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I’m ready to trade in my electric car

latimes.com

201–210 of 339 posts

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#201

I have an Ioniq 5 and a PHEV pacifica. I love the ioniq5 and do new england road trips with it for skiing. I only have to hunt for fast charging on these longer trips so it's kind of a fun route planning game. I also love having the minivan to take 6 people anywhere and not worry about charging. I have the luxury of picking the right tool for the job. Not everyone else does. After owning an EV I have come to apprecia…

Gasoline is a pain in the ass. You have to go out and fill your car up in dirty gas stations once or twice per week, and the time you’ll need gas is invariably the moment when you’re in the biggest hurry and can’t waste the time filling up. EVs, on the other hand, eliminate all of that. It is as though a magical fairy comes to my house every night (and again between every minor drive) and fills my “tank” to the top. Charging only becomes noticeable on long road trips, which is (for me) at most 2-3x per year, and then the superchargers make it into a slightly longer bathroom/meal break.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#202
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nonsense. Superchargers are packed; while they work, you’re waiting in line for a charge. Meanwhile, while some folks have had issues with EA, I haven’t, and even if I did, I’d just use a Chargepoint, EVGo, Shell Recharge, or any number of other chargers as needed. Not to mention that I can buy a Tesla charger adapter for like $60 that lets me use destination chargers at hotels, and that Tesla is opening up to CCS ch…

How do destination chargers at hotels work? It seems like only seedy motels have parking spaces right outside the room where you could use its outlets. Are nicer hotels starting to build a few dedicated chargers somewhere in their parking lot? Do you reserve one when you book a room?

Destination chargers are Level 2, so while not superchargers they are much faster than a (Level 1) generic US 120v outlet. They're fast enough to recharge the car overnight. They're fairly common at mid-range and better hotels. Sometimes I call ahead to reserve one but usually I find one open when I arrive. The Plugshare app and website (among others) can help you find them, as can the Tesla website.

I don't see their numbers growing as fast now as 3-4 years ago because there are so many more superchargers now that destination chargers don't give a hotel as much of a competitive advantage, except in places where there is still not a supercharger nearby.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#203
post #19

At the moment, ONLY Tesla has decent supercharging (i.e., fast-charging) infrastructure in the US: https://www.tesla.com/findus I regularly go on ~300-mile drives that need only a single charging stop, lasting 15-20 minutes, on my Tesla EV. By the time I've gone to the bathroom and gotten a drink, the supercharger has added 100-150+ miles of range and the EV is ready to go. All the stalls always work. No other EV bra…

My brother's new Tesla cost $76,000 more than my used Fiat 500. The fiat gets something like 26mpg in the city and 34 on the highway. If gas is $5/gal, then it's going to be 400,000 miles or so before the cost of gas equals the $76,000 price differential. (It occurs to me I didn't even factor in the cost of the electricity to pay for miles his Tesla drives.) I'm also driving a car with about half to one fourth the en…

Your brother didn't need to spend >$76,000 more than you did on a Tesla. I see used Tesla's in my area for sale <$30k.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#204
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> one that had the known defect of lack of a proper charging infrastructure at point of purchase. Is the charger adapter that you plug in on a Tesla or a non-Tesla not standardized like USB-C to the point where you can go to any station (as long as you have any brand of EV and not an internal combustion engine gasoline/diesel car or whatever) and benefit from it/use it/plug it in? Sorry, out of the loop, I've dodged…

Tesla uses a proprietary plug, for now; they are moving to support CCS (and already ship CCS cars in Europe) because they want federal funding for their chargers, and because in Europe it’s the law. You can buy an adapter to use destination chargers (hotels, etc.) but not super chargers.

You can now buy an adaptor on the Tesla website [0] that lets you recharge a Tesla at a CCS DC fast charger (e.g. Electrify America etc). I have one and it works great -- or as great as EA ever works I should say. I only use it on routes where a Tesla supercharger is not available but it's quite handy for those situations.

(The third major standard for DC fast charging, CHAdeMO, is unfortunately dying out even though it is in many ways technically superior to CCS. Tesla previously sold adaptors for CHAdeMO but no more.)

[0] https://shop.tesla.com/product/ccs-combo-1-adapter

EDIT: This adaptor only works on Tesla cars built after ~2020. Search "how do I determine whether my Tesla can support CCS" before buying the adaptor. The issue is about whether the car can speak the powerline carrier protocol that CCS uses.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The norm is honestly that over 90% of the time, there are no issues. The thing is, when there is an issue, it’s at minimum a huge pain in the ass, and a complete nightmare at worst.

I have been to electrify america stations twice. One had a broken charger at once of the two super fast stalls. The second time I had to wait in line because it was full, and then when I got in the card reader wasn't working. I had to install the app to be able to pay and get electricity. It was very stressful as we thought we might be totally effed. Compared to Tesla, where you just pull up and plug in. No app, no c…

> Compared to Tesla, where you just pull up and plug in. No app, no card reader. It just works.

This has been 100% of my Electrify America experiences as well, along with a few other brands. Some have been able to take payment by tap to pay credit card as well without an app.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#206

> That means mapping out charging stations in a comprehensive, thoughtful way … not leaving it to the whims of the commercial sector, … It will require cities to develop plans for how and where to locate public chargers I spoke at public hearing last year in favor of an EV ordinance that my city passed. I believe that if we are to involve government with EV adoption, which is necessary, we need to be prepared for bac…

Serious question, why is this person bearing the cost? If it's society's problem, why does it seem like it's actually her problem?

That's the "From each according to their ability" part.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My expectation is that one combustion car owners have to pay more of the cost of that fuel choice they'll change over. Lots of people already drive 20 minutes to save $10 on a tank full, or queue at the gas station ditto. What we're really waiting for is second hand EVs in real numbers, or the political decision that small, electric cars are the only ones allowed on most streets. That would dramatically cut the death…

What I’m waiting for is the 3 row SUV that I already have to be available in an EV. I don’t want dorky “futuristic” styles and model names distinguishing it as an EV just basically what I have already. Then I could use the EV for my day to day and the ICE for emergencies or road-trips.

Have you seen the Volvo EX90? Other than the lidar sensor bump and no grille it mostly looks like any other Volvo SUV

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#208
post #26
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there is also the instant response to the gas pedal. A gasoline-powered engine, especially with a turbocharger, takes a while to respond, and the gearbox might need to switch gears. That could be up to 2 seconds until you start accelerating, and another 2 seconds until you reach top power output. In an EV, you press the pedal and everything happens instantly. Instant torque. All this makes a big difference in p…

Still, you can’t bear a muscle car in 0-60. Maybe 0-30 tho.

lol check out the Kia Ev6 GT.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been to electrify america stations twice. One had a broken charger at once of the two super fast stalls. The second time I had to wait in line because it was full, and then when I got in the card reader wasn't working. I had to install the app to be able to pay and get electricity. It was very stressful as we thought we might be totally effed. Compared to Tesla, where you just pull up and plug in. No app, no c…

> Compared to Tesla, where you just pull up and plug in. No app, no card reader. It just works. This has been 100% of my Electrify America experiences as well, along with a few other brands. Some have been able to take payment by tap to pay credit card as well without an app.

Same. It just… works.

Re: I’m ready to trade in my electric car

#210

> That means mapping out charging stations in a comprehensive, thoughtful way … not leaving it to the whims of the commercial sector, … It will require cities to develop plans for how and where to locate public chargers I spoke at public hearing last year in favor of an EV ordinance that my city passed. I believe that if we are to involve government with EV adoption, which is necessary, we need to be prepared for bac…

Serious question, why is this person bearing the cost? If it's society's problem, why does it seem like it's actually her problem?

Government has been doing this for decades, with minimum parking requirements. I don't ever hear businesses complain about how those cut into profit margins.
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