Electric Car poll

[REWahoo]

Thing about hybrid is that if you mostly drive in town and have a lot of stop and go driving of short trips, it doesn't help you that much.

At least that's what I recall when I was still working and I had a short commute.

Either your recaller needs a tune-up or hybrids have changed since you stopped working. Some hybrids get better mpg in town/stop and go than on the highway. That's the case with the Hylander hybrid I bought last week - EPA rated at 36 city, 35 highway.

 

[Walt34]

I said "maybe". Range and battery life needs to get a lot better, charging times need to be reduced and number of charging stations increased. I'm quite certain all of that will happen eventually but whether it's soon enough to benefit me remains to be seen.

As far as running out of oil, I don't see that happening either. It will get more and more expensive as fuel until the cost outweighs the advantages, but I don't foresee a day when there will be no need for oil at all. It's used for so many other things besides fuel.

 

[travelover]

Either your recaller needs a tune-up or hybrids have changed since you stopped working. Some hybrids get better mpg in town/stop and go than on the highway. That's the case with the Hylander hybrid I bought last week - EPA rated at 36 city, 35 highway.

Exactly. With a non hybrid, all the energy you put into motion turns into lost heat the first time you stop. With regenerative braking, that energy gets put back into the battery to be reused.

 

[travelover]

I can easily see a time where we'd have two vehicles, an electric for most of the local driving and an all ICE or hybrid vehicle for long trips, and light towing. In the extreme rare case where we needed two long range vehicles I'd probably do a rental.

 

[DayDreaming]

I bought my first one last month and love it so far.

 

[explanade]

Either your recaller needs a tune-up or hybrids have changed since you stopped working. Some hybrids get better mpg in town/stop and go than on the highway. That's the case with the Hylander hybrid I bought last week - EPA rated at 36 city, 35 highway.

We're talking almost 10 years ago.

Like I said, no plug-in hybrids so you charged the battery through gas and regenerative breaking.

Also pretty sure that the original hybrids would engage the gas engine over 30 MPH or some really low number.

I believe the RAV4 Prime can run on electric only up to like 75 MPH, though only for about 40 miles per charge.

So if you had a short commute, you weren't running the gas engine enough to keep charging the hybrid.

Yes mileage will be better in the city because you're using the electric motor more at lower speeds.

 

[Texas Proud]

Seriously doubt it unless they increase the range, decrease the charging times and build out the infrastructure... Probably won't live that long. Hybird is a possibility though.

I voted maybe.... there might not be any ICE cars in the future....


But I do not see me buying one unless they do as Car Guy says...



I have always thought the better way to go was hybrid... we will see how the public votes with their money.... I do think the car companies are expecting a full flip to electric and will be surprised when it does not happen

 

[MichealKnight]

Way down the road

When it is 100% the only kind of new vehicle offered for sale - yes, I will be driving an EV.

 

[Gumby]

Considering that we have relatively new cars with very low mileage, as well as the fact that we drive very little these days, I don't see us buying a new car at all.

 

[Aerides]

We'll for sure be in the market for an EV for our next car. We're 52 so probably have quite a few new cars in our future (I hope!)

 

[Zathras]

…
Even with that kind of range, if you charge it full and didn't use it enough, battery life would just decline wouldn't it?

Different chemistries behave differently.
With the current most common chemistry, you don’t want to charge it to 100% and then let it sit. The level of damage is less than that of not letting a cold car warm before driving prior to the advent of synthetic oils.
In general, I charge to 70% every day. If I am taking a trip, I’ll charge to 100%.

General recommendations are to charge the car to 80-90% for daily trips.

Some cars are using LFP batteries. My understanding is they can charge to 100% without affecting the battery health. The trade-off is they have a lower battery density, thus shorter range.

 

[MC Rider]

Definite maybe.

 

[Rocket Man]

DW and I each got new ICE vehicles in the fall of 2019. Probably no one outside of China had heard of covid. Lucky timing on our part. We tend to keep our vehicles long term, so by the time we are in the market again we probably will only need one vehicle and will not be driving lots of miles. Therefore, an all electric vehicle might work well for us and might be the only option by then anyway. Just my opinion, but our current government is doing everything they can to get rid of ICE vehicles as soon as possible. I certainly do not see any serious push to speed up production of computer chips two years out.

 

[Midpack]

We’ve had four hybrids, all have been outstanding and all got significantly better mileage than a comparable ICE vehicle (50% higher MPG give or take). And I would have bought a Model Y last Oct but the waiting list was much longer than I could wait. Odds are our next car purchase will be an EV, but we’ll have a hybrid as well.

 

[rk911]

not interested in an EV unless a 300-mi range at highway speeds and 're-fueling' =< the amount of time it takes to re-fuel my gasser. besides, the infrastructure is not yet 'there'.

 

[acronymous]

Bought a used 2011 Leaf for city driving. Next car will be another EV with more range.

 

[Physics Guy]

We are 55 and experience shows that when we buy new cars we keep them at least 10 years. I figure we will need to buy at least two new "long distance" cars and at least three new "short range" cars in our remaining driving time.

Assuming I am living in a location with the ability to charge at home I'd jump on an electric for the shorter range car right now so I'm sure we will buy an electric at some point.

 

[unclemick]

EV 3 wheel and Polaris Ranger EV modified with Lithium batteries and roof solar panels. At age 78 still holding out (price and availability) on that round trip 240 mile EV to the Farm and back. Have yet to pull the trigger on a pickup or EV tractor. My age and the price/waiting list weigh heavy.

Heh heh heh - We'll see. Meanwhile the current gasers have 160k and 80k miles.

 

[6miths]

Would have had a Model 3 if new government hadn't pulled the rebate months before they became available. Next replacement vehicle will be one. Already have the electrical in.

 

[Alan]

We have an EV on order. It is time to replace our hybrid and we don’t have the long range requirements very often anyway, vast majority of driving is within a 100 mile radius of home.

 

[folivier]

Not until I wear out my current Tahoe. Don't do enough driving to make up the difference in possible savings regardless of gas prices. An EV would make sense for our local driving but not for a 1300 mile trip. But at our ages once we no longer travel as much then an EV might make sense.

 

[Badger]

We have 2 cars we bought in 2019 and 2020. One has less than 9k miles and the other with less than 7k miles. I doubt we will need another car for a long time. With the low mileage we are driving now maybe we will get one in 10 years when we are 85 and 83 if driving can be safely accomplished by computer then. At that time I don't think I would trust being able to drive myself in crazy traffic. That also assumes I will still be around.


Cheers!

 

[Chuckanut]

Different chemistries behave differently.
With the current most common chemistry, you don’t want to charge it to 100% and then let it sit. The level of damage is less than that of not letting a cold car warm before driving prior to the advent of synthetic oils.
In general, I charge to 70% every day. If I am taking a trip, I’ll charge to 100%.

General recommendations are to charge the car to 80-90% for daily trips.

Some cars are using LFP batteries. My understanding is they can charge to 100% without affecting the battery health. The trade-off is they have a lower battery density, thus shorter range.

https://news.energysage.com/teslas-shift-to-lfp-batteries/

Above is a story about the shift to the LFP batteries. They also weigh a bit more from what I have heard.

Why is Tesla moving towards LFP battery chemistries?

The primary reason for a big company like Tesla to shift towards iron-based batteries is cost. Although they’re more energy-dense, nickel and cobalt-based batteries rely on more expensive materials (namely cobalt, as it’s not nearly as abundant as the materials needed for an LFP battery). This drives up the price of manufacturing and the end price of batteries. As Tesla continues to try and bring affordable storage and electric vehicle products to market, filling them with less expensive components is one clear path forward.

 

[ERD50]

Definite maybe (tax credits? not specifically, out the door price is all that matters, not how I got there). Because of the 'tax credit' inclusion, I won't bother to vote though, makes it kinda weird.

DW's car will be replaced when (if?) supply/demand gets back to normal. I really don't think we will replace it with an EV at that time. Possibly next go-around for my car, but that's probably ~ 7 years out, so who knows?

We rarely take long trips, so the range/charge issues aren't a big deal to us. But we drive so few miles, 'fuel' savings aren't a big deal either. But I don't count it out. We will cross that bridge when we come to it. And I 'never say never'.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Also note: People should not be confusing "Self Driving Capability" with "EV".

From this link:

https://www.autobytel.com/car-buyin...s-with-self-driving-features-for-2021-134290/

Only 1 of their top 10 cars with Self Driving Features is an EV. It's a stupid click through for all 10, so hard to make a list, but I did check as I went through it.

I think the association only exists because Tesla gets a lot of the press on it (good and bad), and some of it due to Musk's [-]continuous stream of lies[/-] over-promising/under-delivering regarding Tesla and its self driving promises.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/driverless-tesla-will-travel-l-nyc-2017-says-musk-n670206

Oct. 20, 2016, --- A Driverless Tesla Will Travel From L.A. to NYC by 2017, Says Musk

By 2017, Tesla cars could be driving all the way across the country without any hands on the wheel, according to CEO Elon Musk.

-ERD50