Would you buy an EV?

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I was in traffic beside this very highly modified FRS a week or two ago on my motorcycle: (skip to the last 20 seconds of this clip.)



Motorcycles.. there are electric ones now. Not just the oversized electric bicycles and scooter sized motorcycles - actual full size ones. “Zero,” is one brand. Even Harley Davidson has an electric bike out now called “Livewire.” (Very expensive.) I dunno if they’ll catch on.. maybe? But a big part of the fun riding motorcycles is the vibration & sound of the engine/exhaust when accelerating - way more so than in a car since you feel/hear way more. But maybe silent has its perks? Never tried one. I’d imagine the long highway road trip type bike market might be more likely to appreciate silent bikes - no engine drone over long time frames & you can hear stereo speakers better. (But they would drain batteries..)

My guess is motorcycles won’t all change to EV unless regulations force them to.

no, the scam (subventionised)(it's bountyhunter country)
the sil/bil have two, owell, signal twerking on frontlawn?
owell with an office in sf you might well be all in
brother changed mit-career to ev- but didn't like the bsiness and got the former job back, lucky chance

while others are stuck with low capacity hoovers
everybody overhaul your heatingsystems, so that more electricity can be made to power electric cars of the happy fews

Happy few?

Quite a lot of Tesla’s on the road here, bunch of Leafs, too.

The cheapest model 3 while we had both provincial and federal subsidy incentives totalling something like $10k in deductions has worked out to a payment of $800/mo (5 years I think) for a friend of mine who sold his other cars and bought one. Electricity for it is super cheap compared to gas - something like $60/month or less IIRC.

Meanwhile, my econo car that I purchased on sale deeply discounted for $12k + tax carried a monthly payment of $300 for about 4 years. Gas ranges from $280-550/mo depending on how much I drive and the price at the pump. ~7L/100kms. Oil another ~$20/mo. Then there will be mechanical maintenance and repairs etc as time goes on - I bought it brand new and it currently has 85k km w/ only oil changes, oil/air filters etc so far. It’s paid off now so only have the deeply discounted $185 insurance + gas.

For ~4 years my monthly cost was $800-900/mo (plus insurance/parking costs etc) and then drops down to $350/400ish fuel & maintenance to $600ish if I really drive a Lot. (This is why I don’t drive a truck - not interested in $800-1000/mo fuel bill) whereas his Tesla will be $860/mo for 5 years and then $60/mo thereafter for the next ~Million miles.

And my car is one of the cheapest cars money can buy. So, comparing to an AVERAGE priced car (say, closer to $30k) it’s even easier to justify purchasing a Tesla - biggest catch is people who can’t qualify to borrow enough money to buy a Tesla but Can buy a gasser and come up with gas money.

With government subsidies on base models, they’re almost at a point where typical working class commuters can justify them. Almost. In fact, many are doing the math and making the switch - hence me seeing a lot of them on the road Here where driving is Very Expensive and they’re easier to justify..

But the model 3/Leaf are too small for me. I’ll wait another 5-10 years until larger vehicles are available for lower prices.

I drive a Golf Variant TDI. It requires at 60 mph about a third less but Diesel of course. A tankfilling is enough for driving about 600 miles at this speed. At 120 mph it requires about twice as much of Diesel but I enjoy the fun of faster driving more then the money Life is to short for spending to much time in cars only.
Driving long distances in an electrical car can become a long lasting adventure that wastes a lot of time at least here in Germany until now.

Given the behavior of Tesla drivers here & the Model 3 bumpers reportedly falling off in the rain (I'm not surprised), I'm all for EVs & PHEVs if they can be responsibly developed by serious automakers. I don't care about gimmicks, I want my weird cars to be legitimately useful & durable enough for rally shenanigans. I hope there's eventually an electric rally Yaris.

You would have to check if particular parking lot has any chargers. There certainly wouldn't be one in more than a few parking spots presently. I haven't seen much problem with vandalism of the stations.

You would have to compare the range to your intended use. I probably spend less time with charging than I would fueling an ICE vehicle.

I have a Chevy Bolt EV and it is very easy to get in and out of. In general you sit higher in an EV due to the battery being in the floor. I think a Tesla Model Y would be similar but the sporty Teslas may be worse.

EVs have the heavy battery in the floor and are very stable even when on the high side.

No problem for the Bolt. However, some Bolt owners go for snow tires even on Long Island. The stock tires are very much optimized for mileage and are not great in rain and snow.

Oops! What car can you afford? Used EVs can be very affordable but you might not be getting the kind of range you could with a new one, due to battery age and since range has been increasing with the latest models.

So yes, I already drive an EV. I would never go back to ICE. I get discounted charging at work and spend very little to charge it. I just started getting power for my house from community solar and am saving more from that than I spend charging. The car is faster than 99% of the cars on the road to boot (rough estimate).

Last edited by CarlM on 28 Nov 2020, 8:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Is it stock or tuned? My high school best friend is a world famous diesel vw tuner. Lots of people have been dropping $ tuning their cars during this pandemic - I guess it’s the money they would have otherwise spent in bars and restaurants.

No, because I can't drive a car regardless if it will be an EV or not.

It's stock and not the fastest version. Only the wheels aren't stock because I disliked the original ones of steel. But for me is a car nothing but just a tool for driving. I don't need one where I have to be afraid of becoming poor if driving a little bit faster. That's why I like the Diesel. But I think a car should provide a bit of fun if driving it as well.

Thanks for the answers.
2 distances of uses -
a.) driving within our little 3 miles across county seat farm burg: yeah, that's not far; with my physical health the mess it is, walking and cycling are off the menu.
b1.) round trips to the city, which are 60 miles, before you go anywhere within the city for Dr appointments or shopping
b2.) trips to visit my now non-driving 80 year old parents in their town literally 100 miles from my home.

Right now I can't afford any vehicle. Since a stroke for one and dementia for the other last year now leave my parents unable to drive they gave me their petrol-burning van in August to replace my literally quarter-century old petrol-burning van & kept their SUV for their caretakers to use getting them to their appointments.

Another question I have is what does the power draw of running an EV's air conditioner do to its range in 90F to 100F farmland summers?