Today, would you buy an EV vehicle.

[v908]

At this time (current market) I would not buy an EV as a primary vehicle. I live in a rural area and often need to drive pretty significant distances so "range anxiety" is real for me. A plug-in hybrid might be acceptable, but again, it wouldn't be my primary vehicle. I have owned/driven hydrogen fuel cell cars (better option, if we'd just build out the infrastructure), hybrids, and EVs and felt significant limitations for all of them considering MY driving needs. I will not sell my '94 F350 4x4 Crew Cab, ever, as it has all the hauling and towing capacity that I periodically need. You can't load up a Ford Lightning with 2,000 pounds in the bed and pull a 18,000 pound trailer 400-600 miles in one day. I still need to do that periodically (though the gas is killing me!).

 

[garydstuart]

Oh yea...and, they just dropped the price on the Chevy Bolt to $26,500 (before incentives...below $20k after)...the price points will come down over the next several years...the legacy manufacturers are targeting a $25k price point (entry level)...as evidenced by Chevy's recent (this week) price cut.

Oh yea, oh yea...charge times for my wife's sedan are 0% to 80% in 22 minutes...we took our truck to Memphis (231 mile trip), stopped to eat just outside of Memphis and decided to plug in to "fill up" while we ate...I received a text message that charging was complete before we had our entrees. And...in 12 years of driving EVs, we've never once run out of juice. Charging stations are becoming more prevalent at hotels, offices, Starbucks, etc...and the technology in the vehicle tells you where you need to charge, for how long and how many stations are open or occupied. I promise I'm not an industry guy ...just sharing what I've learned over the past 12 years.

 

[GB540]

Like others I'm keeping an eye on the industry. But the range, life expectancy, and replacement cost all need to improve before I could consider electric.

As much as they'd probably love it, I'm not trading every few years to keep the battery in warranty. And despite their marketing, I need usable range at -20F more than I need rocket acceleration.

Again I'll keep an eye on things. Remember how awful the first battery tools were, now factories are running production with them.

 

[RoyJackson]

I just read where Elon Musk and Tesla is putting a freeze on hiring and plans on a 10% reduction in staff...doesn't bode well for the EV industry

 

[artf]

Nope. They are Version 1's and will have unusual bathtub failure curbs for design & premature part failures.

I avoid new model year 1 vehicles with gas engines. Why would I presume EVs rushed to market are somehow magically immune to automotive product design-build-maintain problems?

 

[OzarkChris]

When do you think, as you shop for a new vehicle, you will consider EV as your best choice?

I've commented on this on several threads here already, but here is my take in bullet point fashion.

1. I live 200+ miles from a fairly large city (Little Rock) and travel there several times a month for Dr's appointments.This stated I need a vehicle that will go at least 450-500 miles on a charge - because I will Not (and should Not be expected to) wait for 3-4 hours to charge a vehicle up when I still have that amount of time left to drive home.

2. I will not (and really can Not) utilize a "small commuter" car - my vehicle MUST be capable of carrying (inside the vehicle) at least 4 adults, 2 service dogs and at least one 500# wheelchair (the second 500# "Trackchair", can be trailer hitch mounted as long as we dont need a trailer).

3. Prices for low mileage 1 year old extended full size vans have already doubled since COVID - 2020 - I could find numerous Ford Transit passenger 350's or Chevy Express 12-15 pax vans with less than 25K miles for $20-25K, today (if you can find them) they are pushing $50K. New they are upwards of $70K.

Oh, BTW, after procuring said van, it still needs to be equipped/modified for ADA & wheelchair(s)

4. We currently have a hybrid (non-plugin) Rav4. Unfortunately, it doesn't meet specs for #2 above so it is the wife's car.

5. I'm not a climate denier, but I don't believe all the climate bs that is being pushed down our throats either. I believe this may be more cyclical in nature than man caused (I'm not saying man hasn't contributed to this, but that it is as much cyclical - if not more - than man caused). I also Do Not believe the world is going to end in my lifetime, by children's (or my next 5 generations) lifetimes.

6. Let's just agree that we have a 200+ yr supply of oil, gas & coal under our ground. That we could flood the market with oil & gas if we reduced regulations on oil, gas & fraking exploration, drilling & refining, opened up Anwr, offshore leases, etc and bring gas prices back down to ~$1/gal - where they were pre-COVID. Use this natural resource and supplement with green energy until such time that everything is in place to switch over.

7. Let's also discuss the issues with solar & wind production (and the disposal of said items). The amount of space required (some have indicated 1/3-1/2+ of our land mass, some have suggested taking away most, if not all of our water recreation and fishing habitat areas so floating solar panels could be used, etc - guess we don't need them dirty 'ol fish anyway).

8. Let's Not make "ALL" farming large corporate entities - I'm pretty sure those entities are the only folks that could afford to go all electric. Tax incentives are great, but "Only" if you make enough to use them.

Don't want to pull my soapbox out today - it's still recovering from my last use, so I'll end this - for now!

 

[BeemerJim]

With many manufacturers now advertising ev, even in trucks (Ford Lightning, CyberTruck, Rivian) would you invest in an EV vehicle? If everything moves to electric, when do you think you would switch to an ev -- or maybe Hybrid. The future of gas and diesel looks questionable.

I bought a new truck in 2021. Things are changing. The V8 engine is almost a thing of the past. When do you think, as you shop for a new vehicle, you will consider EV as your best choice? Will that happen when you want to keep your truck 6-8 years and gas stations might become difficult to find?

Then there are EV tractors.

Just curious. Thought this when looking for a new truck.

I am an Automotive Engineer and the EV will never work for me personally due to the miles I drive per day. Also the ev are to new to the market and they have not done much research to longevity of the product, ie battery failure, battery life, battery deposal etc. Also how long will the power generation systems last, maintenance of them etc. I pull a trailer also and I am partial to Silverado so here is what I found out when comparing at the dealer. My truck LTZ 1500 is about $60,000 the comparable model EV is !2-15000 higher. My truck I get around 430 miles per fill-up EV on a great day, no accessories running and NOT pulling anything 300 miles; if I were to pull my trailer it would be around a 100 miles/charge. I travel from NC to Illinois every month 865 miles one way; takes me around 12.5 hours and 2 tanks gas. EV would be 3 re-charges and with a commercial charger station, if you can find one on the way, takes 3-6 hours/100 miles charge (so say 3) that's an additional 12-18 hours on my trip so maybe a 1-1/2 days to travel vs 12.5 hours. So in my travels to and from every day I travel I have not found 1 charge station in any gas station I have stopped in; I am dam sure to people against this change will not invest into it because there in no return on the charging. A typical commercial charge station depending on the location it's install can be between $3 and 8000, so the gas station who installs one will need to mark up the electrical cost to get some type of return on investment. All my engineer colleges just laugh at the approach the Administration is taking on ramrodding thru something that is evitable to fail.

 

[gckshea]

With many manufacturers now advertising ev, even in trucks (Ford Lightning, CyberTruck, Rivian) would you invest in an EV vehicle? If everything moves to electric, when do you think you would switch to an ev -- or maybe Hybrid. The future of gas and diesel looks questionable.

I bought a new truck in 2021. Things are changing. The V8 engine is almost a thing of the past. When do you think, as you shop for a new vehicle, you will consider EV as your best choice? Will that happen when you want to keep your truck 6-8 years and gas stations might become difficult to find?

Then there are EV tractors.

Just curious. Thought this when looking for a new truck.

In no uncertain terms...hell no. I can't buy into the lie of "clean energy," or any other excuses used that we need to abandon the petroleum ship. The "carbon footprint" of battery technology, from materials acquisition, transportation, storing, labor, sales, and too- soon reclamation and salvage....every step has petroleum involved in it. It is a false economy that our infrastructure already cannot handle. I will not EVER buy into the bullshit.

Our resources are already in a chokehold by the government. There's no way that Uncle Joe &Co. are ever going to loosen their grip. Read up on DEF/urea shortages...I don't see electrics (EVs) filling the trucking gap!

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

In a very practical sense, the Ford / GM EV trucks only exist on paper for anyone who is not already on a reservation list. Probably nothing for the next few years on the showroom floor at a somewhat reasonable cost. The $120K GM / Hummers are not an option for many. I now have a low miles L5P Denali with all the bell & whistles I need or want, so I can put a lot of diesel fuel in the tank for the price of a new EV.

Once everyone gets sucked into the EV scam, the days of a $15 recharge will be long gone, when they plug a device into the OBD port and start charging $x.XX per mile driven, not only to replace the current road tax on fuel, but, just because they can.

At this moment, if these was a low cost EV and cheap electricity continues, an EV with a 250 - 300mile range would be nearly perfect for about 99.9% of my driving needs. The recent near tornado that swept across Ontario leaving thousands without power for 8 - 10 days, serves to illustrate the folly of dependence on electricity to fuel your vehicle or to heat / cool your house.

 

[thorn]

I have a 2004 Prius that has 140,000 miles on it and it was our main car. I had to commute to a job further away for a while and got a 2017 Prius Prime which can go 30 miles on a charge. With incentives, it cost $23,000. Now I work at home. We drive it most of the time and get gas about once a month, about 1,000 miles/month. It's average mpg is 104. I was grumbling to my wife that it cost $32 to fill it up the other day. I also have a Tundra and have not filled it up in a while. I mostly use it to pull a trailer and get lumber, diesel etc now and then. It will be $100 or more to fill it up.

I installed grid tied 3kw of solar panels in 2007 on my garage which helps with the electric bill. A coworker gave me 10kw 10 yo solar panels, wire and 2 inverters. His roof got damaged from hail and he decided to buy new panels. I got the racks up on my barn roof. I need to put the panels up before it gets too hot. My BIL was going to help but he had surgery and doc said not to lift anything heavy for a while. I may try to get them up there by myself. I need to get my hay cut if the weather will cooperate.

There are hybrid inverters that allow you to create your own grid if the power goes out. Of course the sun has to be out and you have to manage your loads. Wind is another choice if you are in a good area for wind.