Electric car.

[FLATHEAD]

Took our caddy in for a leaking seal under warranty. They gave me a brand new fully loaded Lyriq for a loaner,8 miles on the clock. I wasn’t happy about it being electric only because I know nothing about them. Much to my surprise I’m pretty darn impressed. Gobs of power, handles great, tremendous ride quality, and luxurious. Has definitely changed my thinking on electric vehicles. Not sure I’d buy one, but if the wife likes it enough it may happen in the future. After all it would be her vehicle.

 

[racerone]

Leasing is best.-----You can't lose nearly as much as buying one.-----They lose value very quickly.

 

[flashback]

We got a year old mach-e. And like it a lot.

 

[Jeff J]

The problem I see with electric cars is the costs of battery replacement can easily exceed the value of the vehicle. That is why the electric vehicles decrease in value so fast.

Leasing would be the better option if a person plans on getting a new car every few years anyway. Personally, I like being out of debt and keeping what works. Electric vehicles seem to run counter to those philosophies. Not to mention that they are heavily taxed to make up for not burning fuel. I crunched the numbers and an electric car was going to cost me 4-5 times in fees and licensing than what I currently pay in licensing and fuel tax.

 

[Pmt133]

You can potentially lose upwards of 25% of range by 200k miles. The vast, vast majority of people don't keep cars that long. At that milage and most likely age, anything exceeds the value of the vehicle in most cases. For the average person, that's 16 years of vehicle ownership. I get it. That's a real issue. But if you have solar, take advantage of the subsidies you're paying for already, and do keep it that long... it still typically math's out as cheaper even though you replace the battery in my use case. Even without the subsidies and solar it's still cheaper per year to operate.

Further more, a company like tesla will warranty for 100-150k miles or 8 years if you lose 70% of capacity (not range which would be different)

Not for or against in any way, but those are the real world numbers from the sample size we have.

 

[flashback]

A lot depends on how it's used, we charge at home and have no need for long trips so it fits us.

 

[Scott Danforth]

A friend of mine has a gen 1 Prius on its 3rd battery pack. he has about 380,000 miles on it.

I dont see the electronics in all these pure electric cars today lasting that long, much less the battery packs

 

[DeepCMark58A]

I live in central Minnesota my driving involves 4 wheel drive 5 months out of the year. Service with en electric would be 2 hours away.

 

[flashback]

A friend of mine has a gen 1 Prius on its 3rd battery pack. he has about 380,000 miles on it.

I dont see the electronics in all these pure electric cars today lasting that long, much less the battery packs

Absolutely, the battery pack is the least of my worries, but there's alot of electronics on all newer vehicles these days.

 

[aspeck]

If all I did with a vehicle was putter around town, and Electric Vehicle wouldn't be a bad choice. However, that is not the only use for my vehicle. I like to drive long distances and straight through. I would not like have to stop every 3-4 hours to recharge.

 

[Jeff J]

I have made five 1,000 trips dragging a trailer in the 2 months. Probably have at least five trips remaining. That is two ten hours days stoping only for fuel and restroom. Gas is killing us at 10 mpg but I think waiting for a vehicle to charge would be worse.

 

[FLATHEAD]

This one was sitting on 80% charge when I took it. Showed a range of 275 miles till a charge would be needed. That’s a fair poke, but you would definitely need to plan to charge on a long trip. When you put your foot into it the miles per kilowatt hour reading on the dash goes up substantially. So mileage can vary greatly. That’s said the car itself is a gem. If they made it in a gasser I would definitely consider it.
As far as leasing, I don’t lease vehicles.

 

[jlh3rd]

electrics have a place for some people. Free enterprise, free choices....great!
"God bless america", right?
And as long as Sheetz, Buc-ees, Rutters, etc., put in their own charging stations, fine.
It's when a group of "people" have substantial power and decide that "they" will decide what my choices will be.... based on a false premise....and force it on me, that it becomes a problem.

Had a camry hybrid, 2012. Put 152,000 miles on it, avg 39-40 mpg. Great car!
Ev's...batteries...are just not there yet. The motors are fantastic. But the battery (gas tank) just doesn't match even close to an I.C.E. tank.

 

[FLATHEAD]

My car was done today so I took the lyriq back. 30 mile drive. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed that electric car. Glad I got a chance to check one out. I have a better understanding of what they are all about now.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Did you have to recharge it?

 

[FLATHEAD]

Did you have to recharge it?

No. It had 80% charge when I took it. Had 74% when I returned it. Only drove around 65 miles.
I told them up front I will be returning it with whatever is left as I had no clue as to charging it. They said they didn’t require it to be returned with the same amount as it left with.

 

[flashback]

We've had a fun time with our ev as well. I charge it at home, never been to a public charger. At my age, I don't see good at night so it's just used for short trips. Ford even paid for the 240v wiring for the charger ...

 

[nola mike]

The problem I see with electric cars is the costs of battery replacement can easily exceed the value of the vehicle. That is why the electric vehicles decrease in value so fast.

Leasing would be the better option if a person plans on getting a new car every few years anyway. Personally, I like being out of debt and keeping what works. Electric vehicles seem to run counter to those philosophies. Not to mention that they are heavily taxed to make up for not burning fuel. I crunched the numbers and an electric car was going to cost me 4-5 times in fees and licensing than what I currently pay in licensing and fuel tax.

The battery replacement thing is a pretty tired talking point now. The batteries are pretty damn good. An engine or transmission failure wouldn't be uncommon at 10 years either. Licensing and fees are highly state dependent and pretty ridiculous.

 

[nola mike]

It's when a group of "people" have substantial power and decide that "they" will decide what my choices will be.... based on a false premise....and force it on me, that it becomes a problem.

What's the false premise? And if you don't think that every industry is subsidized (except for the gas companies of course) then you haven't been paying attention.

If all I did with a vehicle was putter around town, and Electric Vehicle wouldn't be a bad choice. However, that is not the only use for my vehicle. I like to drive long distances and straight through. I would not like have to stop every 3-4 hours to recharge.

I definitely don't have a 4 hour bladder.

My car was done today so I took the lyriq back. 30 mile drive. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed that electric car. Glad I got a chance to check one out. I have a better understanding of what they are all about now.

My buddy has a lyriq. Great car, the autonomous driving is amazing. We're taking a trip up to Baltimore tomorrow. He'll start with a full tank and we'll leave with a full tank. My ICE would require a fill up before I left and I'd have an empty tank when I got home. So 2 fill ups vs none for the EV. There are few times I'm traveling more than 5 or 600 miles in a stretch that would require more than one charge en route.

 

[flashback]

You got the registration rip off down, most states bump up the cost around 100 bucks a year extra . I understand, I'm paying for the fuel tax with registration fees.