Today, would you buy an EV vehicle.

[bnold]

21,321mi
3,921kwh or $392 in electricity paid for my circumstances, also have 15KW solar, but we will ignore that. I just consider the money it generates is just paying for itself at the moment and will for the next 5-6 years.
- In service 12/8/2021
- Car was around $50k
- 1.89% on the note for what I financed (should have financed all of it, especially with the dollar dropping like a lead rock)
- Plan on swapping in or selling outright at 120k miles. This is just a commuter.
- So, expecting $2,200 in ‘electric fuel’ and a set or 2 of tires, alignment, car washes, some bug juice for the life of car. A to B with a bit of fun in the process (autopilot, stupid fast and this is the ‘slow’ model)



Currently beats commuting in my truck (tow duty, haul duty, weekends) 14mpg avg and $5 diesel sucks.

$75 in daily fuel cost for truck if I commute in it for day job, $3.97 in the car. Add other real operating and purchase expenses and the gap just gets larger.

Now is where someone will say, I’ve never paid more than $10k for a car. Always used. Could commute in a 1990 Tercel and really save money.

Fine for some folks, I’ve purchased many used vehicles, even a used Toyota 4x4 for $4,500 at one point. But, at this stage of life and in my business I’m going to drive a newer decently nice vehicle (also, kind of the expectation with a company vehicle allowance)… the car fits the need for me. Am I better for environment? No idea, no factor. Is the fossil fuel the power plant the exact same as an ICE? No, the efficiency of the power plant is better even with transmission losses. Does it matter? Not to me, no factor in the decision. I don’t want to be in a lithium mine any more than a coal mine, both sound terrible (but necessary)

I just wanted a fun car and low daily fuel costs. The technology geek in me was satisfied as well.

I’d drive the truck every day if I could over the car, but man, I’d rather do something else with that $$.

 

[stevem5215]

And therein lies the rub on electric vehicles. No one cares where the batteries raw materials come from or how much they are polluting recharging. Solar isn't free or non polluting either. China has plenty of pollution to go around making those things and shipping them here on more polluting ships. It never stops. Nuclear war will stop it all. If we survive ourselves it'll be a miracle anyway. Rant over. Pollution no matter how you slice it. Have a nice ICE day or a Electric day. Your choice, your money.

 

[Jstpssng]

Can you get a new plow/dumper/towing capacity truck for that price?

Probably not the towing capacity but everything else would have come in under 50k when I was shopping 2 years ago.

 

[metalbender]

There's people who don't own cars from what I hear. Wouldn't be an option out here. In the need for greed, MSM and politicians glaze over the facts pretty quick. The 60 to 80 year old grid can't handle current demands. Climate change is more business than the realization it's been happening for eons. Don't have to be an overpaid scientist to see the light. The pics of glaciers melting faster is a normal occurrence, less mass, melts faster. Holy crap, what a revelation. I feel for the upcoming generations having to deal with mess the the bottom line is everything companies have created. No EV for me.

 

[shooterdon]

If you could only have one vehicle, would it be EV or ICE? Seems to me most EV users have another vehicle...and it is not another EV.

How many retired couples do you know have two vehicles? Do they need two or is it more of a want?

We do not "need" two F150's but have them. I have been offered a great price on one, and nearly sold it. I would not replace it with anything. In an emergency I can always find a ride and nothing else is that important. If the "pretty one" is away for a weekend, I can use the sled in the winter or the SxS most of year to visit neighbors or hit the convenience store.

If i sold one of the trucks, I would save $1500 in insurance and plates plus another $1000 a year in gas. (5000 miles at 20 mpg). Big deal. $2500 is not a life changer for us.

Maybe I missed it, but has anyone run the numbers on the cost of operating an EV vs an ICE for 12 years and 150k miles? Don't snow me with how great your EV has been for the three years. I have China made underwear older than that...and it takes beating too...LOL.

 

[Jchonline]

Well, I commute 45 miles round trip 3 days a week for work, then just trips around town or to neighboring cities 20 minutes away on weekends. I did the math recently and my Toyota Tundra 5.7L V8 vs. a Ford Lightning EV is very eye opening. The fuel savings alone would amount to $350-400 per month. Then you have savings from not having to buy oil, filters, spark plugs, fluids, etc. It's almost enough savings to cover the payment on the new EV truck.

The Chevy Silverado EV promises a 400 mile range. That's exactly what my Tundra would get. So no problem there.

Payload and towing specs are identical. So no issue there.

The only drawback is charging TIME. In daily use you can easily plan ahead and charge at home once per week. But, on a long trip that's when the EV truck would suck.

EVs get nowhere near promised miles. You should take about 30% off their number.

 

[Fixastuff]

Probably not the towing capacity but everything else would have come in under 50k when I was shopping 2 years ago.

Gotcha. Unfortunately 2 years ago doesn't have much in common with today when I comes to prices.

 

[Torvy]

As much as I dislike toyota, I have to give credit where it's due. I'd stop short of saying "dominance" if for no reason other than hybrids are a rather small % of vehicles sold, but no denying that the pruis accounts for the lion's share of hybrid sales, dwarfing even other toyota hybrid models. They're not normally a company known for innovation, but they seemed to have nailed this technology.

For what it is worth, Toyota sold more cars in the US in Q1 than any other auto maker. As gas gets more expensive, people outside the original 13 states will probably buy even more. Pretty impressive considering they are playing 'on the road'.

Toyota has been the number one manufacturer in the world the past 2 years. Only VW even comes close. GM sold 33% fewer. They almost sold more than GM and Ford combined.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

EV range is 100%-0% which nobody does, because it’s terrible for the battery. 20%-80% is more like it.

Also, this doesn’t include payload or towing for trucks, which reduces range even further.

A good friend of mine drives a Tesla… he plans his charging when we are on the road at hotels. He got a call for a family emergency three hours away, while we were teaching a class. He needed to borrow an ICE vehicle because he hadn’t planned for the unplanned emergency, his car was low on charge, and he didn’t have a supercharger nearby.

 

[ultrarunner]

Know a lot of EV owners and no disgruntled or unhappy with their purchase.

Some bought the very first Leaf and Prius is everywhere with plenty of homegrown Tesla.

Part of the satisfaction might be appreciation.

One of the Docs recently took delivery of his Tesla and was offered 12k over what he paid… he was tempted but wife said no way!

Long gone is the Doctor parking lot filled with expensive German and Italian cars…

Now mostly electric or combo thereof.

They can buy whatever they want as in the days of 12 cylinder BMW and Mercedes, Porsche and Ferrari and a couple of Cadillacs…

 

[mo1]

One of the Docs recently took delivery of his Tesla and was offered 12k over what he paid… he was tempted but wife said no way!

Long gone is the Doctor parking lot filled with expensive German and Italian cars…

Now mostly electric or combo thereof.

They can buy whatever they want as in the days of 12 cylinder BMW and Mercedes, Porsche and Ferrari and a couple of Cadillacs…

You're right, long gone is the doctors' parking lot filled with expensive German and Italian cars, their salaries shrank significantly as "payment reform" forced them to shutter their private practices and work for ever-consolidating conglomerate health systems. I work at a hospital and the spots in the parking garage for physicians' cars are filled with very average vehicles- Fords, GMs, Dodges, Toyotas, Nissans, etc., pretty much identical to what the nurses, techs, and such who park in the rest of the garage drive. The closer spots where the administrators park, is Money Row. There you can find Tesla Model Ss, a Bentley Continental, a V12 Mercedes SL65, Porsches, Mercedes, Audis, BMWs, and one Maserati. I will agree there are more Italian cars in the doctors' spots as there are more Ram pickups (made by Stellantis, an Italian company) in the doctors' spots than in the suits' spots.

 

[Jeepnford]

No. Mainly because I think the current infatuation with wind generators and solar is a sham. No electricity when it’s dark and no wind? We need to keep nuclear or fossil fuel generators until something that works better comes along. Not to mention most electric cars are overpriced skateboards with limited range.

 

[pretendfarmer]

For some reason I suspect the globalist cabal who are pushing EVs on everybody won't be giving up their private jets which pollute more than any 4 wheeled vehicle on earth, by far.

 

[cqaigy2]

I'd probably own one, but probably wouldn't buy one.

 

[shooterdon]

Know a lot of EV owners and no disgruntled or unhappy with their purchase.

Some bought the very first Leaf and Prius is everywhere with plenty of homegrown Tesla.

Part of the satisfaction might be appreciation.

One of the Docs recently took delivery of his Tesla and was offered 12k over what he paid… he was tempted but wife said no way!

Long gone is the Doctor parking lot filled with expensive German and Italian cars…

Now mostly electric or combo thereof.

They can buy whatever they want as in the days of 12 cylinder BMW and Mercedes, Porsche and Ferrari and a couple of Cadillacs…

Intelligence and common sense are not always in the same package.

IMO, only a rich fool would buy an EV when they can afford a Mercedes or BMW. I know a few rich people. They do not buy Rolex or Cartier watches because they want to know what time it is.

 

[JasperFrank]

Automotive industry in China - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[bnold]

Intelligence and common sense are not always in the same package.

IMO, only a rich fool would buy an EV when they can afford a Mercedes or BMW. I know a few rich people. They do not buy Rolex or Cartier watches because they want to know what time it is.

Never owned Mercedes, have owned a BMW X5D (wife’s ride)

Never Ever Again. I knew better to move away from Lexus on her cars… really liked the BMW styling (still a pretty good looking SUV). Didn’t take terribly long to remember why Toyota products are far superior in the ease of ownership/reliability category.

Replaced with Lexus NX350h.
She is happy, but would have preferred a model Y. Just too big a gap in price and her mileage is considerably less.

 

[Jchonline]

I've been driving a Tesla Model 3 for 3 years now. Still on original tires. Charge from solar system.
Virtually no service.
Netflix, Hulu, You Tube Self driving, super voice control
I'll never buy an ICE again

Andy

Are you sure you are charging that car via solar at night? Grid tied solar doesnt typically take the electricity generated from your solar panels and pump it directly into your EV. For that you need a specialized inverter. You are still charging with power from the grid, which means a NG, Nuclear, or Coal plant is running to provide it. Excess energy generated from all of these grid tied solar owners isnt stored for later use. It is just wasted.

THinking because you produce 24kwh via solar and day if you use 24kwh you are net Zero is a misnomer. If you pull power from a carbon producing power source you are not.

Shut down your grid connection and lets see how It goes. I know, I have a fully off grid home.

 

[stevem5215]

Those who live off grid know how this goes. Guaranteed they watch their "energy budget" (hint it's a meter and usually in the house somewhere).

 

[Snobdds]

Are you sure you are charging that car via solar at night? Grid tied solar doesnt typically take the electricity generated from your solar panels and pump it directly into your EV. For that you need a specialized inverter. You are still charging with power from the grid, which means a NG, Nuclear, or Coal plant is running to provide it. Excess energy generated from all of these grid tied solar owners isnt stored for later use. It is just wasted.

THinking because you produce 24kwh via solar and day if you use 24kwh you are net Zero is a misnomer. If you pull power from a carbon producing power source you are not.

Shut down your grid connection and lets see how It goes. I know, I have a fully off grid home.

I did the math one day and it would take 21, 1,000 watt solar arrays to charge a normal tesla battery each night.

That is a lot of roof space or land needed to produce that much watts...