This is a thread for discussion of electric cars. Please discuss electric car companies elsewhere.
I bought a Chevy Bolt in the spring of 2017 and have been driving it exclusively. I’m not really a car-person, but I love this car. I’m happy to answer any questions I can about it.
I’m curious about other electric cars. Who else owns one? Tell me about it.
I’ve mentioned here before that I’ve had a Chevy Volt for about four years. I use about 50 gallons of gas per year, for 12,000 miles on average. Also happy to answer any questions.
I’ve had an i3 for about a year and I really like most of it. The one thing I go back and forth on are the suicide doors. They are handy in some ways, but if you’re in a crowded parking lot… not so much. It’s not a deal killer, but not ideal either.
I should add that I’m a low mileage driver (maybe 7k a year) so the range limitation on the i3 has not been a problem at all for 98% of my driving.
Procrustus, are you leasing or did you buy the Volt? One of my neighbors has a Volt, but its lease is almost up. They’re looking at buying a Bolt. What’s the longest trip you’ve made with yours? Is an all-electric a possibility for you?
My spouse has a Lexus RX450h that we use for long-range family trips. It’s more about the cargo capacity rather than the range, though. My daily commute is 60-75 miles, depending on the situation. I wouldn’t be comfortable with an EV with less than a 200-mile range. You have to allow for running the air conditioner and lifetime battery degradation.
I prefer the smaller car for commuting. It really makes it easier to get through traffic.
My wife’s daily commute is about five miles each way, so we decided that a Nissan Leaf (all-electric) would work for her. She loves it. Our other car is a standard ICE (Lexus ES350). We bought the 2013 Leaf more than a year ago, and are quite happy with it. Its range is limited, nominally 72 miles, although practically it is somewhat below that, perhaps about 60. However, for our purposes this hasn’t been an issue. When we have to go somewhere that is more than about 20 miles away, we use the Lexus.
I looked into getting a fast charger, but since we always have overnight to charge, there didn’t seem to be much point to spending about $1,000 for the ability to charge in three hours instead of eight, and the battery is almost never down below 50% anyway. So it just plugs into the regular 120V outlet in the garage. We have solar panels on the roof, so we like to think we charge it for free.
When we first got the Leaf, I looked up all the ChargePoint and other charging stations in the area, but we have used external charging exactly once in the 15 months we’ve owned the car. And that wasn’t even because we had to, but because there was a free charging station at the casino where we were having dinner. Many casinos have free EV charging, but it’s often the case that all the stations are in use.
If we move away from Nevada, we will probably sell the Leaf, and depending on our new circumstances would consider another electric car; a Leaf might suit if my wife’s commute is as short as it is now, and if all shops and other daily driving locations are as close as they are here. But more EV options will probably be available then, and other electric cars might be more suitable.
I purchased it. The longest trip was probably 150 miles. Maybe a little more. My wife as Prius, so we take that on longer trips.
I’m ready for an all electric, but the Volt is working fine and it’s hard to justify a new car right now. Next one will certainly be all electric. 200 mile range seems about right for the minimum. I test drove a Bolt, and to me it didn’t feel as “high end” as the Volt. More utilitarian. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’d like a Tesla Model X. We’ll see…
I’ve had a BMW i3 for about 9 months. It was an ex-demonstrator with just over 600 miles on it. It took the dealer some time to track down the one I wanted but I saved about £10K over the price of a new one. I work from home so I’m a very low mileage driver, I’ve only put about 600 miles on it. During the spring and summer months I was getting nearly the advertised 80 mile range but now that the weather has turned cold it’s more like 50 or 60. Installing a home fast charger would cost about £250 since the government subsidizes it but I’ve been making due with the slow changer.
How is maintenance on the Volt? (That’s the gas generator one, right?)
One of my reasons for wanting to get an all electric is to get away from the maintenance associated with a gas engine. Keeping perspective, I know paying somebody $70 to do an oil change 1-2 times per year is not that big of a deal, but I’m not retired, so I have to factor in work schedules, child care, drop-off, pick-up, etc. It ends up being a day of inconvenience for everybody involved.
I think I’ve changed the oil once, and rotated the tires. There were a few recalls to fix some minor bugs, but overall, it’s been as low maintenance as promised.
I have a late 1940s Marketeer.
There was a thriving market for such “electric shoppers” in southern California from the mid 1940s until around 1960. One of their selling points was that they did not require driving licenses. They were marketed towards older people in small towns, Catalina Island was full of them.
Mine uses a 24 volt system and goes 20 mph and has a range of 30 miles.
In 1951 Marketeer redesigned the vehicle to drive better on golf courses, and that began the golf cart industry. Westinghouse ended up owning Marketeer and in 1968 came out with a more conventional body design with higher speeds and extended range. About 400 were manufactured, most going to local electric companies as promotional demonstrators. But federal safety laws enacted at that time killed the lightweight cars.
https://hiveminer.com/Tags/marketeer,westinghouse/Recent
So - the 1940s was the first revival of electric cars after the early 1900s. The Marketeer factory (and others like the Autoette) was huge. Many thousands of these vehicles were sold. In one year they were estimated at 3000 strong in the Long Beach area. The venerable Tom McCahill test drove a Motorette after seeing “one down every street” in the Miami area, although that was a small gasoline version of these cars. Today, they are all long forgotten, only a handful remain with collectors.
Dennis
Another post, another question. I am writing this in all earnestness. I do not mean this as bashing some vehicles or *your *decision on what is the best vehicle. I’m trying to figure out the best vehicle for me, based on my desires.
It’s my understanding that the senate tax bill keeps the $7500 electric rebate, but the house version gets rid of it. At this point, nobody can predict what the reconciled bill will do. If it goes away on December 31, 2017, I clearly won’t have taken delivery of a Model 3 by then. If it is going away, should I run out and buy a Volt or Bolt? Any other plugin hybrids?
I value all electric over plugin hybrid, and I value something that is sporty over luxury or economy oriented. I think of the non-Tesla (non-hypercar) electrics and plugin hybrids as being economy cars, which to me means that they’re designed for efficiency and utility over being fun. That doesn’t mean they aren’t well appointed, or pleasant to be in, just a different set of values went into the design.
How fun are the current crop of plugin hybrids? I know, any [rental] car can be fun if you take it to an empty parking lot and hoon it around, but that doesn’t mean you want to drive it on a twisty mountain road.
It has to be something that I could pretty much walk into a dealership and drive off the lot, so probably not a Clarity.
I’m serious about this. The Model 3 is really ideal to me, in my mind, as an all electric sport(s/y) sedan with a 200 mile range, but that doesn’t mean other options might not also work. $7500 buys a lot of compromise, but how much?
My concern is that the compromise backfires. I get something economy oriented now, get my rebate, am so bored with the car that after two years I sell it, take a hit because the rebate is already priced into the value, and then go out and buy a Model 3.1, C-class AMG elektrisch, or whatever is good then.
Or maybe this is what I should do? Hybrids have been around for 20 years, get a hybrid now, let the all electric develop for another 2-3 years, maybe let a competitor for Tesla show up in the up-market categories, and get one then?
Sorry for the long rambling post. I’m trying to sort all of this out in my head. The easiest thing is to wait for Elon to send me a DM and say my Model 3 is ready, then I’ll go get it, pay whatever I need, and try to convince him that he really wants a 16 year old VW with 130k+ miles.
How important is 4 seats? A little looking around might find you a Honda CR-Z which, while a hybrid, definitely would fill in the sporty aspect while still being affordable until your Model 3 is ready.
Have you driven a Bolt or Volt yet? I think if you knew if you liked those cars, that would greatly simplify the decision making process.
Personally, I test drove the Volt and there was a lot I liked about it, but two things that bothered me. The back seat headroom is kind of strange (hard to explain, but it’s sort of like a notch in the hatchback for tall people’s heads) and I really wasn’t a fan of the interior color schemes. But it drove great and there was a lot of things to like.
Personally, if I were in the market for a new car in the next year or so, and I had a choice between buying a car soon (even if it wasn’t perfect) with the $7,500 tax credit, or waiting for something else to come out later (no matter what brand it was) that I haven’t even driven and would not get a $7,500 credit, I would probably go with the bird in the hand.
echoreply, I concur with Ravenman. Go test drive a Volt and Bolt. A Volt is bigger and more luxury-oriented. The Bolt is smaller and more economy-oriented. But the Bolt is more peppy. There’s no substitute for trying the cars, especially if you’re not familiar with how electric cars feel.
Also note that the federal $7500 rebate will end separately for each car manufacturer after they produce a certain number of vehicles. Tesla will hit the limit before the others. I don’t know if those currently in the queue are before or after that limit.
My wife and I got a Bolt in August, and I love it too. I love the quiet, the gizmos like the bird’s eye view camera when you’re parking, and the instant torque. Very cool car. It’s not a sports car, but it’s the quickest car I’ve ever driven (note: that is not saying a lot, but still). And the seats are much more comfortable than they would appear, given how thin the padding is.
My daily drive is 15 miles each way. And we drive it a lot on the weekends when we’re taking the kids around. On warm days, my estimated range on a charge (according to the dash display) is around 230 miles. On cold days it can dip significantly. When we had a cold snap here a couple weeks ago, I’d come out in the morning to see the Bolt telling me it could go 185 miles on a charge. That’s still more than enough for any driving we’d do with it in a day, but I was a little surprised at the difference. If my wife or I needs to drive long distance, we just take the Prius.
It took me a while to get used to the one-pedal driving, but now I really like it. You lift off the gas*, and the car will come to a nearly complete stop without you ever touching the brake.
I found the Volt cramped in the back seat, due to the way the roof dives down in back. The Bolt seems much more spacious in the back when we’re getting our kids in and out. And the perfectly flat floorboard of the Bolt makes it feel pretty big for a small vehicle.
*Yeah, I know.
Yes, I need something that will baby, or rather “kid.”
Yes, this is the obvious thing to do. It’s much easier to stay home and watch some videos, or post from work… It looks like the nearest Chevy dealer has four Bolts in stock.
My concern isn’t Tesla hitting the limit, as I should be early enough on the Model 3 list to get in. My concern is the new tax bill dropping the subsidy completely.
A $12,500 discount (state, too) is the only way I can afford to pay cash for a $45,000 car. I totally understand the sunk cost fallacy, but after 1.5 years of expecting and planning for a Model 3, it is quite a mental shift to think of something else.
I also wonder what the loss of subsidy will do to the used market. Leafs (Leaves?) and Volts have been cheap used because the discount the original purchaser received has been priced in—you can’t buy a car with a $7500 rebate, then expect to sell it in a year for a price that doesn’t take it into account. If this holds up, then I would be willing to wait 6 months for used Bolts to hit the market, and cross shop them to a subsidy-free Model 3.
Thanks for letting me think outloud at you all. My wife, the obvious one to talk this over with, doesn’t care. “Do we need a new car today?” “No, but soon,” “Can we afford it without the $7500?” “Yeah, but $7500, and probably a loan.” “I don’t care, then…” The truth is, of course, she does care, she just doesn’t want to discuss it around in circles. “Those are the options, we think we’ll like the Model 3 best, so that’s what we’ll do, why talk about it.”
Not to turn this to Tesla specifically, but I wouldn’t totally count on getting the full $7,500 if the tax credit continues. Tesla appears to be prioritizing deliveries to California, previous Tesla owners, those who want upgrades, and so on, not to mention the ramp-up isn’t exactly clear. IMHO, for those who put in their reservations, it might end up being a close call as to whether your car will be delivered before the phase-down of the tax credit starts probably late summer 2018.
Another Volt owner, going on two years. Happy to answer questions.
I’m not really shopping for a car at the moment, but I really, really like the idea of an all-electric, so I confess to curiosity.
I currently drive a Kia Soul and really like its high ride, its spaciousness-for-its-small-size and ease of getting in and out of. (I’m both quite tall and kind of heavy, and it’s the first car that I haven’t had to fold myself in and out of.) And so I learn that, to my astonishment, Kia has an all-electric model of Soul. Unlike most electric cars it wasn’t designed from the ground up as an electric; they took the standard model and swapped the guts out, along with a few other changes. Honestly it all sounds a little slapdash to me.
Does anybody know about these things? Are they any good, as EVs go? Or as vehicles go?
Yeah, I have to consider that, too. My expected delivery slipped from February-April to Early 2018, whatever that means. It slipped for everybody, so I didn’t lose my place in line. Assuming it doesn’t slip again, I’m realistically expecting May or June.
It gets more complicated if Tesla looks to sell out of the rebate, in that if people who want the standard range won’t get a rebate, but those who want extended range will, then I’ll probably switch to that. Extended range isn’t worth $9000 to me, but $1500 seems fair. Of course the cars they’re delivering now are extended range premium for $14,000 extra. It’s tough to decide if that’s worth $6500 to me, because there’s nothing in the premium package I care about.