Electric vehicles catch-all thread

[Paul D]

Not much more than adding any other 220v circuit. Depending on the charger it's a basic 40 or 50 amp line, hardwired to the charger. That's a pretty good pull though, so you may need to upgrade your service or plan around other appliances in use.

Thanks! For you folks who have a Level 2 charger, what brands/models do you guys like?

I am really warming up to the idea of an EV for regular life ever since I got solar. It's like reloading your own ammo! With increasing unreliability of power grids (see N. California) and improving tech, it makes sense to gain some energy independence.

The only folks who may lose out on this are the poor who cannot afford the new technology but yet can't afford the increasingly more expensive old tech (internal combustion engines and fuel).

[0ddl0t]

I'm impressed with Lucid. Right now they're following the Tesla business model and have just started delivering their $170k ultra-luxury model, but versions costing well under $100k are in the pipeline. I like the 400-500 mile range and especially like getting an additional 300 miles of range with 30 minutes of fast charging. These days if I do a 400+ mile drive, I'm stopping at least once for a 30 minute meal/stretch break.

The innovative thing Lucid does with this fast charging is it allows you to schedule your stop on long road trips. In doing so, it pre-cools the battery pack so it can accept fast charging without increasing battery degredation. This will be a big benefit to me when it is 120° and I stop for InNOut in Kettlemen City on my way through California...

[0ddl0t]

I've been considering one for my next car just so I can avoid all Houston gas stations and the crime that goes with them. I'm still concerned though that my car will end up like my phone - obsolete in less than 5 years. At some point I've got to just jump in, but I don't know when that point is.

Obsolescence is a risk, but EVs are simplier in many ways. Look at the first generation Nissan Leaf. Nissan designed a pretty poor battery system and basically abandoned customers once out of warranty, but tuners in the aftermarket have filled the void and figured out how to install the newer better batteries in the old models. These cars cost like $40k new after rebates and initially had 70 miles of range. After the 8 year battery warranty expires, Leafs were selling used for ~$5000 with around 30 miles of range. Replacing the battery from Nissan cost ~$6000 and would maybe get you back to 70 miles. But in the aftermarket you can spend $10k to get a battery with 220 miles of range.

Don't get me wrong, that's a very large cost every ~8-10 years, but remember the rest of the car is virtually maintenance free (and pretty solidly build). Tires, washer fluid, and wiper blades basically. And electricity, even off the grid during peak hours, still costs less than gasoline. So the total operating cost per mile still ends up being about the same or cheaper depending on how much you drive.

[4RNR]

Don't get me wrong, that's a very large cost every ~8-10 years, but remember the rest of the car is virtually maintenance free (and pretty solidly build). Tires, washer fluid, and wiper blades basically. And electricity, even off the grid during peak hours, still costs less than gasoline. So the total operating cost per mile still ends up being about the same or cheaper depending on how much you drive.

While "fuel" costs are more with gas, I've never spent that much money on maintenance on any car. I would say I've never spent over $1500 on any car and I only buy used and drive them for years and hundreds of thousands of miles.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

[gringop]

I was searching for info on range and charging time, when I noticed an article that said something about companies racing to do something. And I wondered when some car company would field a race car for any established racing venue more than a 1/4 mile drag race.

World RX Rallycross has had some demo electric cars for quite a few years. When I used to watch it regularly years ago, the electric cars had way more torque than the 700 HP gas cars but were heavier. Rallycross is usually limited to 6 laps or less so batt endurance is not a factor.

I stopped watching it a few years back when FIA put the full races behind a paywall. The vid below has some highlights from a 2021 race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa-NuaUXaFY

Gringop

[Bucky]

For the green factor, no. Short of recharging by solar or wind, who's kidding who?

For the performance factor, hell yeah. There's something to be said for making torque at zero RPM.

That’s where I’m at. Probably the best gas powered car for launching / stop lighting right now is a 911 Turbo S. A Tesla plaid will pull it at half the cost. (But twice the ugly )

I had a garage built last year, and it is wired for a charging unit.

As a car guy, I have more than one car, so an EV would make sense, as I’d still have a gas car for any long range trips.

I also hate going to the gas station, just cause it’s usually not good timing when I need to fill up.

So I’m open to givin’ up one of “mah vee eight”, even though it’s kind of cool having a 6.2 trifecta.

[farscott]

We are a two-vehicle household and our next vehicle will be an EV. This vehicle will replace my wife's 2017 Mustang GT Premium. That vehicle has a range of 300 miles while using 93 octane lead-free gas so an EV with that range will work. The other vehicle has a range of 500 miles and runs on 87 octane; it is the road trip vehicle if we are not staying local. We have three basic drivers for choosing an EV.

1) Performance. We want this to be a fun vehicle. With the torque and low center of gravity, an EV is a blast to drive.

2) Ease of charging. We are putting solar panels on our home (also considering a battery to act as an uninterruptible power supply) to lower our grid power usage and electric bill, part of which is going to be the EV. Charging at home should be less costly than in public and also more convenient.

3) Reliability and maintenance. The electric drivetrain requires less maintenance (no oil changes, no transmissions and their fluids, no coolant changes) and higher reliability. This one gets lost in the noise, but the drivetrain of an EV is much simpler than a modern ICE and transmission or transaxle. It should be more reliable over a decade of usage.

[peterb]

I find this interesting because I think powers will try to us force into EVs.

I was searching for info on range and charging time, when I noticed an article that said something about companies racing to do something. And I wondered when some car company would field a race car for any established racing venue more than a 1/4 mile drag race.

The Isle of Man TT Zero was seeing some impressive electric motorcycle performance: https://electrek.co/2019/06/07/elect...-tt-zero-race/

[peterb]

If Honda would offer an electric GROM it would be awesome.

These look fun…. https://ridecake.com/en/products/bikes/

The last time I was in China electric scooters were everywhere. From what I could tell, batteries were standard lead-acid but that market is all about low cost.

Honda and Vespa both have high-end scooters.
https://www.vespa.com/en_EN/models/e...ic-motorcycle/
https://www.e-scooter.co/honda-pcx-electric/

My wife loves her e-bike. Given how quickly those are progressing, along with scooters & motorcycles, I think we’re going to see a full spectrum of practical electric vehicles in a few years.

[peterb]

For the green factor, no. Short of recharging by solar or wind, who's kidding who?

From an emissions standpoint, it’s a lot easier to control one stationary source than thousands of mobile sources. Moving to electric vehicles also reduces the concentration of street-level emissions in urban areas.