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

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by Ralph

Orange County, Florida, just received 6 E school buses for testing. Probably purchased with some Gov program. They plan to test them to see if they are really cheaper over the long run. Their nat gas fueled buses have worked out well.
[Snip]
Would imagine it's going to be a while before E buses take over.

If you've ever done bus duty with 30 diesel buses idling and pumping out a cloud of fumes, electric buses would be a huge improvement.

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

If you've ever done bus duty with 30 diesel buses idling and pumping out a cloud of fumes, electric buses would be a huge improvement.

And giant truck stops with hundreds of trucks idling through the night …

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by David Kirk

I have the Kia EV6 and it's still pretty new to me so I'm no where near an expert.

There is a screen I can pull up in my car that shows where all the energy is going and it's very interesting to track. Some things show very little draw (radio), some are larger (heated seats) and some are significant (cabin heat which is a heat pump and fans). I need to take the car out with Karin driving so that I can study it as it's too much a distraction to really use while one is driving.

One interesting thing is that the main display shows a running mileage left until empty given the way the car is currently being used. If I'm driving along at a steady state and it says the remaining range is 200 miles and then I turn up the cabin heat by a degree or two the range will drop from 200 to 195...turn down the heat and it will add some to the range. This does not happen when using the heated seats or the radio or headlights which are all a small draw on the low voltage battery that runs this stuff. I suspect that the heat pump runs off the high voltage battery and uses much more juice and this is why the estimated ranges drops.

Interesting stuff.

dave

Dave, Saab, thanks for answering my question.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by 72gmc

Dave, Saab, thanks for answering my question.

I’m happy to keep posting if we can try to keep this on track and as factual as possible. Hyperbole and innuendo and speculation and misinformation have popped up occasionally and aren’t helpful.

So far my trip to Florida is pretty similar to the same trip in a gas car. I’ve been charging with a level 1 (wall outlet) all week and it’s more useful than I expected, assuming I don’t run the battery down too far. It’s not fast but if the car just sits for 12+ hours it will top it up. The rest of the time my buddy and are are fat biking through the Point Washington Forest and having a great time.

My plan is to start rolling north again tomorrow morning early and do about 500 miles to Clarksville, TN. The hotel I’ve booked supposedly has six Tesla destination chargers, which are first-come, first-served and are like level 2 home chargers and will go from 10% to 90% overnight. I plan to arrive with more than that so if they’re full or not working I’ve still got options. That thinking is a clear downside of the EV adventure. Gas stations are plentiful and virtually always available. En route chargers are adequate and the hotel destination chargers are a great bonus, but are run by the hotel, not the auto manufacturer.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I’m happy to keep posting if we can try to keep this on track and as factual as possible. Hyperbole and innuendo and speculation and misinformation have popped up occasionally and aren’t helpful.

So far my trip to Florida is pretty similar to the same trip in a gas car. I’ve been charging with a level 1 (wall outlet) all week and it’s more useful than I expected, assuming I don’t run the battery down too far. It’s not fast but if the car just sits for 12+ hours it will top it up. The rest of the time my buddy and are are fat biking through the Point Washington Forest and having a great time.

My plan is to start rolling north again tomorrow morning early and do about 500 miles to Clarksville, TN. The hotel I’ve booked supposedly has six Tesla destination chargers, which are first-come, first-served and are like level 2 home chargers and will go from 10% to 90% overnight. I plan to arrive with more than that so if they’re full or not working I’ve still got options. That thinking is a clear downside of the EV adventure. Gas stations are plentiful and virtually always available. En route chargers are adequate and the hotel destination chargers are a great bonus, but are run by the hotel, not the auto manufacturer.

Not an EV guy(yet)..so at these chargers..is that a freebie part of the hotel or do you pay? Is it via a phone ap or CC#??
Or by plugging in it just knows who you are?

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Not an EV guy(yet)..so at these chargers..is that a freebie part of the hotel or do you pay? Is it via a phone ap or CC#??
Or by plugging in it just knows who you are?

The Tesla-run Superchargers are plug-and-charge. I have a card on file and the charger knows my car and I’m automatically billed. When I’m ready to go I just unplug and drive off. So far it’s been stupid easy and I’d guess 40% the cost of a gas fill up. Other than plugging and unplugging there’s literally nothing to do at the charger. It’s really that simple.

The Tesla destination chargers are a perk of some hotels. As far as I’m aware, Tesla may or may not be aware of all of them but many do show up in their software. They are “free” for the users but obviously the hotel incurs some cost and of course all of a business’s costs are passed onto consumers.

The physical difference is that level 1 and 2 chargers have sort of thick cords, like a very robust extension cord. DC Level 3 Tesla Superchargers have seriously thick connector “wires” that can handle the heating and cooling needs and remain safe. They’re also not very long, meaning a driver has to back up pretty closely to the unit.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by saab2000

The Tesla-run Superchargers are plug-and-charge. I have a card on file and the charger knows my car and I’m automatically billed. When I’m ready to go I just unplug and drive off. So far it’s been stupid easy and I’d guess 40% the cost of a gas fill up. Other than plugging and unplugging there’s literally nothing to do at the charger. It’s really that simple.

The Tesla destination chargers are a perk of some hotels. As far as I’m aware, Tesla may or may not be aware of all of them but many do show up in their software. They are “free” for the users but obviously the hotel incurs some cost and of course all of a business’s costs are passed onto consumers.

The physical difference is that level 1 and 2 chargers have sort of thick cords, like a very robust extension cord. DC Level 3 Tesla Superchargers have seriously thick connector “wires” that can handle the heating and cooling needs and remain safe. They’re also not very long, meaning a driver has to back up pretty closely to the unit.

Thanks..When Tesla opens chargers for every EV, they could generate $25Billion from it annually. Compared to about $1 Billion(not chump change) now.

Not a fan of Musk but he's a smart cookie or is the lid on a jar full of smart cookies.

https://backlinko.com/tesla-stats

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Thanks..When Tesla opens chargers for every EV, they could generate $25Billion from it annually. Compared to about $1 Billion(not chump change) now.

Not a fan of Musk but he's a smart cookie or is the lid on a jar full of smart cookies.

https://backlinko.com/tesla-stats

I agree about Elon Musk. Not a big fan honestly, especially the past couple years. He’s also not the founder or inventor of most of this.

Anyway, as much as I find him “interesting” I also often find his views troublesome but I’d rather focus on the technology and experiences of EV owners. I bought a Tesla specifically for the charging technology as well as the widespread distribution of their chargers, which in my opinion are vastly superior to other standards. That doesn’t mean others’ experiences aren’t valid. There are lots of good choices today and there will be more to come.

Potential buyers need to do their research and know what they’re getting into.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by saab2000

I agree about Elon Musk. Not a big fan honestly, especially the past couple years. He’s also not the founder or inventor of most of this.

Anyway, as much as I find him “interesting” I also often find his views troublesome but I’d rather focus on the technology and experiences of EV owners. I bought a Tesla specifically for the charging technology as well as the widespread distribution of their chargers, which in my opinion are vastly superior to other standards. That doesn’t mean others’ experiences aren’t valid. There are lots of good choices today and there will be more to come.

Potential buyers need to do their research and know what they’re getting into.

Agree and few can argue that SpaceX is truly a 'game changer'...(Is that banned on PL?).

There are more than a few makers of that thing that will remain nameless who's CEOs 'politics', IMHO, are disturbing to me BUT..they make a great product.

[loafer]

To add to the road trip chat, we took our 2021 Tesla Y on two weekend winter road trips recently. Started both trips on the way out by topping up the charge to 96 or 97% on our 220 volt charger just before leaving so the battery was warm.

The first trip was for a hockey tournament about 2 hours away and we did not have to charge on the way up, the second was a ski trip to Ottawa about six hours away.

Charging on the road for the ski trip went as expected, it routed us to chargers and pre-warmed the battery and we arrived at superchargers at low enough state of charge to hit 253 KW initially for most charges. We had a ski box and also had big head winds and we were in a hurry on the way out, so consumption was 300 KW per km so we had to charge more often than wanted. On the way back, temps were just above freezing and we drove closer to 110 km/h overall and consumption was about 200 KW per km and we got more like 275 km between stops.

However, the worst thing about taking an electric car on these trips was how much battery we used for multiple short trips. We had nowhere to plug in overnight and so no battery preconditioning and with temps below freezing, just a few short trips easily took 20% off our battery and we had to make an extra trip to a supercharger to top up on each trip. Had a bit of range anxiety watching the battery fall quickly for a short trip only 5 km away. The lesson being that we will need to find a Chargepoint or other level 2 charger to plug in overnight to take the stress of wondering if we will have enough battery to do what we want to do without diverting to a charger and wasting a lot of time.

[zap]

edit

Originally Posted by saab2000

I bought a Tesla specifically for the charging technology as well as the widespread distribution of their chargers, which in my opinion are vastly superior to other standards.

Tesla charging stations certainly seem to be pretty reliable.

When much of the US had that cold spell in December many charging stations failed in area's that expereinced really cold temperatures. Tesla chargers faired better.

Our fleet is getting old so we started looking for vehicles that have space to carry bikes including tandem. When leaving town we typically drive non stop for 4-4.5 hours.......and typically average 80+ mph (hwy). So currently Ev's are out but we are looking at a plug in hybrid that can go 30+ miles on electric.

Eventually we will look at getting another vehicle for typical daily trips. We will certainly look at EV's then.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by saab2000

The Tesla-run Superchargers are plug-and-charge. I have a card on file and the charger knows my car and I’m automatically billed.

Aren't early Tesla owners grandfathered for free charging?

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

Aren't early Tesla owners grandfathered for free charging?

It's tied to the car and not the person. I had free supercharging on my old one. Bit of sticker shock first time I supercharged on my new one. I think they did away with the free supercharging some time around 2017-18.

[bigbill]

The closest city to me is Kingman, AZ. Just a few years ago, the only Tesla Superchargers were in a Carl's Jr parking lot next to I-40. While the California burger is delicious, the rest of the area was kind of sketchy. The city's tourism group let Tesla put chargers in the County Museum parking lot which is in the downtown business district. I think it is smart; people can plug in, shop, and have a nice meal. Area grocery stores have added generic chargers as well. Plug in, buy groceries, and good to go. A good deal of our electricity already comes from renewable sources. You can admire the giant wind turbines while letting your car charge. If you head north of town (where I live), you'll pass an enormous solar facility.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

It's tied to the car and not the person. I had free supercharging on my old one. Bit of sticker shock first time I supercharged on my new one. I think they did away with the free supercharging some time around 2017-18.

What's the typical cost of super charging?