An interesting anecdote, but I've never understood why anyone would willingly drive a car (electric or otherwise) such a long distance. The longest I've ever driven in a single trip was a bit over 750 km, and I think I slept for 16 hours straight after I arrived. The next time I took that same trip, I rode the train instead.
Different people react differently to long car trips. I can drive the 1,800 miles to my wife's family in one shot, especially given time to nap while charging and the driver automation taking up the slack for being tired. I can then have a normal nights sleep and be fine. My wife, on the other hand, being a passenger for such a trip, she arrives and then is wasted for 2 days. But if you really want to be miserable on…
Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
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Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#162>And everyone should stop driving fossil vehicles starting now. [...] There’s no excuse not to. Isn't there? Right now for me to own a Ford Mach E, a Tesla Model 3 or a RAV4 Prime is $3400 to $3700 per year for comprehensive insurance, $1400 a year for liability only. My SUV right now costs $1100 a year to insure comprehensive, but even a 2021 Acura NSX or Jaguar F-Pace is only $1400 for the same level of insurance t…
Yeah in my country a new electric car is about 2x years salary. We’d love to switch but that’s a lot of money.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
All good points! However one thing EVs have is much cheaper maintenance! Having no oil changes adds up in savings.
Oil changes are pretty much the least costly part of my car's maintenance. Brakes, suspension and tyres cost far more and I can't imagine that heavy EVs are any better on any of those.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oil changes are pretty much the least costly part of my car's maintenance. Brakes, suspension and tyres cost far more and I can't imagine that heavy EVs are any better on any of those.
Regenerative braking means that your regular brakes are used much less.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah in my country a new electric car is about 2x years salary. We’d love to switch but that’s a lot of money.
Are new ICE cars affordable? EV don't cost 4x more than ICEs, do they?
However, if your personal finances suggest a used vehicle is the way to go, your options are rather limited, and will be for a few more years until the current EVs start trickling down. Current 2nd hand EV offerings mostly are Leafs and eGolfs, with a generous helping of Teslas (still rather pricey) on top.
If you need a large-ish family car and cannot afford a new EV, you'll be driving an ICE for a few more years - more if the authorities start taxing EVs to bring them more in line with ICE levels, boosting 2nd hand prices.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Again the feds encroaching on state powers.
in canada, all governmental power belongs to the federal government. provinces only have authority when it is granted to them by the federal government. there is no such thing as the feds encroaching on "state powers" because provinces are not states.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#167>And everyone should stop driving fossil vehicles starting now. [...] There’s no excuse not to. Isn't there? Right now for me to own a Ford Mach E, a Tesla Model 3 or a RAV4 Prime is $3400 to $3700 per year for comprehensive insurance, $1400 a year for liability only. My SUV right now costs $1100 a year to insure comprehensive, but even a 2021 Acura NSX or Jaguar F-Pace is only $1400 for the same level of insurance t…
120v over night will add about 45 miles of range to your typical tesla. Most people drive less than 20 miles a day, so you always start out with a full tank. When I go skiing, I drive 120 miles, so I come back with a lot of range depleted, but it charges up the next few days. On the rare occasions over the past 8 years when I needed to go a long distance, I just use the super charger in my town, although once I went…
So at the least I need to install a second circuit. But the cost of installation is mostly tied into labor rather then material since it involves bringing out a trenching machine out. And the cost difference between just 1 extra 120V circuit and a full blown 240V service with subpanel is significant, but not bad enough for me to think it's makes sense to penny pinch there.
Edit: Well in theory you could also have a receiver and relay that cuts off the charging to the car before initiating powering the garage door motor. That said I don't think it's worth the hassle... at minimum that's two electrical mechanical relays for the 120V lines, some sort of RF receiver for the car, a controller for the relays and to probably some way to signal the garage door itself (replacement for the button inside maybe), and way for the controller to state of the door itself so that it doesn't cut power at the wrong time. Certainly hackable but I doubt I could build it reliable without way more money and time spent on it.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#168I did a similar roadtrip back in 2015 (!) in my ex-boss's Tesla Model S: we traveled from Montréal to Atlanta for a weekend conference (JSConf, IIRC). We were driving continuously, switching drivers every time we hit a charger (we were 4 in the car). I think it took us about 24h to do the trip. My main takeaway from the experience is that charging wasn't actually "painful" at all. On the contrary, it was a welcome br…
I find this kind of "it's great to have a break" justification tiring. Glad that you found something to do while your car is charging, but pretending it's not a limitation feels like just glossing over something that does make it less flexible, whether that was a problem for you or not.
We're a long ways from that, or even having the political will to start planning, let alone construction. It would do wonders for vehicle cost and weight, though, if people could get by with a 100-mile battery and still be able to make cross-country trips. And the environmental and cost benefits of electrified trucking would be huge.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#169>And everyone should stop driving fossil vehicles starting now. [...] There’s no excuse not to. Isn't there? Right now for me to own a Ford Mach E, a Tesla Model 3 or a RAV4 Prime is $3400 to $3700 per year for comprehensive insurance, $1400 a year for liability only. My SUV right now costs $1100 a year to insure comprehensive, but even a 2021 Acura NSX or Jaguar F-Pace is only $1400 for the same level of insurance t…
My Bolt lease is $75/mo.
Re: Driving 1725km in an electric car in 2 days
#170>And everyone should stop driving fossil vehicles starting now. [...] There’s no excuse not to. Isn't there? Right now for me to own a Ford Mach E, a Tesla Model 3 or a RAV4 Prime is $3400 to $3700 per year for comprehensive insurance, $1400 a year for liability only. My SUV right now costs $1100 a year to insure comprehensive, but even a 2021 Acura NSX or Jaguar F-Pace is only $1400 for the same level of insurance t…
> You leave an extension cord more then once out overnight, it will get stolen; the copper in it is worth a dollar or two. I can't imagine how fast a $200 charging cable with $10 of scrap copper in it wouldn't get swiped. It's unfortunately common here, there's quite a few sections of street where the street lights have been knock out for months now due to copper thieves ripping it out of the conduit Yikes! Where do…