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

[day_trippr]

I keep seeing apocryphal stories about Cybertrucks breaking down within the first hours of ownership, with the owners told the root causes either are not covered under warranty (the one about "coolant leaks aren't covered", for instance, on a CT driven only 35 miles) or parts are 18 months backordered

 

[Kent88]

There are so many other EVs we could be talking about.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g29994375/future-electric-cars-trucks/

 

[doug293cz]

A couple of days ago, for my first time ever, I saw a Cyber Truck being used as a truck, i.e. tools, building materials, junk, etc. in the bed.

Brew on

 

[Broothru]

I keep seeing apocryphal stories about Cybertrucks breaking down within the first hours of ownership, with the owners told the root causes either are not covered under warranty (the one about "coolant leaks aren't covered", for instance, on a CT driven only 35 miles) or parts are 18 months backordered

Add one more to the ‘back order’ list:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna185932

 

[Airborneguy]

I have a Scout reservation in, though time will tell whether or not I go through with it.

 

[Kent88]

I am just learning about the Scout now. What about it caught your eye?

 

[TexasTea]

I added a clause to my rental property lease agreements that EV's are verbotten in garage and on property (including driveway) and must be parked on the street (public property). Talk to your insurance guy if you have rental properties. You may be able to get a discount. I did.

 

[Pkrd]

I added a clause to my rental property lease agreements that EV's are verbotten in garage and on property (including driveway) and must be parked on the street (public property). Talk to your insurance guy if you have rental properties. You may be able to get a discount. I did.

How many cans of petrol can they store on the property?

 

[Kent88]

I added a clause to my rental property lease agreements that EV's are verbotten in garage and on property (including driveway) and must be parked on the street (public property).

You going to put a limit on how full their fuel tanks can be, too?

 

[TexasTea]

Nah Kent. I never had one ICE vehicle spontaneously combust just sitting there (unlike EV's).

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

And there is the discount. Money talks, BS walks

 

[Kent88]

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".

 

[sibelman]

Has anyone with an EV seen homeowners insurance increase as a result? (I haven't.)

 

[Kent88]

Has anyone with an EV seen homeowners insurance increase as a result? (I haven't.)

I also haven't.

 

[AzOr]

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.

 

[TexasTea]

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.

 

[Kent88]

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.

 

[Kent88]

call your agent for the discount. Verbotten EV has to be in the lease.

Huh, apparently I implied that I rent houses to other people.

I don't. I was referring to my primary residence. I thought that was what sibelman was talking about as well.

 

[Airborneguy]

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.

 

[Airborneguy]

Has anyone with an EV seen homeowners insurance increase as a result? (I haven't.)

Nope.

The only thing that has risen is my electric bill, by about 1/3 of what my gas expenses used to be.

 

[Broothru]

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.

 

[sibelman]

the old RV... 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

 

[Broothru]

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.

 

[oakbarn]

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.

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”

 

[mac_1103]

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.

 

[Kent88]

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.

 

[tracer bullet]

https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires/

Someone's trolling. Or more likely believes themselves, but are simply wrong. I won't name names.

 

[sibelman]

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.

 

[Kent88]

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.

 

[AzOr]

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.

 

[mac_1103]

Polestar anyone?

My nephew leased a Polestar 2 a couple of years ago. They've been happy with it. They don't take it off road. They just leased a Rivian R1S. Not sure why TBH; they aren't going to take that off road either.