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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
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Ah, there it is. Welp, at least we now know the motivation behind your presence in this thread. Thanks for saving us the time.
Uh.....what does one have to do with the other? If it matters, I wouldn't particularly want to be associated with America either.
On EVs...I think they're a great idea. I just don't think they meet my needs and WON'T MEET me my needs any time soon. When you can get one under $25K with a 500 mile range, the ability to be charged from empty to full in under 30 mins, and can be guaranteed to be charged at virtually any restaurant, hotel, shopping center or gas station, then I would be hot to get one.
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EVs will get there eventually, IMHO. The geography and infrastructural differences between the USA and Europe explain a lot.
I ran by my neighbor's house with the Ford Mustang yesterday. His car wasn't in the driveway and the cord wasn't in. It looks like he has a piece of wood, the height of the glass slider and a hole in the wood for the cord. When he goes to charge the vehicle, it looks like he puts the piece of wood in the slider and closes the slider to the width of the wood which is maybe 2 inches. I could see that the piece of wood was on the floor through the slider. It seems like a bit of a headache to do that every time you want to charge your vehicle as the slider is 6 feet high.
I suppose that it's possible that he plans to hire an electrician to do a clean wiring job of it.
I suppose that it's possible that he plans to hire an electrician to do a clean wiring job of it.
This is an unattainable goal, and a higher standard than you have for ICE. Where have you ever been able to get gas for an ICE at any "restaurant, hotel, shopping center"?
Again, current EVs aren't for everyone, but still, you are setting standards higher than current ICEs. Most ICEs do NOT get 500 miles per tank. I have a 32 gallon tank in my Ram, and get 400 miles, my 2.0T Audi gets around 400 miles on 15 gallons, our last civic got 360 miles on about a 10 gallon tank.
Also Level 4 chargers will get you your full charge in 30 mins or less. They are expanding, but honestly, not quite there yet.
In reality, you are looking for a safety net that most people do not need 99% of the time. Most people drive <200 miles per day, around town, and if they are outside of a city, have the ability to charge at home for 2-3 hours at night (which is all you will need on a level 2 charger). The convenance of this, outweighs the inconvenience of extending one's road trips for charging.
There is no perfect solution, even with ICE, you have to drive to a gas station, deal with the elements and gas up 1x-2x per week (if you drive enough to complain about current EV ranges), at a cost that is 2x-3x of electricity. I drive home like I do every day; I walk by my rear corner as I go towards my garage inner door. I just have to grab the charging handle and plug it in, then as I walk by on my way out, unplug the handle and drive out. In the 3 months I've and my EV, I have saved HOURS by not having to go to my local BJs gas station, deal with the lines, or get up early on the weekend to gas up (I was gassing up 2x per week).
Yeah, it sounds like a temporary solution, especially since you said there are neighborhood association rules. I used level 1 charging in my garage for a week after I got my EV, while I was waiting for an electrician to do my install.
Another thing they may be deciding which brand wall charger to get, have delivery issues, or are simply waiting for prices to go down. I went with 50 amp service instead of maxing out at 60 amps because the wire needed was difficult to get and WAY more expensive. If I waited until the prices came down I 100% would have gone with 60 amp service. Especially since I plan some day to replace my wife's car with another EV and would probably end up with a 2nd wall charger that will split the load.
This is what non EV drivers don’t get. Most EV charging is done at home or work. Destination chargers. Not rapid chargers for when you have stopped for a coffee. That’s probably the 5%.
And yes before someone again says ‘but what about those without a drive or garage?’, no one is saying EV’s are the perfect solution for everyone. But if more people who could make the switch did make the switch the people of the Maldives would appreciate it! Not to mention the asthma sufferers of this world, or just anyone against global warming.
In the UK a third doesn't have a driveway, or actualy to make it more positive that means a whopping 2/3 of the population does have one
When you go look at rural locations it is even better 5 out of 6 household have the possibility to charge at home.It really is a non argument indeed.
I was talking about car brands, not suggesting anything derogatory about your country. All the best anyway, I won’t bother with you again.
I don’t think those demands are unattainable in the future, they are right now due to technology constraints but there will be pressure to develop EV’s to improve range and charging times.
I can get nearly 600 miles from a full tank on my Audi A4 if it’s mostly motorway mileage. It’s not so great around town but no ICE car is really.
If it had been up to just me our newest car (just purchased) would have been a Prius hybrid, 50+MPG. This seems to be a solution that works now without massive infrastructure adjustments.
I’m going to assume that setting aside required infrastructure improvements like millions of charging stations, if for some reason everyone switched to 100% EVs tomorrow we would come out ahead but I can’t say how far ahead, recognizing that our electric production mostly relies on fossil fuels. This might be a good arguments for the ultimate answer to power production just around the corner, that which is described as safe nuclear power production.
See this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/science-technology-breakthroughs.1738400/post-32114628
I’m going to assume that setting aside required infrastructure improvements like millions of charging stations, if for some reason everyone switched to 100% EVs tomorrow we would come out ahead but I can’t say how far ahead, recognizing that our electric production mostly relies on fossil fuels. This might be a good arguments for the ultimate answer to power production just around the corner, that which is described as safe nuclear power production.
See this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/science-technology-breakthroughs.1738400/post-32114628
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Charging stations are a good idea where you are going to wait to do something else anyways. So having one at the gym makes sense. But there are gasoline stations all over the place in my area and I just fill up every 2-4 weeks depending on use.
I have one vehicle that gets 45-55 MPG with a 16 gallon tank and I get well over 500 miles on a tank. Small car, 8-speed automatic, and my approach to driving which is to never use the brakes if possible. The car has pretty good acceleration too - they could probably put in an even more fuel-efficient engine at the cost of acceleration.
Most American don't seem to care about gas mileage judging by the types of vehicles that they buy. My older car only gets about 33 MPH with a 16 gallon tank and I'd replace it if my dealer could ever get cars on their lot. They're talking 2024 at the earliest now.
I am in agreement with getting a charge at any location where you stop for any period of time. It is very convenient, but for most EV drivers, not a requirement, as most have driveways/garages. These open up EVs to more people, without home charging, and also help alleviate some of the load for those traveling. Say you are traveling for work, and have a meeting, leaving your vehicle at these charging stations is great.
I just wanted to clarify to those posting examples of ICE that get 500+ mp tank. I did not say there were no vehicles that were able to, just that MOST ICE vehicles do not get 500+ mpt. Just like you can get a Lucid and get 500+ miles on a charge. It is possible, and as battery tech becomes more efficient, it will be available on more vehicles.
But in reality, I still see most manufactures keeping the range around 300-400 miles. They simply would reduce the battery packs to reduce overall weight. Majority of drivers are not driving 300+ miles per day, you would be lugging around additional weight that you do not need 99% of the time.
I honestly believe more charging locations and faster (L4+) charging to reduce downtime, but range still will be in the 300-400 world.
Now, trucks/fullsize EVs, and tow vehicles will be different, they will continue to grow by weight, and use more efficient batteries to offset the need to carry heavy cargo/tow.
I do not plan on getting rid of my Ram pickup. It is paid for, has a lifetime warranty, and can tow 10k lbs. I can make trips to Home Depot, dumps, and do road trips with tons of cargo in the bed. All things that are difficult in an EV.
I drive the truck on the weekends, just to keep it drivable. I do plan on doing a full renovation on my house, having the truck will come in handy. An EV truck would actually work in my case, but my ICE truck costs me nothing now, I do not have $100k for a new EV truck, that would only be used on weekends.
Right now, EVs, even EV trucks, cannot fully replace a good full sized pickup truck... We just aren't there yet.
My wife's A4, well that car's days are numbered... It will be replaced with a TMY. I just will have to decide if she gets the MY, or if she will take my 3, since I take our son to the daycare every day...
That most don't get 500 miles/tank is a function of what Americans want to drive moreso than the technology available. Back in the 1970s, I had an Audi 4000 which got 40 MPG for the gasoline version. It had a 16 gallon tank. This was without 3 decades of technology to improve mileage. The kicker, though, was the diesel option for 50 mpg.
The people I talk to that are most enthusiastic about EVs don't have them yet. Those that do have them freely admit the drawbacks and also own ICE vehicles to deal with the drawbacks. Or drive hybrids.
I think that we have a lot more solar today compared to 2016. We probably have more wind as I did read about some additional contracts in the past decade. Our state is pretty good for wind as it's mostly empty so you don't have people complaining about windmills wrecking the scenery. Solar is not as efficient here as we have a lot of overcast days, snow, etc. But there is a solar farm that's gone up in the last year near where I play tennis and there are far more of these on highways and I see more and more on rooftops.
There is a second reactor pad at Seabrook and we could double our nuclear production by adding another plant there. NH is a net exporter of power and I think that we export around 35% of generation.
Depends on where that 7-11 is. In my case Slurpie is only about 1/2 mile walk away. Would not take a car or train for it. But I would take a train to Boston or even Aarhus for a Slurpie.
Polarized views are also basic fact of life. I was simply interested in yours.
No towing for that one. The Model Y has 3500 lbs towing capacity ( small boat ).
I think that he likes the added ground clearance of his SUV too. He didn't pay that much for his SUV as he got it used and he can work on cars as he has a machine shop in his basement. That gives him more options than the average driver. He sometimes asks me to help him move stuff around and some things are awkward.