EV Cautionary tale

[MountainGoat]

What a dumbass. Drives from Canada to take a vacation in...Chicago?? Also buys a Lightning.

"It was in [the] shop for 6 months. I can’t take it to my lake cabin. I cannot take it for off-grid camping. I cannot take for even a road trip," Bala wrote.

Oh boo hoo somebody start a go-fund-me for this poor kool-aid drinker.

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[IdahoRanger]

I hate stopping for gas, can't imagine killing hours looking for and charging a vehicle. ICE all the way.

 

[Stevedbvik1]

This graph is from a study showing cost comparison between ice and ev per 100 miles. The bottom home vs commercial is charging location.

Real world data. Have over 5K ( over 3K on all electric) now on our 22 Escape PHEV and our cost per mile to drive on home charging is hovering between .04 and .05 cents. So per 100 miles between $4.00 and $5.00 . So we’re 50% of what this study shows. Also getting just over 40mpg on gas only on highway trips.

 

[UnregistredHypercam2]

I assume you're agreeing with me, since that's what I said.

Yep I’m agreeing. I just wanted to call out the confirmation bias aspect given the number of anti-EV arguments that happen on this forum.

 

[Fordup]

Yep I’m agreeing. I just wanted to call out the confirmation bias aspect given the number of anti-EV arguments that happen on this forum.

Speak to my neighbor that got rid of his in less then 6 months. Once below zero weather and lake snow hit it was a nightmare.

 

[UnregistredHypercam2]

Speak to my neighbor that got rid of his in less then 6 months. Once below zero weather and lake snow hit it was a nightmare.

Ok

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

This is a long video, but if you have time to kill I find this guy (Rich Benoit / Rich Rebuilds,) really entertaining. He nearly gets stranded trying to drive his new Rivian home but gets bailed out by a B&B host that is willing to let him charge for free.... it takes 12 hours.




One of the biggest issue Rich faces is when he checks his app for finding chargers - it tells him "no problem, just drive here and there are several available." He drives there and it's still under construction. He drives to the next one - it's out of order. You get the picture.

So this Ford Lightning guy may not be the most informed but after reading the article it seems like his family met a very similar fate. Their app was saying no problem - but the chargers were physically saying "problem."

 

[deleriumtremor]

I think this story is why Ford did a deal with Tesla to use their Super Charger network (not that it may have helped the guy in this particular case as the Super Charger network still has holes, but...).

My BIL has a Tesla Model Y and loves it. He lives in Wichita and drives to Las Vegas frequently to visit my wife's parents. It does take him longer than if he were driving an ICE vehicle and driving straight through stopping minimally for gas, but when he shows me the travel math, it isn't a major hit over what it would be for me and my wife traveling a long road trip in either her Hylander or the Ranger. His app seems to work really well for finding charging. I think Tesla did a lot of that leg work up front long ago, stuff a guy like Jim Farley wouldn't even consider until customers started to write angry letters.

 

[WhyNot21]

The guy's story is click bait. If it isn't, he's the dumbest person in Canada.

We've had our Model Y now for a month. We've gone 600 miles. If it didn't come new with a 90% charge, that would have cost us less than $20. We only need to charge at home, which is one of the reasons we bought it. We have the Ranger to take us places an EV doesn't make sense. It's going to take a while for the US to get to the point where this equals out.

 

[BryanJay]

I swear they should just change our anthem to “It’s the government’s fault”…. Unfortunately it’s going to get worse, the feds up here have mandated a phase-out of ICE’s for passenger vehicles by 2035. The infrastructure up here has a LONG way to catch up, distances are too big and chargers can be few and far between.

 

[myothercarizahearse]

Tough crowd
I bet none of you ever got dazzled by shiny things...right?

some bought into the TGD

 

[Grumpaw]

I swear they should just change our anthem to “It’s the government’s fault”…. Unfortunately it’s going to get worse, the feds up here have mandated a phase-out of ICE’s for passenger vehicles by 2035. The infrastructure up here has a LONG way to catch up, distances are too big and chargers can be few and far between.

Back in 2017 we took a trip to Alaska. Out of Montana into Alberts, to B.C. and thru Yukon vai the Alcan. I remember having to drive on the "top half" of the gas tank in our motor home cause some stations could be as far as 150-200 miles apart, and at times some of those stations were closed.
I can just imagine the problems to get some type of infrastructure built along that route to re-charge EV's, and to run power to the people who live out there, in addition to the travelers that visit.
And, I remember staying at several campgrounds where I had to use a 50 amp to 30 amp to 15/20 amp plug cause all they had for electric service was 15/20 amp outlets....how in the heck are they going to provide 240 service to charge stations ???

 

[Cmar]

The guy's story is click bait. If it isn't, he's the dumbest person in Canada.

We've had our Model Y now for a month. We've gone 600 miles. If it didn't come new with a 90% charge, that would have cost us less than $20. We only need to charge at home, which is one of the reasons we bought it. We have the Ranger to take us places an EV doesn't make sense. It's going to take a while for the US to get to the point where this equals out.

Yep this.
Petroleum fuel is significantly more expensive in Australia, than the US and electricity is still - despite recent price gouging, "allegedly" due to the war in the Ukraine, comparatively cheap.

So my wife who needed a new car anyway, bought an EV because she has a number of part time jobs one of which involves a 130 Km round trip.

We are under no illusion that this is basically a "run around" car. It can do distance trips, and the public charging network over here is getting better, as the state government throws it's weight behind sponsoring more and more of them. But primarily we charge it at home from a standard 240 volt 10 amp wall socket.
That is sufficient to charge it from empty in about 24 hours, for a range of about 320 Km.
In practice we rarely run it down that far, and we have have roof top solar so whenever we can, plug it in during the day for a free top up, or later at night for a cheap off peak one, and try to keep it at ~ 80-90%. Used this way this car is significantly cheaper to run than her previous diesel one, and of course has next to no maintenance costs. ( No plugs, belts, oil, filters, to change etc) Even brakes last virtually forever, because of regenerative braking.

I think that this is the way you should look at an EV purchase. Not what was in that stupid article.
Interestingly virtually all EV's in Australia (including Teslas) use the Euro standard type 2 plug.

 

[Joeiconic]

and the public charging network over here is getting better, as the state government throws it's weight behind sponsoring more and more of them.

I don’t think the EV infrastructure can ever get to where it needs to be with State or Federal government leading the charge. Somehow, private industry has to take over and run it.

 

[Cmar]

I don’t think the EV infrastructure can ever get to where it needs to be with State or Federal government leading the charge. Somehow, private industry has to take over and run it.

That's actually what has happened the ones that the state government has set up are actually run by the RACQ ( Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) in a joint venture. This keeps prices down and availability high ( members get a certain number of topup KWH free and discounts on the rest)
Of course there are also the ones associated with BP and AMPOL service stations and the Tesla network, as well as isolated ones set up by various shopping centres and local councils.

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