Poll: Do you have, or plan to get, an electric car?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Do you have an electric car or plan to get one?

  • Yes

  • No

  • I plan to

  • Over my dead body


Results are only viewable after voting.
I never had one ICE vehicle spontaneously combust just sitting there (unlike EV's).

Well that's strange, because I've never had one of my high voltage batteries spontaneously combust. I've also never even had a lithium battery in a phone or laptop catch fire.

But, OTOH EV's seem to go splodey in a regular fashion.

That would be news to me. Even the decision that led to the Bolt EV being recalled was based on something like 0.009% of those vehicles catching fire. Hardly "in a regular fashion".
 
Does anyone have any first hand experience with the Subaru Solterra or the Toyota BZ97293XXX?

I’ve read about their cons; only 220 range and slower charging etc. I do like that it has higher ground clearance than ev’s in my price range. I’m specifically looking at used 2023 models. In my area it seems like the price is 23-26k.

I drive to woods quite a bit throughout the year. Spring and summer we take the kids hiking, fall is for mushroom picking and target shooting, winter for snowboarding and snow play. And occasionally in town we get snow storms. I used to own a 14 Forester until a tree decided to ruin my day and totaled the car. I loved the awd in that thing. It performed better for traction purposes than any other 4x4 I’ve owned.
There are plenty of awd ev’s but most have very little ground clearance and I wouldn’t trust them on the backroads that I frequent. There are a few that seem good off road but not sub 30k.

Even with the lower range, I could easily drive out to my playground and back. The max would be about 125 roundtrip miles. We have a Camry and a Sequoia that could be driven for long roadtrips.
 
Kent, You need to call your agent for the discount. Verbotten EV has to be in the lease. Insurance guys are capitalists. They will make you work for it.
 
Does anyone have any first hand experience with the Subaru Solterra or the Toyota BZ97293XXX?

I’ve read about their cons; only 220 range and slower charging etc. I do like that it has higher ground clearance than ev’s in my price range. I’m specifically looking at used 2023 models. In my area it seems like the price is 23-26k.

I drive to woods quite a bit throughout the year. Spring and summer we take the kids hiking, fall is for mushroom picking and target shooting, winter for snowboarding and snow play. And occasionally in town we get snow storms. I used to own a 14 Forester until a tree decided to ruin my day and totaled the car. I loved the awd in that thing. It performed better for traction purposes than any other 4x4 I’ve owned.
There are plenty of awd ev’s but most have very little ground clearance and I wouldn’t trust them on the backroads that I frequent. There are a few that seem good off road but not sub 30k.

Even with the lower range, I could easily drive out to my playground and back. The max would be about 125 roundtrip miles. We have a Camry and a Sequoia that could be driven for long roadtrips.

Not familiar with either of those vehicles, but I'll talk about my experience anyway, just for fun.

My Bolt has a range of 250mi @ 100% charge in good weather. I typically don't charge it above 75% unless I have a road trip planned. It's also one of the slowest vehicles (compared to other EVs made at that time) to charge by DC charging, but I can still add a lot of miles in 35 minutes. Have you looked for charging stations along your routes?

We also have a gas jeep we use for most of our road trips or when we want to tow something. The Bolt can make the bulk of those long trips in good weather, but it doesn't have a hitch receiver and it just doesn't have the cargo space our jeep does.

I trust my Bolt on snow about as much as I trusted my Volt, which was about as much as I trusted my Pontiac. Besides range penalties that are a bit worse than ICE vehicles, I don't really see the occasional snowstorm as a deterrent for going electric. Especially if you have space in your garage for it. If we don't suffer any catastrophes before we want to trade again, I do plan on going for an EV with AWD as I would feel more comfortable with that after a snowstorm, but I don't consider that an EV issue. Hopefully they'll come down in price by then.

I don't have experience going off-roading. Closest I got to that was driving the truck on the field to ride in the tractor or combine with dad when I was a kid.
 
These people will exist for a while, better off ignoring them, kind of how the direction of the car market is…

I’ve always loved the original Scout. My father had one when I was a kid and it was just the coolest thing to me. The new one looks very similar, of course in a modern way. The timing is perfect as well as my Tesla will be around 6-7 years old by the time it is available. And I already knew I want to go back to an SUV with my next vehicle. My wife has a Mach E. We need something larger for the family.

Scout is owned by Volkswagen and they are associated with Rivian which is looking more and more like it will stick around.
 
Nope.

The only thing that has risen is my electric bill, by about 1/3 of what my gas expenses used to be. ;)
At $0.17 per KWh, that’s $13.60 for a ‘full tank.’ Beats the $76.20 I paid to fill up with diesel yesterday (@ $3.09 per gallon). That’ll get the old RV another 380 miles closer to home! Wish it was electric.
 
EV van conversions are coming, albeit slowly. I'm hoping to see a good RV mod to the Sprinter EV. Not that I'm likely to ever buy one💲💲💲🇩🇪

We’re on our sixth camper van/motorhome, all of then built on Sprinter cutaway vans. The E-Sprinter has been available in Germany for about 2 years, but not in the U.S. I’ll be waiting in line when they start making them available here for conversions, but our newest ride is a 2024 chassis with a twin turbo and nine-speed transmission. I’m not sure MB could improve much on this vehicle, though.
 
Nah Kent. I never had one ICE vehicle spontaneously combust just sitting there (unlike EV's). ICE vehicles are like my guns .

But, OTOH EV's seem to go splodey in a regular fashion. :oops:

And there is the discount. Money talks, BS walks
I can see insurance companies requiring a rider for EV in a garage or those with “chargers”
 
I can see insurance companies requiring a rider for EV in a garage or those with “chargers”
Where can you see this? Because I know a lot of people who insure their homes and EVs with the same company and don't have such riders. Maye the insurance companies should have riders for 30-50 amp range or dryer circuits too?

Meanwhile, if you live in California or Florida, you're already paying exorbitant premiums for homeowners insurance because of the increasing frequency of natural disasters fueled by climate change. Carriers aren't fleeing those states because of EVs parked in garages.
 
As much as it's publicized when it happens, EV fires just don't happen that often. Just like how in the aughts when cell phone batteries and laptop batteries started catching fire, the headlines were eye catching, but it didn't happen enough to meaningfully slow their adoption.

And I don't think any health insurance company had optional savings available to people who promised not to carry a cellphone.
 
Puhleeze, people!

From Popular Science:
analysis found that per 100,000 cars sold in each category, electric vehicles had the lowest number of fires.

From edmunds.com:
electric cars are less likely to catch fire than traditional gas-powered vehicles.

From Motor Trend:

You’re Wrong About EV Fires​

Gas- and diesel-powered vehicles catch fire way more often than EVs

That said, extinguishing an (unlikely) EV fire can be very difficult.
 
That said, extinguishing an (unlikely) EV fire can be very difficult.

I haven't looked into that closely but I assume that, even if that's the case at the moment, it won't take many years to figure out the best way to extinguish those fires.

And battery makers will probably work to make it less likely to happen in the meantime.
 
Polestar anyone?
I really am considering a used ev. I recently asked about owner experience of a Subaru. I know it doesn't have the best range or charge time but I could trust it mild off roading.

I've been noticing more Polestars around town, a few in my neighborhood. I looked them up on auto trader and noticed one could be had for low 20s. I know they don't look like they have the same off road worthiness as the subie, but maybe it could be a commuter for my wife.

We've always had three vehicles; two commuters and a bigger suv for towing. This last summer a tree decided to rebel and smash my forester. Being summer, I was commuting by bike anyways. However since the weather has changed and I'm driving the big suv more, I'm putting way too much money into my gas tank. That thing gets about 12-13 mpg.

Anyhoo, I'm looking for a third vehicle, electric or hybrid, used of course. I can't bring myself to buy new. I'm a Toyota fan boi and have purchased a few used Toyotas w 100k+ miles and drive them for another 100k. These yotas have never disappointed, never anything outside of regular maintenance.

If we go with an ev, my wife would probably drive it and I'd use her Camry for a commuter.

Either way, I'm a little surprised by how quickly some of the ev's drop in value after purchase.
 
I'm a Toyota fan boi

You may already know but the RAV4 Prime can do quite a few miles (40-50 depending if in town w/ regen or highway only, per a coworker) using electric-only, and at highway speeds. Though finding one used at a good price is probably nearing impossible.

I've always liked the look of th Polestars, and they were on my short list for another car (the 2's, specifically). I've never driven one or talked to an owner but all reviews indicated to me that it would be a good choice. For what that's worth.

There are quite a few good Youtube review channels, some of them unafraid to compare cars against each other and tell you what they truly do or don't like. If you're really interested you might set a side a few weekend afternoons and give them a watch. One of many I like (good for comparing but awesome for simply getting all the details):
 
Either way, I'm a little surprised by how quickly some of the ev's drop in value after purchase.
I think this is something that may continue for a while. We've seen brand-new EV pricing decrease for a number of reasons.

First, regardless of listed MSRP, the tax rebates drop the effective price of an EV. Second, we're in a bit of an oversupply situation still, where companies are willing to cut prices below MSRP to move metal. Both of those, BTW, are "phantom" drops in value, as the actual cost people are paying (whether accounting for tax rebates or discounts) reflect a smaller drop in value than the actual listed "value" of the car new, i.e. MSRP.

Third, the technological advances in batteries are bringing down the cost of EVs as time goes by, in a way that doesn't really exist in the ICEV market. So used prices will be an actual drop in value compared to brand-new BEVs as brand-new BEVs are being built with batteries that cost less than what was available 3-4 years prior when the bulk of the used market was built.

All this IMHO, of course. But it's one of the reasons that when/if I enter the BEV market (not until ~2027 or so unless I have to replace my ICEV due to unscheduled issue like accident/massive mechanical issue), I'm hoping that the used market will be robust. I always buy used with ICEV and let someone else take the bulk of the depreciation hit, which seems to be higher with BEVs than ICEVs.
 
You may already know but the RAV4 Prime can do quite a few miles (40-50 depending if in town w/ regen or highway only, per a coworker) using electric-only, and at highway speeds. Though finding one used at a good price is probably nearing impossible.

I've always liked the look of th Polestars, and they were on my short list for another car (the 2's, specifically). I've never driven one or talked to an owner but all reviews indicated to me that it would be a good choice. For what that's worth.

There are quite a few good Youtube review channels, some of them unafraid to compare cars against each other and tell you what they truly do or don't like. If you're really interested you might set a side a few weekend afternoons and give them a watch. One of many I like (good for comparing but awesome for simply getting all the details):

The RAV4 Prime would fit the bill, but the resale value is a little absurd on these things. The hybrid only versions are a little more reasonable. I had the hybrid 2024 as a rental for a week and it was solid; nice ride, good ground clearance etc. If I only had one vehicle, I wouldn't mind dropping some money.

Mitsubishi has a plug in outlander, but it's such a small company, at least in the US, it's hard to get reliability data.
 
These people will exist for a while, better off ignoring them, kind of how the direction of the car market is…

I’ve always loved the original Scout. My father had one when I was a kid and it was just the coolest thing to me. The new one looks very similar, of course in a modern way. The timing is perfect as well as my Tesla will be around 6-7 years old by the time it is available. And I already knew I want to go back to an SUV with my next vehicle. My wife has a Mach E. We need something larger for the family.

Scout is owned by Volkswagen and they are associated with Rivian which is looking more and more like it will stick around.
You mention getting rid of your Tesla at 6 or 7 years old, is this only because you want something different?
 
depreciation hit, which seems to be higher with BEVs than ICEVs
This hit might stay higher because of the degradation - real or imagined - of some BEV batteries.

All cars suffer wear and tear, of course. But a well maintained ICE power train from a quality maker seems longer lived than BEV, notwithstanding the immense number of moving parts in a gas engine.

I choose BEV in spite of the possibly higher TCO, because I seek to reduce my reliance on fossil fuels. Also, they're effing awesome! Quiet, not smelly, refuel at home... what's not to like?!
 
I choose BEV in spite of the possibly higher TCO, because I seek to reduce my reliance on fossil fuels. Also, they're awesome! Quiet, not smelly, refuel at home... what's not to like?!

From what I understand, TCO of a BEV is typically less than an ICE-V.

The refuel at home benefit is really nice. Fast/DC charging can put a lot of miles on while you go into a convenience store, stretch, use the washroom, and grab some snacks, so even road trippers shouldn't really notice the time it takes to charge since you're "multi-tasking" anyway. But for homeowners who don't often take their vehicle out of a 50mi radius of their house, they'll do an overwhelming amount of charging in their own garage. I think that saves time.

I really like that I can prestart the Bolt in my closed garage, put my daughter in her carseat, and not have her exposed to the cold of a Midwest winter before we drop her brother off at school.
 
You mention getting rid of your Tesla at 6 or 7 years old, is this only because you want something different?
Mostly because I’ll be ready to move on. There’s way more viable EV options now compared to when I bought the Tesla.

I’ve actually never had a car longer than just over 3 years. They’re my financial achilles heel. I’ve only recently kicked the habit (sort of lol). We did keep the Outback that I drove prior to the Tesla for a total of 5 years, 2 months, but it had gone to my wife after just under 3 years.

The other issue is that neither of our current cars can be a full-family road trip car. Mine is too small, her range is way too low and it’s not NACS. When the Scout arrives, it will come with NACS, solid range, and enough space for all 5 of us and the dogs.
 
This hit might stay higher because of the degradation - real or imagined - of some BEV batteries.
As far as I can tell as an outsider to the industry, battery degradation as an issue seems to be mostly imagined. It seems that a lot of the concerns can be mitigated by battery management. Both as it relates to charging speed, thermal management, how often it's charged to 100%, etc.

However, this is one of the reasons that I'm leery about jumping in. I feel like Tesla probably is farther along the "learning curve" than any other EV maker, but I have a lot of personal reasons that I don't want to deal with Tesla as a company. (Not worth getting into BTW.)

That means that any BEV I'd be looking at is a company that's somewhat behind Tesla on that learning curve. And that because of that, if I'm looking for a "gently used" 3 year old used EV, I'm dealing with not only where they were on the learning curve, but where they were 3 years ago.

And then on top of that I have to wonder in the used market how it was charged... Was it constantly charged at L3 DC fast chargers by someone who always took it to 100%? Or was it charged by someone who rarely ever left their area, never went above 80%, and at worst was charging at L2? Similar to an ICEV where you wonder whether it was gently driven by Granny on her way the grocery store once a week, bingo twice a week, and to church every Sunday, or whether it was driven by an 18 yo with a lead foot?

That said, if the hit is higher because of imagined issues with battery degradation that aren't real, then I benefit even more by buying used... If the market is devaluing used BEVs based on a completely bogus reason, I'm more than happy to exploit that for my own savings ;)
 
Mostly because I’ll be ready to move on. There’s way more viable EV options now compared to when I bought the Tesla.

I’ve actually never had a car longer than just over 3 years. They’re my financial achilles heel. I’ve only recently kicked the habit (sort of lol). We did keep the Outback that I drove prior to the Tesla for a total of 5 years, 2 months, but it had gone to my wife after just under 3 years.

The other issue is that neither of our current cars can be a full-family road trip car. Mine is too small, her range is way too low and it’s not NACS. When the Scout arrives, it will come with NACS, solid range, and enough space for all 5 of us and the dogs.
Ha. No judgements. I can see the draw of always having a “fresh” car. I'm just too cheap to take the first year hit.
 
Mitsubishi has a plug in outlander, but it's such a small company, at least in the US, it's hard to get reliability data.

True, they do, and I tend to forget about it. I have a coworker with a new hybrid Outlander, largely because he had 0 issues with his older Outlander (non hybrid). My wife has an outlander sport that's 10 years old and hasn't had a single problem yet. That's just 2 people though, you'd want to look into it more of course.

Kind of a downside with Mitsubishi's is that the cars don't hardly change from year to year. My wife wanted to get a new one, just to have a new one, but the dang things are basically identical and so there's no point. The upside of that is that they've learned all the issues and solved them and they are fairly bulletproof.

It might be a unique situation but her dealership has been awesome as well. They didn't pull any of the standard sales crap, the guy working with us had the hands of a mechanic, loved cars, and was happy to do all the things we wanted to test the car and buy it and not be a schmuck at any point along the way. And their service department prices are really good as well. I change the oil on my 2 BMW's because I can do it for less than half. I have her take hers in because I can hardly get a oil and a filter for the same amount. Practically all services this side of replacing wipers or an air filter they will do for hardly any more than I can get the parts myself.
 
I've read a few places that the original battery longevity estimates weren't done to realistic real world conditions. Maybe they tried, but still ended up missing it. BEV's have been lasting a lot longer than predicted, overall.

Reliability's a funny thing to predict. This was from a podcast, and I'm paraphrasing, but their gist was that hybrids are of course gas and battery both, so double the powertrains, but show as being reliable because so many of them are RAV's and Prius's and Toyotas are reliable cars. EV's showed as unreliable for a long time because they were Tesla's, and as a new manufacturer had a lot of problems - that happened to be for about everything except the power train. So if reliability is a concern, be sure to look at the details before being concerned (or, not concerned).
 
Holy Mackerel,
I just took a spin in a coworkers Tesla Y.
Wow. It’s brand new, just delivered in late Dec. I’m not sure which trim level it is but it was 42k. It does have extended range and awd.
That thing is nice. The ride was super quiet, minimalist design etc. He also has the auto drive feature for a few months, until he has to pay for it. I can see why they are so popular.
My friend goosed it a couple of times (when it was safe to do so). That’s too much speed. I know why people have described getting tunnel vision.

I have another coworker who recently purchased a new Camry. He get the top trim and it was just over 40k for the hybrid. A Camry.
 

Attachments

  • honda-0.jpg
    honda-0.jpg
    200.6 KB
I just took a spin in a coworkers Tesla Y.

My friend goosed it a couple of times (when it was safe to do so). That’s too much speed. I know why people have described getting tunnel vision.

I'd love to get predictions on this. Are EVs going to mostly keep the same performance levels (fast) going forward, or are we going to see manufacturers dial things back to save costs?

I think this might actually be the case. For example, I just came across--what prompted me to post this question--a Motor Trend review of the 2024 Hyundai Kona electric. One of the "Cons" listed is "Slower than previous generation". But "slower" just means it goes 0-60 in 7.1s. That's plenty for typical drivers.

The Model Y comes in performance (0-60 in 3.5s) and long range (0-60 in 4.8s), which is probably "too much" for most people. I mean, I like driving fast--I used to do trackdays on a motorcycle--but I'm now at an age where the last thing I need is a car that will entice to start going 0-60 in under 5 seconds lol. That will bring unwanted attention of the "cherries and berries" variety with my lead foot.

I wonder if the market will find a happy medium...
 
I was going to work years ago when a guy in a very nice old Hemi punched it and lost control and ended up running sideways to an wall. I would be afraid of that acceleration. I no longer drive (have not for many years) so any comments I make is from a person with no dog in the hunts. That being said, my wife's car will not be electric. We live too far from where we go and too many miles for an EV. Since we only have one car, it must be big enough to haul several (5) grandchildren at the same time as us, and have some legs.
 
Back
Top