Experience with Electric Vehicles?

[d-dave]

16 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

Advice: after you pay off a car and no longer have a car payment, continue to put a "car payment amount" into a basic index fund monthly

By the time you need a new vehicle, the fund (should) be able to pay for the car entirely

Thinking a reasonable achievable amount, like $300/month and not the +$800/m payments some people are making

Sounds nice, but we're paying down debt right now, lol.  The joys of the American Healthcare experience!

[jayboogieman]

1 hour ago, d-dave said:

There is still a plenty large market for the cheaper vehicles.  Heck, I just saw that the Nissan Sentra's top trim is cheaper than a base model Honda Civic...

https://www.motortrend.com/news/2025-nissan-sentra-price-msrp-trim-levels/

For me, I'm going to drive my car until the wheel fall off.  Just out of necessity.  I have a very fuel efficient car (2019 Honda Accord Sport 6MT).  Knocking on wood it keeps on running as I take care of it.  My wife just paid off her car, and it's so liberating to have that payment back.  While I hate helping to drive record profits in oil and the other bad parts of it, EVs aren't cheap enough for folks like me.

I don't know how people can afford a nearly $50k car unless you're trading in something you paid off that has good value or you've saved for a long time. In the EV space, I see nearly half of new vehicles are leased.  Heck, you can lease a 90k Lucid Air GT for $850 a month!?  I'm not sure how I feel about renting a car like that.  Paying for depreciation.  I also drive too much for a lease as well.

I'm still excited by the technology, and hoping for a better future.  Heck, hopefully these self driving features can save some lives.  The times I almost get killed on my commute to work daily is astounding.

And the Civic used to be the good inexpensive car.

I don't think most can afford a $50K car. They're swimming in debt or leasing as you said. I think leasing is the goal for the car companies. Lease the new cars, then sell them as possibly low mileage used and profit from the same product twice.

I'd rather see hydrogen fuel cell cars or even a take on the modern steam engine, but it seems the industry has decided EVs are where it's at. Probably because there's more money in it for them in battery replacements than parts.

[d-dave]

29 minutes ago, jayboogieman said:

I'd rather see hydrogen fuel cell cars or even a take on the modern steam engine, but it seems the industry has decided EVs are where it's at. Probably because there's more money in it for them in battery replacements than parts.

I was curious because the very retro inspired Hyundai N Vision 74 car has a hydrogen fuel cell and EV powerplant.  So I did some looking around, and while the hydrogen for the Fuel Cells is truly clean as an emission, the process for getting the hydrogen out of the atmosphere or water isn't particularly clean.

The other big barrier I read about was infrastructure.  It has to be transported as a gas or very cold liquid.  We don't have the infrastructure to support that right now.  But we do have a lot of powerlines.  Sure, not all electricity is clean in it's generation, but its much easier to set up chargers than build out the pipelines, transport and other safety considerations for hydrogen refueling.

I think that's why electric, battery operated vehicles are advancing.  The convivence of being able to plug in at home each night to make sure you have enough juice for the day is super nice.  Fewer stops to the local gas or hydrogen station.

What did I miss about hydrogen fuel cells?

Whatever it ends up being - we as a species need to get off the fossil fuel addiction that's driven the past 160 odd some years of development.

[jayboogieman]

1 hour ago, d-dave said:

What did I miss about hydrogen fuel cells?

They're expensive and so is the fuel.

Joking aside, California is the only state with actual consumer hydrogen fueling capabilities. And they don't have as much as promised. That said, some of the newer forklifts and rigs use hydrogen fuel cells. It's just being pushed in the consumer market.

[Brooklyn 3.0]

Just saw this thread. I share custody of my kiddo with my ex. She lives in RI. So when I go to get my daughter I rent a car (I live in NYC so I don't need a car). So here's my experience with EVs:

1. Looks at rental options

2. Ooh cool, an EV

3. Looks at how many miles a charge gets

4. Looks at how many miles it is to and from RI

5. Rents a gas car

 

Sure, there are more and more EV charging stations popping up everywhere. But you not only have to find them, but you may have to wait for a spot, and then you have to wait for a charge. Hard pass. I can pick her up and drop the car off on one tank of gas.

[PanthersATL]

On 8/29/2024 at 7:47 AM, d-dave said:

Sounds nice, but we're paying down debt right now, lol.  The joys of the American Healthcare experience!

100%, if you have other priorities take care of those first

But if you can dedicate (any) monthly money as a future car payment specifically after youre done with your current payment cycle, it can help lower future payments when it comes time to do so

[PanthersATL]

Selected excerpts from this article: https://gizmodo.com/two-cybertrucks-drove-from-florida-to-the-arctic-circle-and-it-looks-like-a-nightmare-2000493507 

 

Quote

Demaree’s video output is particularly interesting because he tends to film a video every time he stops at a charger. His specific chronicle is one that, to me, makes it apparent how much of a pain in the ass it is to traverse long distances in an electric vehicle. He’s stopping roughly every two to three hours to grab a charge and the charging times and processes vary widely from stop to stop.

Quote

 

“Welcome to Prince George, the last Tesla supercharger on this trip. Everything from here is public chargers like the FLO Network so, fingers crossed, everything goes well after this,” Demaree said in an August 27 video.

It did not go well.

“I am at the only charger within 150 miles,” he said in a video the next day after he’d reached the Yukon. “And um, up here, they have one stall. Just one. And that one stall is being used and I have 3%. So. I just gotta sit here and wait and hope that he finishes soon. I don’t even know where the guy is at.”

 

 

[d-dave]

1 hour ago, PanthersATL said:

Selected excerpts from this article: https://gizmodo.com/two-cybertrucks-drove-from-florida-to-the-arctic-circle-and-it-looks-like-a-nightmare-2000493507 

 

 

I read that the other day.  Goes to show you how Santa needs to get more EV infrastructure built headed towards the north pole before it melts! =P

Realistically, the adoption of EVs is going to be hampered by the lack of fast charging outside of the house.  People forget things all the time, like plugging in their phone, getting gas, calling to cancel an appointment, etc.  If people could stop at a charger and in 5 minutes pick up 30-50 miles so they could get through their day, that would be helpful.

You can with a Tesla Supercharger, but on the less powerful DCFCs it's going to take too long.  Getting there!

[Anybodyhome]

Just got back from San Diego and the wife and I used Uber for everything- was far less than renting a car for 3 days...

Anyway, guy picked us up one evening going to dinner in his Tesla and he told us the only time he uses it is when driving for Uber and doing errands around town. No long distance and no interstate. The energy consumption is crazy if he goes over 60 on the interstate. And, if you know anything, please understand that doing 60 on a SoCal interstate will get you killed. He says a full charge nets him a little over 300 miles, but if it's on the interstate at 65 or 70, it drops to less than 250.

[d-dave]

2 minutes ago, Anybodyhome said:

if it's on the interstate at 65 or 70, it drops to less than 250.

Yep, that's what I see on the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=70mph+EV+test

EVs aren't great on the highway.  In my car, I can go nearly 500 miles on a tank with enough to find a gas station.  It's still very much in the early days of EVs.  Though they are hard to beat around town.  It's best if you can charge at home at night.

[Anybodyhome]

19 hours ago, d-dave said:

Yep, that's what I see on the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=70mph+EV+test

EVs aren't great on the highway.  In my car, I can go nearly 500 miles on a tank with enough to find a gas station.  It's still very much in the early days of EVs.  Though they are hard to beat around town.  It's best if you can charge at home at night.

Exactly. Now that I'm retired, I'd seriously consider an EV as a 2nd vehicle/daily driver.

Keep my gas-guzzling Tahoe for road trips.

[Davidson Deac II]

At this point, I would prefer a plug in hybrid to a full EV.  I looked at a couple of them, and the 30 or so miles it could go on a charge would get me to work and back.  And the gas engine would take care of any longer trips I need to make. Bought my wife a car about two years ago, and we looked at the Rav 4 prime, but unfortunately, we would have had to wait 6 months and she needed a car quickly since someone crashed into her car.  

[d-dave]

I thought of why I really want an EV: Carline.  Both at my school and my son's school.  Look up the problems with finding enough bus drivers in NC, ugh.  It's bad.  At my son's school, kids often are over an hour late to school because of the lack of buses.  The afternoons are worse!  There are times when I get trapped by the parents in our carline and get stuck for 20 minutes or more.

I hate it.  I hate burning gas as I sit there waiting for other people to move.  There are a couple EVs in carline, I think I'll ask them how they like it versus an ICE.  While electricity isn't free, it's still cheaper than gas in NC.

[PanthersATL]

6 hours ago, d-dave said:

I thought of why I really want an EV: Carline.  Both at my school and my son's school.  Look up the problems with finding enough bus drivers in NC, ugh.  It's bad.  At my son's school, kids often are over an hour late to school because of the lack of buses.  The afternoons are worse!  There are times when I get trapped by the parents in our carline and get stuck for 20 minutes or more.

I hate it.  I hate burning gas as I sit there waiting for other people to move.  There are a couple EVs in carline, I think I'll ask them how they like it versus an ICE.  While electricity isn't free, it's still cheaper than gas in NC.

this may not work for you, but some families tell their kids to meet them a block away from the school for pickup rather than having to wait specifically in the parent pick-up line  (or they park a block away and walk up to the school to meet the kid, whatever works)

 

Edited September 4 by PanthersATL