# What are your electric vehicle plans? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614 "2020-10-22T18:45:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 58
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1166 "2023-10-27T15:14:59Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I have had no maintenance costs yet for either EV (2019 and 2020 models). Just last week I had to refill the wiper fluid on my 2021 EV. The needs are endless! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1167 "2023-10-27T15:15:50Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Just last week I had to refill the wiper fluid on my 2021 EV Got me. I’ve done that. And I needed a new tire once. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1168 "2023-10-27T15:20:07Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > As it is, I pay $0.04 to $0.05 per mile in electricity costs. I have had no maintenance costs yet for either EV (2019 and 2020 models). After electricity, tires are the next largest cost. I budget $0.01 per mile for tires. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1169 "2023-10-27T15:22:57Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > How much regeneration is happening when you are cruising for 3 hours at 70+mph? i.e. the use case that I am concerned with. If I set the e-pedal which maximises regeneration then: a fair bit? Admittedly I have never, not even travelling very early or very late, not even on the M6 between Lancaster and Lockerbie, cruised at 70+mph for 3 hours. With the e-pedal on even easing off the accelerator will cause some regeneration and there is always, even over 3 hours on the motorway, some level of braking to be done. (Worth noting that I don’t do 70+ on the motorway, I keep it between 65 and 70. A habit I got into when fuel prices shot up and I still had the diesel car, but which has a big effect on range in the EV. The time loss is negligible and it stops range from dropping noticeably, which certainly does happen at over 70.) > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Have you watched the video I linked to? It shows the sort of consumption that you can expect when using the car in that cruising mode. Regenerative braking doesn’t help much if at all. I did watch that video, and it does show what happens when you cruise for 10 miles on a closed track. That is not the same as actually driving on a motorway with other traffic. The closed track test is good and gives a better approximation of actual performance than manufacturer figures, but it is not in fact real world driving conditions. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Also, I don’t quite understand what you telling me about your consumption read-out. > Does the car say it is doing 3.3 m/kWh but is actually doing 4.2m/kWh? Which figure is it using to estimate range and how accurate is that? I don’t get these figures from the consumption read out. I get them from the app, which gives me a year to date total for miles driven, total kWh used in driving, and total kWh consumed in charging. Miles: 6345 Driving kWh: 1932 Charged kWh: 1527 Miles per driving kWh: 3.3 Miles per charged kWh: 4.2 If I want to do cost calculations, I have to use the charged kWh figure. Anyhow, with your driving needs I wouldn’t get an EV either. (Alhtough maybe in a couple of years) The point was just that if you’re doing those calculations, regenerated kWh are significant enough as a factor to be worth considering. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1170 "2023-10-27T15:26:16Z")
Once, in the Highlands, descending for over a mile down a windy road, the car regenerated so much energy the range actually went up. This will not happen often, but it is peculiarly pleasing to see. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1171 "2023-10-27T15:32:54Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > Once, in the Highlands, descending for over a mile down a windy road, the car regenerated so much energy the range actually went up. This will not happen often, but it is peculiarly pleasing to see.   Typical weekend ski trip for me uses 150 miles of charge to drive there, but only 50 miles to get back. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1172 "2023-10-27T15:38:51Z")
I live in the land of cheap energy ($0.082/kWH around the clock) so we are starting to seriously think about replacing our 2012 Subaru with an EV. We bought that car new and it now has about 105,000 miles (it is our only car - we don’t drive much) but I don’t want to buy another set of tires for it. That gives me about 20K miles to make a decision…oh wait - that’s over two years 🙂 We live in the Pacific NW so some sort of AWD will be what we are looking towards. I’d prefer pure EV and not a plug-in hybrid, but we are open to the latter if it fits our needs. Lots of research required. Our detached garage has a 240V outlet…not at home but I believe it is a 14-50. So, that should be all that is required for charging? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1173 "2023-10-27T15:43:04Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Our detached garage has a 240V outlet…not at home but I believe it is a 14-50. So, that should be all that is required for charging? That should be _plenty_. Shoot, I’ve had 2 EVs and have never used more than our good old standard wall outlet. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1174 "2023-10-27T19:58:40Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > We live in the Pacific NW so some sort of AWD will be what we are looking towards. I’d prefer pure EV and not a plug-in hybrid, but we are open to the latter if it fits our needs. Lots of research required. Please feel free to join [my AWD EV thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-ev-hybrid-plans-awd-edition/988126) and bring any research you do! ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1175 "2023-10-27T20:09:25Z")
That’s part of my research! I previously read through it once, but now that I’ve started digging into the different models a bit more, I need to reread. Thanks that that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1176 "2023-10-27T20:20:36Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Our detached garage has a 240V outlet…not at home but I believe it is a 14-50. So, that should be all that is required for charging? That means you won’t have to pay to pull 240V to the garage for level 2 charging, but what ultimately matters is the size of your electrical service, and what electrical devices are already on it. We have a 100A service, and we have an electric stove and dryer. We cannot install a level 2 charger without either upgrading our service ($15,000-$35,000), or installing an ‘energy miser’ for the car charger that will take it offline if the rest of the house load goes too high. How much of a charger you need depends on the vehicle. Something like Chevy Bolt or a Nissan Leaf with a small battery and high efficiency might be fine for you even on level -1 charging, but the newer, heavier, big battery vehicles really need a level 2 charger, and something like Ford Lightning would need 40-80A charging. If you are always charging at superchargers, it’ll cost almost as much as gas. For some vehicles and places, maybe more. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1177 "2023-10-28T15:26:16Z")
If I move so I can charge at home or if charging infrastructure massively increases, I’d like a small car with a low-range LFP battery. LFP seems to be just barely coming to market in the US so I don’t even think such a car is sold here. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1178 "2023-10-30T01:41:05Z")
House has a 200A service with the garage 100A sub-panel fed off it. Electric dryer but gas stove and furnace. I think we have plenty of capacity. Another reason I think EV makes sense for us. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1179 "2023-10-30T02:03:53Z")
Yup, that sounds perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1180 "2023-10-30T12:35:31Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > If I want to do cost calculations, I have to use the charged kWh figure. sure, as my reasons for deciding against an EV were both financial and practical my reasoning ran thus. Can I find an EV and an ICE that fit my space needs? Yes for both Do they both have the minimal equipment level I need? Yes for both What’s the initial outlay for each (I’m buying outright so that simplifies things) ICE - £22,500 EV - £39,400 So for that 17k to be recouped I need to have the EV being at least 2k a year cheaper to run over the 7-8 years that I’ll own it. **Fuel costs per year** EV - (even using your very optimistic 4.2m/kWh) - £1300 ICE - (using a realistic 50mpg) - £1850 **Insurance costs per year** EV- £1220 ICE -£350 **Servicing p/a** EV-£120 ICE-£244 **Road tax** EV-£0 ICE-£180 The upshot of that is that an EV would save me, very optimistically, £0 to run each year. More likely it’ll actually be more expensive because all the real-world runs I’ve seen suggest I’d be lucky to get 3.5m/kWh from a fully charged battery. And I still have the need to shell out £17k more up front (so that is 17k less in the bank earning interest over 8 years) and have to deal with the extra hassle of longer public charging times and infrastructure issues. Long winded I know but doing the calculations long-hand were the only way I could justify going one way or t’other. I’m not sure that people justifying their purchases purely on economic terms are always doing their homework. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1181 "2023-10-30T12:44:21Z")
Shit! You found an ICE that fits 50mpg at 70mph? I’ve never owned a car that came close to that. I guess they are getting better. What did you get? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1182 "2023-10-30T12:50:40Z")
It is a Skoda Octavia 1.5 tsi petrol. A boring car but very capable. And the mpg is excellent. It is still brand-new but on a 600 mile trip to Cornwall (mixed motorways and 50/60mph A-roads.) it averaged 58.1 mpg and just last week on a purely motorway journey to Stansted airport it averaged over 60mpg for the 200 mile return journey. My previous diesel Skoda was even better. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1183 "2023-10-30T13:07:40Z")
oh, interesting. Not a brand sold in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1184 "2023-10-30T13:13:46Z")
No it hasn’t made it over there but it is very popular in Europe. It used to be a bit of a joke brand but it is basically now a slightly more budget version of the VAG (VW-Audi group) platforms and is very well regarded. In terms of bang-for-buck it does very well and for someone like me who loves cars but just wants the one I own to be reliable, cheap and fit-for-purpose, it is ideal. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614/1185 "2023-10-30T13:52:27Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > > [@Stanislaus](#): > > > > Once, in the Highlands, descending for over a mile down a windy road, the car regenerated so much energy the range actually went up. This will not happen often, but it is peculiarly pleasing to see.   > > Typical weekend ski trip for me uses 150 miles of charge to drive there, but only 50 miles to get back. This past weekend I looked more carefully at the numbers. Going from San Bernardino to Big Bear is 30 miles across and 6000 ft up. Going there took 80 miles of charge. Coming back recharged the car 20 miles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-electric-vehicle-plans/923614.md?page=59)