EV owners of today and tomorrow

[tradosaurus]

The RAV4 Hybrid may be one of best vehicles for many today.

My son has that one and it is nice but prices were going about $55k for the top level trim when I was looking and no tax incentives.
I'm glad to have almost no maintenance to worry about with the EV.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

You are selecting a comparison on criteria which serves your predetermined conclusion.

You don't know what the FO would have purchased had he not bought the Tesla. BMW? Lexus? Audi? Mercedes-Benz? The Tesla would not only be saving on fuel costs but on purchase price and TCO.

Or he could be driving a $9000 beater. Such as a Kia Soul.

When I purchased the 2013 Model S new there was nothing BMW, Corvette, etc, I thought it's equal for the price. Also had a Mercedes-Benz at the time.

His premise was to "save money". If a person is serious about preservation of capital... There are certain things that person would not consider. Maybe he would have bought another $45k car... But if so, I'd still argue, "saving money" was never really the goal... If you can spend $45k on a car, the fuel you put in it is a tiny fraction of your annual cost.
People are just not honest about the choices they make. They do things because they want to, and then try to apply some sort of logic or reason, when it was really just a want. Wants are fine. I have a lot of **** that I wanted... I just don't claim it was anything more than that.
I bought a new tractor two years ago, because I wanted to. I didn't need to. A 40 year old Farmall would have done just fine. I wanted it, so I bought it.
I drive a 2007 Saturn Vue... Not because I WANTED it... But it was affordable, low mileage, and able to tow 3500lbs a few hundred miles on a tank. It has utility at a low cost.

 

[Dftodd]

I drove one in 2016. My right knee and the center console didn't agree with each other. But the thing that drove me to a Subaru Outback was how the RAV4 suspension had the Toyota Small Car Tuning. Can't describe it other than I came to greatly dislike it in my 2007 Prius. Prius, Yaris, and RAV4 have it, in my experience.

Yeah, they aren't for tall people. A friend had a rav 4 that I ended up driving one night. I couldn't stretch out and get comfortable.

Granted, I feel claustrophobic in my son's Tacoma as well.

My grandson took the Tacoma to prom. I had enough trouble with it at 6'1" tall.

The grandson is 6'5"+ at the moment. I'm betting his legs were wedged in it

 

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My son has that one and it is nice but prices were going about $55k for the top level trim when I was looking and no tax incentives.
I'm glad to have almost no maintenance to worry about with the EV.

That's the killer thing for me to be honest - it's really hard to find a plug-in hybrid that doesn't have all the bells and whistles.

Every time I drive our 2009 Mazda 3s (bought new for the kids to go back and forth to college... nowadays I use it once a month-ish for a doctor/dentist/veterinarian appointment) I'm struck by the fact that this car has almost everything I want:

• power windows, locks, mirrors, cruise, A/C, remote door locks is nice but definitely a luxury
• dials for everything, I don't have to take my eyes off the road for any controls at all
• durable cloth seats with really nice bolters (I'm somewhat slim and appreciate a seat that I don't slide around in much)
• airbags

Basically, rental car trim level equipment, though many rentals these days have leather/vinyl seats.

What's it missing?

• I've become fond of back-up cameras. It's not needed per se - I manage fine in my crew cab long bed truck with a topper on it - nearly sub-zero visibility - but part of that is also if I'm backing up in a parking lot, it's on the approaching cars not to impale themselves on the big honkin truck with the bent back bumper that clearly doesn't give a %!#
• AWD - very occasionally this car has slid, like last winter it swapped ends coming to a stop sign on a steep hill in slush. The answer to that is drive the truck instead, but AWD can be nice
• ummm as I said I pretty much like it how it is, steady 30mpg with spirited driving and great handling, would be nice to have 40mpg but this car cost $15k 15 years ago it would be hard to show the economics of buying a new car to save money somehow

So if I could get a PHEV with a similar trim level, the economics would be closer because I wouldn't be paying $15k for a bunch of cruft that I don't actually want. But, the manufacturers know that people are blinded by the PHEV-ness of it all and will justify all the luxocrap along with it.

 

[Dftodd]

Maybe with a PHEV having a larger battery, but with no plug-in battery assist the Prius ICE ran most of the time, rarely off for more than a traffic light or 1/4 mile.

The brilliant hybrid system Toyota created doesn't have a slam-it starter. One of the hybrid motors is used to spin the engine up to 1200 RPM with valves held open, then in one beat valves and fuel are added and the engine is running.

If my 2007 Prius wanted to turn the ICE off above 42 MPH it held the intake valves open and turned off the fuel. Very very hard for the driver to hear/feel when the ICE was running or not.


Many are hybrids in name only with no significant MPG improvement. You get what you shop for.


The X and Y are not considered to be sedans.

Am surprised one had trouble getting in/out of the Y. I find it quite easy, on par with Subaru Outback. Significantly easier than Porsche 928S or my 2013 Model S.

They had a hybrid SanteFe on the lot when we bought my wife's SanteFe. Two reasons why we didn't get it.

The advertised fuel mileage wasn't much different the the regular SanteFe.

The one we purchased was a "Last Year" model. It had 10,000 off msrp. (2023 model)

The hybrid was a 2024 model with zero incentives.

Wife's happy, I'm happy

 

[lsgreg]

They had a hybrid SanteFe on the lot when we bought my wife's SanteFe. Two reasons why we didn't get it.

The advertised fuel mileage wasn't much different the the regular SanteFe.

The one we purchased was a "Last Year" model. It had 10,000 off msrp. (2023 model)

The hybrid was a 2024 model with zero incentives.

Wife's happy, I'm happy

I would have done the same, given those same choices.

That said, many hybrid owners get higher mpg than advertised. For example, I am consistently averaging 43 mpg in my hybrid Maverick, which significantly exceeds the EPA estimates. Other owners report the similar results.

 

[fatjay]

So my $200 amazon chinesium charger crapped out. I've put in a warranty claim, but as I wait, I need to charge. So I open the charge app and see what's in the area. Some crappy apartment complex had one with free electric about 5 miles away. So I drive over there on my way to home depot and stop and charge for about 20 minutes while checking email. I got 11 miles in that time. Off to the depot.

There's no way ev's are viable at this point if you don't have a private parking area and dedicated charger you can charge up overnight. For the record, the whole apartment complex had 2 ev chargers for like a hundred cars. I figure they got a subsidy to install that random charger in the middle of nowhere that no one uses.

 

[fatjay]

Fisker's got their wallbox pulsar plus 40a charger on sale for $250. Works with any J1772 car. It's a good deal, if it ships, as the normal price is $650 on amazon and the only difference is the sticker on the front.

I just ordered one.

Fisker Wallbox Pulsar Plus Home Charger (US) - 40A

Buy Fisker Wallbox Pulsar Plus Home Charger (US) - 40A at Fisker Inc.

store.fiskerinc.com

Amazon.com

 

[ning]

Fisker's got their wallbox pulsar plus 40a charger on sale for $250. Works with any J1772 car. It's a good deal, if it ships, as the normal price is $650 on amazon and the only difference is the sticker on the front.

I just ordered one.

Fisker Wallbox Pulsar Plus Home Charger (US) - 40A

Buy Fisker Wallbox Pulsar Plus Home Charger (US) - 40A at Fisker Inc.

store.fiskerinc.com

Amazon.com

Wow, tempting to get that and I don't even have an electric car lol

 

[sd455dan]

Wow, tempting to get that and I don't even have an electric car lol

$250 is a Good price on the charger for sure Think the Tesla wall connector was $450