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

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

What's the typical cost of super charging?

Because the units are different, it’s not straightforward to make a direct comparison. On my recent trip to to Florida I stopped at six Tesla Superchargers IIRC. The total cost of these stops was just under $75 from western Chicagoland to near Destin, a distance of 934 miles according to Google Maps. But that’s not a full charge. When we fill a gas tank we typically fill from, say, 1/4 full to 4/4 full. An EV charges most quickly from slightly lower to about 65% to get you most efficiently to your destination. The charging curve flattens rapidly about 50% full due to the chemistry and voltage and other factors. It’d not linear.

So $75 for 934 miles. I did get some free charging at a hotel in Franklin, TN….. I don’t know of any hotels that give gas vouchers. So maybe I can add $10 to my energy bill to get to my destination. Doing a cost per mile shouldn’t be too hard.

These were all Tesla branded chargers. I charge at home for less than half the cost of Supercharging at Tesla’s chargers.

For me, and I think most users, Supercharging is only for when home charging or other options aren’t available, like on a road trip. It is more expensive than home charging, but less than gasoline. I couldn’t have made it this far in my VW Tiguan for the same cost. I estimate that would have run about $115-$120 for gasoline. Of course, maybe a very efficient car would be less expensive than Supercharging.

In this context Supercharging refers only to Tesla’s branded DC fast chargers.

[buddybikes]

Daughters Prius same drive = 62.00...

[Louis]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Daughters Prius same drive = 62.00...

+1

Five or ten years from now all-electric may be a reasonable option for a long-distance trip, but for the short or medium term an efficient ICE or a hybrid make more sense to me.

[Spaghetti Legs]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

What's the typical cost of super charging?

IME it’s been $0.40-0.44 per kWh, but that’s just on a few along I95 in Va and NC. Quick math it works out to roughly the same as buying gas. Compare to home charging, in Virginia about $0.11-0.14 per kWh.

On the map in the car it will tell you how much a Supercharger costs before you get there.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Daughters Prius same drive = 62.00...

I don’t question this. But for true context, home charging is still very inexpensive, at least where I live. Significantly less expensive than Tesla Superchargers.

I’m not trying to sell anyone anything. Just reporting my experiences.

The hybrids still have the massive advantage of being able to be fueled anywhere. Both of my brothers drive Toyota Camry hybrids. And my sister overseas drives a car many of us, including myself, would find very desirable but unavailable in the United States: an Audi A6 wagon diesel. It’s a swanky drive. I know this firsthand.

The new Prius hybrid looks really good for many people looking for quality and durability and yeah, it even looks good.

[robt57]

My last trip gas was $4.69 and a 574 mile trip cost $63-64.00 i figured out.

PHEV Pacifica, started with full EV charge/store. So really that was gas for 33 miles less.

I've never charged it commercially, (other than free) gas mpg cheaper for the 33ish EV miles than @ chargers. Or at least that was the case when gas was under 3.00 when we first got it. @ 4.69 closer, but charging rates vary wildly. But back down to 3.30 ish last 2 times i put in 5 gallons

[PSC]

Prices on Superchargering vary. I have seen anywhere from low .20's centsper kWh upto high .40's cents kWh. Some have a 24 hour flat rate and others adjust for peak hours. Generally most of the destination charge have been free. Lots of municipalities have free charging in public areas. Safeway in our area have free charging. These are level 2 chargers and charge at 30 mph, not fast but enough to put on miles while we eat or shop.

[CAAD]

Total time charging? What is your time worth? I think that should also be accounted for. Most of my longer trips according to Tesla's route planner I would be adding an additional one to two hours+ just for charging. Sure you save a few bucks at the pump but time is also a factor. Time is money. Again I'm not against EVs. Just my point of view.

[Polyglot]

Originally Posted by CAAD

Total time charging? What is your time worth? I think that should also be accounted for. Most of my longer trips according to Tesla's route planner I would be adding an additional one to two hours+ just for charging. Sure you save a few bucks at the pump but time is also a factor. Time is money. Again I'm not against EVs. Just my point of view.

I drove electric for 8 years but do no longer have an EV since December. I can tell you from experience that you waste much more time refueling an ICE that you ever do with an EV. With an EVSE (so-called "charger") in my garage, I would spend no more than 10 seconds a day hooking and unhooking my car from the EVSE and as a result would always have my full range available to me every day. So only on days that I exceeded my maximum range in a day would I ever need to recharge "in the wild." In 8 years of use, I exceeded my maximum full charge range less than 10 times total, hence about once a year would I need to charge "in the wild." This is statistically the same for virtually all drivers. You also don't ever need plan the time for a fill up or make a detour to go to a gas station like you do with an ICE. Since I have been back to driving an ICE vehicle for 2 months I am realizing just how inconvenient going to the gas station really is. I am however the first to say that an EV loses a lot of appeal if your living situation does not allow you to have an EVSE at your home or at some other place where you go to and park at daily.

[CAAD]

Agree. Around town 100%, point A to point A, EVs are excellent. We have been poking around looking at the used EV market for a cheap small EV runaround for the wife when I'm traveling with our ice vehicle so she isn't stranded at home.

[ltwtsculler91]

Originally Posted by CAAD

Total time charging? What is your time worth? I think that should also be accounted for. Most of my longer trips according to Tesla's route planner I would be adding an additional one to two hours+ just for charging. Sure you save a few bucks at the pump but time is also a factor. Time is money. Again I'm not against EVs. Just my point of view.

Agreed 100%. We'll make a similar distance drive that SAAB did in 1 day, going from Nashville to either Vero Beach or Miami. Our TOTAL stopped time including gas and food stops is often less than an hour for the entire trip.

I think EVs make so much sense as a second/third car for around town, but for my lifestyle, I just can't have one as a primary car. PHEVs make so much more sense for me especially some of the newer ones like the Pacifica mentioned above or the T8 Volvo wagon that my in-laws are ordering that can go 40+ miles on a charge or switch over to hybrid/gas mode for longer trips.

Long term I do wonder about the costs though. Seeing the battery cost for the in-laws A3 eTron was kind of shocking, and seeing how these EVs lose range over time TCO does worry me on one versus something like our, or my parents Volvo wagons that will get 28mpg and run 200k miles.

[72gmc]

A quick search showed $7-8.5k to replace the battery in an a3 etron, but no clear story on when that might need to happen. Do EVs come with battery replacement information?

[unterhausen]

So far, it seems like EV's have very long warranties on the batteries, longer than most of us keep cars. I don't know if this tells you anything about battery replacement costs. I know the prices for Prius replacement batteries has come way down. If lithium cell capacity keeps up, this may also happen with EV batteries. India just found a lithium reserve, so people are out looking.

I stumbled upon a diy ev charger forum. There is a forum for everything, it seems. The commercial chargers are very simple inside. Scary simple, I think.
The volume they take up is probably needed to convince people they are worth the money. Those commercial chargers you see in public places are mostly empty. That's possibly why EV America chargers have been bricking cars.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by saab2000

Because the units are different, it’s not straightforward to make a direct comparison. On my recent trip to to Florida I stopped at six Tesla Superchargers IIRC. The total cost of these stops was just under $75 from western Chicagoland to near Destin, a distance of 934 miles according to Google Maps.

In my Q7 TDi, the cost would have been about $140, with one stop late in the game (700 mile range) (and more for pee breaks...not a 700 mile range). And no range anxiety.

I may be commuting 75 miles each way, two days a week. Ideal for an EV/solar panel partnership. I have the panels. I don't really want an EV...yet...don't want to buy a new one, so I'm probably going to pick up a used A6 TDi commuter that gets 40-45 mpg.

That being said...new EVs are just getting interesting for us car people. A Porsche Taycan would be sweet...but I'm not blowing $100K to save $1K a year on fuel expense. I'll do my part to help save the planet in other ways. (and yea, I know, dirty diesel....)

[jimcav]

in CA it is 150k
I don't know anyone who has had one long enough to test it. The oldest EV owner I know got his Tesla model S in late 2014.

I'm sure there is data on failure rates.

Love my truck, but I wish I'd done better research on my RAM 1500 b/c it is out of warranty and a known issue with the heat shield to manifold bolts breaking has happened. If I'd known I could have put on shorty headers for about $500, now that it is broken it is a whole different deal and the dealer charges about $2000-2500 to fix (and their fix is just slightly better bolts, but it can and likely will happen again).