OT: Electric Vehicles--anyone driving them or seriously looked at them?

[cgolvin]

This hardly counts as an epiphany but it's something that I noticed the other day. Even though I wasn't conscious of it, a part of me was always attentive to gas prices. Even though I almost always bought gas at my neighborhood cheapo station, I couldn't help noticing the wide range of prices as I passed by gas stations.

I now have no idea about the price of gas and ignore gas stations. Despite the fact that it previously consumed a minuscule amount of energy/attention, it's nice that has gone to zero.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

This hardly counts as an epiphany but it's something that I noticed the other day. Even though I wasn't conscious of it, a part of me was always attentive to gas prices. Even though I almost always bought gas at my neighborhood cheapo station, I couldn't help noticing the wide range of prices as I passed by gas stations.

I now have no idea about the price of gas and ignore gas stations. Despite the fact that it previously consumed a minuscule amount of energy/attention, it's nice that has gone to zero.

Same. I just plug in when I get home and never think about the price of gas.

This leads me to the point above about an EV being ‘inconvenient’. This can be a factor if one does a lot of road tripping though it’s actually easier than I expected, but if most of one’s driving is local commuting, shopping and general farting around for daily stuff the EV is a piece of cake. Just plug in when I pull into the garage and it’s always ready to go.

I spend tens of dollars per month on electricity in a normal month.

Road tripping is less easy than with gas but honestly not that different. That said, I would still wait to be a brand other than the one I have because the charging on other brands is less consistent, though I am hearing more murmurings about T***a’s charging network having issues and of course the psychopath CEO just fired his whole charging team, so there is that. Definitely a whiskey tango foxtrot moment.

[Mark Davison]

To complement our Tesla Model Y we just bought a Toyota RAV4 plug in hybrid. This gives us a car which will mostly run as an EV for trips around town, and will run as a relatively efficient hybrid for road trips (around 40mpg).

In planning a hub and spoke tour in Montana this fall, I realized that there are destinations which lie beyond the range of the Tesla supercharger network, and where local recharging is not readily available. (A destination is out of range when the round trip distance between the nearest supercharger and the destination exceeds the practical safe range of the car, which is about 75% of the stated EPA range in many cases.)

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by saab2000

(...) and of course the psychopath CEO just fired his whole charging team, so there is that. Definitely a whiskey tango foxtrot moment.

Take heart, he just rehired them:

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-walk...oogle_vignette

So nothing whiskey tango foxtrot about that, right...?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

My accord hybrid only gets about 36mpg in actual driving (touring model). A new Prius pretty much smokes it.

My son didn't buy the Hybrid for gas $ savings, he bought it because he really likes the car. A 'Pius', not ever gonna happen, for him nor me.

[rice rocket]

Originally Posted by kppolich

Here's a 4 minute explanation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JydmgHrvA5c

Tense? One hand somewhere on the wheel, anywhere, any hand to verify that a human is sitting behind the wheel somewhat aware of the surroundings in case some other irresponsible human does something stupid is the bare minimum requirement.

I'd rather not be manually controlling things like speed with relation to speed limit, lane position, or distance from other vehicles on a long road trip if I don't have to. The car does it all perfectly, every time. It see's the lane, it knows the speed limit (it sees the speed limit signs and has data from the roads), it has 10 cameras and see's all angles at all times significantly better than someone sitting in the drivers seat.

Yes - erratic human behavior is the problem. Computers follow the rules they are given much, much, much more than humans who make their own decisions about when to cross the road, where they cross the road, what speed to drive, etc.


Anyway, TGIF, don't knock it til you've tried it internet folks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Whatcouldgo...t_is_superior/

Nothing erratic except the Tesla veering into oncoming traffic.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by Mark Davison

To complement our Tesla Model Y we just bought a Toyota RAV4 plug in hybrid. This gives us a car which will mostly run as an EV for trips around town, and will run as a relatively efficient hybrid for road trips (around 40mpg).

In planning a hub and spoke tour in Montana this fall, I realized that there are destinations which lie beyond the range of the Tesla supercharger network, and where local recharging is not readily available. (A destination is out of range when the round trip distance between the nearest supercharger and the destination exceeds the practical safe range of the car, which is about 75% of the stated EPA range in many cases.)

I’ve been driving a RAV 4 plug in for a year now. I rarely put gas in it. But it’s nice to be able to when on a long trip. I really want the new Ionic 5n, but need to talk my wife into it. https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/ioniq-5-n

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

My son didn't buy the Hybrid for gas $ savings, he bought it because he really likes the car. A 'Pius', not ever gonna happen, for him nor me.

Should’ve gotten the non hybrid sport model then. Same thing but a better engine.

I just drove from arizona to Tennessee in our accord hybrid, and it averaged 21.8mpg with a single bike hitch rack and Yakima coffin up top. Our previous car, an x3 bmw, did just slightly better with a less aerodynamic setup (bike up top plus coffin) and was a lot nicer inside the cabin. The battery of the accord hybrid was depleted for the majority of the drive so it sounded like a buzzy lawnmower revving all over the rpm range. The small 10gal. tank meant our range was about 150-175 miles before I needed to consider filling again. I’m buying a new car before I return in 6 weeks

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by tuxbailey

Just put a deposit down on lease for a Polestar 2 with the recent Costco Rebate. Quite excited, liked the car a lot after the test drive.

I've driven the first gen polestar 2 and it was a great little car. Super handling and great fit and finish. We had an xc90 at the time so I was familiar with all the controls.

when do you get it?

Congrats!

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

I just drove from arizona to Tennessee in our accord hybrid, and it averaged 21.8mpg with a single bike hitch rack and Yakima coffin up top.

yikes, that's terrible.

we recently acquired a 12 yar old Accord I4 that I've been driving a bit when I dont need to carry anything big and it handily returns over 30mpg in mixed driving, a bit better all highway miles. Not a ton of power, buy definitely adequate.

A newer hybrid getting significantly worse mpg is very disappointing.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

yikes, that's terrible.

we recently acquired a 12 yar old Accord I4 that I've been driving a bit when I dont need to carry anything big and it handily returns over 30mpg in mixed driving, a bit better all highway miles. Not a ton of power, buy definitely adequate.

A newer hybrid getting significantly worse mpg is very disappointing.

I have no idea how fast the driver of that Accord hybrid was going but that's going to play a huge role compounded by the bike rack and the roof box. No free lunch and all that.

I had a rack on the back of my Model Y this weekend for an impossible road trip to Michigan. Road tripping is impossible in an EV I'm told. The bike did definitely cause added drag but I make sure to never exceed 40 MPH and stay safely in the left lane at all times to avoid trouble in the other lanes. *

While on this adventure I did notice numerous accidents involving vehicles with reciprocating combustion engines. Coincidence? I don't think so!

Obligatory bike content: I brought my Look road bike for a great road ride on Saturday and the Zanconato for a great gravel road ride yesterday. It rained the night before so some of the roads were a bit dirty. Ridin' dirty on the Zanconato so I suppose it's time for a new bike.



The Look is in the car to keep drag to a minimum. FWIW, and for anyone interested, I can bit a bike into the back of the vehicle with the seats folded down without having to remove the front wheel or any wheels. It just slides into the back of the car with zero drama.

* I did no such driving. I drove normally, with traffic that ranged from 60 MPH to occasionally near 80 MPH. My Supercharging cost for the 475 miles of driving was about $26 in addition to home charging costs before and after. So less than gas would cost for most cars.

Anyway, a weekend getaway with the bikes was a non-event.

Also related to a common topic here is the 1UP bike rack. This is what it looks like on the Y. I got this car specifically because it's offered with a factory trailer hitch receiver for the bike rack. It's got the electrical connection (6-pin) so it works with the light accessory available from 1UP. It's a great thing to consider because the bikes does a pretty good job of obscuring the lights on the car itself. Finally, the available locks are visible through the wheels. I use them on road trips so I can leave the car unattended without worry.