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Electric Cars -- anyone own one?

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jackieschmidt said:
Does anybody besides me drive an Electric?

I commute 92 miles a day, 6 days a week, and I rarely ever see one besides mine.
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Jackie,
My son's Bolt actually lost a wheel bearing, of all things! This at about 15,000 miles. I can barely remember the last time I had to replace a wheel bearing. Around 1995, I think.
He may finally have his wife trained to plug the car in when she parks it at home. He said she never puts gas in the other car either! After 25 years of marriage, it may be a lost cause. EV's would be fairly practical here. Town is forty miles away and electricity is relatively cheap. Gas and diesel are not. WH
 
Here in California they are telling us we "probably won't" have blackouts this summer during peak electricity demand because of our record snowpack will translate into more hydro generated electricity which sounds great.... until you realize their "plan" is to gamble on the weather. So if there's no snow like most years we are screwed because they are eliminating natural gas generation and natural gas storage.
On a side note after the wildfires my homeowners insurance went from $1,250(First American) a year to $2,760(Farmers) as my insurer left the state and only a few companies were writing new policies. I have never filed a claim but nobody will write you if you have had a claim in the last 3 years. My renewal this year was for a whopping $8,200 !!!! No earthquake or any extras. Farmers said a few in my area went to over $20,000. Unbelievable.
 
wedgy said:
On a side note after the wildfires my homeowners insurance went from $1,250(First American) a year to $2,760(Farmers) as my insurer left the state and only a few companies were writing new policies. I have never filed a claim but nobody will write you if you have had a claim in the last 3 years. My renewal this year was for a whopping $8,200 !!!! No earthquake or any extras. Farmers said a few in my area went to over $20,000. Unbelievable.
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Do you live in, or adjacent to, a forested area?
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Forum Boss said:
3. Check how to enter car if the battery goes completely dead -- this has been an issue with Teslas.
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A nearby friend last year bought a Hyundai Ioniq BEV. Like all EVs I'm aware of, the mammoth propulsion battery is not tapped to run the computers, monitors, alarms, cabin indicators etc while the vehicle is parked and "asleep". There's a conventional-looking small rectangular (12v ?) battery under the front hatch for that stuff, and there is always some trickle drawn off it.

I dropped in on my friend and the front hatch was open, with him fiddling around in there, frustrated. He had let the car sit for two weeks nearly fully charged but it wouldn't "awaken" for driving. He had determined using a VOM that the small battery's voltage had dropped below some threshold. I asked why he didn't use a regular auto battery charger on it but that was verboten. He had already spent over a day trying to learn from Hyundai some secret procedure to extricate his car from this seemingly inevitable scenario. I've read stories about other brands of EVs incomprehensibly refusing to reawaken. Too artificially intelligent for their own good?
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@jackieschmidt: You charging your EV car when you get to the shop?
Still thinking a 32 Ford 2 Dr. sedan set up as an EV would be the bomb.;):cool:
Maybe pull down a Toyota Prius Hybrid or "plug in" and slap a rod body on it? :D:D
 
NorCalMikie said:
@jackieschmidt: You charging your EV car when you get to the shop?
Still thinking a 32 Ford 2 Dr. sedan set up as an EV would be the bomb.;):cool:
Maybe pull down a Toyota Prius Hybrid or "plug in" and slap a rod body on it? :D:D
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I have a 92 mile commute to my Shop, I plug it in every morning just to top it off. When I get home, I plug it in, it takes about an hour to reach full charge again.

I always like to keep a full charge on it. I just rolled over 14,000 miles, and realistically it will go about 275 miles in warm weather, about 230 in cooler weather on a full charge.
 
M-61 said:
What’s “real winter”?
That’s as bad as “extremely cold or icy conditions “
Then again, in my opinion, if you’re purchasing a full electric car, you have lots more than that to consider.
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“Real winter” is probably best defined by the electric vehicle manufacturer. It’s a floating scale. If you need to use heat or defroster, it’s winter. Simply because of the added drain and shortened range.

As temps drop, winter becomes more real.

Around 20 degrees, some manufacturers basically tell you the car needs to be garaged or charging times will be excessive. This creates a conflict with insurance companies and fire departments that advise never charging an EV inside a building.

As you approach 0, battery heaters, if equipped, start coming on. So you park with a 150 mile range on your battery And can’t plug it in. At the end of the work day you may not have the range to get home without stopping for a charge.

Then there is the winter\snow\ice tire dilemma, the effective range of most electrics is based on using the least rolling resistance tires manufactured. Winter tires are second only to the most aggressive off road tire for excessive resistance.

I don’t now the exact difference between winter and real winter, but it is a much broader sliding scale with electric vehicles. Kind of like maintenance schedules. If you read your cars manual and the definition of “extreme conditions” for servicing, I don’t think there is a place on earth beside the dealer showroom that does not meet the definition of “extreme”
 
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