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

[Kent88]

The Jeep Wrangler plug-in hybrid just outsold all of Toyota's plug-ins combined

 

[Jayjay1976]

Some fine gentleman of good morals at my office has a new Audi EV, it's crazy sweet looking.

 

[Saunassa]

Since my wife's commute is 34 miles through bfe I have looked a bit. It has to be able to sit at 40 below zero and keep her warm and windows frost free during the drive to and from work. Oh and needs the ground clearance for snow and mud too.

 

[Ogilthorpe2]

Since my wife's commute is 34 miles through bfe I have looked a bit. It has to be able to sit at 40 below zero and keep her warm and windows frost free during the drive to and from work. Oh and needs the ground clearance for snow and mud too.

-40 F, or -40C?

 

[sibelman]

It's quite cold in Norway, where EV adoption has been big. https://www.reuters.com/business/au...ds-norway-car-market-led-by-tesla-2022-01-03/

Since my wife's commute is 34 miles through bfe I have looked a bit. It has to be able to sit at 40 below zero and keep her warm and windows frost free during the drive to and from work. Oh and needs the ground clearance for snow and mud too.

 

[ZmannR2]

Im personally sick of seeing Gold plated Lamborghinis in Saudi Arabia from the billions we give them for their oil. At least with EV’s 100% of the energy used to charge them is produced here in the US. That’s my $.02. As soon as a viable truck EV is produced (that isn’t a Ford, or $80k) I will be purchasing one asap.

 

[sibelman]

Im personally sick of seeing Gold plated Lamborghinis in Saudi Arabia from the billions we give them for their oil. At least with EV’s 100% of the energy used to charge them is produced here in the US. That’s my $.02. As soon as a viable truck EV is produced (that isn’t a Ford, or $80k) I will be purchasing one asap.

You probably already know about the Rivian R1T starting under$70k (still, ouch!)

 

[SanPancho]

Have seen a few R1Ts on the road. id kill for one of those. But yeah, expensive.
as opposed to full size, the R1T is mid size and perfect for denser areas. I’d run one of those in the city any day, crowded suburbs, etc. Not to mention it’s way more likely to fit inside your garage, or a parking space without circling the block/parking lot a million times. But still looks spacious enough for a family of four. Which is not something the maverick can say.

 

[D the Catastrophist]

Next vehicle will probably be a hybrid. My issues with the electric are the range and charging (especially in winter). Well I am no longer doing 25k-30k miles a year, just visiting either set of inlaws(who live instate) would exceed the max range. Maybe by the time we go to buy in a couple years tech will improve.

 

[tracer bullet]

-40 F, or -40C?

Is that a trick question? If not, FYI they are the same. It's where the 2 scales cross over. You probably knew that...

Still, it's a random thing someone else may not have realized.

 

[Kent88]

-40 F, or -40C?

 

[Ogilthorpe2]

Is that a trick question? If not, FYI they are the same. It's where the 2 scales cross over. You probably knew that...

Still, it's a random thing someone else may not have realized.

I was just being obtuse.

 

[SanPancho]

Next vehicle will probably be a hybrid. My issues with the electric are the range and charging (especially in winter). Well I am no longer doing 25k-30k miles a year, just visiting either set of inlaws(who live instate) would exceed the max range. Maybe by the time we go to buy in a couple years tech will improve.

theres a company my brothers investment firm is looking into, and their deal is that they're developing a solid state and a regular lithium as well, although they use some cheap/common metal for the anode. the the power density is fairly average and not going to wow anyone. but the tradeoff is that they can charge from 10% to 80% in about 10 minutes. so essentially your gas station pit stop has been matched (roughly)- and while you'll get slightly less mileage for each stop/fillup you'll still be in and out quickly, and your gatorade, snickers and doritos will probably cost more than the "fillup" does.

if they can make it work, i think its a game changer. at that point range becomes way less important as even a mediocre EV with "only" 200mi range is now totally acceptable for long distance trips.

 

[D the Catastrophist]

The EU is considering a mandate that as of 2035 all new cars must be electric. The UK is doing something similar, starting in 2024 requiring a certain percentage, ramping up to 100% around the same time. That makes for a pretty large portion of the auto market, so I expect we will see some serious developments in the next few years it terms of both range and charging times as the automakers try to grab market share.

 

[D the Catastrophist]

theres a company my brothers investment firm is looking into, and their deal is that they're developing a solid state and a regular lithium as well, although they use some cheap/common metal for the anode. the the power density is fairly average and not going to wow anyone. but the tradeoff is that they can charge from 10% to 80% in about 10 minutes. so essentially your gas station pit stop has been matched (roughly)- and while you'll get slightly less mileage for each stop/fillup you'll still be in and out quickly, and your gatorade, snickers and doritos will probably cost more than the "fillup" does.

if they can make it work, i think its a game changer. at that point range becomes way less important as even a mediocre EV with "only" 200mi range is now totally acceptable for long distance trips.

That is awesome. One question: for lithium batteries, they cannot take a charge if the battery gets below freezing so how are they addressing that? (I know this from experience as I lived out of a van for 3 years and used lithium batteries to power my stuff).

 

[SanPancho]

That is awesome. One question: for lithium batteries, they cannot take a charge if the battery gets below freezing so how are they addressing that? (I know this from experience as I lived out of a van for 3 years and used lithium batteries to power my stuff)

no idea. dont recall talking about it, but then again we're in california so not something i'd even think about asking. they're also working a solid state battery. i dont know the specifics, but i'm assuming your typical liquid/gel/acid type battery is the one that would freeze. so maybe solid doesnt have that problem?

 

[D the Catastrophist]

No clue, but I do know that there are a couple different formulations are still classified as 'lithium', so maybe some work better than others. Either way, it will be interesting to watch what comes down the pipeline.

 

[day_trippr]

That is awesome. One question: for lithium batteries, they cannot take a charge if the battery gets below freezing so how are they addressing that? (I know this from experience as I lived out of a van for 3 years and used lithium batteries to power my stuff).

No problem, just sink enough remaining energy to heat up the batteries then switch to charging them...

Cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

No problem, just sink enough remaining energy to heat up the batteries then switch to charging them...

Cheers!

Could also drive the battery heater with current from the charging station, if bat is very low.

Brew on

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I kinda dig the look of the Kia EV6. Sharp and modern without the stupid ultra futuristic and cheap finish of the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Looks sleek as hell in black.

 

[Broothru]

You probably already know about the Rivian R1T starting under$70k (still, ouch!)

Most "lux" trux already cost $70k+, like my son's Dodge RAM. Granted, it's pretty well decked out, so a Rivian or an F-150 Lightning isn't really that far outside the "two standard deviations of the bell curve."

The only reason I've not put down a deposit on a Lightning is that I don't have a legitimate need for a truck anymore. But "want" one? Oh, yeah.

 

[tracer bullet]

I'm kind of anxiously awaiting to hear when the hybrid Mazda CX-50 will come out, to replace my X3. I like the X3 a lot but I have such a short drive to work I have to make sure to occasionally find a long trip to take or pad my drive with a bunch of extra miles just to get the engine warmed up to prevent moisture condensing in the oil. I've already had one expensive repair likely due to that, or at least in part. If I could get a hybrid that does highway speeds for a couple dozen miles (about a dozen each day for me round trip) I'd love it.

 

[Broothru]

I'm kind of anxiously awaiting to hear when the hybrid Mazda CX-50 will come out, to replace my X3. I like the X3 a lot but I have such a short drive to work I have to make sure to occasionally find a long trip to take or pad my drive with a bunch of extra miles just to get the engine warmed up to prevent moisture condensing in the oil. I've already had one expensive repair likely due to that, or at least in part. If I could get a hybrid that does highway speeds for a couple dozen miles (about a dozen each day for me round trip) I'd love it.

When my son got his Ram, we did a kinda 3-corner deal. He got one of my 'beater' cars, I took over payments on his Prius Hybrid, and he bought the Dodge. I get 'borrowing rights' if/when I need to haul anything.

Bottom line: we LOVE the Prius! Very limited range (~40 miles between charges) but large enough gas capacity to travel 250-300 total miles between fillups or recharges. Perfect for our local-only, retired lifestyle.

Over-the-road trips are done in our RV or Volvo sedan (which mostly collects dust in the garage). Giving serious consideration to trading it for a Volvo EV SUV.

 

[day_trippr]

Just keep that Prius out of the passing lane and everything will be fine...

Cheers!

 

[Kent88]

Just keep that Prius out of the passing lane and everything will be fine...

Cheers!

Our tax dollars go to both lanes. I'll use both whenever I see fit.

I was in my Volt on the highway coming up on a semi the other day, and it appeared I was going fast enough that I would overtake him soon. A moment after I got into the passing lane the semi sped up so we were about even. A decent sized pickup truck came up behind me a couple moments later, got all upset, passed me on the right, and shook his fist at me.

Wasn't my dang fault.

 

[Dland]

I'd be happy to drive an electric vehicle, but since the average age of vehicles in my fleet when I obtained them is about 28 years, it might be a while before I get to enjoy one of these.

Of course by then, they would need some kind of battery transplant, so I'd have to learn how to do that.

Looks like it might be a while.

 

[SanPancho]

Most "lux" trux already cost $70k+, like my son's Dodge RAM. Granted, it's pretty well decked out, so a Rivian or an F-150 Lightning isn't really that far outside the "two standard deviations of the bell curve."

The only reason I've not put down a deposit on a Lightning is that I don't have a legitimate need for a truck anymore. But "want" one? Oh, yeah.

if you dont actually need a truck then the R1T is one to go with. although honestly the F150s and those stupid tiny beds mean you cant even do alot of actual "truckin" with a full size truck anyways..... all so they can give a full size double cab.

thats why i was saying i'd prefer the R1T or the soon-to-come Ranger lightning. both are big enough for comfortably having the kids in the back, and have the same bed size /hauling capacity as the full size. but in a bit smaller and nimbler package, easier to squeeze into a parking space or garage.

 

[Broothru]

Just keep that Prius out of the passing lane and everything will be fine...

Cheers!

Don't need to. It easily and quickly accelerates past 80 mph onto local merge lanes on the Interstate highways or the DC Beltway, though it drains the EV mode traction battery when doing that manuever. 80 mph is also comfortably reached in hybrid gas mode as well.

The car feels firm and controlled at those speeds, but I usually don't drive that fast anymore, except when trying to not clog up (or keep up with) fellow travelers in the HOV lanes.

The only short-coming of the vehicle is EV range, which has to be supplemented with fossil fuel to be practical for anything other than short local driving trips. That's why I'm so interested in the Volvo EVs.

But what I'm really interested in is for Mercedes to get off their collective asses and make a Sprinter EV. Our first three RVs have been based on Sprinter cutaway chassis. #4 is on order with expected delivery next April.

We seldom drive more than 300 miles per day when traveling, so a chassis with ~350 mile range that could be rapid charged @50 amps at a campground would be perfect for us. It'd sure take the bite out of $6.00 per gallon diesel.

 

[Kent88]

not exactly car, but I thought I'd share

 

[day_trippr]

Disappointed as it's not autonomous at all...