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Yea, but you do know that you are a serious outlier, right? Most people drive far, far less. Hell, my 55 mile round trip puts me in the upper 25%, and it's one of the shorter commutes I have ever had.
I can't sacrifice my career and well-being by being dictated a lower driving range because the masses can get away with it.
Not saying you should, just saying the article is not aimed in your general direction at all.
LOL, I twisted my drive shaft off plowing once, shit happens when your vehicle works hard.
I live in Sunny California, so the biggest problem is pot holes and flats.
I like the concept of a plugin Hybrid, but can't justify the higher cost or the loss of trunk/interior space and lack of space for a spare tire.
Even the extra $2,700 I paid for a Camry hybrid will take me years to break even. Depending on the price of gas, I figured 5-10 years.
As for pure electrics, way to many compromises in size, storage, spare tire, charging time, etc.
A 100 mile range would easily cover 85% of my driving, what about the other 15%?
Owning an addition car would cost too much.
While you could rent a car for a planned long trip (still a hassle and an expense), what happens when you have an emergency and suddenly need to drive somewhere?
Only way I could see owning a current electric car is if I was retired.
I could see having a cheap electric to share with the wife (would be better than a golf cart) for short trips to the store, and an ICE for longer trips.
Has anyone here looked at the Chevy Bolt? Estimated 238 mile range and $30k after federal rebate.
Renting a car isn't just inconvenient, its a hassle and always opens you up to potential abuse, as frequent business travelers know all too well. Just the other week I was nearly conned by my carelessness for one of the most common scams. It was raining but we did a walkaround under an umbrella, which is already hard to see damage, but I noticed a scratch on the rear bumper. He said its small (it was) and they only look for major damage. I said well what if I get a different guy who disagrees? He said not to worry about it the form is filled out and doesn't allow adjustments. So I grabbed my phone and recorded a video showing the damage with us both there under the umbrella and that we aren't reporting it on the thing I'm signing but its there at time of pickup. Sure enough, at dropoff the guy comes back and says I hit something on the rear bumper and were insistent I was charged until I showed the video. They probably do that with every customer and never fix the damage. No thanks.I think range anxiety *does* exist, but it is largely unfounded. I can count on one hand the number of days a year I drive more than 100 miles. I could simply rent a car those days.
And they are getting cheaper pretty rapidly, which is another thing to factor in cost of ownership. Whereas diesels have above average resale value, electric cars have far below. That depreciation can really kick you in the ass on total cost of ownership over the life of the vehicle.Electric only cars will get a lot cheaper and is where we'll see the really inexpensive market. That's my prediction.
I like the concept of a plugin Hybrid, but can't justify the higher cost or the loss of trunk/interior space and lack of space for a spare tire.
Even the extra $2,700 I paid for a Camry hybrid will take me years to break even. Depending on the price of gas, I figured 5-10 years.
Another excuse for car makers to put low capacity battery...
My travel per day is at least 70-100 miles from home to office, and that is Bay Area alone.
In more rural area it's gonna get worse. Saying 100 miles is enough is like saying eating salad is enough for a meal. Bullshit...
I think those people do not live in Texas
You won't have chargers for a long time anyway. EVs have a long way to go, regardless.Range needed depends on where you live. If you are in a major dense coastal city, you might not much range. Those of use that live in "fly over country" often have friends and relatives that are 20-40 miles away. A 100+ mile trip in one day happens often.
And it isn't just the initial cost of the vehicle. The registration fees can be significant and the required insurance costs will often wipe out any savings on fuel if you buy one as a second vehicle.
Which brings up Honda again. Honda and Toyota really do not believe in BEVs.Basically plug in hybrids. Ones that can run on full electric for some small mileage commutes, yet still has a gas engine to get you from coast to coast if need be.
For me, that $2700 was paid off fairly quick. But I got a Nissan Altima Hybrid, right before they stopped making them. Strangely, their hybrid didn't have a sunroof, yet all their regular Altimas did, which only helped the situation.
At almost 10 years by the time you paid off the difference the car would be ready for a battery replacement wouldn't it? Whats the warranty like 7 years now on batteries?
Either one of my routes involves quite a bit of elevation changing (at speed), none of it beneficial. I really have to stress 27MPG as being absolutely fucking phenomenal for me, since my previous car, a Fit, could not get more than 25MPG (those 600-800 foot hills and stoplights really killed fuel economy on that car). I would love to have a car that could regenerate on the downhill portions.
Do you have evidence of this?Which as just about anyone with any Li-ion battery device knows, fully charging and discharging the battery is a really good way to preserve the lifespan of such an expensive component of the powertrain
Yikes, it was poorly worded sarcasm. Deep discharging eats away at Li-on battery lifespan, fast. Automakers get around this by limiting the charge capacities, so you really only use about 1/2 or so of a battery's effective max capacity (vs normal consumer usage).Do you have evidence of this?
HahaYikes, it was poorly worded sarcasm. Deep discharging eats away at Li-on battery lifespan, fast. Automakers get around this by limiting the charge capacities, so you really only use about 1/2 or so of a battery's effective max capacity (vs normal consumer usage).
However for my use case, that Honda would still be running at its software defined limits on a daily basis just to fit my (relatively - for my area) short commute.
I think range anxiety *does* exist, but it is largely unfounded. I can count on one hand the number of days a year I drive more than 100 miles. I could simply rent a car those days.
I do have trouble with current EVs because I use my truck to haul stuff a lot more often for the mini farm and house projects, usually a couple times a month - that might get expensive to rent.
So you don't settle in with an EV, seriously, why do you think 126 miles per day driving is in ANY WAY a typical commute for the average person? It's like heavy duty trucks, most people do not need them, yet some people do, doesn't mean that they should make every truck like that... although Toyota certainly has upped the size of it's trucks over time.They need to FOAD with that thinking.
Just today (and it's quite typical)...
To work: 22 miles
To site #1: 20 miles
To site #2: 84 miles round trip
Total so far: 126 miles.
...and I still have to make it home after work.
There have been days where I easily log over 300 miles. No way in hell could I ever settle for the shit range of any EV available in the world right now. When I can get a minimum of 500 miles from a single full charge, then we'll talk. Until then, like I said, FOAD.