I'd like to own an electric vehicle, but they're way beyond my budget. I like the idea of not having to buy gas/petrol. I've read some reviews where folks say they're fun to drive.
Anyone have plans or hopes to buy one?
Yes, a Bolt. Great for daily commutes. Very zippy and fun to drive. I get to use carpool lanes during peak hours. The best part is never being a slave to gas prices. We have a family gas guzzler too but am ready to trade that for an EV once there are enough charging stations everywhere.
shareI have a gas hybrid that I just bought last June - love it - 42mpg. I plan on keeping it about 10 years and then my next car will be electric. I figure by that time some of the problems, (distance, charging stations, etc.) will have been worked out
share40k new isn't too much to ask, is it? I've seen used ones for 12k. Teslas are luxury cars, not EVs as a whole... they're intentionally overpriced for what little you actually get because rich people are willing to pay more for less.
The real issue to overcome is that you're supposed to constantly be "filling the tank" while you're not using the car. EVs make sense for people who commute a lot but drive very little. Fast chargers wear the battery faster, and of course charging above 80% or going below 20% can also damage the battery. Regen is overhyped as well, you're not going to violate thermodynamics and "recapture" the energy used to attain and maintain your velocity, you just get a little bit of the inertia turned into charge.
Hydrogen fuel cell economy is likely to replace the battery economy, the issues you have with the battery and the costs to replace it are immense. Battery technology isn't evolving as fast as people hype it, it's mostly the manufacturing that is evolving (making bigger batteries is becoming cheaper.)
I think something like the Nissan ePower is also quite interesting, using gasoline to power an electric vehicle. But still wonder why we haven't seen Diesel-Electric given electric trains run off of diesel, not battery. The issues with battery-power aren't going away anytime soon.
40k won't get you half way to the upper Tesla vehicles. It will nearly get you into a Model 3 which is the bottom end of the Tesla line.
30k will get you the base model Nissan Leaf, a compact hatchback with a number of weaknesses. That's about as cheap as it gets for a new EV.
Making claims about how much a used one costs only muddles the facts since the word "used" opens up a number of questions that I doubt can be answered easily.
And don't get me wrong, I'm very pro-EV but I think being honest about what's out there today is necessary to the conversation. We shouldn't try to fool ourselves about who these vehicles will work for and at what price point.
Teslas are luxury cars that are priced 10x what they're worth and operate on 100% hype. The fact is you can easily get a decent EV for 40k, you just won't get an overpriced luxury car. When Tesla falls, the EV market will begin booming, they're trying to shove proprietary crap down our throats and kill off the market by stifling competition and refusing to adhere to standards.
shareSo you're saying a Tesla isn't worth 4100 dollars? And are also proclaiming it a "luxury" car? Ok. I see where this is going. There's no point in wanting an honest conversation with you.
Have a nice day.
You're no different from a Mac fanboi. Tesla is the EV version of a Macintosh, you get a proprietary charger and fancy touch screen controls but pay more than anyone else and are forced into the "Tesla economy" where only Tesla can maintain or upgrade your vehicle.
Linux will be the dominate operating system in the future, we just need to get rid of people who oppose open standards and bully their way into becoming industry giants.
LOL. Another bunch of slinging insults with no substance. If anyone is the fanboy here it's you.
shareNot yet, but I'm planning on getting a Tesla the next time I need a car.
shareI just saw an ad for the Canoo EV pickup truck. It seemed really cool. 200 mile range with lots of cool gadgets. It looked very nice but I bet it was also very very expensive. That carmakers seem to think that i you save lots of money on gas, that you owe them a percentage of that money for the price of the car.
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