Electric Car thread

[Chargeride]

It was in Chicago last week, serious cold and the Tesla chargers started failing and also the cars wouldn't charge because people either couldn't heat their batteries or didn't know they had to.
They all had to be towed home by ICE trucks.
Bit of a nothing burger, but all goes towards the negative image.

 

[kevinmccune]

thanks for putting in perspective,interesting point-perhaps one should build a heater battery unit(i know weight,still some of these things are heavy to begin with(how about a hot water bottle and insulation? just imagine

 

[kevinmccune]

It was in Chicago last week, serious cold and the Tesla chargers started failing and also the cars wouldn't charge because people either couldn't heat their batteries or didn't know they had to.
They all had to be towed home by ICE trucks.
Bit of a nothing burger, but all goes towards the negative image.

exactly creates unmerited negative image

I certainly cannot afford a new electric vehicle with cost living in Hawaii and my age. I will continue to drive my Toyota it burns a quart of oil every 3000 miles but it's hardly driven now, Hawaii does not conform to strict EPA rules like California on emissions control.
My 85 year old Dad drives it he likes the simplicity of it.
My sisters and I bought a VW Tiguan 2 year old with low mileage for him, not even 3 months he was so annoyed with the car's talking GPS and refused to drive it. Picture is me and him trying to open the fuel filler on the VW.
Electric vehicles and scooters are becoming increasingly popular here.
The City of Honolulu built a multi billion dollar Electric Railway but most people chose to drive ridership is very low on the train.

thats not bad at all any ice that doesnt use any oil-something nots right with it,oil is composed of aromatic compounds

 

[Readytoride]

That's a thought... What company did you rent from?

My Rivian went in for service and their service center set me up (gratus) with Enterprise. I had only specified I wanted an EV, not any particular brand. That's how I got the Kona.

Pic as it sat in my garage, charging, after the drive home. The charge port is in front on the driver side - you can see it open in this photo. Even though the car supplied its own Level 2 charger, I didn't need it since I have my own.

If you go this route (renting the car for a day), may I suggest you first watch a few youtube videos about the car. The videos are informative and can probably give you as good as, if not better, overview than any dealership salesman.

It is a cute little EV. I was impressed and enjoyed driving it. If I had a negative it would be the seats. They weren't my comfort level. Then again, I thought the Model Y seats were uncomfortable as well. And my Toyota Prius Touring, even though designed as a long distance car, had seats that became uncomfortable in a short time. Main reason I bought the Ariya was for the amazingly comfortable seats. Second was the range. The Rivian also has brilliantly comfortable seats.

 

[Readytoride]

but all goes towards the negative image

Sadly true. It also goes towards the learning curve of EVs in weird situations that aren't planned in advance.

Tesla does have a battery heating scheduling function in their app, but I'm guessing a lot of drivers failed to use it. Maybe, after the Chicago fiasco, Tesla will put out an update that flashes a reminder to owners (via the dash display) if temps are below freezing to preheat their batteries before charging.

My Ariya has a preheat command hidden 3 tiers deep in its menu, and the one time I had to use it (fortunately remembered this protocol and did a half hour preheat after my car sat out overnight in sub-freezing weather and I wanted to Level 3 charge that morning) I spent what seemed like forever just trying to find where the car's preheat command was located. Very frustrating.

My Leaf wouldn't have needed a preheating because it didn't have active battery management. It was a passive system, so the minute you started driving the battery would move into some level of warmth.

 

[Rome]

I'm envious I have not bought anything new in years. Rivian looks cool. R1T model is $75K.

 

[Readytoride]

I'm envious I have not bought anything new in years. Rivian looks cool. R1T model is $75K.

Yeah, it was pricy. Luckily we got the federal tax credit thanks to my pre-order in 2018. We also got the truck at the pre-price hike. My F250 diesel crew cab (which I purchased new in 2010 for $50,000) was 13 years old so depreciation had taken a toll and it was developing age related problems which made me feel unsafe driving it any distance away from home. I was dumping $$ into the F250 to keep it road worthy, but still felt nervous trusting my aging non-mechanical self to an aging machine. I'd been saving up for years to buy the Rivian, and cashed out some securities as well when I decided I'd waited long enough. Already sold the big horse trailer that the F250 towed, so that was one worry gone to a happy new owner.

I'm glad I made the move. So many really nice features in that truck. Silent, powerful, blindingly fast, and eye catching. Tows our flatbed fully loaded like it isn't even there. Quad motors (one on each wheel for true 4 wheel drive) and now a new "Snow Mode" feature in the latest software update (over the air) which I used yesterday. It was AWESOME!! I still have to discover more of the truck's capabilities. It just packs a lot of info on those screens.

I feel safe and very comfortable in the Rivian. No more toxic fuels or emissions ever again. Honestly, this will probably be the last truck I'll ever have.

I will admit I'm becoming best friends with Alexa in my Rivian. I like being able to ask her to do things for me - like turn on or off the radio and set it to a particular station, open or close the charge port door, navagation queries, or answer wikipedia type questions for obscure facts when hubby and I are having a discussion and need some relevant info. She's quite handy, always polite, and very chipper and friendly. A nice companion along for the drive.

 

[Chargeride]

I watched the cyber truck failing to climb some pretty simple trails that a road going Subaru was managing.
The tester says it's because the diff locks were not working and greyed out in the menus.
I'm reading it only has a front diff.
Electronic traction control has been around for decades, why does it need a mechanical difflock.

Anyway it was hopeless, with little axle articulation and it was t even a difficult trail.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

There's a video out there of a CT trying to get up a slight incline in a driveway with about 5" of snow, and it couldn't make it. It snowed here last week. I took my truck out, with it's worn tires and went up and down several farm lanes that hadn't been touched, all 4" or more deep, in 2WD and had no problem. I did not try it with TC turned off, as I saw no point in doing so. I did put it in 4WD because I had to go several miles up a completely covered road, I took my time, navigated the curves and made it in an out without a bit of slipping or spinning. I had ABS kick in once. I'm betting the issue with the CT was someone that has little experience in driving in snow, and just figured the truck would have no problem. His excuse was that any truck would have the same problem because the fanbois can't say anything bad about their Tesla.

 

[Readytoride]

A 7000# Rivian assumed curb weight is 800# heavier than my fullsize sierra. I can pull a 3800# trailer 300+ miles on a full tank. Is there any EV truck that can come close to that? Keep in mind, that my truck powers the trailer as I'm pulling it, which has zero effect on range.

Yeah. The Maxpack Rivian. 400+ mile range. Rated to tow 11,000 pounds.

Real life for an owner who posted his experience has shown the MaxPack to have a range of 280 in freezing weather and hills pulling 11,000 pounds. A smaller lighter trailer, like your 3,800 pound trailer, means the Maxpack may well be up into the 300 mileage range if the environment is agreeable. It appears a number of regular electric SUVs can also tow up to 4,000lbs. Seems like there are more and more choices popping up out there on the market for towing.

From what I've gleaned off the net, your Sierra gets what...14mpg? My F250 got a whopping 13mpg for me. At diesel prices today - $3.99/gallon to fill that truck's 38 gallon tank - I'd have to spend $152. And I couldn't refuel using my solar or plug into anyone's dryer or stove outlet like I can with my electric truck.

I remember being sick to my stomach watching a diesel fuel dispenser's dollar count rise and rise and rise as I stood at a distance from this cruddy pump locked on the F250 truck's fuel intake, spewing out noxious fumes as that diesel poured into the tanks. Even thinking back to it now it makes me ill. The cost of running that vehicle was one of the most compelling reasons for me to leave the diesel truck at home unless I had no other choice.

 

[Readytoride]

Jay Leno liked the cyber truck. Check out his YouTube video on his drive in the truck. I was surprised because I thought the cyber truck was a joke,

 

[EMGX]

Yeah. The Maxpack Rivian. 400+ mile range. Rated to tow 11,000 pounds.

Real life for an owner who posted his experience has shown the MaxPack to have a range of 280 in freezing weather and hills pulling 11,000 pounds. A smaller lighter trailer, like your 3,800 pound trailer, means the Maxpack may well be up into the 300 mileage range if the environment is agreeable. It appears a number of regular electric SUVs can also tow up to 4,000lbs. Seems like there are more and more choices popping up out there on the market for towing.

From what I've gleaned off the net, your Sierra gets what...14mpg? My F250 got a whopping 13mpg for me. At diesel prices today - $3.99/gallon to fill that truck's 38 gallon tank - I'd have to spend $152. And I couldn't refuel using my solar or plug into anyone's dryer or stove outlet like I can with my electric truck.

I remember being sick to my stomach watching a diesel fuel dispenser's dollar count rise and rise and rise as I stood at a distance from this cruddy pump locked on the F250 truck's fuel intake, spewing out noxious fumes as that diesel poured into the tanks. Even thinking back to it now it makes me ill. The cost of running that vehicle was one of the most compelling reasons for me to leave the diesel truck at home unless I had no other choice.

then you got a bad superduty. My F350 crew cab diesel gets a reliable 17-18mpg, I only saw 13mpg once when my wife was driving across western states with a popup camper on the back and she was driving 90-95mph. I've gone over 500 miles on a single 29 gallon tank with range to spare, never taken over 5 minutes to fuel up, never had to wait in line more than a few minutes for fuel, never had to plan my route based on fuel availability even in more remote areas, never had to ask Alexa how to operate my vehicle. It has over 250,000 miles on it and I'd trust it to take cross country on a moments notice. Very little maintenance required other than attention to oil and coolant and usual wear items. Towed with it, carried over 3500# of yard materials in the bed, pulled a few tree stumps, driven forest service roads that left other vehicles with body parts strewn on the "road". You seem like a sensitive person who likes her toys, that's fine and I respect that but like Jedidiah I view my vehicles as tools to do the job at hand as reasonably well and economically as possible. No EV comes even remotely close.

 

[Roamers]

then you got a bad superduty. My F350 crew cab diesel gets a reliable 17-18mpg

Perhaps you have diesel and Ready has gasoline model. I was pretty happy with 13 mpg when I had a 250 many moons ago.

 

[PatriciaK]

then you got a bad superduty. My F350 crew cab diesel gets a reliable 17-18mpg, I only saw 13mpg once when my wife was driving across western states with a popup camper on the back and she was driving 90-95mph. I've gone over 500 miles on a single 29 gallon tank with range to spare, never taken over 5 minutes to fuel up, never had to wait in line more than a few minutes for fuel, never had to plan my route based on fuel availability even in more remote areas, never had to ask Alexa how to operate my vehicle. It has over 250,000 miles on it and I'd trust it to take cross country on a moments notice. Very little maintenance required other than attention to oil and coolant and usual wear items. Towed with it, carried over 3500# of yard materials in the bed, pulled a few tree stumps, driven forest service roads that left other vehicles with body parts strewn on the "road". You seem like a sensitive person who likes her toys, that's fine and I respect that but like Jedidiah I view my vehicles as tools to do the job at hand as reasonably well and economically as possible. No EV comes even remotely close.

Not sure what makes her sound like a "sensitive person who likes her toys"... From where I sit, as someone who's done a lot of research over the past year, she sounds like someone who has her facts straight and made a choice that works for her, is better for the environment (yes, even with the battery production angle included), and much less expensive to run and maintain.

It's the die hard ICE folks who sound "sensitive" to me . And, yes, I do understand that, at present, there are situations where the switch to electric is not practical or feasible. But, today's EVs and EV infrastructure are quickly evolving, and most of the issues cited as obstacles now will be gone within the next few years.

 

[PatriciaK]

My Rivian went in for service and their service center set me up (gratus) with Enterprise. I had only specified I wanted an EV, not any particular brand. That's how I got the Kona.

Pic as it sat in my garage, charging, after the drive home. The charge port is in front on the driver side - you can see it open in this photo. Even though the car supplied its own Level 2 charger, I didn't need it since I have my own.
View attachment 170130

If you go this route (renting the car for a day), may I suggest you first watch a few youtube videos about the car. The videos are informative and can probably give you as good as, if not better, overview than any dealership salesman.

It is a cute little EV. I was impressed and enjoyed driving it. If I had a negative it would be the seats. They weren't my comfort level. Then again, I thought the Model Y seats were uncomfortable as well. And my Toyota Prius Touring, even though designed as a long distance car, had seats that became uncomfortable in a short time. Main reason I bought the Ariya was for the amazingly comfortable seats. Second was the range. The Rivian also has brilliantly comfortable seats.

Thanks! Been watching lots and lots of YouTube - now just need to get the physical vehicle in my hands on the road to see if it's a fit for me.

The advertised range is fine for us

. We're old, and about the only time we would exceed it would be our drive from NC to Ohio and back twice a year to visit family. Plug Share app shows a number of charging stations along the route, and we would not need to charge back to 100% to complete the trip. Fifty would be more than adequate.

It also has sufficient towing capacity to mount a bike rack and two ebikes with no problem, so I've heard - I would, if course, verify .

 

[EMGX]

If you are referring to me, I'm not a diehard ICE person. It's that EVs aren't close to providing the capability, flexibility and overall economy that ICE currently offers - recent moves by Hertz to downsize its EV fleet, reliability studies such as Consumer Reports and others objectively address the shortcomings. EV fans often site technologies and infrastructure that may or may not be available in the future but aren't available now as well as preferences for high acceleration, driving fun etc that don't contribute in a positive fashion to environmental stewardship or economic issues. Then when faced with objective shortcomings seem to often pivot their arguments. There is much more to expenses than the price of fuel including purchase price, depreciation, insurance costs, time value of money and more. And yes, she does seem sensitive and likes her technology "toys" based on her posts, including the one I quoted.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

One of my issues with EV's is the secondary market. It's going to be virtually non-existent. I don't buy new cars, I have no desire to take out a loan on something that loses so much value in such a short time. Leasing is out of the question because I do not want to be limited to miles or pay more at the end of the lease. I like buying used cars in decent shape, fixing as what they need, I do most of the work myself. I don't expect any used car to have no problems and accept that they all need some work. Buying a used EV would be a disaster if it need a new battery. Sure a used ICE might need a new engine, but that's far less than what I've seen for costs for a new battery. Plus of many cars I've owned, I've never needed such a major repair. My dead suburban went to the scrapyard in the sky with 227K miles on it, and it still had a lot to go. When I got it I put less than $600 into it for actual repairs plus a new set of tires, and it was a 1999. I do miss the days of driving to the scrapyard and finding a car like mine and getting the parts I need.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

I'm envious I have not bought anything new in years. Rivian looks cool. R1T model is $75K.

Rome, I think I fixed your Avatar. See if it fits.

 

[Readytoride]

Thanks! Been watching lots and lots of YouTube - now just need to get the physical vehicle in my hands on the road to see if it's a fit for me.

The advertised range is fine for us

. We're old, and about the only time we would exceed it would be our drive from NC to Ohio and back twice a year to visit family. Plug Share app shows a number of charging stations along the route, and we would not need to charge back to 100% to complete the trip. Fifty would be more than adequate.

It also has sufficient towing capacity to mount a bike rack and two ebikes with no problem, so I've heard - I would, if course, verify .

I think you will really like it. It had enough traditional buttons and knobs to make any older driver (I'm in that camp, too!) feel comfortable right away. The EV tech is nice, understated, and easy to understand. The car is a compact SUV without feeling cramped, has a decent amount of room in the back. I kept saying "I really like this car!" to my husband all the way home (an hour away).

I believe the purchase of a Kona also comes with free Electrify America fast charging for 3(?) years. Plus this year the Tesla superchargers will be opening to certain manufacturers, like Hyundai. Which means you'll soon have tons of charging options on your trips.

Let us know if you get the chance to try one out!

 

[Taylor57]

I think you will really like it. It had enough traditional buttons and knobs to make any older driver (I'm in that camp, too!) feel comfortable right away. The EV tech is nice, understated, and easy to understand. The car is a compact a SUV without feeling cramped, has a decent amount of room in the back. I kept saying "I really like this car!" to my husband all the way home (an hour away).

I believe the purchase of a Kona also comes with free Electrify America fast charging for 3(?) years. Plus this year the Tesla superchargers will be opening to certain manufacturers, like Hyundai. Which means you'll have a tons of charging options on your trips.

Let us know if you get the chance to try one out!

I have a 2022 Kona EV and it is great for around town and 2 adults. The back would be fine for 2 kids (up to 5'6" or so) but 2 normal sized adults in the back would be cramped for any distance driving. If I didnt need the 7500 tax credit at the time, I probably wouldn't have bought it. I got rid of my out of warranty Porsche Macan S that was such a nice car to drive...