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For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

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Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#41

Post by apparent »

eckesicle wrote: post #16
Faaak wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EVs and PHEVs are completely unrelated though: price, reliability, and mileage wise

The linked website carcompare.com was quite interesting in how clustered the data is. Pretty much _any_ EV car is better both cost wise and emissions wise than _any_ PHEV. The same holds comparing PHEV with ICE. Not to mention that EVs are just so much more fun and satisfying to drive. Even a mediocre EV these days will do 0-60 in 5s. At this point buying anything but an EV for the typical driver is just objectively…

This is demonstrably untrue. We have PHEVs and it absolutely would not have made sense to buy EVs instead. If you don't have a long commute and can stay within the EV-only range, but take regular trips that are beyond the range of any EV, then a PHEV absolutely makes more sense. We could not have bought an EV of the same size for the cost of our PHEVs, and being able to tank up on trips is extremely valuable.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#42

Post by hellisothers »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #35
euroderf wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If electric lawnmowers offered the same value, operational convenience, and maintainability (compared to gas-powered mowers) as electric cars do, they'd sell like hotcakes. Two-stroke engines are a PITA.

I thought this already happened? I kept seeing YouTube videos of people reviewing electric chainsaws or snowblowers or whatever and apologizing to their core audience that they weren't woke Democrats, it was just a better tool for many uses.

This definitely happened, all my yard/lawn items (mower, chainsaws, hedgers, etc) are all battery. So much better.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#43

Post by euroderf »

hellisothers wrote: post #42
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought this already happened? I kept seeing YouTube videos of people reviewing electric chainsaws or snowblowers or whatever and apologizing to their core audience that they weren't woke Democrats, it was just a better tool for many uses.

This definitely happened, all my yard/lawn items (mower, chainsaws, hedgers, etc) are all battery. So much better.

I can see a hedger working - even with a klunky battery making it a bit unwieldy. But chainsaws and mowers need serious torque - don't so don't they need to stay plugged in while you work ?

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#44

Post by jfengel »

RhysU wrote: post #38
Gys wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, in my EU country, everybody drove shift gear. Automatic gear was frowned upon. Nowadays everybody drives automatic. People like ‘boring’ comfort, it shows everywhere.

The Manual Gearbox Preservation Society ( https://tmgps.org/ ) is a notable counterexample. I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick. Stick makes driving more engaging then automatic's point-and-go. Engagement breeds attentivity. Texting while driving stick is obviously decreased because both hands are actively required to drive. None of their friends will be able to drive my manual car. I don't know why any…

I had no trouble managing my mug of coffee while driving stick. (Before cupholders were universal, and before texting).

It required some deft coordination to get out of the parking spot and getting up to speed, but I spent most of my time in fifth gear and staying there. One hand is just as free as it is in an automatic.

Texting while driving remains a bad idea, but I don't think a stick shift would prevent it. I could have managed to text just as well as I managed drinking coffee.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#45

Post by rascul »

euroderf wrote: post #43
hellisothers wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This definitely happened, all my yard/lawn items (mower, chainsaws, hedgers, etc) are all battery. So much better.

I can see a hedger working - even with a klunky battery making it a bit unwieldy. But chainsaws and mowers need serious torque - don't so don't they need to stay plugged in while you work ?

There are some decent battery electric mowers and chainsaws that can be great as long as you have the batteries to keep them going long enough.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#46

Post by ButlerianJihad »

euroderf wrote: post #34
wood_spirit wrote: post #9

My experience - in the Nordics, but this is transferable - is they are also much nicer to own and drive. I don’t know anyone who went electric and then went back. The generation who went electric a few years ago is now on their second or third electric car. The makes and models in favour is changing (cue tangent on Tesla brand death in Europe) but the power source choice is not. So as more people get one, I expect th…

If electric lawnmowers offered the same value, operational convenience, and maintainability (compared to gas-powered mowers) as electric cars do, they'd sell like hotcakes. Two-stroke engines are a PITA.

My father originally had a 100% manual lawnmower, and for the size of our property, it wasn't really bad; my father is a physically fit dude, and he could knock out the whole thing in a short period.

Then in the late 80s, he purchased an electric lawnmower! Yep it wasn't battery-powered, but it had a little AC cord that you plugged in... somewhere! So Dad would just run a ginormous snake of an extension cord out across the lawn.

Now, our property wasn't large, but to reach an AC outlet, we really needed a lot of cord, and of course it was a key skill to not run over your own cord, like when you're vacuuming.

Dad never got anything gas-powered. He also had an edger that was electric, IIRC, and he made a lot of use of this edger. It was one of those kinds that used a fishing-line type cutting edge.

But he kept that machine around, and I guess it was fine for a very long time. Dad and Mom are old enough to employ a landscaping team, nowadays.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#47

Post by maxerickson »

euroderf wrote: post #43
hellisothers wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This definitely happened, all my yard/lawn items (mower, chainsaws, hedgers, etc) are all battery. So much better.

I can see a hedger working - even with a klunky battery making it a bit unwieldy. But chainsaws and mowers need serious torque - don't so don't they need to stay plugged in while you work ?

I have an Ego pushmower. It takes like 2/3 of a charge to mow my lawn, with a 4 year old 5 amp hour battery.

I'm not saving money over gas, but I'm not spending a whole lot more and the lack of hassle is fantastic.

If I had a bigger yard I would hesitate to have lots of batteries or whatever.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#48

Post by PlunderBunny »

maxerickson wrote: post #47
euroderf wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see a hedger working - even with a klunky battery making it a bit unwieldy. But chainsaws and mowers need serious torque - don't so don't they need to stay plugged in while you work ?

I have an Ego pushmower. It takes like 2/3 of a charge to mow my lawn, with a 4 year old 5 amp hour battery. I'm not saving money over gas, but I'm not spending a whole lot more and the lack of hassle is fantastic. If I had a bigger yard I would hesitate to have lots of batteries or whatever.

I also have an EGO mower, and in addition to the advantages you list, I would add that they’re less noisy and you don’t end up breathing exhaust fumes. I don’t even understand why anyone would use a petrol mower at this point, except for some edge cases like professionals mowing multiple lawns per day.

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#49

Post by PlunderBunny »

RhysU wrote: post #38
Gys wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, in my EU country, everybody drove shift gear. Automatic gear was frowned upon. Nowadays everybody drives automatic. People like ‘boring’ comfort, it shows everywhere.

The Manual Gearbox Preservation Society ( https://tmgps.org/ ) is a notable counterexample. I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick. Stick makes driving more engaging then automatic's point-and-go. Engagement breeds attentivity. Texting while driving stick is obviously decreased because both hands are actively required to drive. None of their friends will be able to drive my manual car. I don't know why any…

What downsides for the _average_ driver (who just wants to go from A to B comfortably and safely) does an automatic have? Back when I still drove a non-electric vehicle, I really appreciated an automatic giving me one less thing to think about (which means a little bit more attention to the things that matter like safety).

Re: For most US drivers, EVs offer emissions benefits and cost savings

#50

Post by dzhiurgis »

RhysU wrote: post #38
Gys wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, in my EU country, everybody drove shift gear. Automatic gear was frowned upon. Nowadays everybody drives automatic. People like ‘boring’ comfort, it shows everywhere.

The Manual Gearbox Preservation Society ( https://tmgps.org/ ) is a notable counterexample. I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick. Stick makes driving more engaging then automatic's point-and-go. Engagement breeds attentivity. Texting while driving stick is obviously decreased because both hands are actively required to drive. None of their friends will be able to drive my manual car. I don't know why any…

Ferarri is going to retrofit some of their cars with fake manuals (completely electronic emulation). Car reviewers soiling their pants over it was hilarious, especially so after the Luce backlash lol.
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