What will it take to make you seriously consider an EV?

I remember Cadillac did the same by bringing back buttons on their cars several years ago. People got sick of changing their AC temp using sliders. lol. There are some things I shouldn’t have to dig for or look sideways to find while driving or tell everybody in the car to be quiet while I issue a voice command. The voice commands were comical to me back in the early 2000’s, and they’re still funny.

 

I've had the BMW iX for over a month now. Took it to Austin last weekend. Huge difference (in terms of logistics and range anxiety) the 100 extra mile range compared to the e-tron that I had for a year. The car is so smooth. It's weirdly quiet in the car. I can hear myself think.
Overall a pleasant experience.
Charged all 3 times at electrify america since i get that free for 2 years...they really need to get their sht together. adequate experience at best meaning, i was able to charge but it should be a more seamless experience with all chargers working.

 

Psycho top spec: The highest end R1T has 1,025 horsepower, does 0-60 in <2.5s (Cyberbeast did 2.6) and quarter mile in 10.5 (Cyberbeast did 11.0)

 

The EV tax credit refund finally hit my bank account today. Pretty relieved and surprised that nothing went awry.

We filed tax online on 4/15 and had no updates until this week. I thought for sure the dealerships screwed up and didn't submit the proper paperwork to the IRS.

We bought a 2022 Ford Escape PHEV and 2023 VW ID4 and pretty happy with both. Though I wish I had waited for the 2024 ID4 for the upgrades. Got great deals on them both though. I think going one PHEV and one BEV is the right call for us.

My parents placed an order for a Model Y last week. I am a bit concerned that they will hate the lack of physical controls and one pedal driving. Though they are really excited. It'll definitely feel like the future compared to the 2008 RAV4 that is being replaced.

 

So they fixed everything but the goofyass front end?

 

I guess I already spoke about my EV opinions, but I did end up getting a full EV last week (barely used Chevy Bolt for ~$17K, and I think I can get the used EV tax credit on top of that?). Not as fancy as the other EVs, but I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm just plugging it in to a regular outlet at home, and that's worked fine. I did a test fast charge session at an EVgo station which was fine I guess, though of course the Bolt is super limited with its fast charging.

Rented a Model Y a few weeks ago, and that was good too. Supercharged a couple of times, and really didn't have any range anxiety. I still have our Chevy Volt, which let me sorta experience the EV style for the last 12+ years, but nice to have a pure EV now. I'll probably get a bigger EV to replace the Volt in the next year or 2.

 

I actually kinda like it.
sure the headlights look like a USB-C port...

 

I wish people knew to stop charging at 80% at high speed chargers (level 3).

I saw a lady in a Mach-E at 90% and she has been there 35 mins.
I thought she would leave.. nope

She sat there. I noticed she went from 90 to 97% and that took an additional 20 minutes! i looked at the rate and it was at 7 or 8 kwh. that's slower than level 2 charging..

I was there for 27 mins.
23% / 79 mi to 77% / 258 min.

 

https://thedriven.io/2024/05/14/nea...ransition-and-japan-is-worst-study-finds/amp/

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/volkswagen-invest-5-billion-rivian-200612312.html

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -German automaker Volkswagen Group will invest up to $5 billion in U.S. electric-vehicle maker Rivian as part of a new, equally controlled joint venture to share EV architecture and software, the companies said on Tuesday.

Shares of Rivian surged 30% in extended trading on the Nasdaq after the announcement, boosting the company's stock market value by more than $3 billion.

 

Lel. Rivian and VW merging. Not the best news for Rivian

 

not a merger.

 

Chevy has now more than made up all the EV sales it lost when the Volt was discontinued. They have more coming online, including a new Volt in 2025.

 

Dodge is putting a gas generator into their Ram trucks. I suspect this will be a big deal in Texas and other parts of the US:

"For model year 2025, Stellantis will electrify its full-size Ram 1500 pickup, following in the footsteps of GM and Ford. But unlike its rivals, Stellantis will offer the Ram 1500 REV in both an all-electric model (with 350-500 mile range) and a "range extender" Ramcharger 1500 that features around 140 miles of electric range — plus a V6 engine mated to a generator to power the vehicle when the battery is depleted."

"... a “range-extended EV” or “series” plug-in hybrid (or whatever we start calling this other third thing) like the new Ramcharger is a fully electric-drive vehicle. There’s no mechanical transmission to power the wheels. It simply has a compact gasoline engine, tuned to run at a single, most-efficient speed, married to a generator that can produce electricity to run the electric motors when the battery is depleted.

Thanks to the extended range provided by the gasoline generator, these vehicles can drop battery mass and cost, squeeze in a gasoline engine and fuel tank, and still come out comparable on cost as a pure EV with substantially longer range than parallel plug-in hybrids."

"The range-extended series hybrid thus sheds 137 kWh of batteries vs. the 500 mile range EV. At about $100+ per kWh to manufacture and assemble those incremental battery cells, that saves Stellantis at least $14,000 to manufacture the truck."

https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/range-extender-ramcharger-1500

 

sorry oif this has been asked but....

how do they figure fuel tax for EV?

 

If a state does charge a tax, its in the form of a yearly fee.

 

Track the milage year-to-year whenever you renew your registration, charge whatever fee is appropriate

 

Given that we have every EV breakdown ever filmed in this thread, I think it is only fair to note not one of these cars appears to be an EV.

 

Ford introduced the new 390-mile range Capri EV today. It's a Europe only option right now and joins the Mach-E and Explorer EV as options in Europe. I should note the Explorer is not our Explorer--it's a tad smaller than a Mach-E (photo is below the Capri). So Ford has three offerings in Europe and I can't even get an EV Maverick here in the US?

 

Put some solar panels on it and BOOM --> Capri Sun EV.