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

[Broothru]

The effect of cold is real. Range “issues” are real. The problem is when this discussion is framed as an ice vs ev when it is more appropriately framed in NEED.

1000% overwhelmingly without question the EV is ALWAYS more convenient for MOST HOMEOWNERS for DAILY DRIVING NEEDS every single time.

I could sit here and explain every number every which way showing exactly what the effect of the cold was on my car today. Hint: not good. But the key is “not good” is irrelevant without discussing needs. I have zero interest anymore interacting with hell-bent anti-ev’ers who whip out ridiculous scenarios that we all know are bunk. Most people drive 30 miles or so per day. My car can lose 90% of its rated range (it doesn’t) and still accomplish that task.

Absolutely correct.

My wife drives an older (2017) Prius PHEV with the small capacity traction battery. It only provides about 32 miles range per full charge, which takes between 4~5 hours to accomplish using a Level1 charger on a 20 amp house circuit.

The charge time varies with ambient temperature in our garage (cold or hot). She plugs in only when the range is fully depleted and the hybrid IC has taken over. She plugs in 3-4 times per week on average, and I only fill the 9 gallon gasoline tank up 2-3 times per year to top off fresher fuel in the tank.

We’ve got an IC Volvo and a diesel Mercedes Sprinter, and nearly all ‘city’ driving gets done in the Prius. After several years experience, I have no doubt that 100% of daily driving could be accomplished in an EV, and most non-city driving in a vehicle with adequate range and added recharging infrastructure is also possible.

 

[AzOr]

My wife just traded in her Subaru Outback (talk about high cost of ownership) for a Highlander Hybrid AWD.
She was just looking for the similar cargo and people carrying of the Outback but the Highlander met and exceeded her requirements. It is seven passenger, tows 3K pounds and has room for the dog crate for weekend events.
Fortunately all the mini-me's are out of the house but your caution is appreciated.
She works at the hospital and cannot call-in for snow days so the AWD met the needs.
So-far pretty happy with it and fuel mileage beats the Outback which was surprisingly good for AWD.
Beats my Corolla by a couple MPG.
Can't say we could go pure EV yet.

Just curious as to your high cost of ownership.
We have a ‘14 Forester, purchased new, and it’s been an excellent vehicle for us. It’s at 105k now and I’ve replaced the brake pads and had to replace the safety transmission key lock module, which the dealer replaced for free.

I know it’s a little diff than an Outback but I love the visibility, ease of driving in downtown, parking it etc.

When it’s time to replace I hope I can get the same vehicle in a bev or hybrid.

It’s not the most fuel efficient car, in heavy city traffic I’m still averaging 26 mpg. I know that’s not great but this thing is unstoppable in snow and crappy weather.

 

[Agent]

It's often a challenge to make true heads or tails of lots of the articles.

Admittedly, I didn't read it through and through, but it struck me somthing like the average age of fleet could play in too.

Average of passenger cars on the road is around 13-14 years, yet EV is just short of 4 years average, per some other article I perused.

That's why I'm letting all you nice folks work out the kinks for me.

My current fleet used vehicles consisting of a CSUV, car, and 3/4 ton pickup have a cumulative 49 years and 580,000ish miles between them for a total purchase price of $29k.

So to me, the capability of a vehicle to keep existing through their second decade is kind of a big deal.

 

[Kent88]

 

[Airborneguy]

We’re back into the high 30’s today. This caused a noticeable difference in power usage. I drove similar mileage yesterday and today, 20% less used today.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

IMHO the fact that ICEV also have range/efficiency losses due to heat isn't as big of a factor as BEVs, because it only takes 5 minutes to fill up an ICEV at the pump.

That said, if some BEV maker really wanted a good advertising idea, all you have to do is show a montage of ICEV owners shivering and freezing as they fill up their ICEVs at gas stations, and then simply cut to someone getting into their (pre-warmed off house electricity) BEV and setting off. And then driving right past one of those frozen gas stations while sipping their piping-hot coffee and smiling because they don't have to do that.

"Tired of freezing while you fill up at gas stations? When you 'fill up' every night in your garage, that's a problem of the past."

 

[Kent88]

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Has anyone yet seen a Cybertruck in the wild? If so, where do you live?

Here in Orange County, I see pretty much every EV that exists. I've seen multiple Polestars, and I have even seen a Lucid or two. Tons of Rivians, seen a few Audi eTron GT (and the normal eTron SUV), Jaguar, etc... (And non-EV, I see Fisker Karmas often b/c their HQ is ~4 miles away).

But I haven't yet seen a Cybertruck.

 

[Airborneguy]

Funny my uncle texted me less than an hour ago that he saw one today in LA.

 

[passedpawn]

I've seen it all down here. No cybertrucks. They are kinda dumb looking, can't imagine. I suppose I'll regret that statement 20 yrs from now.

They look like a SWAT riot truck.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Funny my uncle texted me less than an hour ago that he saw one today in LA.

Guess the owner doesn't like to venture beyond the "Orange Curtain"...

...which is fine. I prefer not to cross the LA County border unless I have to.

Gotta drive through there Fri/Sun on the way to/from Paso Robles though, so maybe I'll see one through LA or along the way.

 

[tracer bullet]

My cousin sent a picture of one a few days ago at a grocery store in Austin, TX.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

My cousin sent a picture of one a few days ago at a grocery store in Austin, TX.

I guess they're keeping Austin weird

 

[Broothru]

I guess they're keeping Austin weird

Got the T shirt!

 

[Kharnynb]

what I find weird about tesla is that they go from:
model 3, pretty basic styling but recognisable, not a bad looking car
model x quite fun looking, maybe not the most practical door solution but at least it's interesting and looks okay.
model s, sporty, good looking car.
cybertruck, who let the toddler on drugs design this thing?

 

[Thorrak]

cybertruck, who let the toddler on drugs design this thing?

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

cybertruck, who let the toddler on drugs design this thing?

The toddler on drugs (Musk) designed it. Obviously.

To my eye, the only good-looking Tesla that exists is the Model S. That's a damn fine vehicle.

The X is a boring bubble. The 3 is a platypus. The Y is a fat platypus. And the less said about the Cybertruck, the better.

It's one of the things that I dislike about a lot of the EVs. They want to highlight that they're EVs in the design features. The Model 3, in particular, highlights that the vehicle doesn't require a grill at the front of the vehicle. But they drew attention to it not by use of styling, but by LACK of styling. No badging. Nothing to break up the front.

Auto styling is not easy. And I'm not saying I could do better. But I'm saying they could.

 

[Kent88]

The toddler on drugs (Musk) designed it. Obviously.

Dude, are you trying to draw Musk's scorn at HBT? He almost certainly has web crawlers looking for mentions of his name so he knows who to tweet ecks-post hurtful things at.

 

[day_trippr]

To my eye, the only good-looking Tesla that exists is the Model S. That's a damn fine vehicle.

I liked the Roadster more.
While the S (especially the 3-motor) is an awesome vehicle, it has a fat nostril...

Cheers!

[edit] What a ridiculous edit.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I liked the Roadster more.
While the S (especially the 3-motor) is an awesome vehicle, it has a fat nostril...

Cheers!

I will say I don't even remember what the Roadster looked like, and it's no longer for sale, so I avoided mention. And I was reading an article today that says only 2400 were sold. It did say it was based on the Lotus Elise, which is beautiful. My lack of mention wasn't because I think the Roadster was gorgeous or ugly; I figured it was irrelevant for the purposes of the conversation.

 

[Airborneguy]

The original Roadster did not age well. In my opinion it's a stranger looking car than any current Tesla.

The Model S on the other hand aged VERY well. For a 12 year old design, it still holds up.

 

[tracer bullet]

I have always liked the looks of the S.

The original roadster was yep an Elise shell, not a pretty car but certainly an analog and fun car.

The new roadster looks great, but after so many delays I'm not sure it'll actually ever exist. Too expensive for me as well. Sell it for $50k and I'd be in.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

https://www.businessinsider.com/ev-demand-still-strong-despite-slowdown-hybrids-survey-2024-1

 

[Kharnynb]

 

[Broothru]

Shocking!

 

[Airborneguy]

Gotta love how they updated the meme to add the magic docks.

 

[Bilsch]

Quoted from a friend: If only we could somehow harness the energy that goes into the cumulative finger taps bitching about electric cars. We could probably take one of the power plants offline.

Or just a tiny fraction of the money the oil companies spend on manufacturing lies and BS such as the supposed 'Chicago all the EV died' event. We could be filthy rich.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

As I've said before, there's a lot that Tesla does that's admirable. Then there's this:

https://insideevs.com/features/706288/tesla-auto-wiper-problem-musk/
Musk thinks detecting rain is a surprisingly hard problem. Not if you buy a cheap sensor instead of relying on your fancy cameras and software. My 2014 Ford Flex handles the job just fine.

 

[passedpawn]

My neighbor rented a Tesla while his vehicle was getting fixed. Among many comments on it, he said the interior sucked. He's used to lux.

Are there options with the interior of the cabin? Of course, I assume a rental is going to be basic.

 

[mashdar]

What is the deal with 1 pedal driving? It's like a war on coasting. Do people actually like it? Why?