Does anyone with a BS also own an EV?

[MoFoCo]

We have a 2015 VW eGolf that I bought in 2017 with 28,000 miles. Paid pennies on the dollar for it. Yes, the original range is only about 85 miles, but we have the BS and a big Transit that can handle the longer trips.

Range anxiety is real and it does suck. I initially bought the EV for my local sales route. It was great for most days, but on 1-2 days per week that I worked the outer edges of my territory, I found myself planning my route around a charging station. This became a burden, and when my wife's old car started having issues, I gave her the VW and bought a Mazda. She works in town, and it has enough range to do 90% of our trips inside the Bay Area.

In the 40,000 miles we have driven it, it has required no other maintenance aside from the tires. We still fight over it, it's zippy, comfortable and the interior is top notch. It has lost less than 10% of its range over the years.

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[Bucko]

.... People complain about the cost of EV's but those people have never owned one. EV's are so much cheaper to own and operate, it's not funny. The cost of charging at home is way less than gas, and my wife loved not having to go to the gas station to fill up. Plus, no maintenance with an EV - no oil changes, and even the brakes last many times longer.

It's this reason why I don't buy one...can't afford the initial price. Plus, I'd prefer to lease an EV, and only for two years, as I do not want to have to buy new batteries. The folks I'm friends with that have an EV tell me that (depending on how often they are charged and distance driven, plus towing factors), the batteries can have a short lifespan. Again, this can differ from person to person's driving habits. Or, they are blowing smoke. I don't know, as I've never researched it because I don't own one.

The cost of batteries is usually more than the residual price of the vehicle at the time of battery replacement.

 

[Mark S.]

Replacing batteries in an EV is a scare tactic formulated by the oil and gas industry. We owned an EV for 4 years and both my kids own EV's. Batteries in EV's last a long, long time these days - expect the older NCM chemistry batteries (in many current EV's) to last 10 years or so before your mileage range is reduced to about 80% of a new car.

Newer EV's have LFP battery chemistry and those are 1 million mile batteries. You'd spend many thousands of dollars maintaining a gas engine over the life of an EV's battery.

As far as the offset to manufacturing an EV vs an ICE vehicle., again this is a desperate scare tactic of the oil and gas industry. The issue has been studied and EV's surpass ICE vehicles in total environmental impact (carbon, etc.) at about 20,000 miles on the odometer. That's when their total impact drops below ICE vehicles and gets better and better the more miles you drive. Under current tech, lithium batteries can be recycled by re-refining the lithium from the exhausted batteries.

I agree with everything you say here except the "scare tactics" part. Why does it have to be scare tactics? Misinformed? Ignorant? Absolutely. I'll even give you exaggeration. But the "oil & gas industry" has become everyone's favorite whipping boy lately, despite the fact that without the energy that industry supplies the world would not exist as we currently know it.

Let's just say that everyone has their own interests to protect, and people tend to offer the arguments that best support their position when advocating. I'm much more inclined to accept ignorance and incompetence over malice.

 

[Bucko]

I agree with everything you say here except the "scare tactics" part. Why does it have to be scare tactics? Misinformed? Ignorant? Absolutely. I'll even give you exaggeration. But the "oil & gas industry" has become everyone's favorite whipping boy lately, despite the fact that without the energy that industry supplies the world would not exist as we currently know it.

Let's just say that everyone has their own interests to protect, and people tend to offer the arguments that best support their position when advocating. I'm much more inclined to accept ignorance and incompetence over malice.

Call me ignorant or incompetent, but don't call me Shirley or late for dinner.

 

[Chadwick]

On the topic of Hybrid/EV battery replacement, my wife has a 2007 Toyota Prius with over 270,000 miles on the original traction battery. It is starting to show signs of declining performance, so we are likely to be looking at a replacement traction battery in the next few months. Looking around I see that replacement traction batteries are in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.

-Keith.

 

[CLR]

It's this reason why I don't buy one...can't afford the initial price. Plus, I'd prefer to lease an EV, and only for two years, as I do not want to have to buy new batteries. The folks I'm friends with that have an EV tell me that (depending on how often they are charged and distance driven, plus towing factors), the batteries can have a short lifespan. Again, this can differ from person to person's driving habits. Or, they are blowing smoke. I don't know, as I've never researched it because I don't own one.

The cost of batteries is usually more than the residual price of the vehicle at the time of battery replacement.

In the US, all EVs have a battery warranty of 8 years, and most manufacturers make it 8yrs/100k miles. Is your ICE warranty that long? Sure, read the fine print on each vehicle for the specifics, but in general, your friends are blowing smoke.

 

[dbsb3233]

We have a 2021 Mustang Mach-E and have a Bronco Sport OB on order. LOVE our Mach-E, and it will remain our primary vehicle. We road trip a ton in it (30,000 miles of road trips alone). Most of the interstates are covered now, but not all. And I do a lot of pre-planning of the route to check out the charging situation. Not everyone likes to have to do that. But if you do (and if you have a house where you can charge it overnight), they're great.

 

[dbsb3233]

Replacing batteries in an EV is a scare tactic formulated by the oil and gas industry. We owned an EV for 4 years and both my kids own EV's. Batteries in EV's last a long, long time these days - expect the older NCM chemistry batteries (in many current EV's) to last 10 years or so before your mileage range is reduced to about 80% of a new car.

Newer EV's have LFP battery chemistry and those are 1 million mile batteries. You'd spend many thousands of dollars maintaining a gas engine over the life of an EV's battery.

As far as the offset to manufacturing an EV vs an ICE vehicle., again this is a desperate scare tactic of the oil and gas industry. The issue has been studied and EV's surpass ICE vehicles in total environmental impact (carbon, etc.) at about 20,000 miles on the odometer. That's when their total impact drops below ICE vehicles and gets better and better the more miles you drive. Under current tech, lithium batteries can be recycled by re-refining the lithium from the exhausted batteries.

I don't agree with the "scare tactic formulated by the oil and gas industry" rhetoric at all. But the comments about batteries are generally correct. Of course, everyone's experience will vary. Warm weather climates are a lot friendlier to EVs than cold weather. Hard driving is worse, lots of DCFC is worse. But even then, most people should be able to get 100k miles minimum out of a battery pack without much range loss. Then it's a matter of how much you really need out of your old car by then. Most people are likely to replace it, or relegate it to 2nd vehicle in the house, or hand it down to their teen, by then. And even if needing to replace the battery pack above 100k miles, chances are good battery prices will have come down a lot by the 2030's. And probably provide a significant range upgrade.

 

[Major Kong]

would only consider if it comes with engine cover

 

[Bucko]

In the US, all EVs have a battery warranty of 8 years, and most manufacturers make it 8yrs/100k miles. Is your ICE warranty that long? Sure, read the fine print on each vehicle for the specifics, but in general, your friends are blowing smoke.

No, I did not have a 8 year warranty. But still own the 2007 Ford F150 with 180K on its odometer. Paid for, and reliable. I expect it to reach close to 250K before it will need any serious engine/transmission work.

Let me know when your EV gets there, and can tow a 10K pound trailer without having to stop in 200 miles.

 

[CLR]

No, I did not have a 8 year warranty. But still own the 2007 Ford F150 with 180K on its odometer. Paid for, and reliable. I expect it to reach close to 250K before it will need any serious engine/transmission work.

Let me know when your EV gets there, and can tow a 10K pound trailer without having to stop in 200 miles.

This is like saying “I have a typewriter, so what’s the point of owning a pen?” Sure, the current state of EVs does not make them a good choice for hauling heavy loads over long distances. However, they are not fragile things with batteries that fail after 2 years, which was your original comment.

 

[CableXJ]

All the EVs do is transfer your carbon footprint from gas/diesel to a coal fired power plant. Or a natural gas plant. Nuclear power would be much better but then there’s that whole 3 mile island type of thing.

some will say solar and wind powers there grid. But then Kalifornia told EV users not to charge their cars because the grid was stressed because of the hot weather. just look what happened in Texas during that winter storm. Solar stopped working. And the windmills froze. Maybe EVs should have solar panel and/or wind turbines mounted to them.

other than that, the tech is not there yet and replacing the battery is a high cost option.

Nope. Had a hybrid and squeezed a lifetime mpg of 53.7 out of it. So no thanks. Besides the closest Tesla dealer or EV dealer is 3.5 hours away. And so far none of the farmers are running all electric tractors.

Electric car dies. Coal miners push it to charging station at the mine.

They need to create a car body that nothing but solar panels in addition to charging at home or charge stations.

Truth be told, perfecting small fusion reactors would be best.

 

[Bucko]

This is like saying “I have a typewriter, so what’s the point of owning a pen?” Sure, the current state of EVs does not make them a good choice for hauling heavy loads over long distances. However, they are not fragile things with batteries that fail after 2 years, which was your original comment.

They will when sold as a truck towing anything.

 

[FirsandFire]

My wife and I also have a Tesla model 3 long-range. We have had both that and the BS about 2 and a half years. The Tesla is the daily, and the go-to most of the time especially around town. The only road trips we take the Bronco Sport on are when we go to Maine for a couple weeks and stay in more secluded areas. Eventually re-charging will be quicker and/or more widespread and we may start taking it for more longer trips. The GPS will route you to a charger along the route when needed and the extra time to charge up really isn't too crazy. We charge at home (at night, during off-peak hours and it's like having a full tank of gas every morning. 360 miles of range give or take and we haven't had any major issues with it yet.

There are plenty of naysayers and people that like to talk about the mining of lithium, cobalt etc. but at the end of the day, there are plenty of raw materials mined for vehicles with standard combustion motors as well. There is plenty of research and articles talking about the pros and cons. EV's aren't perfect but most of the talking points and buzz phrases are used by those with no skin in the game (they'll be in the ground before the worst of climate change happens) or that refuse to acknowledge that change isn't always bad. There were plenty of people that were perfectly happy riding horses when automobiles came around. This is no different, just people afraid of change that want to put fear and doubt into the minds of others to make their own beliefs more justified.

I also have an old Chevy dump truck and a classic Autocar class 8 truck. I'm not a full crunchy granola hippy. I just follow science and use my best judgement. Can't worry about dinosaurs and thick headed naysayers claiming that EV's are bad and using Texas as an example when their grid is privatized and in shambles, especially when repetitive "once in 500 year" weather events knock it out like a child's toy.

 

[Bucko]

If and when they make an EV that can pull a decent trailer weight and give me more than 200 miles (and I'm being very light with that), and give me a price range at or below an ICE truck pulling the same, I'm in line for that EV.

I like the idea of an EV, I just can't afford one to do what I need it for. I got excited when they announced an EV 18 wheeler. I thought, "finally getting there". But I never saw one actually being used on the highways yet.

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