Better start shopping
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/27/business/summer-gasoline-shortage/index.html
Seriously though, plugging in every night and driving every day with no worry about refueling is pretty damn effortless.
And If it’s “fuss free” you’re after, say goodbye to oil changes, tune ups, and radiator maintenance.
I like the idea of electric vehicles, but it’s 115 miles to the office (soon to be more), and 115 miles back home (soon to be more). Plus errands I might run at lunchtime. The last I’d heard, EVs had a range of about 200 miles. That’s not enough. Just the other day I happened to notice Teslas will have 500 mile ranges soon, and that they claim 400 miles now. That’s actually useful.
Will I get one? Unlikely. ROI isn’t great. If I could afford a Tesla, I’d buy an '80s to '90s Porsche 911.
Yeah, the current generation of EVs has several that are near or above 300 mi in range - the Teslas Y, S, and 3, the Mustang Mach-E, and the VW ID4, for example. And you’re driving enough that the savings on fuel and maintenance could easily get the TCO of the EVs down to around the same range as an ICEV, unless you tend to buy older, used cars.
A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle might work for you. Range for those long trips to the office, while electric only around town.
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool internal combustion fanatic. Cars, motorcycles, airplanes, you name it. Until recently, in my 30+ years as a vehicle owning adult, I’d never owned a car with a backseat, a car with an automatic transmission, or for most of that time, a car with a fixed top. The smell of race fuel at Laguna Seca is something I’d like made into a candle or an air freshener spray.
All that said, now that I’ve got a Chevy Bolt, a car way down the performance ladder from what I’m used to, I do not want to have anything other than an electric car as my daily driver. It is so much more pleasant to drive in anything other than a hard-core time attack mode that I won’t go back. Electrical appliance indeed.
I love fast cars. I’ve owned a '67 Camaro with a custom 327 making over 400hp, three Datsun 240-Z’s, one with a tricked out engine that was crazy fast, a Mustang, and a Saab clone of the Subaru WRX. I say that to establish my bona fides as a car guy.
My next car, when I buy one, will almost certainky be electric. Because if you like engineering, electric cars are just superior in almost every way.
Think of the hassle we go to for making gas engines usable. They don’t make horsepower and torque down low, so we have to mate them to transmissions, clutches, torque converters, etc. All these parts wear and break. And to get reasonable acceleration from a start we have to make them large, which means they are loafing inefficiently at cruise. To solve the problem of low end vs high end power and torque we add turbochargers which create lag and also add stress to the engine, or we make giant engines that perform inefficiently at low throttle settings.
Then you have oil changes, filter changes, plug changes, transmission fluid changes, and lots of other wear items that have to be inspected and maintained.
Compare that to electric. You have a battery, a couple of electric motors, and some electronics. The electric motors make maximum torque off the line which is what you want, eliminating the need for transmissions and transfer cases. Regenerative braking means fewer brake pad changes. There is no engine oil, plugs or filters to worry about. It’s a simpler machine overall. It also packages better without a transmission tunnel or giant engine, creating more interior space in the same size vehicle.
For sporty driving, having most of the weight of an electric car so low in the chassis is a huge benefit, as is the gobs of torque you get off the line. With a lower center of gravity it’s also easier to control body roll without stiff springs, giving you both a better ride and better handling than an equivalent gas powered car.
The only things against electric cars are price, range and charge time. I thought electric cars were terrible at first, given ranges around 100 miles and charge times of 8 hours or more. They just weren’t usable. But that’s no longer true. The combination of 300-400 mile ranges and level 2 and 3 charging makes all the difference. And while electric cars are more expensive up front, the low cost of charging coupled with lower maintenance costs should make up the difference.
A Tesla model 3 250kW charger will charge the car at a rate equivalent to 1000 miles per hour. In other words, it will fill the car from ‘empty’ in maybe 15-20 minutes. Even a level 2 150kW charger will completely charge a Tesla battery in about half an hour. Other EVs are catching up fast.
I’d give up oil changes and stopping at gas stations once a week in exchange for having to sit at a charging station for an extra 15 minutes on the occasional long trip.
Think of it this way: If you drove a Tesla model 3 to work, you’d still have maybe 150 miles of range left once you got there. You could easily drive home, then if you have a 240V 30A charger You could plug in for an hour and then drive around town for 50 miles. Then home and plug in overnight, and you’re full and ready to go back to work in the morning.
If you have extra driving to do for work, just stop at a supercharger first, and you would be fully topped up in less than 10 minutes. Hardly longer than stopping at a gas station.
I’m not sure I’m ready to take 1000 mile trips in an electric car, especially to places that may not have a great charging infrastructure, but for your use case I don’t see the problem.
This isn’t quite true–Teslas that support 250 kW charging can’t sustain that across the whole charge range. As you approach 100%, the charge rate decreases. But what they can do is charge from 10% to 60% in around 10 minutes.
Since the charge rate is highest at low charge levels, the best strategy is to wait as long as you can, and only charge to the level that you need. If you have a 300-mile car and a 400 mile trip, then make a stop at 280 mi, put 140 miles worth in it, and finish your trip. Then charge back up to 80-90% at home.
How is going to a gas station more convenient than recharging an EV at home, while you sleep?
Can he buy Slim Jim’s at home though? Case closed!
It’s not too late to cancel your order and buy a Tesla. You’ll end up with a quicker car, and more money in your bank account.
I respect the fact that EVs are cars for those who love to drive, who enjoy the punch off the line … I will however readily admit: I personally am looking for an appliance. I don’t race. I drive mindlessly listening to a podcast on automatic to and from work gradually accelerating and without sudden stops. A reliable appliance that does its job without me having to think about it? Sounds good to me.
Any chance that you could plug in at work? Even 110v over eight hours would get you close to full, right?
Yeah, if my work didn’t have EV chargers (right up next to the building, nice parking spots for electrics), I’d run an extension cord out the office window, around the building, over the hedge and out to where my car was parked. One 300-footer should do…
These points and similar ones made by others are pretty unassailable. Except in one way: I drive a MB with a hand built AMG V8. I’m just very fond of the way it sounds when I start it and the drama of how it performs when it’s pushed. The smell of the hot engine and exhaust is very satisfying. The fact that I don’t have to include plans for recharging when I take a longer trip is convenient but I don’t take long car trips anymore because if it involves anything longer than 8 hours of driving, I’d rather fly. Anyway, there’s nothing I want to see within 8 hours of home so any trip worth taking is invariably going to include plane tickets.
So in every way, an electric driving appliance makes much more sense than my ICE car. But I do love my AMG for all the sentimental reasons that dyed in the wool car folks love their ICE cars. I’m reluctant to give it up and there is no room (literally) in my life for another car. Especially one that needs charging. Also, I don’t drive enough miles to justify more cars. Even in normal times, I typically drive well under 5K miles a year. And I’m not parking the AMG outside either. I think an EV is unavoidable in the future, but I’m going to put it off as long as I can.
I get this (sort of). I was never that kind of car guy, but I think I understand what you’re saying. Like the people who want to shift their own gears. For me, I like the quiet, the lack of exhaust, and the complete absence of drama as I feel the extreme power of an electric engine accelerate. As my brother said about his Tesla, “It’s like driving a rocket ship.”
I’m not averse to electric vehicles or hybrids, but right now nobody makes one that fits the niche that my vehicles fall in, which is a midsized pickup.
We use it enough on doing stuff like furniture moving, landscaping supplies, etc… that having a pickup is very convenient, but we don’t do a lot of heavy hauling or towing, so we don’t need the payload capacity of the full-size pickups either. I do prefer a larger bed than that tiny nonsense that so many modern ones have like the Explorer Sport Trac or that Hummer EV upthread.
Also, the price difference is HIGH right now; EVs are often some of the more expensive vehicles in their segments- I don’t want to pay an extra (say…) $20,000 for the privilege of having an electric vehicle.
So until I can get one much like what I have, or I’m compelled to by legislation, I’m probably going to stick with regular vehicles for the foreseeable future.
I reluctantly gave up a manual just a couple of years ago. It was my daily driver. The AMG has paddle shifters, but they are a bit unnecessary, IMO.
I’ve never heard of a “quiet” rocket ship. 
Also, it’s completely my issue, but the very sight of a Tesla repulses me. I’d have almost any other EV rather than a Tesla.
In space, no one can hear you scream.
I think driving an EV is a lot like driving a car with a manual transmission, except 1st gear has enough legs that there’s no reason to ever shift into 2nd.
Wow, different strokes… I grew up designing cars, and I think the Tesla 3 is beautiful. It’s the opposite of the “Angry Origami” of the Civic/Prius/etc. that aren’t fast or exciting but are trying so hard to look the part.
PS, my electric plans are to buy an old VW beetle with a blown engine, and drop an electric motor in there… (did I say plans? I meant daydreams, but I am going to talk to my car guy about that…)