I had my 2000 Avalon for 12 years and 250K miles. Nothing wrong with it either other than it needed new wheels. It was an incredible car in terms of how little maintenance it required.
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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
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I had my 2000 Avalon for 12 years and 250K miles. Nothing wrong with it either other than it needed new wheels. It was an incredible car in terms of how little maintenance it required.
I've been driving a Tesla Model 3 for three years now, 40K miles. I have the base model, RWD Standard+, and I have a Tesla charger installed in my garage (level 2 charging, 240V 32A). I live in the Portland, OR metro.
I've enjoyed this car more than any other I've had, and that's a lot. It's incredibly fun to drive and costs very little to run. It makes every gas car I've ever had feel sluggish and a PITA to drive.
My view of "range" has really changed with this car. I treat it like a phone - it charges overnight and I use it during the day. I usually drive around 50 miles/day, so I rarely need to charge when out of the house. It made me realize how infrequently I actually need to drive a long distance, and when I do the Supercharger network is there. If I were a person who frequently drove long distances to remote places, this would not be a good choice. But it is for me.
Over time, the real-life range has decreased from about 240 to about 210 miles, but this has no real-life effect upon my driving patterns.
If I lost the Model 3 today, I'd probably buy another despite my reservations about the company's leadership. I'd likely step up to an AWD long range model just because.
I've enjoyed this car more than any other I've had, and that's a lot. It's incredibly fun to drive and costs very little to run. It makes every gas car I've ever had feel sluggish and a PITA to drive.
My view of "range" has really changed with this car. I treat it like a phone - it charges overnight and I use it during the day. I usually drive around 50 miles/day, so I rarely need to charge when out of the house. It made me realize how infrequently I actually need to drive a long distance, and when I do the Supercharger network is there. If I were a person who frequently drove long distances to remote places, this would not be a good choice. But it is for me.
Over time, the real-life range has decreased from about 240 to about 210 miles, but this has no real-life effect upon my driving patterns.
If I lost the Model 3 today, I'd probably buy another despite my reservations about the company's leadership. I'd likely step up to an AWD long range model just because.
I see what you're saying. It would be nice to know there is a charger when you arrive somewhere.
Though it would seem kinda rude to check into a hotel at 8pm and leave your car plugged in for 12 hours until you checkout at 8am the next morning.
Wouldn't it be better to just fast-charge for 30 minutes and then let someone else use the charger?
I'd feel bad if I was hogging the only charger at a hotel all night.
Maybe hotels should have some sort of "charging valet" who will charge your car and then move it to a normal parking space when it's done.
In the US it is area/region specific. Where I am in the Long Island NY close to NYC chargers are everywhere... People drive by them daily and don't even realize they are there. When I was testing an issue, I used a Tesla wall charger that was on the back alley of a restaurant that they had for their customers. You never would have seen it, without knowing.
I have 2 free Level 2 chargers (2 hour limit) walking distance of my house.
I don't use any of them regularly, since I have a charger at home.
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A hotel I use regularly has 10 plus chargers. It’s really nice. They always get my business when I’m in town. Free chargers and hassle free.I see what you're saying. It would be nice to know there is a charger when you arrive somewhere.
Though it would seem kinda rude to check into a hotel at 8pm and leave your car plugged in for 12 hours until you checkout at 8am the next morning.
Wouldn't it be better to just fast-charge for 30 minutes and then let someone else use the charger?
I'd feel bad if I was hogging the only charger at a hotel all night.
Maybe hotels should have some sort of "charging valet" who will charge your car and then move it to a normal parking space when it's done.
My boss uses the free charger at his local McDonald’s rather than have one installed. He drives there and walks back home until it’s done. Kind of funny given he’s pretty rich and won’t eat the food as he is Jewish.
That is funny. It does piss people off though, there can be people who really need to use the charges, and then they are filled with people who shouldn't really need them.
I don't do a lot of road trips where I would need to charge at local streets (most of the big rest stops have rows and rows of chargers).
I see what you're saying. It would be nice to know there is a charger when you arrive somewhere.
Though it would seem kinda rude to check into a hotel at 8pm and leave your car plugged in for 12 hours until you checkout at 8am the next morning.
Wouldn't it be better to just fast-charge for 30 minutes and then let someone else use the charger?
I'd feel bad if I was hogging the only charger at a hotel all night.
Maybe hotels should have some sort of "charging valet" who will charge your car and then move it to a normal parking space when it's done.
This is why I like Tesla owned super chargers (wherever they are installed), they will charge idle fees for cars left with the charger attached if a certain % of chargers at that location are occupied. Also, It seems like laws are starting to catch up with non-charging vehicles parked in charging spots.
There are 4 3rd party Level 2 charges on the street by my job. They are using NYC spaces. NYC will ticket any non-actively charging vehicles occupying the space (EV or ICE). There are lights on the chargers that let the ticketing agent know if they are actively charging.
What possible difference does it make to me what the "EV situation" is anywhere other than the place I am driving an EV?
What if all the places around where you drive just had chargers installed? Meaning that they are coming, but not there yet?
Since I bought my EV 3 months ago, I have seen several new EV charging stations go up. They are continuing to pop up all the time.
If you buy an EV, and you keep it for 3-5 years, the "EV situation" will continue to change throughout your ownership.
Because this forum is not just for residents in the US. I think the situation is better in a lot of other places than it is in the US from what I read.
Ok...I guess I'm not sure what your point is.
At the end of the day, it wouldn't matter to me if there was an EV charging station every 10' on every road in America. I am still unlikely to buy an EV vehicle in the next 5 years.
While all of that may be true, it is irrelevant to the experience I was describing.
I have been disappointed at the number of hotels/motels that don’t offer A/C charging. I think it just hasn’t been a priority for them yet.
Places like hotels usually have slow Level 2 A/C J1772 chargers so you are expected to plugin and leave it for hours/overnight. If they have any, they usually have multiple chargers.I see what you're saying. It would be nice to know there is a charger when you arrive somewhere.
Though it would seem kinda rude to check into a hotel at 8pm and leave your car plugged in for 12 hours until you checkout at 8am the next morning.
Wouldn't it be better to just fast-charge for 30 minutes and then let someone else use the charger?
I'd feel bad if I was hogging the only charger at a hotel all night.
Maybe hotels should have some sort of "charging valet" who will charge your car and then move it to a normal parking space when it's done.
More and more are becoming available. I did a 4,000Km trip last summer across the European continent and every hotel overnight stop had them.
Exactly, many of the hotels I stayed at had several places. Some are very slow 3Kwhr ones, they are destination chargers and your parking space to go with your room. Naturally not all guests behave well, and I've been ICEd a few times which is annoying but generally the class of hotel I'd use sort that out quickly. Funny how some ICE drivers even shout profanities when you make them move. I really don't understand some human beings.
I prefer to keep my climate control on recirculate for a couple of reasons: I don't like smelling car exhaust fumes when driving in congested traffic. Or smelling feces when driving past grazing areas. On cold days, recirculation heats up the cabin faster and uses less energy. Why do a lot of automatic climate controls keep switching to outside air and requiring drivers to switch them back to recirculate?
For me, the bigger issue is not trying to operate the touchscreen, it's trying to read it while driving. Trying to avoid squinting at the screen for too long or moving my head closer to the screen in order to read the tiny text. When driving a Tesla and just looking at the map without setting a destination, the digital compass and current street name are in the corners of the screen, farthest away from the driver and difficult to read. When playing music, I am able to read the song name but the artist name is in smaller text and difficult to read from normal driving position. Again, because lazy car UI engineers spend their time sitting in front of big desktop monitors with magnified view and they don't bother to test in actual cars while sitting in the driver's seat. As for voice control:
The car did not understand when I asked "What song is playing" or "What street am I on".
When I asked "What is the current direction", the car farted.
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Because it helps to get pure air in, and get rid of stale air. Air quality will go up immensely. And on warmer days it helps expel the hot air. And lots more reasons. Same as with any other situation, you'd want fresh air. Any half decent system will switch automatically.
I like farming smells; it is natural, represents our food chain. All good.
I think you need to make a trip to the optometrist. Sure, it could be larger, but the best of us need some help at times. In my Range Rover, I was struggling on a couple of fronts; the SatNav was out of my focal plane, and the heated windscreen wires were right in it. The optometrist came out to my car with me, and sorted it. My wife had none of those issues, nor my children.
While recirculating the air in the cabin stabilizes the interiors temperature sooner than venting fresh air, fresh air-even with its smells and impurities-is cleaner than the air inside the cabin. The cabin/AC air filters are similar to the air filters used for the HVAC systems at home (these block the common dust and other particles, but not certain chemical and fumes). However, if you are willing to spend more, there are HEPA filters you can buy, some which also incorporate a layer of carbon to block smells. Keep in mind that just like our homes, the cabin's interior trim, carpets, seats, adhesives, plastics, paint, and so on, contain chemicals that emit fumes, specially when the heaters are being used.
Where I live at winters are long and very cold. The homes are build well-insulated and air-tight. For that reason new homes incorporate ventilators (HVRs) that bring fresh air into every room in the house, and exhausts stale impure air out of the rooms. You can fit your car with the right air filters, but these aren't cheap.
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You wouldn’t say that if you were following the diesel Land Rover I followed to work the other day. I could barely see it for the black smoke billowing out.
Of course that was an older diesel probably in dire need of a service, but it stunk.