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

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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 saw an article which stated that Tesla has taken 1.2 million reservations for the Cybertruck. At $100 per, that adds up to $120 million dollars of free money people have given the company. Peanuts , I know.

I also saw that the new BBB bill will give $7500 tax credits to electric motorcycles. $1500 to electric bikes? That might be something to watch.
 
Interesting award and hopefully move the ball forward for electric vehicles. Still, the company is an upstart, and at this point in my life I don't need to be betting on the "come" line. What worked for Elon might be hard for Rivian to duplicate. Will lightning strike twice?

Speaking of Lightning 🌩, I really could see myself cruisin' to Home Depot in one of those bad boys. At the very least, I'd know where to get it serviced a few years into the future. Rivian...... maybe?

What I REALLY want is for Mercedes-Benz to get off the dime and produce an EV Sprinter. I've owned three (in addition to an SL), and I'm looking to purchase #4. I really love the diesel Sprinter, but a mass production EV model is the next step forward.
 
Interesting award and hopefully move the ball forward for electric vehicles. Still, the company is an upstart, and at this point in my life I don't need to be betting on the "come" line. What worked for Elon might be hard for Rivian to duplicate. Will lightning strike twice?

Speaking of Lightning 🌩, I really could see myself cruisin' to Home Depot in one of those bad boys. At the very least, I'd know where to get it serviced a few years into the future. Rivian...... maybe?

What I REALLY want is for Mercedes-Benz to get off the dime and produce an EV Sprinter. I've owned three (in addition to an SL), and I'm looking to purchase #4. I really love the diesel Sprinter, but a mass production EV model is the next step forward.

Agreed. I don't trust any pure EV beyond Tesla. They have first mover advantage and I'm still not sure they'll survive long term. Any other pure EV is a dart throw at best.
 
Honestly an all electric car/truck is not feasible in large portions of the country. Not only that in the places where weather is mild they already have electricity problems with brown outs. A small gas engine on a generator or hydraulic system should be the next market. The batteries need to be longer lasting. Especially when it it will be -27 below tonight.
 
Honestly an all electric car/truck is not feasible in large portions of the country. Not only that in the places where weather is mild they already have electricity problems with brown outs. A small gas engine on a generator or hydraulic system should be the next market. The batteries need to be longer lasting. Especially when it it will be -27 below tonight.
That sounds like denial of what's coming. Do you think all of the major automobile companies in the world would be betting their futures on electric vehicles if ICEs had a future?

Brew on :mug:
 
Honestly an all electric car/truck is not feasible in large portions of the country.

I don't think I have seen you around on this thread. I've made several posts about how lots of households would be able to use an EV with little change to their routine. I say that as someone who drives a PHEV in a climate that probably isn't much different than yours.

The most obvious, multi-vehicle households with a private garage who live within 40(ish) miles of their workplace. That's a demographic I fit into. There isn't a good reason for someone like me to burn lots of gas going to the grocery store, or for my wife to burn gas at all on her way to work from March or April to October, November, or sometimes even December.

But even where I grew up on a farm, when my mom worked in town she had a commute of under 50 miles round trip per day. Most of that drive was on paved roads. Thinking about the farm trucks, we had two. One was equipped to pull a livestock trailer, it wasn't driven every day, and the trickiest things we would've had to work around would have been trips to the sale barn (under 200 miles round trip). I know these EV trucks are advertised at 400 miles for the Silverado I just mentioned, and I think the F150 Lightning advertises somewhere around 300 miles on a full charge (which might be an underestimate), but we don't know how they'll do towing. I think these EV trucks could handle those trips if there was a DC fast charger available at the sale barn to plug into while having a bite to eat at the on-site diner. Besides that, our trucks (now talking about both) usually stayed within 10 miles of the farm, didn't leave the county all that often, and rarely went beyond adjacent counties.

Sure, there are more remote places than where I grew up or where I live now, and there are colder places, places with rougher terrain, but my experience is that lots of multi-vehicle households and workplaces can find a vehicle that can be swapped for an EV.

Not only that in the places where weather is mild they already have electricity problems with brown outs.

That's an infrastructure issue. Infrastructure has become political enough recently that I don't want to get too into that topic outside of debate, but hopefully we'll see improvements to the power grid soon. I have posted a few times about how useful a battery electric vehicle can be, even if most of the time it can only be plugged in to regular household outlets and charge at 8amps, and it charges at typical off-work hours.

The batteries need to be longer lasting. Especially when it it will be -27 below tonight.

Checking average temperatures in Jamestown, it looks like your average low temperature in December, January, and February is 5, 0, 5, respectively (if I got the right town). We get a couple of cold snaps like that each winter around here, too. I'm glad I have a garage to park in with a convenient outlet to plug into when it gets this cold.

I've seen videos of Teslas that have to park outside during a Canadian ice storm. When they can be plugged in to warm up they seem to be driveable.

Stay warm.
 
I don't think I have seen you around on this thread. I've made several posts about how lots of households would be able to use an EV with little change to their routine. I say that as someone who drives a PHEV in a climate that probably isn't much different than yours.

The most obvious, multi-vehicle households with a private garage who live within 40(ish) miles of their workplace. That's a demographic I fit into. There isn't a good reason for someone like me to burn lots of gas going to the grocery store, or for my wife to burn gas at all on her way to work from March or April to October, November, or sometimes even December.

But even where I grew up on a farm, when my mom worked in town she had a commute of under 50 miles round trip per day. Most of that drive was on paved roads. Thinking about the farm trucks, we had two. One was equipped to pull a livestock trailer, it wasn't driven every day, and the trickiest things we would've had to work around would have been trips to the sale barn (under 200 miles round trip). I know these EV trucks are advertised at 400 miles for the Silverado I just mentioned, and I think the F150 Lightning advertises somewhere around 300 miles on a full charge (which might be an underestimate), but we don't know how they'll do towing. I think these EV trucks could handle those trips if there was a DC fast charger available at the sale barn to plug into while having a bite to eat at the on-site diner. Besides that, our trucks (now talking about both) usually stayed within 10 miles of the farm, didn't leave the county all that often, and rarely went beyond adjacent counties.

Sure, there are more remote places than where I grew up or where I live now, and there are colder places, places with rougher terrain, but my experience is that lots of multi-vehicle households and workplaces can find a vehicle that can be swapped for an EV.



That's an infrastructure issue. Infrastructure has become political enough recently that I don't want to get too into that topic outside of debate, but hopefully we'll see improvements to the power grid soon. I have posted a few times about how useful a battery electric vehicle can be, even if most of the time it can only be plugged in to regular household outlets and charge at 8amps, and it charges at typical off-work hours.



Checking average temperatures in Jamestown, it looks like your average low temperature in December, January, and February is 5, 0, 5, respectively (if I got the right town). We get a couple of cold snaps like that each winter around here, too. I'm glad I have a garage to park in with a convenient outlet to plug into when it gets this cold.

I've seen videos of Teslas that have to park outside during a Canadian ice storm. When they can be plugged in to warm up they seem to be driveable.

Stay warm.
I read an article recently which showed that Teslas lose much less range in cold weather relative to other brands. The juest of the article was that other carmakers need to figure out what Tesla is doing. Will see if I can find it.
 
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That wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure that Tesla owners/fans would also enthusiastically point that out.

We're seeing range climb pretty steadily. I've heard a few people who are supposed to know about these things that once 400 miles on a full charge becomes common, that will be the tipping point where range anxiety becomes a non-issue. As with many things in life, I'd say that it depends.

I personally think that when EVs can reliably go more than 400 miles on a full charge in a upper midwestern winter, that will be huge, but I think that those vehicles will be advertised above 500 miles. That doesn't mean that I think nobody should buy an EV until the range is over 500 miles, (going to get into stuff that EV drivers already know) it just means that you need to be more mindful of other factors. First in those other factors are your driving habits and charging options. When I was looking at buying a Volt, I considered what I needed from the car I was trading in, and what I was already asking it to do. Also, obvious to me, I had/have a garage where it can charge.

As I've pointed out a few times here, it's amazing what someone could theoretically do with a BEV with 250 miles of range and easy access to a standard household outlet each night.
 
As I've pointed out a few times here, it's amazing what someone could theoretically do with a BEV with 250 miles of range and easy access to a standard household outlet each night.

Agreed. Most people could drive a Leaf and do just fine.

I'm liking the sounds of the Mazda CX-50 coming up, supposedly someday having a Rav4 hybrid drivetrain in it. Already rated for ~ 42 miles EV mode. Wish this car was available today.
 

Well average temps are rather relative last year it was in the +20/+30 and this year -20/-30 I wish the average temp would be what is recorded.

I wouldn't have a problem driving an elec car I love my battery tools ice auger weed Wacker but,

What I have read the battery performance in these vehicles is roughly 4 years in California climate. To replace these batteries any where from 10k to 20k.

I have had my used pickup for 16 years paid 15k, Rough math would be Around 23k in gas 3$ average. So that's 40k in 16 years.

Just replacement batteries alone is 40k/80k in that time frame plus the purchase price of a vehicle.

Now my lithium ice auger love it easy use pick up and go but 3 years use and using it one day in -20 I got 4 holes drill total of 80" of ice. Bought a new battery this year which was $180. With that being said a brand new 2 stroke is $299 and won't be spending $200 every 3-4yrs on new battery.

Either way for me it is not economically feasible for me to do an elec vehicle.

I also got rid of my elec weed Wacker and bought a 2 stroke I have full power from beginning til the gas runs out then takes 5mins to fill up and back at full power.

I still think the "dual fuel" is the best way to ease into elec vehicles. What is needed is instant replaceable fuel cells like on the sci-fi shows which will eventually come but I don't see it happening by my next vehicle purchase.
 
Well average temps are rather relative last year it was in the +20/+30 and this year -20/-30 I wish the average temp would be what is recorded.

I wouldn't have a problem driving an elec car I love my battery tools ice auger weed Wacker but,

What I have read the battery performance in these vehicles is roughly 4 years in California climate. To replace these batteries any where from 10k to 20k.

I have had my used pickup for 16 years paid 15k, Rough math would be Around 23k in gas 3$ average. So that's 40k in 16 years.

Just replacement batteries alone is 40k/80k in that time frame plus the purchase price of a vehicle.

Now my lithium ice auger love it easy use pick up and go but 3 years use and using it one day in -20 I got 4 holes drill total of 80" of ice. Bought a new battery this year which was $180. With that being said a brand new 2 stroke is $299 and won't be spending $200 every 3-4yrs on new battery.

Either way for me it is not economically feasible for me to do an elec vehicle.

I also got rid of my elec weed Wacker and bought a 2 stroke I have full power from beginning til the gas runs out then takes 5mins to fill up and back at full power.

I still think the "dual fuel" is the best way to ease into elec vehicles. What is needed is instant replaceable fuel cells like on the sci-fi shows which will eventually come but I don't see it happening by my next vehicle purchase.
I'm not sure where you get your figures. My daughter is still driving my 2013 Volt. These batteries last longer than 4 years, and nowhere near that price to be replaced as far as I know. My 2018 Volt is 4 years old and shows no signs of slowing down. But, I do like that they have gas back up.
 
I'm not sure where you get your figures. My daughter is still driving my 2013 Volt. These batteries last longer than 4 years, and nowhere near that price to be replaced as far as I know. My 2018 Volt is 4 years old and shows no signs of slowing down. But, I do like that they have gas back up.
Its a crap shoot with batteries. Depends on quality control which depends on manufacturer. The article I read was for full elec vehicles not high breds can't recall the publisher which one will lean one way the other will lean that way. Still my next purchase would be a full size pickup.

My high end AGMs for the boat have 8yr warranty I am skeptic. I agree that electric vehicles will be the way to go but in parts of the country it's a ways off.

One EMP and we are back to two strokes (bad dark humor). Which I power grid could compete with when everything is updated
 
What I have read the battery performance in these vehicles is roughly 4 years in California climate. To replace these batteries any where from 10k to 20k.

The Volt owning friend of a friend that I called when I was looking to buy a Volt told me his Volt is as old or older than RePete's daughter's Volt. Had over 200,000 miles on it, and he was planning to have his son, who would soon be turning 16, drive it. He was seriously considering hunting down another Volt.

He wasn't driving it in California, but I don't think he lives in a climate much warmer than mine, and mine is probably comparable or a little warmer than yours (assuming I have the right Jamestown).

Bilsch will probably tell you that the Tesla batteries are pretty darn good, too.

Now my lithium ice auger love it easy use pick up and go but 3 years use and using it one day in -20 I got 4 holes drill total of 80" of ice.

I've been thinking about an electric ice auger. Unfortunately they don't make one for my 80v Greenworks battery. I am pretty happy with their battery powered snowblower, though. I have the drill attachment for my auger, but my 18v Milwaukee has trouble getting it done. Greenworks also makes a 24v drill that I've been meaning to compare to what my father in law uses, but I can't really justify that just for ice fishing.

Its a crap shoot with batteries. Depends on quality control which depends on manufacturer.

That was more of an issue with Gen1 Nissan Leafs, but batteries have gotten a lot better since then. Unless you're thinking of the Bolt thing, which is ridiculous. Nine hundredths of a percent of those batteries caused problems, but GM issued a recall (and is replacing them *at GM's expense*).

Modern EV batteries are pretty solid.
 
Modern EV batteries are pretty solid.

This really is the case. Sure some of the early EV's had a shorter batter life but these things are now in the past. Current packs in Tesla'a are expected to last 500k miles, while the one in my 2018 was only rated for about 200k miles. Most gas cars aren't expected to last that long and there isn't much hand wringing and pearl clutching about that statistic. Even if I have to put in another battery at 200k it will be well worth it because the money saved on fueling alone will be more than that cost. Additionally my total maintenance bill for the last 4 years has been exactly $345 for a new set of tires. That and a couple bucks for wiper fluid.

I am amused though by the creativity of all the FUD articles written (by big oil) to delay the adoption of electric transportation. One of my favorites, the fear of power outages, is sort of laughable since the reality is that gas stations and refineries for that matter are powered by electricity. That one and also the tale about mounds of toxic EV batteries piling up.

This BEV thing is happening... and faster then I think anyone realized.
 
The Volt owning friend of a friend that I called when I was looking to buy a Volt told me his Volt is as old or older than RePete's daughter's Volt. Had over 200,000 miles on it, and he was planning to have his son, who would soon be turning 16, drive it. He was seriously considering hunting down another Volt.

He wasn't driving it in California, but I don't think he lives in a climate much warmer than mine, and mine is probably comparable or a little warmer than yours (assuming I have the right Jamestown).

Bilsch will probably tell you that the Tesla batteries are pretty darn good, too.



I've been thinking about an electric ice auger. Unfortunately they don't make one for my 80v Greenworks battery. I am pretty happy with their battery powered snowblower, though. I have the drill attachment for my auger, but my 18v Milwaukee has trouble getting it done. Greenworks also makes a 24v drill that I've been meaning to compare to what my father in law uses, but I can't really justify that just for ice fishing.



That was more of an issue with Gen1 Nissan Leafs, but batteries have gotten a lot better since then. Unless you're thinking of the Bolt thing, which is ridiculous. Nine hundredths of a percent of those batteries caused problems, but GM issued a recall (and is replacing them *at GM's expense*).

Modern EV batteries are pretty solid.
Glad to hear the high breds are doing good. Once the military technology gets handed down to civilians in years to come maybe we will have something.

I work in the aerospace industry the next thing is electrifying planes which is a long ways off but intriguing that private companies are doing the research.

For ice augers with drills DeWalt or Milwaukee mud mixers are the way to go. But if you don't have a double use for them or how many times you go decides your purchase. Thus I fish a lot thru winter and summer and hunt. Maybe the biggest factor in vehicle choice.

I do get a kick out of the old man in the trailer court he has a open high speed four wheel electric scooter and an inclosed one for winter he drives them all over bringing back 30 packs of Busch light😆
 
This really is the case. Sure some of the early EV's had a shorter batter life but these things are now in the past. Current packs in Tesla'a are expected to last 500k miles, while the one in my 2018 was only rated for about 200k miles. Most gas cars aren't expected to last that long and there isn't much hand wringing and pearl clutching about that statistic. Even if I have to put in another battery at 200k it will be well worth it because the money saved on fueling alone will be more than that cost. Additionally my total maintenance bill for the last 4 years has been exactly $345 for a new set of tires. That and a couple bucks for wiper fluid.

I am amused though by the creativity of all the FUD articles written (by big oil) to delay the adoption of electric transportation. One of my favorites, the fear of power outages, is sort of laughable since the reality is that gas stations and refineries for that matter are powered by electricity. That one and also the tale about mounds of toxic EV batteries piling up.

This BEV thing is happening... and faster then I think anyone realized.
Really 345 for tires. I do 800 for a set. But not sure what terrain you are dealing with. I also don't think electricity will be as cheap as it is once a greater part of the country decides to go elec. The money moves to one place to the other.

These vehicles have come a long ways but the majority of working/middle class will not be able to afford them for a while unless subsidies the evil of giant corp.

And the infrastructure will need to be updated from the 30s in a lot of places. Green energy is great for creating electricity but to shut the petroleum down even as a back up is detrimental in situations.
 
Really 345 for tires. I do 800 for a set. But not sure what terrain you are dealing with. I also don't think electricity will be as cheap as it is once a greater part of the country decides to go elec. The money moves to one place to the other. And the infrastructure will need to be updated from the 30s in a lot of places. Green energy is great for creating electricity but to shut the petroleum down even as a back up is detrimental in situations.

Just normal city driving and glad of it because $200/tire would suck. But yea $86 per corner since I got a friend at the pneu store. The argument about higher electricity cost isn't quite comparable to petroleum fuels because with an EV you can always install solar and cut out the middleman. And every year doing that gets cheaper with the falling cost of solar panels. Here we run our house and two Teslas on the 8kw of installed Schott and Panasonic modules. No electric bills. No gas bills. No worries.
 
I also don't think electricity will be as cheap as it is once a greater part of the country decides to go elec. The money moves to one place to the other.

Perhaps. But I don't think it will be that bad one infrastructure is in place. No more having to truck dino juice to stations. Power plants are more efficient at creating/extracting energy. There will be some bumps along the way, but the end result will be good.

These vehicles have come a long ways but the majority of working/middle class will not be able to afford them for a while unless subsidies the evil of giant corp.

Growing up on a farm has taught me a few things, including that not all subsidies are bad. What is the ROI?

I'll agree with you that the price of EVs has to come down. That's my big issue with Tesla, is that I don't think one can get a new one for under $39,000. Sure, the TCO is surprisingly low, from what I've read, but people still see that number and get sticker shock. I'm glad I bought my Volt slightly used so someone else could absorb the initial depreciation.

And the infrastructure will need to be updated from the 30s in a lot of places. Green energy is great for creating electricity but to shut the petroleum down even as a back up is detrimental in situations.

The asthmatics who live near fossil fuel burning power plants could probably argue that pollution is detrimental. switching to renewable energy is going to be an interesting process, and there will be some bumps along the way, but there are lots of benefits to doing so.

It warmed up here today. Hope you aren't dealing with -27, unless you really need some ice to form so you can go fishing.
 
Just normal city driving and glad of it because $200/tire would suck. But yea $86 per corner since I got a friend at the pneu store. The argument about higher electricity cost isn't quite comparable to petroleum fuels because with and EV you can always install solar and cut out the middleman. And every year doing that gets cheaper with the falling cost of solar panels. Here we run our house and two Teslas on the 8kw of installed Schott and Panasonic modules. No electric bills. No gas bills. No worries.
How do you heat your house with 40mph winds and -30 temps. Granted I don't have the income to replace every outdated window in my house. Can your battery system with stand the night. Farmers in rural areas were one of the first to have electricity with wind generators but better options prevailed. We have wind most days but not all. The sun is pretty shallow at winter time and unless you reconstruct a community to remove trees etc for sun light it's a stretch.

Green homes are awesome but logistically in some areas not feasible. If I had the $ I would do geo thermal with heat pumps. Even then some of the coldest nights I would probably have to fire up the tried an true wood burning stove.
 
Perhaps. But I don't think it will be that bad one infrastructure is in place. No more having to truck dino juice to stations. Power plants are more efficient at creating/extracting energy. There will be some bumps along the way, but the end result will be good.



Growing up on a farm has taught me a few things, including that not all subsidies are bad. What is the ROI?

I'll agree with you that the price of EVs has to come down. That's my big issue with Tesla, is that I don't think one can get a new one for under $39,000. Sure, the TCO is surprisingly low, from what I've read, but people still see that number and get sticker shock. I'm glad I bought my Volt slightly used so someone else could absorb the initial depreciation.



The asthmatics who live near fossil fuel burning power plants could probably argue that pollution is detrimental. switching to renewable energy is going to be an interesting process, and there will be some bumps along the way, but there are lots of benefits to doing so.

It warmed up here today. Hope you aren't dealing with -27, unless you really need some ice to form so you can go fishing.
 
I am confused where are these power plants extracting fuel and energy. It's mainly coal and biofuel from my region.
Which the biofuel is subsidised where there is more tax dollars spent than producing.

And it will be above zero tomorrow and into next week. Hopefully the 3 inch snow pack on the roads will soften up a little.
 
How do you heat your house with 40mph winds and -30 temps. Granted I don't have the income to replace every outdated window in my house. Can your battery system with stand the night...

My house is passive solar, built from 8" CIP panels and quite efficient. It has a grid-tie type of solar array so no worry about running out of power. You can find lots of info on the web but basically with a net meter the power company is my battery for a $4.99 monthly charge. Although I do have 12kw of backup LiFePO4 cells they don't get used unless there is an outage.

Speaking of backup power.. this idea of Ford's electric pickup being able to provide 100kw or more of back power into ones house during a power outage is completely awesome. I'm 100% a Tesla guy but this Ford Lightening is shaping up to be a game changer.
 
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My house is passive solar, built from 8" CIP panels and quite efficient. It has a grid-tie type of solar array so no worry about running out of power. You can find lots of info on the web but basically with a net meter the power company is my battery for a $4.99 monthly charge. Although I do have 12kw of backup LiFePO4 cells they don't get used unless there is an outage.

Speaking of backup power.. this idea of Ford's electric pickup being able to provide 100kw or more of back power into ones house during a power outage is completely awesome. I'm 100% a Tesla guy but this Ford Lightening is shaping up to be a game changer.
So what is the initial cost of that.

Where I live there is off peak elec which is dramatically cheaper it's a system with elec coils and the backup is combustible fuel.
 
So what is the initial cost of that.

The average payoff time is 7 years and all major manufacturers of solar equipment have 30 year warranties. Plus that sweet sweet 26% Federal tax credit!!
Solar is a no brainer.

(hurry.. tax credit runs out end of 2022)
 
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I really wanted my parents to put in an indirect water heater when they built their new house. I think the ROI on those is 7-10 years in Northern states.

I'd set it up on my house, but I don't have a good section of south facing roof.
 
I had a Volt. I live in a rural area, and didn’t want range anxiety. The Volt Was PERFECT for that, except it was not AWD and didn’t have ground clearance for off road. 125 MPG lifetime! 94% of my driving was all electric, but the gas generator kicked in seamlessly when electric is depleted, still giving 40 MPG in hybrid mode.

There are now a couple of AWD PHEVs, like the RAV4 Prime, that are fantastic but are impossible to get without bribing a dealer with lots of money. Seems like affordable and electric are not to be used in the same sentence yet.

Disclaimer - my other vehicle has pathetic MPG, but I use it primarily to tow. It guzzles gas. Electric trucks are not going to be practical for towing without HUGE increases in battery capacity.
 
I had a Volt. I live in a rural area, and didn’t want range anxiety. The Volt Was PERFECT for that, except it was not AWD and didn’t have ground clearance for off road.

I've primarily lived in rural areas or small towns most of my life and so it just makes me scratch my head why one would buy something like a Volt if off-roading is something you do.

Sheesh, these days you're not even supposed to take a grain truck to far into the field, you're supposed to get a grain cart to get your crop from the combine to your truck or semi.

The only times I ever took my car off road, too much ice on the road was the culprit.
 
Bolts are going through a thing. A problem developed with 9 hundredths of a percent of Bolt batteries, so they've halted production while they replace all the batteries in a recall.
 
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