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Electric cars...

Would you buy an electric car?

  • No thank you

  • Sign me up!

  • If I must

  • I don't drive, thus I really don't care anyway

  • I am interested, but until there is more reliable technology for long highway trips


Results are only viewable after voting.

Sherlock77

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
This stems from a discussion on a car forum I'm on

There is a new Ford Mustang electric out now, that to me does not resemble even the concept of what a Mustang "should" look like

But there is much debate these days about the electric car, plus all the regulations being put in place all over the world mandating certain number of sales of electric cars (as much as 100% by certain future years)

I'm actually trying to resist this move, I'm a gas engine guy, but my car is a compact which has excellent fuel economy... I'm just not buying the concept of the electric car as it's being presented today...

Where I live in the world in the vast distances of western Canada, I'm just not sure how well it will work here (range issues, on a road trip here, how long it takes to charge a car vs. filling with gas, plus the reality of very cold winters here)... And when I road trip I tend to travel mostly back roads, because that is where I want to be, the regions where few people live...

I also have ecological concerns about the mining required to make batteries for cars, plus the strain on the electricity grid

Basically I'm not planning to buy an electric car any time soon... And I am aware of my automotive history, how there were lots of electric cars in the early 20th century...
 
I have little interest. Not having children I could press the oil out of baby seals to run my car yet do less damage than my family, all of which had multiple children. Why should I be responsible to make a future for the irresponsible?
 
My option wasn't on the survey, by the way. My answer would have been: "I am interested, but until there is more reliable technology for long highway trips, I will trust internal combustion."

____________________________________________________________



As a child, I attended a little farm town school. Some kids would ride horses to and from school, and every year we had a farmer's fair, where kids could display their livestock. That's the world I was born into.

One day, in the late eighties, we had a special assembly for all the students. We were called out to the playground, to witness a marvelous sight. The father of one of my fellow students had built the world's first garage-built solar-powered car. The body was some kind of standard 70s/80s station wagon. The entire body was covered in solar panels. The hatchback was filled to the top with batteries. I think there were twenty of them. If I remember correctly, it could go up to 35 mph, and as long as it was sunny out, it could drive. If memory serves, I believe he had tested it out, driving across California and Arizona.

It blew me away. I envisioned a future where this technology would take off and in my adult years, even more advanced solar vehicles would be everywhere.

Even now, in middle age, I look back and am wowed. I see Teslas, Priuses, etc, and I think "That's the best they could do? My friend's dad built something far more advanced back in the 70s or 80s." It was just regular car batteries, big, 80s style home solar panels, and serious electrical work, and it was street legal.

We don't need all these techy extra features. We just need a highway-speed model of car that runs on modern solar cells. It's doable. If some dad in his hick-town garage with 70s/80s electrical tech could do it, what kinds of marvels could we be producing today?
 
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The body was some kind of standard 70s/80s station wagon. The entire body was covered in solar panels. The hatchback was filled to the top with batteries. I think there were twenty of them. If I remember correctly, it could go up to 35 mph

It probably couldn't go faster because it weighed around 10 000 pounds. ;) :)
 
It probably couldn't go faster because it weighed around 10 000 pounds. ;) :)
Exactly! So then, with modern solar cells, we could be producing a much more efficient vehicle! This guy just used regular car batteries, a whole lot of electrical wire, and big 80s solar panels.
 
Tesla seems to be going down in flames these days by the way, so many problems with the cars and the Tesla stock is dropping faster than a bag of hammers. I wonder if it was all hype and no substance.
 
I will not lie though. I've sat in the driver's seat of a Tesla. They are very swanky automobiles. I adore them. I actually did want one, until I saw highway tests where people would drive 1000 miles, and have trouble getting them to charging stations. If there were more charging stations, and the battery tech improved, I would be interested.
 
In the far future, I wonder if people will be having conversations about petrol/diesel vehicles:

"Wow, did you know people in the past drove their vehicles to a place called a "filling station" where they would fill up a reservoir with highly flammable liquid, distilled from dinosaurs that died millions of years ago, using a hose!"
 
Worth remembering that electric cars have been around a long time, nearly since the beginning in fact.

Baker Motor Vehicle - Wikipedia
1909_Baker_Suburban_Runabout.jpg


Oh, and so have hybrids....

Tilling-Stevens - Wikipedia
Worthing_Motor_Services_(later_Southdown_Motor_Services)_1914_Tilling_Stevens_TS3_Petrol_Elect...jpg


It's just now we are starting to get the battery tech to the stage of both duration and reliability.
 
... I actually did want one, until I saw highway tests where people would drive 1000 miles, and have trouble getting them to charging stations. If there were more charging stations, and the battery tech improved, I would be interested.

I heard a discussion on the radio recently, a Tesla owner who had trouble (re: charging stations), doing a road trip from Calgary into Montana...
 
My son has a 1967 302 Mustang. It looks unmistakably a Mustang. A few years ago I saw an odd looking car parked and decided to take a look. Eventually I saw a Mustang logo on it. I think my blood curdled. It was the most un-Mustang looking Mustang I had ever seen. Maybe Ford is going back to that concept.
 
Electric cars have repeatedly been shown to have dramatically lower capacity/distance in cold temperatures and have even not been able to charge at all in the cold thereby being rendered completely useless. That's not very useful in areas where some of us live where there are frigid temps for many months of the year.

I also wonder in the state of California, a state with over 39 million people and a state that has already long had an energy shortage problem (e.g. "brown-outs", "rolling black-outs", etc). Where is all the staggering amount of new energy that would be required to power an entire state of EV vehicles going to come from?

That being said, I love the zero emissions aspect of EV cars powered by zero emissions energy sources (e.g. solar, wind, hydroelectric). I also love the idea that unicorns or sasquatch could actually exist.
 
...

That being said, I love the zero emissions aspect of EV cars powered by zero emissions energy sources (e.g. solar, wind, hydroelectric). I also love the idea that unicorns or sasquatch could actually exist.
:D
 
I also have ecological concerns about the mining required to make batteries for cars, plus the strain on the electricity grid
"Ecological concerns", but you're fine to keep burning fossil fuels?
Yes, sure, building an electric car needs a lot of resources. So do other cars. Needing LESS cars is always the main goal. But if you compare it with a lifetime requirement of fossil fuel as compared to electricity from largely renewable sources, the electric car is still far better.
The car industry has spent the last few decades desperately throwing all their lobby an propagandist power into preserving their combustion engines, and it's still not working. The timer is running out:

We're currently driving petrol cars in my family, but as soon as they fail the TÜV, the next generation will be electric and we'll reduce from two to one.
OK, admittedly, my country has stopped using nuclear power, is on the way of shutting down coal as a power source and we're also rapidly becoming independent of imported gas. So in essence we're transitioning to wind and solar power. We are already producing so much surplus on windy days that a "strain on the electricity grid" is not a real concern.

So, in my case? If I really need a car, which is rare but happens when living in a small town, I would much rather have an electric vehicle.
 
We almost bought a Nissan Leaf a few years ago, but the sales guy was the biggest douche we'd ever met so we deuced (and he kept jacking with the price based on government rebates that had expired). I didn't care about the prestige or political points of owning an EV, instead I liked the idea of not having to change the oil and bypassing the road tax built into fossil fuels.

I did research the car and, with my area's power sources (mostly coal), it would take eighteen years for that EV to break even with the emissions of a gas motor - probably exceeding the car's life expectancy and not accounting for replacing the battery pack at least once.
 
I have been driving electric cars for the past 6 years. I had a Nissan Leaf,...and now a Tesla Model 3 and a Model Y. Best - Cars - Ever - Period. To put things into perspective when I say this:
1. I grew up at the drag strip. My father raced.
2. My father later owned a Ford-Lincoln-Mercury dealership.
3. I learned auto mechanics and did my own vehicle maintenance.
4. I modified and raced a '89 Mustang on the track for several years.
5. I modified and off-roaded a 2006 Toyota 4Runner for several years.

Just to be clear,...I am a total "gear head".

My story is that I wanted to be independent of the electrical grid for many years,...I've been following the solar, wind, and battery technology since the 1990's,...well before conversations of "global warming" and "climate change" became so politically-charged, before social media disinformation. It wasn't my motivation. I am not one of those "tree hugging, greenies." It was financial and practical. In 2016, we needed a new roof on the house, and the prices were "affordable" with zero-down, low-interest loans being offered,...and we pulled the trigger on a full rooftop solar array and storage battery. Well, we were making so much power,...our meter running "backward",...that we had over $1000 in energy credits on our bill, and literally no way to use it. Meanwhile, running back and forth from work we were spending roughly $200/month on each of our vehicles,...$400 a month in our budget just for gasoline,...and then there was the normal vehicle maintenance,...more $$$,...drips of this and that on the driveway,...keeping flammable liquids in the garage,...all of that. I am looking at the roof saying to myself,..."I have a fuel station at my home. Why am I spending money on gas?" So, I took a test drive of a "plain jane" entry-level, Nissan Leaf. Well, that car was about $8000 less than the Toyota Tacoma I was driving,...and, that little car had some street performance,...electric motor torque. Fun little car. I traded in that truck that day. So, I drove that car for 3 years, parked it outside,...still had the Mustang in the garage,...no charger,...simply plugged it into a standard 15A wall outlet. Perfect. I was spending about $0/month in "fuel",...not $200. Plus the payments were significantly less than the Tacoma. Now,...the return on investment on that solar array was really coming down,...it paid for all my electric,...and a car. We were saving about $300/month despite having the payments on the solar. So, the following year, the lease was up on my wife's Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. The monthlies on a new lease on the updated Rav4 Hybrid went up about $150/month,...we walked out. On a "whim" we clicked onto the Tesla website,...looked at the monthlies,...and it was about the same as the Rav4 Hybrid,...and we were not going to spend some $200/mo in gas,...but only about $0 in electric. Literally cheaper to buy a Tesla Model 3 than a Toyota Rav4 Hybrid to own and operate. So, that was our next car,...soooooo, much more of a vehicle than the Nissan by every metric, including mileage. Now, we were saving about $500/month in our budget with no more stops at gas stations, essentially zero maintenance, no electric bills,...and we are driving nicer cars with a lot more performance. In 2020, a semi-tractor destroyed the Model 3 on the highway,...but was still drivable for another 500 miles on our vacation,...strapped the body panels on with a roll of duct tape,...literally. Drove like new,...inside the car,...getting in and out,...that car was tank. The auto body shop took one look at the car and said it was "totaled",...they weren't going to make any attempt at repairing it. We got our money from the insurance company,...it was worth MORE used than new,...my wife wanted the new Model Y,...so we ended up with that. A year later, I turned in the Nissan for my Model 3,...got the performance software,...that car is rocket! In the snow,...better than the 4Runner and Tacoma,...even with it sitting slammed on the ground, lacking any ground clearance. I can punch that accelerator on a wet road going around a corner, and it doesn't spin the tires, it just hooks and slingshots you forward. My track Mustang had over 500hp to the wheels,...and scary to drive on the street,...zero traction. That Tesla would absolutely leave it in the dust,...not even a race.

Would I even consider purchasing anything with an internal combustion engine as a daily driver? Never, never, never.

I still don't have a charger for my Model 3,...don't need one. We put in a Level 2, 48A charger for my wife's car.

Something else to consider:
1. Most of the "bad press" that EVs have are FUD,...targeted opinion pieces to make ignorant people have fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Trillions of dollars of market share are being threatened by fossil fuel companies and automotive companies. "Big oil" is now becoming "big electric" and that's a HUGE threat to the status quo,...and there are millions of dollars being pumped into the media to misrepresent how "bad" EVs are, etc.
2. Those that have not paid attention to the media BS and actually are driving the cars,...love them. Sure,...every so often someone posts a video on their "bad experience",...but here's the deal,...it too is BS. I will click onto them and just roll my eyes at the utter nonsense,...but if you don't drive an EV,...you don't know that it's nonsense.
3. The grid will be fine. Oil companies will be fine. EVs are "rolling batteries", and if you have a vehicle-to-grid, reversible charger,...you can feed your home and the grid. As long as there are plastics and other polycarbonate materials,...oil companies will do just fine,...we just don't need to burn it anymore.
4. The charging network is increasing significantly as we speak,...those antiquated arguments about "inconvenience" are going away quickly. Charging speeds improving quickly. Battery chemistries are changing year to year,...better performance and mileage,...the technology is rapidly improving. Tesla has been known to make hardware updates on their cars,...monthly,...crazy. Most legacy automakers, it takes 1-3 years to do what Tesla does in 30 days. Over-the-air software updates,...every few weeks,...the cars get better and better with new features added all the time,...unheard of before.
5. "How long does it take to charge?" Depends on the charger. Depends upon how far the battery is depleted. No straight answer. I will tell you though, I set my battery to charge up to 90%, go to work, come home, it is at 70%,...plug it into a 15A wall outlet,...by 2am its "full" again. Set the battery warmer and climate control for the times I leave to and from work,...the car is warmed, defrosted, seats warm, steering wheel warm,...no more scraping snow. Just get in and drive. Out on the road,...long trips,...Superchargers about every 40-60 miles, near restaurants and shopping,...you can watch movies in the car,...it's a whole different thing, and very convenient. Hotels and shopping centers now have chargers,...often for free.

If you want to whine and complain about missing your old lifestyle of paying for electricity, vehicle maintenance, and gasoline,...I can't help you.

If you have never driven an EV before,...to be blunt,..."Shut up! You don't know what you are talking about." The first thing you should do is DRIVE the vehicle. Butts in seats. That's how Tesla sells,...no advertising dollars at all,...people drive,...then they buy,...they are that good. Before you comment on that statement,...DRIVE the car first. It's a whole different thing you've never experienced before.
 
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Electric cars are only an interim technology, exactly the same as they were back in the 1920s. It is bad technology and far more polluting than most of you are led to believe.

Future internal combustion is on it's way using the exact same technology that has been proven for over 100 years. It's the fuel that is changing:


That's an Aussie company by the way, and it's why our government isn't signing any current international treaties or going all out to install electric vehicle infrastructure, even though we are the worlds largest supplier of Lithium.

Lithium batteries are just too dangerous.
 

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