Electric Cars -- anyone own one?

[JPTX]

This is where electric would not work for me. It's not about the load being carried, it's about the load on the battery given the throttle position. I treat driving as a sport and I'm a graduate of the "drive it like you stole it" school. A car with a 300 mile reported range would probably only last me about 25 miles with the accelerator burried in the floor boards.

Withsome

 

[CarlGeorge]

Anybody know the life expectancy of the "battery" on a Prius? Replaced a "starter" battery after about 2 years.
But then, there's the folks that aren't "that smart".
Real smart lady, runs her Prius out of gas THEN runs the battery dead.

A friend just got rid of a 2005 Prius because the battery was toast. I believe he told me it had 200K miles on it.

 

[NorCalMikie]

One thing that keeps coming to mind is the fact that rechargeable batteries loose their capacity over time to the point that they're dead.
Cheap rechargeable drill motors. Battery goes dead over time from lack of use and replacement batteries cost more than the drill motor itself. The old saying applies. If you don't use it, you loose it. Little different with an EV? More $$$$ for sure and then there's that recycle fee??

 

[Appowner]

This article references a study that showed gas car fires happen at a rate of 1,530 per 100,000 vehicles. EVs had fires at a rate of 25 per 100,000 vehicles.

As others have said, EV fires are harder to put out so they do end up doing more damage per fire than gas car fires.

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/study-electric-vehicles-involved-in-fewest-car-fires/

Yes but, gas car fires I would think are predominately the result of an accident or similar external ignition. While the Lithium battery can simply decide to ignite while tooling down the road or in the middle of the night parked in your garage.

 

[Appowner]

I’ve heard 10 years floating around but Tesla says it’s based off of 1500 battery cycles. So if you don’t reach that theoretically the car could last 30 years.

that’s the same concept as driving a car 5000 miles a year though. Lol

With Lithium batteries it is the number of charge cycles. My other hobby, RC Planes and boats has been impacted considerably by the lithium battery. Our rule of thumb is 1000 charge cycles. But with newer chemistries and different requirements I can see where 1500 cycles on a car is feasible. It also depends on how much battery degradation one can tolerate. The things do age and their performance reduces with age/charge cycles.

 

[rijndael]

A friend just got rid of a 2005 Prius because the battery was toast. I believe he told me it had 200K miles on it.

For a Prius, 150-200K is a good ballpark. They're not difficult to replace, a mechanically inclined owner could do it in under an hour.

 

[Appowner]

I should get a horse. Then I’ll ask the Guberment to put up watering troughs and hitching posts because I’m so “green”!

And someone will get the government to force you to put a diaper on that horse to control the pollution.
Then hit you with a Federal, State and Local diaper tax.

 

[rijndael]

And someone will get the government to force you to put a diaper on that horse to control the pollution.
Then hit you with a Federal, State and Local diaper tax.

If you come to Virginia, we'll also tax you to keep it every year, even after you paid a sales tax on it. And, we're going to tax you on it not based on what you paid for it, but on the bluebook value. So, if you inherit one, you're screwed.

 

[Appowner]

If you come to Virginia, we'll also tax you to keep it every year, even after you paid a sales tax on it. And, we're going to tax you on it not based on what you paid for it, but on the bluebook value. So, if you inherit one, you're screwed.

Spent 30 years in Springfield, VA. Got out when I retired. Sold a 1300 sq ft townhouse for 350k. Bought a 4000 sq ft ranch on an acre of land in my hometown in Michigan for 230k. Been laughing ever since.

 

[rijndael]

Spent 30 years in Springfield, VA. Got out when I retired. Sold a 1300 sq ft townhouse for 350k. Bought a 4000 sq ft ranch on an acre of land in my hometown in Michigan for 230k. Been laughing ever since.

I'll relocate when I retire, my current occupation lends itself to this area. I'm already eyeing areas.

 

[Appowner]

I'll relocate when I retire, my current occupation lends itself to this area. I'm already eyeing areas.

Yep! My last tour in the Air Force was a special duty in DC. Did that for four, retired and sold my experience, training and security clearance to the highest Beltway bidder. Spent another 23 years as a government contractor before cancer forced me to retire. Beat the cancer and am now enjoying my retirement.

Somewhat on topic, in VA the wife and I averaged 25,000 miles a year each on our cars. Here in MI we don't do 10,000 total between the two cars.

An EV would work to an extent for us but, we have cold winters and Lithium batteries do not like the cold. Anything below 40 or so and the battery needs to be warmed or woke up before starting. We hit a couple of days below zero this past winter.

The other problem with an EV would be visiting family. Wife's family are 250 miles away. To close to a range limit for my comfort. Oldest daughter and family are 500 miles away while youngest daughter is 1250 miles in the other direction.

At 75 mph on the toll roads our 2016 Ford Exploder gets 25mpg. It has less than 50k on the clock, is in prime condition and is paid for. And what happens during a power outage? I'm not putting an EV on the home generator.

And there's always the Harley. 35+mpg

 

[hogpatrol]

What if you run out of FUEL????? in an EV. Can the tow truck driver just bring you a can of "electricity" and get you back on the road in a few minutes? I haven't run out of gas in decades, but people do every day.

You just go to the nearest gas station and get a can of gas for your generator.

 

[rijndael]

You just go to the nearest gas station and get a can of gas for your generator.

AAA has vehicles setup to help EV cars and their fuel needs:

AAA says that its emergency electric vehicle charging trucks served "thousands" of EVs without power

AAA has a little-known program for which it equipped trucks with Level 2 AC chargers, and even some with a CHAdeMO...

electrek.co

 

[hogpatrol]

 

[rjtfroggy]

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And there's always the Harley. 35+mpg

Thats all? I was averaging 52mpg combined with my 2003 Electra Gluide FF special.

 

[hogpatrol]

New crackerboxes like the Kias , Hyundai and their ilk have tiny engines, 60 to 120 cubic inches and multi-speed 10 and up gear, transmissions and get very good gas mileage. New rules by the current administration deleted Trump's number and have bumped up CAFE mileage to 40MPG by 2026. Who complained? Tesla, they wanted it higher.

 

[Triple BB]

When they get solid state batteries perfected, I’m looking forward to getting an electric truck.

 

[rijndael]

New rules by the current administration deleted Trump's number and have bumped up CAFE mileage to 40MPG by 2026. Who complained? Tesla, they wanted it higher.

That's the problem with executive orders, mandates, and agency rules - they're quickly changed. We need to stop this kind of governing, by agencies run by unelected people, with zero accountability. It's a related problem to our foreign policy, except it's by only 1 elected guy. We can't hope to have continuity in our policy, that our allies likely hope/desire/need, if it's up to change every 4 years - dramatically.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

Washington state plans to ban most non-electric vehicles by 2030

The bill says that all vehicles of the model year 2030 or later that are sold, purchased, or registered in the state must be electric.

www.nbcnews.com

The world has gone nuts. What are those who advocate EV's thinking? The US roads are maintained from fuel taxes. Electricity is bought by the KW hour. The tax on electricity is already high enough. Todays distribution. can you imagine the tax increase that will be levied on all electricity including including that amount to heat and power your home. As fossil fuel use diminishes, Tax for roads necessary to take of the transportation will need to come from somewhere.

Infrastructure will not support additional wattage use, thus the brownouts in some areas. Think California. Do you see any company in a hurry to build up the system. The largest dam supplying electricity is almost dry now and the fear is it can't replenish its valuable water resources due to climate change.

What happens when a storm cuts a million people off the grid? Can you imagine the burden on the system when they try to start the system with all those EVs trying to charge at once. I wonder how many KWs of electricity it takes to charge one of them. You don't see that figure advertised anywhere.

Armageddon is not so far away.

 

[hogpatrol]

NIck,, When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. If you're born in the U.S. you get a front row seat.