to go full electric and I would choose a hybrid instead.
Obviously if it's your second or third car, it doesn't matter. Just buy the one you like the most... Being an European, I would go for a Tesla. For the same reason, since you're American, you would probably go for a Porsche... ;)
 
I've been driving electric for almost four years now. First a Tesla Models S for a little less than a year, and then Tesla Model X for the last three years. Works great for me. The Model S is better looking and with a better range, while the Model X is a bit more practical for me in daily use and the wife prefers the higher sitting position. In my experience range is less of an issue than you would think. My next car will also be a Tesla, probably the Model Y (not yet available here), which I think offers really good value for money when compared to the Model X.

The biggest reason I'll be getting another Tesla is that the Supercharger network is so much better than what is available for other models. I do most of my charging at home, and during the last 4 years I have charged a whopping total of three times outside Tesla's network. A bit of a pain each time, not knowing if it will work, what speed you will be getting or what payment system you need to use. That will of course vary depending on where you live, but if you typically travel along routes which are covered by the Supercharger network you are golden. Do not underestimate how big a difference that makes. Other chargers are typically scattered all over the place, and charging sessions are typically longer than at Superchargers, often with different payment solutions and much more expensive.

For long trips you will be stuck charging a lot longer that it would take you to fill your gas tank, no doubt about it. If that is something you do often it might be a reason to choose something else.
 
We bought a Tesla Model Y two months ago. It's the first new car I've ever bought. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but we love it. We've been on some pretty long drives and I found I actually enjoy taking a 10 to 20 minute break every 2 or 3 hours. While long road trips can't be quite as fast as an ICE car, I'm enjoying the experience more. We've put almost 7k miles on it and it is such a nice car to drive distance in. You really only get this experience with a Tesla (compared to other EVs) though since they have the excellent Supercharger network.

Meanwhile, assuming you have a garage that you can park it in you will almost never need to stop to charge when you are at home and driving locally. The technology is incredibly done and the experience is just so different from my previous experiences with traditional cars. The phone is your key and you can just walk up, get in, and drive. No lock/unlock. No starting the car. Just put it in drive and go.

If you are considering a Tesla and have specific places that you like to drive on trips I recommend looking at the Supercharger map and mapping your trip to see what that would look like. Sometimes for routes that are not on major highways you might have to alter you route for charging, but the Supercharger network continues to expand rapidly so that will improve.

I'll probably get flames for this but I think the argument that a Tesla is just as bad for the environment as an ICE car is silly. I understand the point that it takes lots of resources to build and drive an EV, but you can't compare that to spewing poison and greenhouse gases directly into the air whenever you drive your ICE car. I don't want to get too deep into the arguments and I'm not an expert, but in CA we are rapidly 'greening' our power grid with solar, wind and battery storage. Switching to EV means that we can now charge our cars to a large extent from solar and wind. That's an important evolution in our energy usage at a critical time when we absolutely need to stop polluting the atmosphere.
 
Oh, yeah and it's designed and made here in the USA. Not sure how many cars are still made here, and I have nothing against foreign car companies, but I thought that was cool! When our Model Y was ready we picked it up from the Fremont factory. My guess is they made it that day or maybe the day before.
 
I have a Tesla Model 3 And love it... had it a little over 2 years now 80k miles and still going strong.
 
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