Wayyy off topic: I bought an electric car...

[Gimpster]

Sorry to jump in, but..


I've owned a 1st Gen Volt (PHEV of course, but I was on battery 99.99% of the time), and a 2016 30kWH Nissan LEAF. Both were uber cheap leases (sub $200) I had when I still lived in California. I almost bought a Bolt a little while back, but they dealer was being unreasonable... and ended up in a 2015 VW Jetta TDI of all things.

Jealous of your 500e! I have wanted to toy around with one, but my wife veto'd me buying another low range EV. Long story short, my wife almost stranded herself a couple times in the LEAF and since then has severe range anxiety issues I've not been able to break her of. She loathes Elon Musk, and refuses to see a Tesla in the garage too (not joking).

I had a 500 Abarth for a while, and I loved the car... but literally anything that could break mechanically on that car did (power train wise). Knowing FCA didn't some up with the EV guts of the 500e, I'd feel pretty safe owning that as a beater/commuter. FCA also had a lot of parts for it on backorder often, so I let it go.

Lastly, I've known people who flew out of small grass strips down here in FL who I *know* failed medicals. Not saying I condone it, but getting "ramp checked" at some airport in the middle of the country is not happening so its basically zero risk unless an incident happens. I mean fwiw, they would just fly around the patch and put it back in the hanger.

[Landsvw]

Except for the range and charging time (and that wouldn’t even matter, if, I could go say, 200 miles round trip and come home and be charged by the morning), I’m finding almost every single thing about this car amazing. Looking forward to the new technologies coming that can give us this car, but with 200-300 mile range, and 20 min charge time. That would be the deal changer right there. Appreciate the thoughts on aircraft and electric cars! This is, in my opinion, a fun thread.

In a sense, again, except for the range, this car I’m comparing to the original iPhone, vs the flip phone It just works but has shortcomings. No shifting, instant heat, drives quietly without a fuss. Now, having said that, the original iPhone smart phone was upgraded and has become the standard for smart phones. So, give this tech 10 years and the ICE car will be a novelty, pretty sure.

Elon is weird, and not sure what to make of him. He is a genius tho and I do love both his cars (too expensive tho) and his SpaceX company. Walt Disney was weird, Howard Hughes was weird, Steve Jobs was weird. Heck, Henry Ford was weird, and borderline communist. So maybe that comes with the territory.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Landsvw

200-300 mile range, and 20 min charge time. That would be the deal changer right there.

If they can make an electric car with a 200-300 mile range at 70mph with a 20 minute charge time, the ICE powered car would disappear in a matter of years. That would resolve the biggest issue with electric cars, which is long distance travel. It might not be a bigger deal in highly populated coastal areas, or most of the EU where public transport is far more effective. For those of us in the vast sparsely populated interior, where 200 miles is a day trip, it's just not quite there yet. It's not unusual at all to see 2 year old vehicles with 100k miles in these parts.

[Gimpster]

re: fast charging

What I never got was, the Model S was originally designed more/less for rapid battery swaps. That didn't materialize for a number of reasons, but it makes sense to me.

The level of effort to put in many megawatts worth of HVDC charging stations seems like a big lift, especially in some rural areas. As an ex-EV driver, my experience was like yours... even most of the public L2 charging stations I'd visit were broken/offline half the time.

If the OEM's could stop screwing around with multiple charge standards, everyone choosing their own adventure on battery form factor and/or temperature management systems... it would be SO GOOD for EV's. The average person gives no bother to whats under the hood. You could put a Toyota V6 in a Mercedes and who would be the wiser or even care? This feels like pre-OBDII cars where it was a hot mess of diagnostic methods.

Also on the cost of the EV itself, I don't even know anymore what is or isn't reasonable to most people. It's not even EV's at this point. I see what people are paying for humdrum cars like Kia Tellurides, Sorrentos <name your SUV of the week here> and it boggles my mind. I make a pretty fair living, and I have driven a series of used cars through my life I've paid as low as $50 up to ~$15k for and even that pains me at times.

Don't even get me started on all of the people I work with, who I know make < $40-50k/year, driving brand new diesel trucks where I work.

I sound judgy there, I don't mean to be... my point is just: the price barrier of EV's (say $40-45k+) doesn't seem to be an issue for people given what they will buy now. If the time-to-charge can be brought down to 15-20-30 minutes to 80% ~300mi range EV, it will be a done deal.

[Landsvw]

My wife and I are comfortable with my teachers salary. But, never purchased a car for more that $17,000. And that was in 2013, was a 2011 Kia Soul, and, was the second car I’d ever financed. The first being, a 3900$ 1992 Mazda. I cannot for the life of me, see paying more than 25k for any car or truck. It’s unreasonable. It’s like a second house payment. People are nuts. I have 4 vehicles. 4500$ 2002 Boxster, 4700$ 2002 F350 7.3 diesel, this electric car which was listed for 6500, but I traded 4200$ worth of bikes for, and our 2011 Kia Soul. I felt like I got ripped off on the Soul, but it was orange and wife loved it (it is a great car). Ok, it’s paid off...
Every day/month that goes by I don’t have to fix one of these, is money in my bank. I have liability only insurance and change my oil and fix everything that’s wrong.

Anyone who buys a 45,000$ electric car to save money and/or the earth is pretty much fooling themselves. But the day may come!

Drove to town today. Came back with 7% left. Made me very nervous. Cold weather range anxiety hahah!

I want to own this car long enough to put the next battery tech into it, and have a range of 200. I think that would be the sweet setup.

Merry Christmas all you characters! Really fun to chat with everyone. Love the forum!

[Landsvw]

Have had the Fiat 500e since November 28, 2020. Really loving it. Not a single issue. Loving the .02 cents a mile, instant heat, no shifting, quietness and overall, peppy and fun to drive. Got the Oregon 2500$ cash rebate too, so feel pretty good about that.

I actually get (very slightly) annoyed when I have to fill the truck or Kia Soul at the gas station. Literally have only been to the stations maybe 2x a month since early December. How weird!

Found a free level 2 charger about 4 miles from the house but have yet to use it. Simple to plug in the level one charger that came with it, at the house approx every 3 days or so (commute is only 4 miles one way).

[Landsvw]

Electric car doing well! Carrying on! Spring is here!

[2LZ]

Lands....what are you paying per KWH for electricity up there? PG&E (Pacific Gouge and Extort) has us tiered. Starts around .23 per KWH and the highest tier is upwards of .33. We live fairly "electrically frugal" and my bill is usually just north of 200.00 a month. I can't even imagine what it would be filling an electric car at the top tier.

[Landsvw]

I think we are about 9.8 cents a kw/hour or something like that. I calculated the $ per mile at 2 cents per mile for this car. At your location would be closer to 6 cents per mile seems like. I haven’t seen any crazy electric price increases since I got it. Maybe 4-6$ a month or something like that?

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by Landsvw

I think we are about 9.8 cents a kw/hour or something like that. I calculated the $ per mile at 2 cents per mile for this car. At your location would be closer to 6 cents per mile seems like. I haven’t seen any crazy electric price increases since I got it. Maybe 4-6$ a month or something like that?

Now if I had a solar panel carport....that would be different.......

[Landsvw]

I Put some graphics on Pearl Jetson today

[freezerboy]

I also have a Fiat 500e 2017 model. I love everything about it except the fact that Illinois charges me $100 more than a gas burning vehicle each year for plates because I don't pay gas tax supposedly. Funny thing is if you own a Chevy volt or any hybrid, you are excluded from this e-vehicle tax even though hybrids run around all year without burning any gas. Kind of a sad rip off, not so green thinking

[Landsvw]

Originally Posted by freezerboy

I also have a Fiat 500e 2017 model. I love everything about it except the fact that Illinois charges me $100 more than a gas burning vehicle each year for plates because I don't pay gas tax supposedly. Funny thing is if you own a Chevy volt or any hybrid, you are excluded from this e-vehicle tax even though hybrids run around all year without burning any gas. Kind of a sad rip off, not so green thinking

Yah. Oregon’s stupid because they too, charged me extra for the registration for the same reason, then, gave me a 2500$ cash back rebate! So, not sure how they make money on that??.

[2LZ]

What is the average battery life of these cars?

[Landsvw]

The fiats, unlike the leafs, have liquid cooled batteries (Samsung I think and Bosch motors and electronics) and have no issues with battery degradation. Also they have an 8 year warranty on the battery pack. Mine is a 2014 so I have two years left.