EV Q3: Do you drive an electric vehicle? or do you plan to?

We have driven EV for many years and are very happy with them. We choose hybrids for the versatility, but most of our driving is within 30 miles of our home. Our first was leased, but we are now owners.

I’ll be getting a hybrid for grocery getting soon. Just looking for a Prius with a bad battery cheap so I can swap a new one in.

Not currently. No plans to buy one, unless/until they get over the range limitations.

Do not own one and have no plans to buy one. From what I have read, it can cost up to 10k just to update your electric in your house just to charge your car. Battery costs are outrageously expensive, the car itself is too expensive and last but not least, I can’t see that they can build electric stations fast enough to have them all over.

I’m with @chyna. Don’t own one, not planning to buy one. I don’t have the electrical set up at my house and can’t afford to make a change like that. There are public charging stations around, but the walk home I’d probably get killed (tight twisty rural roads) and it would be about an hour each way for the walk. There’s a big mall about ten minutes away with charging stations too, but it would be impractical to find someone to drive me to and fro on a regular.

I’ve been driving a hybrid of one kind or another since 2006. Saved at least 50% in gas the whole time compared to just gas vehicle.
2006 Prius 42 MPG
2015 Ford Fusion Energi PHEV 100+ MPG* with free charging at work
2018 Hyundai Ioniq PHEV 200+ MPG* with free charging at work
*vehicle’s calculations cheat because they don’t factor in gas

I bought a Level 2 charger from my coworker for $250 and paid an electrician to install it for $750. I just put in solar panels, so charging will be 100% CO2-free now.

I was planning to wait and see where they were at in a couple of years but had to buy another car last winter. I went with gas for now and this might be the last car I buy. We’ll see.

No and no. In the middle we definately do not have enough charging stations, and my two old gas cars run great.

Don’t own an EV and have no plans on buying them. There are a number of reasons why. The limited range is one. I take trips of about 700 miles every year and the limited range of an EV is an issue. The scarcity of charging stations is another reason. There are starting to be more but upkeep of these is becoming an issue. The length of time it takes to charge a car is another reason. If I’m traveling on one of my 700 mile trips, I’d likely have to top up at least 6–7 times, round trip. If each charge takes half an hour I’m adding hours of travel time. More if there are lines for the charging stations. The last reason is the cost. EVs themselves cost a pretty penny. Getting a charging set up in my home would be another huge cost. The increase in my electric bill has to be considered as well.

Other considerations: the pollution created when mining the rare earth metals used, the limitations of life of the battery and the cost of replacement, and the limitations of the electric grid already.

I do not own one nor plan to as they are too expensive to purchase and the range is too limited. I’ll take a gasoline powered vehicle, thank you.

nope. I think electric vehicles are foolish ideas for the reasons mentioned and there are now huge dumps of old ev’s that can’t be recycled.

When we bought our house in 2007; we had the contractor put dog proof screen on the screen porch (two dogs), two attic fans (we live in NC cost less than running A/C) and 240V 50 Amp to garage for wife’s ceramics kiln (can be used for EV).

I have a hybrid, which isn’t the same thing. At this point I don’t plan on going full electric because I have range anxiety and I do not want to be stuck looking for a charger. If I went Tesla it would be easier as the supercharger network is pretty good but I will never buy a Tesla. So I need the technology to mature.

Also, I have a perfectly functional, if inefficient, 17 year old ICE Rav4 that works fine. My view on technology and buying new stuff is I wait until I absolutely can’t stand it any more.

Buying a car is always a financially depreciating situation. You want to use as much of the value as you can. At some point the cost of upkeep will make the value negative.

At this time it seems that PHEV is the way to go. Charging stations are iffy, while gas stations are plentiful. When I was going in to work I got free charging and I only filled up on gas a few times a year. My hybrid MPG is so high (even at 75 mph) that I can drive from the Bay Area to San Diego on one tank of gas.

Last two cars were cash, good not great discounts !

Drove Hybrid cars at a rental car agency 20 years ago, I was the only on that could move hybrids in the return lanes.

@RocketGuy My hybrid MPG is so high (even at 75 mph)

What do you drive? I’m in a Toyota Camry Hybrid and don’t get nearly that. I fill up about once every 6 weeks or longer. Filled up once (I think) going from Nebraska to Houston.

@smudges

How cylinders does your engine have?

I have a 2018 Tesla Model 3. It’s been amazing after 5.5 years. I frequently drive over 200 miles in a day without issue. No oil changes, transmission flushes, spark plugs, O2 sensors, trips to the gas station (which are really annoying when you get used to not having to stop and pump gas, usually at the end of the day when you’re tired, or having to leave for work early).

I usually save about $200 per month in fuel. The superchargers are awesome, a few times per year I’ll have to use them and it’s easy/not that big of a deal.

Reasoning: It’s much safer in crashes than gas vehicles, it’s cheaper than a Camry if I keep it for over 10 years (which I plan to), the convenience factor is through the roof (things like dog mode are so helpful, or being able to “summon” my car remotely when it’s parked in a puddle or someone parked too close to open the door, and autopilot allows me to make long highway drives without getting fatigued like I otherwise would—hands are always on the wheel and paying full attention). Also I wanted to help catalyze the EV industry. If Tesla had failed in 2018ish timeframe, all of the major automakers with gleeful cheers would say things like “See EVs can’t work, we’re going to stick with gas,” instead they’re being dragged along (kicking and screaming the whole time).

Yes. My experiences with EV’s have all been very very good.

My reasoning:

BEVs create no emissions (except indirectly through their creation or some energy production), and do not support the oil industry. Hybrids are a good solution for some people, and help, but they also still create emissions and support the oil industry. They also have the disadvantage of being more complex, since they have both an ICE and en electric motor in one vehicle, and whichever motor is driving the car, needs to pull around the motor that’s not driving the car. They’re good for not having to deal with charging stations on long trips, or for people who can’t easily charge at home (e.g. many people in apartments). And complexity also means more repairs and maintenance, which also indirectly has environmental costs.

Long-term, I expect that even the current BEVs which may get replaced as newer BEVs get better, will tend to still be used for 10–20+ years, as used cars for other people who otherwise would use a car that uses gas. So even if they take a lot to create, I think they’ll be getting used by someone for a long time.

Also, I think that the more BEVs are getting sold and used sooner, the sooner they will replace more and more ICEs being used.

Those last few considerations are I think significant for the environment in the big picture.

Here too are some other articles which offer other contrasting perspectives:

“A Fossil Fuel Economy Requires 535x More Mining Than a Clean Energy Economy”
https://www.distilled.earth/p/a-fossil-fuel-economy-requires-535x

US EPA: “Electric Vehicle Myths”
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths#Myth2

“UCS Study Shows Lifetime EV Emissions Are 50% Lower Than Conventional Vehicles”
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/27/ucs-study-shows-lifetime-ev-emissions-are-50-lower-than-conventional-vehicles/

@Brian1946 Huh! Looked it up and it has 4 cylinders. I would have sworn 6 due to its quick pickup and power.

Hybrid makes more sense to me. Hybrid plug-in maybe even better. The negative is you still need to do service like any other gas vehicle.

I don’t have an EV or hybrid at this time.

I think about getting an electric car, but only because I’m married and we have 2 or more cars at any given time. I wouldn’t get a full electric car as my only transportation except for some very specific circumstances. I wish there were some not very expensive convertible electric cars, that’s what I really want.

California in some locations has rolling blackouts; I can’t imagine if any of those cities had 50% or more residents with fully electric vehicles.

Rolling blackouts – that’s where rooftop solar comes in. Just charge during the day.

To answer @smudges – I drive a Hyundai Ioniq PHEV. It was designed as a Prius competitor, so small and lightweight. It has a good sized battery so is able to store a lot of regen braking energy for later use. Your Camry hybrid is heavy, so needs a lot of energy to get around.

@RocketGuy I’m not seeing they make the Ioniq PHEV any more. Am I missing something?

@Caravanfan If you look way up in his answers, he bought it in 2018.

@RocketGuy Yes, it’s heavy. Turns out I’m glad it is because just 2 months after I bought it, someone pushed someone else into my right side. Insurance called the right side totalled – exactly down the center! – and paid for everything. Took 4–6 weeks to fix it, but haven’t had any problems since. <knocks wood, or actually, pressboard>

@smudges Yes, I know when he bought it. I was just wondering if it’s still sold new. I have found it used. I was just wondering if it was something I missed. If so, I wonder why they stopped making it. Perhaps it’s to plug their all electric version. (See what I did there?)

@RocketGuy Most people work during daylight hours and solar only works when the sun is out unless you have battery backup. I love the idea of charging a car and house with solar panels, but it’s not a perfect energy source. Plus, the panels are still very expensive even though the cost came down. Tesla has solar roofs, which at first he was charging a ridiculous price. It came down significantly, which proves to me it was a gouge, but still very high. It would be great if solar panels were literally part of the roof when built in sunny states.

@Caravanfan :D too funny!

@JLeslie It would be great if solar panels were literally part of the roof when built in sunny states.

It would! Like a standard feature!

I have heard and read that with the price of solar panels, it would take an average of 20 years to recoup your cost. Not really feasible for older people.

@chyna Their lifespans are typically less than 20 years, but it all depends. Does the extra cost spread out over their lifespan end up costing you less than just using grid power? Depends on where you live and if you got gouged on installation but, likely.

@Blackwater_Park It does depend on where you are at. I’ve had several companies come in trying to sell me solar panels. Their sales pitch usually includes a scare tactic that says if you don’t get solar your cost from the grid could go up to something ridiculous like $1600 per month. They then base their calculations for your savings on that. Even then the return on investment is about 10 years or more and you are never going to reach a period where you are not paying for the panels. About the time you pay off the loan for installation the initial time, the panels will be at life’s end and you will have to get another loan to pay for more.

@seawulf575 There has been serious fraud with these “we’ll put your house on solar and save you a bundle” companies. They popped up almost overnight and ran the same scam. It’s all based on people’s ignorance of what solar power is and can do, the laws/tax benefits around it, and the costs. I suspect connections to organized crime. They’re like roofing companies that come out of nowhere after a hailstorm, take your insurance money, and then disappear. The truth is solar is very DIY for anyone handy. It’s not that expensive on a small scale. Say a small cabin, for example, without HVAC, a water heater, or a traditional electric stove. It won’t replace a grid connection unless you’re willing to go all in with large battery banks, which can be very expensive. Many of these turn key systems end up being grid-connected on your house and you get a “rebate” or some other discount from the power company. Sad thing is it only takes a few tweaks to dramatically lower energy costs and put someone’s household in the range of where a medium-sized solar installation would work. Using an induction cooktop, taking cold showers (which is good for you) and living in an area where HVAC is not so mandatory. You could also use gas or a wood stove for cooking and heating.

@Blackwater_Park be careful! talking about getting a gas stove or using a wood stove could put you in the crosshairs of the Climate Nazis!

I get that there are scams, but there are also legitimate companies. I know people that have had solar systems installed. They are far more intricate than a DIY. DIY would be fine for a situation like you mentioned: an off-the-grid location.

Personally, I think we need to look at the work of the Rocky Mountain Institute. I’m not keen on them for their political efforts, but I did, at one time, like the stuff they were doing to help develop and test things that could be done to save energy. At one point they had managed to get their development center able to run on very little electricity. But they looked at things like construction methods to increase insulation, energy efficient appliances, methods of utilizing natural light for lighting, etc. I’m all about things like that. I don’t like wholesale demands that people start using one thing or another.

I have an uncle that makes wind turbines. Even he says they are not all they are made out to be. They are grossly inefficient and are not a reliable energy source. He, like I, fully support research to dig into ways to make it more efficient, more reliable, and less damaging to the environment.

The breakeven point for my solar panels came out to be 7 years.

@Caravanfan – yes, Hyundai has been pushing their EVs. Ioniq5 is top of my list (in case I win the lotto). Ioniq6 is a nice EV sedan. And they have some EV SUVs too but they would be too big for me.

Volvo has a new small all electric SUV. If I hadn’t had to buy last year, I might have looked intoit.