Experience with Electric Vehicles?

[d-dave]

Sup Huddle Peeps

I'm really EV-curious.  I can't afford a new ride for a few years, but I'm starting to looking into these new fangled thingamajibs!  

Anyone have one?  Love it?  Hate it?

How's insurance?  Can you get it covered?

Are you required to have some kind of app connection or a multitude of apps?

I've done my fair share of youtubing and redditing for responses and answers, but I am curious about you electrified Huddlers.  I love the idea of no more fuel, no more oil changes, but the upfront charge for an at home charger isn't great.  Not considering a Tesla due to Musk, but most importantly because the turn signal is button the steering wheel... 

[PanthersATL]

Not an electric driver yet, but thinking about it also

Tesla is no longer the only game in town -- other manufacturers are proving to be adept at the electric car game, with better quality builds and at lower or comparable pricing

Cybertrucks are having difficulty being insured, plus you're contractually obligated to not sell it for at least a year (which is totally weird)

An at-home level 2 charger really isn't that expensive (a few hundred dollars, plus installation). If you are home a lot, your 110v can give you enough juice for super-local commutes with no issue. If you can deal with it, charge at a public station, then top off at home. (good news is the charger will be a nice-to-have when it comes time for selling the house).   Have heard that public charging may be cheaper than gas, but it's not necessarily cheap-cheap either

One issue is being able to recharge in a timely (and conveniently-located) manner when you're on long trips. With gas, you can fill up and be on your way in (let's say) 10 minutes. For electric, you're usually looking at a minimum of 30 minutes, and that wouldn't necessarily be to full

Another issue is that electric doesn't do well in cold weather.  Or super-hot weather.  If that battery can't warm up (or gets too hot) then you're not driving anywhere

Some states are starting to apply an annual electric vehicle tax to replace the gas tax you're not paying. Add that to your planned annual cost. 

Electric vehicles go through tires faster than gas vehicles - something to think about with cost, as well.

Might want to consider a hybrid (some have "eco electric-drive only" options for super low speed, low mileage distances, like 1 mile+), or a plug-in hybrid (all the joys of electric, with gas backup if you want it) if you're overly concerned about whether the electric will leave you stranded.

But if all you're doing is local around-town stuff instead of long-haul driving, almost any electric out there should do just fine for you. 
 

[jayboogieman]

49 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

Some states are starting to apply an annual electric vehicle tax to replace the gas tax you're not paying. Add that to your planned annual cost

Some of the reps in the NC legislature have brought up a road usage tax for EVs that'll be charged per mile.

[PanthersATL]

Stolen from the reddit - from a discussion about total cost of ownership (fuel-only) from a year ago. 

Unsure how they calculate the Tesla recharging prices, but there's a kWH-to-price chart somewhere, I'm sure

Quote

 

if you drive 20k miles per year, a hybrid and Tesla would both spend around $1800 per year in fuel. An ICE car at 30mpg might spend more like $3000, at the same fuel prices. A Tesla Model 3 costs $40k+, a Hyundai Ioniq about the same, a Toyota Prius or Honda Accord Hybrid around $30k, a Honda Civic $24k+.

At those rates, it would take 8 years for an EV to break even against a $10k cheaper ICE car, even ignoring the time value of money and maintenance costs. 

 

According to KBB, it can cost anywhere from $10-$16 to fully charge an EV at home in North Carolina. Expect higher prices at public charging stations, especially those with higher/faster charging speeds, which is something to consider if you're on the road vs doing local-to-home commuting.

https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-ev/

[d-dave]

I was looking at the math, and it's not great now.  

Most come with a level 1 home charters (110v outlet) which only does 2-3 miles added per hour charged.  Level 2 Home Chargers run off a 220v Dryer Style outlet can max you out over night.  The DCFC (DC Fast Charging in public can be 10% to 80% in 10(some claims) to 30 minutes (most observed), but that depends on how fast a manufacturer will let you charge.  Teslas can charge super fast on a super charger.  The Korean cars and premium brands like Rivian or Lucent can charge almost as quickly.  The US brands are the slow pokes of the group.

Getting that level 2 into your home when you don't have that 220v outlet handy can be expensive (though Duke does offer a credit).  If you don't have the ability to charge over night like that, it can be a real pain to own an EV.  That's just another cost to think about.

As far as the temperature, here's something interesting that I've seen on the interwebz:

https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/what-a-c-does-to-your-range

So extreme temps can be a problem.  

The US needs to build out the infrastructure to support more widespread EV charging in public or common space.  It's easier in more dense countries to have the support systems in place, or to skip the gas station boom and instead go hard for EV charging in a country like China.

I love the technology, but it's not quite ready for mass market, yet.  The cars are cool, and I love the idea of not paying for gas or oil change again.  My son wants my car (it's a manual =)) when he gets to that age.  I think that will be a much better time to jump in.  I'm almost paid off, and I do plan to enjoy some time without a car payment!

Samsung's solid state batteries are interesting, and I look forward to seeing what that does to the over all vehicle.  

[PanthersATL]

The top 2024 EV in terms of MPGe (ranging from 114 to 140!!!) come from...

Hyundai
Lucid
BMW
Kia
Polestar

https://electrek.co/2024/04/17/hyundai-six-top-ten-most-fuel-efficient-evs-us/

if you're looking for EV efficiency, I'd start with these

Meanwhile:

Tesla's EV market share is now less than 50%. Hyundai/Kia/Genesis make up more than 10% of the EV market. Ford has 7.4%, GM has 6.3%

This chart is almost a year out of date

[CamWhoaaCam]

I have people in my family who are successful with great paying jobs and even they say electric cars are a scam.

 

No gas?

 

Sure but that gas will show in your light bill from charging the thing at home. Tires also wear out faster than normal gas cars.

 

I personally wouldn't invest in a electric vehicle unless I had the money and just wanted to be cool and drive a Tesla. 

 

 

[PanthersATL]

1 hour ago, d-dave said:

The US needs to build out the infrastructure to support more widespread EV charging in public or common space.  It's easier in more dense countries to have the support systems in place, or to skip the gas station boom and instead go hard for EV charging in a country like China.

issues at public charging stations:

• a-holes parking at the convenient located spaces while at a store because they have an EV, but not charging (or fake-charging), using up the space that could be used by someone who actually needs it
• a-holes actually charging, but not returning to move their car after it hits the needed limit (usually 80%, as going from 80% to 100% is time-consuming and unnecessary at most public chargers), tying up a charging spot for an unknown extended amount of time and preventing others from using the space. Some chargers are starting to charge users excess fees for being late to move their car
• a-holes vandalizing the public chargers by cutting cables and whatnot, making them unusable
• Too few chargers for the local area, resulting in a line of cars similar to waiting at a gas station - but the waiting will be longer as charging takes more time than filling a gas tank does

[toldozer]

42 minutes ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

I have people in my family who are successful with great paying jobs and even they say electric cars are a scam.

 

No gas?

 

Sure but that gas will show in your light bill from charging the thing at home. Tires also wear out faster than normal gas cars.

 

I personally wouldn't invest in a electric vehicle unless I had the money and just wanted to be cool and drive a Tesla. 

 

 

Why do the tires wear faster? That's interesting.  My friend bought a tesla in 2022ish and sold it 3 months later for 11k profit.  If we stopped murdering people producing hydrogen engines that's probably the way to go.

[CamWhoaaCam]

19 minutes ago, toldozer said:

Why do the tires wear faster? That's interesting.  My friend bought a tesla in 2022ish and sold it 3 months later for 11k profit.  If we stopped murdering people producing hydrogen engines that's probably the way to go.

More weight and acceleration leads to more wear n tear on the tires. The batteries in electric vehicles tend to weigh more than regular gas cars.

 

 

[CamWhoaaCam]

Speaking of acceleration these electric cars are already the fastest cars on the road. Can you imagine if they can find a way to add some type of loud exhaust for electric cars that would be a huge game changer.

 

People like fast cars with noise. Only thing holding electric back is the loud exhaust note. If they can fix that then we will really see electric cars take over.

[rayzor]

i have experience looking at them and thinking...nah. no thanks. not for me. too much $$. 

[PanthersATL]

26 minutes ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

More weight and acceleration leads to more wear n tear on the tires. The batteries in electric vehicles tend to weigh more than regular gas cars.

 

 

Also, some tires rated best for electric (and some hybrids) are also "low rolling resistance", which helps with MPG. But those tires need replacing more often than ones that aren't low friction

[PanthersATL]

51 minutes ago, toldozer said:

Why do the tires wear faster? That's interesting.  My friend bought a tesla in 2022ish and sold it 3 months later for 11k profit.  If we stopped murdering people producing hydrogen engines that's probably the way to go.

2020-2022 were weird years for used car sales. I wouldn't put too much faith in that being a trend

Have heard that insurers are more likely to total a Tesla rather than try to repair it (even if the issue is a single widget), which doesn't bode well for a resale market