CarWow: We drove these electric cars until they DIED!

[Gamb1t]

My friend and I were planning a road trip with our families. I asked if he's gonna take the Model 3.... he said nope. They are taking the Subaru. Because in our road trip, we drive and stop whenever. Planning out the route to fit in the charging stations would mean be ruin the freedom of roaming off the beaten path. Let alone having to wait hours on end for charging. DC charging still takes 20-30 minutes and takes a toll on the batteries.

I see an EV in our future. However the ones under $100k currently drive like a plastic fridges. Devoid of soul. Rolling appliances. So this prospect saddens me. If Mazda makes an eMX5....

[Salty Dog]

Originally Posted by Gamb1t

My friend and I were planning a road trip with our families. I asked if he's gonna take the Model 3.... he said nope. They are taking the Subaru. Because in our road trip, we drive and stop whenever. Planning out the route to fit in the charging stations would mean be ruin the freedom of roaming off the beaten path. Let alone having to wait hours on end for charging. DC charging still takes 20-30 minutes and takes a toll on the batteries.

I see an EV in our future. However the ones under $100k currently drive like a plastic fridges. Devoid of soul. Rolling appliances. So this prospect saddens me. If Mazda makes an eMX5....

I'd rather chew tinfoil and shave my head with a cheese grater.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by Gamb1t

My friend and I were planning a road trip with our families. I asked if he's gonna take the Model 3.... he said nope. They are taking the Subaru. Because in our road trip, we drive and stop whenever. Planning out the route to fit in the charging stations would mean be ruin the freedom of roaming off the beaten path. Let alone having to wait hours on end for charging. DC charging still takes 20-30 minutes and takes a toll on the batteries.

I see an EV in our future. However the ones under $100k currently drive like a plastic fridges. Devoid of soul. Rolling appliances. So this prospect saddens me. If Mazda makes an eMX5....

EVs require you plan your trip around the vehicle. That alone is a reason to leave it home uninvited. No vehicle has earned that privilege.

[Obioban]

EVs are better for daily commuting; ICEVs are better for road trips. This isn't a complex thing.

2% market penetration this soon isn't that insignificant when you consider the average car in the USA is 11.6 years old.

Ironically I've never been stranded by running out of electrons, but I have been stranded by running out of gas-- driving through NJ, which only has full service gas stations, and it turns out they stop selling gas at some point. Ended up having to sleep in my car that night in a gas station parking lot, which wasn't the best.

From a DD perspective, assuming you can charge at home or work, EVs are just stupidly better. Going to a gas station feels gross (dirty pump handles) and like a huge waste of time and money once you're used to charging at home. Beyond that, they're just significantly simpler machines to maintain-- no engine oil, air filters, spark plugs, coils, 02 sensors, clutches, seals, bla bla bla. Since I've started DDing the i3 I spend an average of $700 less per month on gas and $300 less per month on service. In exchange I spend ~$50 per month on electricity. I've also regained ~30 minutes per week I used to spend pumping gas (my commute is 100 miles/day, so the above probably won't be as extreme for most).

DDing an EV is also a lot more pleasant. Stop and go traffic is a one pedal affair, everything is more silent than a V12 luxobarge focused on silence. EVs are better at all the types of driving I wish I never had to do... which is sadly the significant majority of real world driving. Plus the car is warm in the winter and cool in the summer when I get in, as the heat/AC kicks on 10 minutes before I get in the car. And there's no warm up period where you have to be nice to the car-- you can just get in and hammer down.

All of that said, when we go on a road trip we take an ICEV. Could we take the i3? Sure. But, that seems silly to me when we still have 4 ICE cars. That said, DDing an ICEV also seems silly to me, to a bigger extent (because of how much more frequent DDing is than road tripping).

Originally Posted by Gamb1t

I see an EV in our future. However the ones under $100k currently drive like a plastic fridges. Devoid of soul. Rolling appliances. So this prospect saddens me. If Mazda makes an eMX5....

Have you driven an i3? Carbon monocoque, rear motor, rear wheel drive, lowest COG of any BMW, 50:50 weight distro, 2700 lbs, instant accelerator response, quite spritely at non highway speeds. I think people get hung up on it looking like a space pod and the unusual contact patch direction, and assume it doesn't drive well as a result.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by Obioban

...I have been stranded by running out of gas-- driving through NJ, which only has full service gas stations, and it turns out they stop selling gas at some point. Ended up having to sleep in my car that night in a gas station parking lot, which wasn't the best.

True that it's technically illegal to pump your own fuel in NJ, but there are plenty of gas stations open 24 hours in NJ. Sorry you had the wrong impression and spent the night camping in your car. BTW, most every gas station in NJ will have no issue with you pumping your own gas... except Costco. They will literally yell at you if you try and pump it yourself.

[Obioban]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

True that it's technically illegal to pump your own fuel in NJ, but there are plenty of gas stations open 24 hours in NJ. Sorry you had the wrong impression and spent the night camping in your car. BTW, most every gas station in NJ will have no issue with you pumping your own gas... except Costco. They will literally yell at you if you try and pump it yourself.

I tried. Twice... then I had no range to get to a third station.