Battery based electric vehicles of today and tomorrow.

[California]

2005 photo.

This Outback and Focus Wagon are still in use, each at 150k miles with no issues. 23 and 28 mpg. That's outdated now. We're bored with them, have driven them 22 and 17 years respectively, but no real need to upgrade.

What are suitable replacements in the hybrid or plug-in hybrid categories? A friend visited with a Kia Niro plug-in Hybrid, and it looked suitable. He said near 50 mpg on road trips and no gas bought at all most of the time. What else is out there?

We need the cargo space of a small SUV/Wagon for the 100 miles each way we drive frequently between home and ranch, and the ability for 2k lb towing occasionally. We need AWD for occasional back county camping but we'll probably keep the Subaru a while longer for that. I was thinking Tesla Y for primary use but dang they are expensive for the limited miles we drive, not just the car but also the increased insurance and registration compared to our present costs.

Any advice?

 

[MossRoad]

...

Any advice?

Find another Subaru in good condition and put it in storage for use later. Keep driving the cars you have. Wait out the EV evolution to see if they become practical.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Every other year, we would attend the International Machine Tool Show at McCormick Place in Chicago. Would catch Amtrack in Racine, WI, and ride it to Chicago. We would snooze, look at the scenery, and watch all the congested traffic we were flying past. The fare was worth every penny. Also loved riding the train in Ireland.

funny...i been to mccormick place many times...they could put a lot of hay in there.

i also rode the train from milwaukee, just north of racine, to chi town, a few times.

my buddy had some kinda cush job with the railroad. we sat in the caboose and drank beer all the way there and back.

 

[Frankenkubota]

For the VW Bug, a working heater cost extra

yea, you buy the heater from a catalog and hook it up to your gas line.

man, i had a few old vee dubs in wisconsin.....that's just stupid!

 

[California]

man, i had a few old vee dubs in wisconsin.....that's just stupid!

Because Wisconsin winters are cold and the heater doesn't do much?

I had a VW van (hippie bus but no windows) in college and man was that cold. Some ductwork was supposed to send engine heat forward to the driver but that was pretty useless.

 

[Williy]

Our 1967 VW bug got its heat from the engine and
we were never cold in the car in the winter in Wisconsin
Even had a set of tire chains for the bug. never got stuck!

willy

 

[Jstpssng]

Our 1967 VW bug got its heat from the engine and
we were never cold in the car in the winter in Wisconsin
Even had a set of tire chains for the bug. never got stuck!

willy

On my very first hunting trip my father and I met my uncle and two others at his hunting camp. Not realizing it had snowed our Jeep still had the summer tires on, so it struggled on the hills.
My uncle, cousin, and a family friend drove up in a Beetle. They said that on the hills we were spinning on my uncle drove while the other two rode on the rear bumper for extra weight. Doing that they made it as far as our 4WD pickup.

 

[California]

... drove up in a Beetle. They said that on the hills we were spinning on my uncle drove while the other two rode on the rear bumper for extra weight. Doing that they made it as far as our 4WD pickup.

Yeah that VW van would go through mud as high as the sidewalls on the tires and only occasionally needed to back up and try again. I never did get it stuck.

But the compound gearing out at the end of the axles had the disadantage of limiting speed. As I recall the redline on the speedometer was 49 mph. It puked the lower end when I let it go down a freeway grade at about 60.

And even with that gearing it was underpowered. I had to try several times, roll back and ascend zig-zagging at 2mph, to get it up the nasty switchbacks on the old Kingsbury grade on the Nevada side of the mountain between Gardnerville Nevada and South Shore Tahoe, California. I don't miss it. (Added): 7,375 feet elevation at the summit.

 

[MossRoad]

Growing up in Northern Indiana in the 60s and 70s, my parents had a VW bus, beetle, Karmann Ghia, and 3 more buses. Heat was something you got in summer. Winters? You just bundled up and toughed it out! There was frost on the INSIDE of the windows from your breath. We had to open the wing windows to blow cold air across the inside of the windshield. It was brutal, and we loved it!!!

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah that VW van would go through mud as high as the sidewalls on the tires and only occasionally needed to back up and try again. I never did get it stuck.

But the compound gearing out at the end of the axles had the disadantage of limiting speed. As I recall the redline on the speedometer was 49 mph. It puked the lower end when I let it go down a freeway grade at about 60.

And even with that gearing it was underpowered. I had to try several times, roll back and ascend zig-zagging at 2mph, to get it up the nasty switchbacks on the old Kingsbury grade, the Nevada side of the mountain between South Shore Tahoe (California) and Gardnerville Nevada. I don't miss it.

My parents had a 74 VW bus that had some weird experimental engine with dual 2 barrel carbs. It came that way from the factory. Don't know how my dad got ahold of it. I stated driving it in 76. If you put it in 1st and from a stop started pumping the gas pedal and timing it to the bounces, you could start making the front wheels bounce off the ground about 10". Dad always put studded snow tires on them in the winter. We never, ever, got stuck in snow. If it snowed heavy, my mom would go and race up and down our driveway several times before they'd make us shovel. That got rid of 1/2 the snow right there. Great machines for winter driving.

Unfortunately, in the bus, you sit over the front wheels. We used to joke that you're there before the accident.