bjack on 13/7/2019 at 05:01
I know this is a potentially dubious post, since we all live in different countries and not all electrics are available, but I’m interested in view points of everyone on electrics. I’m not debating the carbon footprint (electricity from coal) or rare Earth metal extraction issues. I’m just asking what, if any, opinions of electrics are out in TTLG land as cars in general at a face value level.... as in... range, value, performance, convenience, etc.
I’m sort of partial to getting a used Fiat 500E. It seems to have a decent battery life, unlike the Leaf (my opinion). I’ve been looking at used i3 BMWs with a range extender, but their cost is still pretty high. Even the little Smart EV is cheap and possibly as useful commuter.
My idea of an electric car would not be a long range vehicle, such as a Tesla. An 80 mile range would be just fine (I figure that would be about 130 Km). I don’t need storage space or passenger space. I just don’t want to pollute for my short commute trip whilst my cat has not warmed up and I am still in “rich” mode. It’s bad for the car, bad for the environment, and bad for my pocketbook. Plus, electricity is super cheap in my neck of the woods. We even have free charging stations.
So who has electric cars here? What are your favorites? Plusses and down sides?
Thanks for all replies.
mxleader on 13/7/2019 at 15:49
Until they can be fueled and serviced with the convenience and price of gas powered cars I hate them all.
Pyrian on 13/7/2019 at 18:36
Quote Posted by mxleader
Until they can be fueled and serviced with the convenience and price of gas powered cars I hate them all.
...Huh? You should be golden, then; they're less expensive to recharge and you can do it at home with the grid you've already (presumably) got access to.
mxleader on 13/7/2019 at 19:19
You can't easily fuel up while on long road trips, which I do a lot, and it's more expensive to buy and maintain one over a long period of time. If I were only commuting and running around town and leasing a car then maybe an electric car would make sense. Until then I'll leave an affordable carbon footprint. I also ride a bicycle a lot so for me there isn't much of an incentive to buy a 1:1 scale radio control car.
caffeinatedzombeh on 14/7/2019 at 23:12
We have an electric car at work we use for various short journeys and since I usually drive a TVR I've ended up borrowing it for a week or so a few times. We've had a leaf and currently have an i3.
The leaf was a car, a boring one. Nothing horrible about it nothing especially nice, it takes a while to get used to how the brake pedal works and to get the hang of driving it with any sort of economy and you have to leave a lot of space in front of you to slow down gently using just the motor but it's fine for 8 months of the year in this part of the world.
The newer ones may be better but with the old one you need to wrap up warm to drive it in the winter. Or not care if you get where you're going. The heater will literally halve your range :(
The i3 is a horrible piece of junk and I truly hate it. It's ugly, it handles terribly (to resolve the problems of lack of range if you're traveling at any speed they made it terrify you into slowing down) I can't recall how good/bad the heater is but the aircon will take 10% off your range by the time it's cooled the car down to not roasting you alive temperatures in the summer. If you like bmws and their nasty unworkable ui on the entertainment and navigation then you probably won't hate it as much as I do.
Oh and check the engine mounts, ours snapped and dropped the motor out the bottom. The bill before "um it's got 6000 miles on it stop taking the piss" discount was eye watering.
I bought a 1.2 fiat brava rather than ever borrow it again.
Jason Moyer on 15/7/2019 at 02:22
I don't own one (yet) because even here, within 15 miles of a major city, it's impossible to find charging stations anywhere. Having said that, I've watched tons of tests/reviews and the one I'd personally be leaning towards is the Hyundai Ioniq.
bjack on 15/7/2019 at 05:27
Quote Posted by caffeinatedzombeh
The i3 is a horrible piece of junk and I truly hate it. [/QUOTE
Thank you for this and also, I am sorry you have had to have such a bad experience with that car. One does not need that type of shite. And since you are in the UK, AC should be semi-moderately needed. Eating 10% of range to mildly cool down the car is not good. I’m in the Pacific NW and our weather is similar to the UK, give or take. Sort of like the west midlands with trees. Anyway, AC is not really an issue, but heat is. I’ve read that it is better to bundle up and run the seat heaters alone and not use the main heater. Or, if the feature is available, time the car to turn on heat an hour before you go to work, whilst it is plugged in.
My wife and I have friends that were big Leaf supporters, at least until the battery issues came home to roost. They now have a Tesla instead.
It would be wonderful if there could be a way to just “flip out” the battery pack for a new one that is already charged. You never really own the pack, you just rent it. However, since they cost so much, I do not see this ever becoming practical. Too much risk exposure for the vendor. Telsa was looking into this and other have too, but nothing yet. There must be too many roadblocks to let it be.
When it really comes down to it, I would be better off buying a cheap IC car and driving it the 1 mile to work (I mostly walk anyway), than to use an electric. I can get a decent 4 wheel drive little SUV for the snowy months for about $2500. Yes it will pollute, but it’s only wunning for many 5 minutes at a time. Far less than grilling some burgers.
I’m still open to the idea of an electric though. Maybe, if I last that long, they will be decent in 10 years. :)
heywood on 16/7/2019 at 12:35
What I want is a plug-in hybrid car (not SUV, not CUV) with enough electric range to get me to work and back, four doors, and enough rear seat room to comfortably fit my kids. My current commute is 32 miles each way, which is longer than the electric range of most plug-in hybrids. The option with the longest electric range is the Chevy Volt, which can go up to 53 miles. That's probably close enough for me: in summer my daily driving could be up to 80% electric, and in winter I might be able to go one way if I'm easy on the heater. But it has a severely cramped back seat. It's also expensive when optioned out, and the exterior and interior are pretty blah.
Regarding electric-only vehicles, I don't have any interest at this point. If I lived in a major city again, but for some reason I couldn't get around by public transit, then I could see having one. But given that I spend most of my miles on highways, and occasionally take longer trips, it doesn't make sense right now.
If I did want to go electric-only, I'd probably stick with one of the bigger automakers and stay away from Tesla. They seem to have quality and service problems. With a limited number of service centers and long wait times, it seems you need to have a backup vehicle if you're going to own a Tesla.
bjack on 17/7/2019 at 00:21
I hear you Haywood. I'm still waiting for an EV that can go 200 miles and does not cost $40K. For me, something that can do 80 to 100 miles would work and if it's cheap (under $10K), I might go for it. My commute to work is about a mile. I mostly walk it, but sometimes the weather is nasty and I want to drive. I hate that short trip. It's bad for the car. It's bad for the environment. It's bad for the pocketbook... An electric would be ideal. Maybe a silly electric smart for $6K might not be a bad idea. It will fit in the garage and I can still have my motorcycle. It's not a great car by any means, but as a glorified golf cart for very short distances, it makes some sense. I fully recognize that my purchase means I will never recover any to that money again on resale and may have to pay $$ to get rid of the thing. More research is need on my part. Anyway, thanks for the response. :)