Electric Vehicles - Models Discussion

[anothercog]

Very good deals on Bolts that were repurchased by GM, sold with new battery so long life expectancy.

Thanks for flagging this. With the new battery warranty this seems like a great deal. I need a car for my teenager to get around town. This seems cheaper than a used Civic. I'm almost tempted to make her independent so she can get the EV rebates.

 

[stephenson]

edit: I am thinking more of a plug in hybrid type truck. Something with 40 to 50 miles of pure electric range. Does that exist yet?

+++++++
I don't think so - it only barely exists with the new Prius Prime - I think some testers got 49 miles out of it on battery only.

There is no magic to this - it is simply a matter of battery size vs weight vs power/performance.

I would like to see a couple of manufacturers design a relatively slow EV (say 0-60 in eight seconds), with a top speed of 85-90, while really minimizing weight and options - maybe a single motor FWD.

 

[RetMD21]

+++++++
I don't think so - it only barely exists with the new Prius Prime - I think some testers got 49 miles out of it on battery only.

There is no magic to this - it is simply a matter of battery size vs weight vs power/performance.

I would like to see a couple of manufacturers design a relatively slow EV (say 0-60 in eight seconds), with a top speed of 85-90, while really minimizing weight and options - maybe a single motor FWD.

I like watching the drag races against fossil cars but I run my MYLR on chill mode and find it plenty fast for merging into traffic. I had a stopped to 70 mph merge today on US 23 and it was so much better than my ICE car. I wonder if Tesla will have a lower performance version of the model 2 when it becomes available.

 

[explanade]

0-60 time close to 6 seconds and 1/4 mile times over 14 seconds on the rx500H is hardly considered "performance" territory. Maybe 25 or 30 years ago, but not now.

Not even in the same ballpark or a serious competitor to the X5 and Macan in performance.

And what's more, the X5 is now top rated by Consumer Reports in reliability over Lexus. Never thought I'd see the day that happened.

Are retirees or even early retirees buying high performance cars and flooring it like teen hot rodders used to?

 

[Ready]

Are retirees or even early retirees buying high performance cars and flooring it like teen hot rodders used to?

Yes!!!

 

[audreyh1]

Are retirees or even early retirees buying high performance cars and flooring it like teen hot rodders used to?

Apparently so but I’m not flooring it.

 

[Midpack]

Are retirees or even early retirees buying high performance cars and flooring it like teen hot rodders used to?

Some always have, always will, at almost any age. I certainly see men & women ‘gray hairs’ driving exotic/high performance cars almost daily, and you usually don’t buy those to drive like a Buick…

 

[joesxm3]

I have a long straight on ramp to the highway and love to really punch it from 5 to 65. It feels like a jet launching it off a carrier.

 

[audreyh1]

I have a long straight on ramp to the highway and love to really punch it from 5 to 65. It feels like a jet launching it off a carrier.

 

[folivier]

Hey now, my Buick is pretty quick and I like to use all of the pedal

 

[Zathras]

Power/acceleration is basically a side affect of having lots of batteries.
And since our society has been trained to desire it, there is little additional cost to manufacturers in making it available.

I believe all EVs have a ECO or Chill mode that limits that power.
And I had seen some EVs with less power. Those with less power also tend to have less range.
So if you want the range, the power comes along with it.

And yes, this retiree enjoys the acceleration at on-ramps or other places where it is useful

 

[stephenson]

Power/acceleration is basically a side affect of having lots of batteries.
And since our society has been trained to desire it, there is little additional cost to manufacturers in making it available.

I believe all EVs have a ECO or Chill mode that limits that power.
And I had seen some EVs with less power. Those with less power also tend to have less range.
So if you want the range, the power comes along with it.

And yes, this retiree enjoys the acceleration at on-ramps or other places where it is useful

Not my field of expertise, but it would seem a smaller motor, drawing less power from a smaller battery system would yield the same range as a larger motor, or more than one motor, drawing power from a larger battery system?

 

[audreyh1]

I drive my EV in chill mode. It’s still super powerful and responsive. Passing or on-ramp: Wheeeee!

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Power/acceleration is basically a side affect of having lots of batteries.
And since our society has been trained to desire it, there is little additional cost to manufacturers in making it available.

I believe all EVs have a ECO or Chill mode that limits that power.
And I had seen some EVs with less power. Those with less power also tend to have less range.
So if you want the range, the power comes along with it.

And yes, this retiree enjoys the acceleration at on-ramps or other places where it is useful

Actually, acceleration is affected by energy/time. If you expend more energy in less time, you get more power. Theoretically you could do this with a tiny battery, but you'd kill your range. And even with performance EVs with larger capacity batteries, you will still greatly reduce your range if you gun it all the time....which is why "Eco mode" is often the default. I find my Kia EV6 has plenty of kick in Eco mode, more than enough to merge even on a short ramp, but I did put it in sport mode a couple of times, and I really was pinned back in my seat when I floored it! The sportier version of my car will actually warm the battery to maximize output ("GT mode")...again, at the expense of range.

 

[Zathras]

Not my field of expertise, but it would seem a smaller motor, drawing less power from a smaller battery system would yield the same range as a larger motor, or more than one motor, drawing power from a larger battery system?

That concept works with ICE as a more powerful engine requires more fuel to go the same range.
This isn’t so much the case with electric motors.
My understanding is as an electric motor gets more powerful its efficiency remains the same (or close enough).

So a smaller motor drawing less power from a smaller battery system will go fewer miles.

The primary factors in the range of an EV is the battery size in kWh, and the efficiency of the car.
The efficiency of a motor that can accelerate the car 0-60 in 8 seconds is not that different than one that can accelerate the car in 4 seconds.
That leaves the car’s weight, rolling resistance and air resistance.

The difference in weight between the two motors is also minimal.

It is a very different way of thinking about how cars work. An efficient 4 cylinder is much lighter than a powerful V8.
I small motor in a Mitsubishi MieV is probably not that much lighter than a Porsche Taycan.

Another fun difference…
When the AWD first came out for the Tesla cars, the AWD had more range than the RWD. For decades, my experience was AWD cars got less efficiency, not more

Edit*****************
Cosmic Avenger, thank you, I get a bit sloppy with my terms.
My main point was, the different motor sizes doesn’t have much affect on efficiency,. The number of kWh available give both range and the capability to accelerate quickly.

 

[Midpack]

I drive my EV in chill mode. It’s still super powerful and responsive. Passing or on-ramp: Wheeeee!

So do I. I've never punched it driving my MY, but I did on the test drive with their demo. Scared the sh*& out of DW.

 

[audreyh1]

So do I. I've never punched it driving my MY, but I did on the test drive with their demo. Scared the sh*& out of DW.

I scared DH the same way during my test drive. I only went from 35 to 70 but it was so fast it really startled him.

 

[GaryInCO]

Are retirees or even early retirees buying high performance cars and flooring it like teen hot rodders used to?

I had a tight merge onto the freeway the other day, and I goosed the Tesla to merge in ahead of a truck. Looked down at my speed and it was 115. Whoops.

I don't stomp on it like I did with my Saab Aero 10-20 years ago, but I do enjoy the go-fast!

 

[Rico]

Feeling the power of 125mph in my Tesla Model S is/was/always will be one of my most cherished memories. Purred like a kitten.

 

[audreyh1]

Ha ha I don’t think I’ve exceeded 90 in my Tesla, and that was just momentary.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

80's been my limit.

Easy to have a problem with 1020 horsepower.

 

[audreyh1]

We have a toll road in central TX with 85 speed limit.

 

[scrinch]

Yeah, I just bought a used 2021 Kia Niro EX PHEV to replace my 2008 Kia Rondo.

I’m generally not interested in being an early adopter of new technologies, so PHEV is a great baby step for me. I’m not a big fan of change, so I bought a car that is essentially the same car I had with 13 years of upgrades.

It claims 26 miles of all-electric range. In practice, it generally isn’t “all electric”. It uses the gas engine to help the acceleration most of the time, unless you are very slowly accelerating. The climate control heat is always provided by the gas engine.

On the plus side, I think the practical effect is going to be very high gas mileage with no additional effort on my part beyond plugging it in, which was mainly what I was looking for.

PHEVs seem like an underserved area of the car market. For people that are weighted towards shorter trips, it probably gets you 75% of the way to all electric without any of the range/charging concerns of all-electric.

Hopefully, I’ll be up for getting an all-electric in 2037.

I bought a PHEV Niro in 2019 and it has 46k miles on it now. It has been a very satisfying car. Plenty of room for my 6'3" frame, yet small enough to park anywhere. I typically get about 30 electric miles before the gas motor comes on, although once driving through the mountains (lots of up and down, but net downhill) I got 71 miles before the gas motor kicked in for the first time! So far I have used about 2/3 gas miles (50 mpg) and 1/3 electric miles (0.3 kWh/mile). It's not a very powerful car, but it has been reliable and gets me everywhere I want to go.

Good luck with your Niro!

 

[Out of Steam]

I've driven several rental cars to 100-105 mph, but have never broken 90 in a car of my own. It's just lack of opportunity, as I've not been on the Autobahn or in the Arizona desert in a personal vehicle.

Getting closer to the original subject, our Ford Hybrid (now driven by our daughter) has been very reliable, though it may be giving signs of needing a hybrid battery after 12 years. With an aftermarket battery, the finances of replacement appear to work.

 

[Midpack]

I had my Dad's '67 GTO up to 105 mph, but the hood started to shake, so I backed off. I had my '73 Chevy Vega GT up to 100 mph on the interstate while in college, it looked several minutes to get up to that speed on flat ground - it's a miracle I didn't pass a police car as long as it took to reach 100. I had our '86 BMW 325 up to 100 mph very briefly once when DW wasn't in the car, but it was just to see how fast it would go, and I bought the car back down to speed limit very quickly after. I no longer have any desire to drive fast, 72 mph on open interstate is my limit 99% of the time now.