The “Water Cooler Chat” is a feature on CLAYCORD.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you will talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: Have you already purchased one, or have you thought about purchasing an electric vehicle? If you have purchased one, how much do you pay monthly to charge it, and how do you like it?
Talk about it….
I have driven an EV since 2016 and absolutely love it. I cost about $15 to charge the full battery and I get about 270 miles on a full battery, so it is very efficient. Most people that I run into, don’t understand how quiet and efficient EV’s are. Most questions that I get are: Where do you charge it? What happens when the battery runs out? I remind them that electricity is everywhere, and the car can be plugged in to any 120-volt outlet. And just like a gasoline car that runs out of gas, an EV will stop running when the battery is empty. but I only need to charge about once every 5 days.
RV,
All batteries have a life-span, I have a concern about incorrect charging.
Do you allow your battery to run down to 10 – 15% or do charge (short-cycle) more frequently which shortens the battery life?
Were you provided any information regarding correct / incorrect charging when you purchased your EV?
Thanks, HP
…. the EV battery life depends on how you drive it…. if you baby it and are very gentle I’ve seen them go almost 200K…. if you’re more aggressive, maybe 100k – or even less. My concern is the electrical grid – particularly in Cali, Newsom is shutting down conventional & nuclear power… our green power grid won’t even handle ll the a/c we’re going to need this summer… article about it in the EB Times today 6/9/22
Keeping the battery below 80% sustains its life. The car’s manual has detailed information on how to preserve the life of a Lithium battery. I have run the battery down to 2% with no problems. From my research, Lithium batteries are different in terms of lifespan than lead acid.
EV… you are 100% correct. The new Li technology will allow the batteries about 10 years of life. I sell Li batteries for a living and have gone on more trainings than I can count. Li has no “memory” like the old NiCad and as such you can”t “damage” the battery unless you over heat it. However this was well thought out when Li technology arrived in cars and over heating is rare. You should have years and years of use before you even need to think about changing the battery.
however, the real problem with Li technology is it is finite. When all the lithium has been mined finding more has proven difficult. It is also the most environmentally unfriendly type of mining in the world. It makes coal mining look like child’s play. Most people don’t now this and the greenies will not discuss it. Se article from the guardian below…and the Guardian is squarely left leaning
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/dec/08/the-curse-of-white-oil-electric-vehicles-dirty-secret-lithium
Wonder what PGE thinks about them.
The probably think that as soon as enough people get hooked on them they’ll jack the rates, just like drug dealers.
Um, solar panels?
Not interested what so ever
Our first electric vehicle should be delivered by the end of June. Looking forward to it!
No plans to for now. I like race cars, and to me it will just never seem right for a race car to have an extension cord.
I’ve definitely thought about one, but I’ll wait untill Hybrid prices come down a bit…..
https://insideevs.com/news/352506/ferrari-sf90-stradale-chargeport-location-bad/amp/
It all comes back to fossil fuels, like it or not.
I don’t have any plans of ever buying one. There’s also none out there that have the towing or hauling capacity of my 2500 diesel truck.
My vehicles are paid for. Why would I want to buy something new? Having that monthly car payment is going to cost as much, if not more, than I currently spend on fuel. Not to mention the increase in insurance and registration costs. It doesn’t matter if it costs less to “fill up”, it would most likely be more expensive for me to go buy an electric vehicle at this point.
I also think all of the more affordable ones out there are ugly as sin and I wouldn’t want to own or drive one just because of that. Any of the nicer “luxury” ones are out of my price range as well. If someone wants to give me a free Tesla Plaid, I’ll gladly take it though.
Ev’s are too quiet, nothing beats the sound of a strong V8 with headers and dual exhaust. I rarely listen to music while I’m driving, the beautiful sound of my engine is music to my ears.
I’ve been a hot rodder all my life, working on, and building fast cars is an enjoyable hobby, and I have no intention of giving it up, even when gas hits 20 bucks a gallon. I’ll probably die broke, but I’ll die happy.
I’m with you on that. If things get tough I’ll run them on methanol. Big tank, big fuel lines, big carb, big power, no problem.
Here’s to internal combustion and wind in the face. I love my twin cam Hondas.
The good news is an electric car battery could last ten years and only cost you between 13 or 20 thousand to replace. So you can trade your car in at 10 years at which time it will be worthless because in ten years the batteries will cost 30 thousand. Who will put 30 thousand into a ten year old car with an electric motor that we have no idea what they will cost to replace or how long they will last. Think I will run out and trade my PU for an electric car that will only go 250 miles without a charge. Maybe not.
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No. I dont drive enough to justify incurring $60,000+ of new debt… that amount can buy lots of gasoline.
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And when I do drive, like for a 400+ mile trip, I dont want to wait mid-way an hour or more to fully charge my vehicle.
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Don’t even get me started on towing an RV trailer or boat with an electric car or truck. Their range is horrendously short under load.
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NO THANKS.
I have thought about every once in a while, but ultimately, I have no interest. I am not interested in shelling out for such an expensive car. I am not interested in having to install a charging station in my garage. I am not interested in seeing how long I have to sit at a charging station when I drive longer distances. I am not interested in trying to figure out what I would have to do if our efficiently run state experiences a black out (a story a little higher up on Claycord, by the way).
I don’t have one and I have no desire to have one.
I’d like to see Hydrogen fueled cars become more popular.
I’d get one of those.
And in your latest posting in Claycord. PGE expecting blackouts. Yep. Let’s all run out and get electric cars and see how well that works out.
Eventually I will. This is the future. Sure, the grid is in need of upgrading, the range needs to better (for trips), the gas station to battery charge station ration needs to be similar, but it will all eventually get there. My main thing is cost of one. Right now, it is still a bit pricy, but when the big 3-4 automakers are increasing models/output, these prices will normalize with a gas version. We can complain all we want regarding change, but it is happening and the ball has started to roll.
Eventually charging will be as expensive as gas. If you think not you are dreaming.
I don’t have one yet. But sure, I’ll probably get one eventually. The technology is getter better and better. The infrastructure is improving. They are the vehicles of the future.
I like the idea of EVs, but as a renter who mostly drives longer trips on weekends, a hybrid would make more sense. Hard to get one right now with the vehicle shortage might buy some ebikes
I bought a cheaper economy EV a few years ago. It has been wonderful. No more time sitting and waiting for the car to fill up at the gas station because it charges itself to full just sitting in my garage. It is always good to go.
Dear EV owners and want to be owners. I have bad news to break to you. There will be no new electricity generation coming online in CA or any of the nearby states. The WEF and UN Agenda 2030 to which your democrat junta is beholden has determined your future already. You will be waiting on the street in the hot sun to catch your electric bus. Your electric bus will be crowded and smelly and full of intimidating imported people from Oakland. Enjoy!
+100
Not a chance will I buy into their unicorn dreams. Don’t forget that electricity comes from powerplants fired by generators that use hydrocarbons. So your electric car is in essence powered by gas. They are also insanely expensive.
I’ve seen some really cool EVs in terms of technology and over all design. The one I really like is about $90,000. Will I buy one? Probably not. I’m not sure if people realize how destructive the rare earth materials are to the planet. Most importantly, China controls about 90% of the rare earth production and I can guarantee you they are not looking out for mother nature. The greens are living in a pipe dream if they believe EVs are the answer to our transportation needs. Think about where the power to charge your EV comes from. Hint: it’s not fans and mirrors.
My first EV will almost certainly be an electric mobility scooter when I’m too old to drive. I consider 500 miles in a day as a nice number for a road trip and 600 not unreasonable (I’ve done more). I don’t want to sit around waiting for the battery to charge. I also prefer smaller high revving IC engines with a manual transmission, as I like to be involved when I drive. I watched a Formula E race on a street circuit in Rome and it sounded like a slot car race; not for me. Hydrogen isn’t the answer either, as most of it is stripped from natural gas or made by electrolysis from water, which takes a huge amount of water; not a viable solution.