An all electric car for a second car ?

[70 sublime]

We ( wife and myself ) are thinking about getting a newer car to replace her old crap box car
I have been intrigued about an all electric car
My sister bought a hybrid last year so the electric part on her car has a very short range on it
She seems to think she is saving the world by going as far as she can on the electric and always plugs it in when ever she comes to the farm for a visit
Nope I am not going to save the world by driving an electric car so that is not what I am looking for
I find the thought of electric interesting and different way to get around
No I am not going to convert my Charger to electric 
I have my 2018 Ram truck for any just need to get there trips no matter the weather ( snow and cold )
Wife's parents ( getting close to 80 years old ) live about 130 miles ( 200 KM ) away and that would be the longest drive needed

So where I am at on this is it really a good idea for us ?
Being our first try do I want to look at a used electric car or shell out the big bucks to get a new car with lots of warranty ?

Any thoughts on which cars to stay away from used ?

Anyone with an electric not happy they have one and will not replace it with another electric when the time comes ?

[451-74Charger]

If Elon is reading this, I have a nice 74 body, you can try to convert to Electric.

[Nacho-RT74]

mercedes is getting serious on this... it's an AMG

[green69rt]

We ( wife and myself ) are thinking about getting a newer car to replace her old crap box car
I have been intrigued about an all electric car
My sister bought a hybrid last year so the electric part on her car has a very short range on it
She seems to think she is saving the world by going as far as she can on the electric and always plugs it in when ever she comes to the farm for a visit
Nope I am not going to save the world by driving an electric car so that is not what I am looking for
I find the thought of electric interesting and different way to get around
No I am not going to convert my Charger to electric 
I have my 2018 Ram truck for any just need to get there trips no matter the weather ( snow and cold )
Wife's parents ( getting close to 80 years old ) live about 130 miles ( 200 KM ) away and that would be the longest drive needed

So where I am at on this is it really a good idea for us ?
Being our first try do I want to look at a used electric car or shell out the big bucks to get a new car with lots of warranty ?

Any thoughts on which cars to stay away from used ?

Anyone with an electric not happy they have one and will not replace it with another electric when the time comes ?

Okay, I admit it.  Wife just bought a Nissan Leaf.   We thought a lot about this and decided to give it a try.   We're not trying to save the earth, we just wanted something cheap to drive. We're both retired so don't commute so finding charging stations at work is not an issue.  We use it as our daily grocery getter and errand runner.  If we need something with more capacity or we want to go somewhere and not worry about running out of charge, we take my Chevy Colorado.   If we want to go on long driving trips we have decided to rent a car and spare our cars from the wear and tear.  So far we have not had any problems.  We don't even have a charging station in our garage, we just plug it into a 110 VAC outlet at night and it's good to go the next day.  If we ever needed to charge faster, we can add a 220VAC outlet and instead of 2% per hour charge we can do about 15%.  Right now I don't ever see us needing the 220 outlet.  Bought ours in June and haven't gone to a gas station to this day.  Range is about 270 miles on a 100% charge (that's like saying you can go 400 miles on a tank of gas, but who runs their tank down to empty?)

Next question will be is "does it run up your electric bill."  So far we can't tell the difference.  I'll be generous and say our bill, long term, may go up $30 a month, or even $50!  Better than the $150-$200 bill from Exxon.

I did read an article in Consumer reports about buying used.  They said that there is not enough data to make any conclusions.  One thing they did say is a used one will be closer to battery replacement which would cost in the range of $10000.  So figure that in.  There are more and more of them coming out so the selection is getting big.

One problem is that they are so new that all makes are not sold everywhere.  We tried to get a Kia and the Kia dealer said none are sold in Texas because no mechanics have been trained on them yet.  I would have had to go to California to get one and drive it back.  Then who would I take it to for repairs?

Also, If you get anything other than a Tesla, the government will give you a $7500 credit (not deduction) that makes a good case for buying new.

Hope this helps.

[mr. hemi]

We ( wife and myself ) are thinking about getting a newer car to replace her old crap box car
I have been intrigued about an all electric car
My sister bought a hybrid last year so the electric part on her car has a very short range on it
She seems to think she is saving the world by going as far as she can on the electric and always plugs it in when ever she comes to the farm for a visit
Nope I am not going to save the world by driving an electric car so that is not what I am looking for
I find the thought of electric interesting and different way to get around
No I am not going to convert my Charger to electric 
I have my 2018 Ram truck for any just need to get there trips no matter the weather ( snow and cold )
Wife's parents ( getting close to 80 years old ) live about 130 miles ( 200 KM ) away and that would be the longest drive needed

So where I am at on this is it really a good idea for us ?

I realize you are in Ontario but, "You mean a coal burner".

Electricity does not come from environmentally friendly sources.
Being our first try do I want to look at a used electric car or shell out the big bucks to get a new car with lots of warranty ?

Any thoughts on which cars to stay away from used ?

Anyone with an electric not happy they have one and will not replace it with another electric when the time comes ?

[70 sublime]

We ( wife and myself ) are thinking about getting a newer car to replace her old crap box car
I have been intrigued about an all electric car
My sister bought a hybrid last year so the electric part on her car has a very short range on it
She seems to think she is saving the world by going as far as she can on the electric and always plugs it in when ever she comes to the farm for a visit
Nope I am not going to save the world by driving an electric car so that is not what I am looking for
I find the thought of electric interesting and different way to get around
No I am not going to convert my Charger to electric  
I have my 2018 Ram truck for any just need to get there trips no matter the weather ( snow and cold )
Wife's parents ( getting close to 80 years old ) live about 130 miles ( 200 KM ) away and that would be the longest drive needed

So where I am at on this is it really a good idea for us ?

I realize you are in Ontario but, "You mean a coal burner".

Electricity does not come from environmentally friendly sources.
Being our first try do I want to look at a used electric car or shell out the big bucks to get a new car with lots of warranty ?

Any thoughts on which cars to stay away from used ?

Anyone with an electric not happy they have one and will not replace it with another electric when the time comes ?

Well if I really want to feel good about the electric power source I can just go over to the barn and plug it in because we have a 10 KW solar panel set up on the roof which I sold my 70 Charger to fund that installation

[green69rt]

I've heard the "coal burner" remark from folks here in Texas.  They don't really know how electricity is generated in the state.  Late last year the electric council of Texas published the stats on generation.  Don't have the exact numbers in front of me but, in Texas, 50% from Natural gas, 24% from coal, 26% from renewable.  And the percent from coal has been dropping every year as coal generators shut down and are replaced, mostly with renewable.

Seems a contradiction from a state that is so driven by the oil industry.

Edit, just looked it up again.

https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=TX#tabs-4

[RiverRaider]

I would be careful buying used and do a lot of research on battery life for the model.  We all have a good idea a fuel powered car with x number of miles should have x amount of life left.
But batteries time and number of charges/discharges abuse may all add to unknown factors for remaining life.  Also check into the extended warranty market if there is not a lot available
options for used electric cars that might indicate too big a risk for those companies to take on.   Are electrics available to lease?  That may be another option.

[Nacho-RT74]

I'm just wondering about battery replacements for cars in the near future! If nowdays is HARD to find decent or really OEM batteries to 3 YO cell phones!!!! pure chinesse fakes!!!

[John_Kunkel]

Every electric car I've ridden in impressed the hell out of me. I'd own one as a daily driver but my finances............

[taxspeaker]

My wife bought a 2009 escape hybrid new in 2009. We let it sit 2 months in april and it terminated the big battery. Local dealer said they dont know how to work on them. After watching 3-4 youtube videos, i bought a refurbished battery for 1900 out of chicago, grabbed my son and replaced it in 15 minutes. No issues and mileage improved too.

[GMP440]

  It's just too limited as far as charging stations to hook up to.  For right now, if the trip is lengthy you need to plan where you will recharge at.  You can't do a full charge in five minutes.
So, those are things to heavily consider when getting an electric car.  Right now , the infrastucture to support electric is still in it's infancy.

[green69rt]

  It's just too limited as far as charging stations to hook up to.  For right now, if the trip is lengthy you need to plan where you will recharge at.  You can't do a full charge in five minutes.
So, those are things to heavily consider when getting an electric car.  Right now , the infrastucture to support electric is still in it's infancy.

You're on the mark for long trips.  We have friends that have a Tesla.  They took a trip to Dallas (from Houston) and had to do some planning to make sure they hit the charging stations at a good spot.  Not real easy as it is with a gas station.  Even longer trips would not be very feasible.  You'd have to plan on stopping at charging spots that are close to restaurants so you could eat while charging and not waste time.   That's why we decided to use ours for around town and not longer trips.  Our closest charging station is in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.

The number of charging spots is growing all the time but still not one on every corner as with gas stations.

[Nacho-RT74]

So, those are things to heavily consider when getting an electric car.  Right now , the infrastucture to support electric is still in it's infancy.

I'd say more the recharge time than infrastructure itself.

That's where Hybrids are more the way to go nowdays.

[stripedelete]

  It's just too limited as far as charging stations to hook up to.  For right now, if the trip is lengthy you need to plan where you will recharge at.  You can't do a full charge in five minutes.
So, those are things to heavily consider when getting an electric car.  Right now , the infrastucture to support electric is still in it's infancy.

You're on the mark for long trips.  We have friends that have a Tesla.  They took a trip to Dallas (from Houston) and had to do some planning to make sure they hit the charging stations at a good spot.  Not real easy as it is with a gas station.  Even longer trips would not be very feasible.  You'd have to plan on stopping at charging spots that are close to restaurants so you could eat while charging and not waste time.   That's why we decided to use ours for around town and not longer trips.  Our closest charging station is in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.

The number of charging spots is growing all the time but still not one on every corner as with gas stations.

I'm seeing more and more charging stations at newly built hotels.  Hampton Inn/Holiday Inn Express.  IMO a smart business move for the reasons you stated above.

[alfaitalia]

Why not have a classic that also electric??? Do you get the TV show "Vintage Voltage" over there? Its amazing what they can convert to electric...old and not so old cars. On UK "Top Gear" recently they converted an old 60s Triumph Spitfire to electric....looked great fun to drive...Im not surprised as a stock "Spitty" only developed about 65 horse....the electric one knocked out about 265 and it only weighs about 1600lb!!!!

https://www.dplay.co.uk/show/vintage-voltage

[70 sublime]

Thanks

I will have some more things to watch on the web to get some more ideas 

Think the hardest part would be to find an interesting older car that is neat but not worth too much or rotten body

I have a 1922 Model T in my garage and have often thought what it would be like if it was electric but then think it would be almost sacrilege to do it to a car that has made it this far

Just to find the right car 

[moparjohn]

How much does it cost to re-charge a car when you are at a charging station?

[alfaitalia]

In the UK....using the hideous(!) Tesla Model 3 as an example, it cost about this much....

Home 16 p/kWh £9.60

Public Rapid 30 p/kWh to 80% charge £14.40

Tesla Supercharger 24 p/kWh to 80% charge £11.52


I bet, like many things, I will turn out to be rather less to charge one over there! No doubt a US contributor will be along with that info shortly. Don't forget that fuel is lots more expensive here..... about $6.87 per UK gallon at todays price and exchange rates....so about $5.73 per (smaller) US gallon.....so we have the potential to save rather more. And a lot smaller country with lots of charging points makes using one here a lot more viable than over there until you get a better charging infrastructure......or more likely the much talked about "1000 mile Lithium-Air battery" can be made at a sensible price....apparently within two years...hmmm.!!

[green69rt]

How much does it cost to re-charge a car when you are at a charging station?

For me, charging at a station is $0.30/min or about .45/KWH.  Charging at home is $0.12/KWH.  The stations are pretty expensive.  And all the hype about eMilage is hard to figure out.  Our car has a eMilage rating of 108 MPG.  But that's based on a certain cost for gas and a certain cost for electricity.

Just checking the odometer between charges, I seem to get about 6 - 7miles per KWH.   At 0.45/kwh and a gas price of $2.00/gal  that would be about (2.0/.45) * 6.5 = 30MPG.  If I charge at home its 108 MPG.  I charge at home.

As far as fun to drive, it can be exciting!  Electric cars have no tuning problems, carb problems, turbo lag, etc, etc, etc.  Press the accelerator (not a gas  pedal  ) and away you go.  Press harder and go faster.  Acceleration takes some getting use to. Probably why I get as low mileage as I do.  My wife says I'm having to much fun driving her car!

[Nacho-RT74]

but how much time takes to get a full charge ?

[green69rt]

but how much time takes to get a full charge ?

Just like your gas tank, you don't empty it out before filling.  We have been getting down around 20% then charging up to about 85% on occasion.  Takes about 40 - 45 minutes at a "fast" charging station which costs a lot ( $12 - $15.)

At home, using a 220 VAC plug, 3 - 4 hours.  Using a 110 outlet 30 - 40 hours.

Thing is, you cannot fast charge to 100%, it would over heat the battery.  Our car steps the charge rate down to "trickle" after the battery is over 80% and the temp gets to some value set by Nissan.  So that last 15 -20% can take 6 - 8 hours.  

We just plug the car into the wall when we get home and the car has a timer built in.  We have set it to charge from 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM which puts about 15 -18 % in the battery.  If we need more than that we just do a manual charge.  All with 110 VAC.  Been keeping the charge between 40  and 80 % so far.

[70 sublime]

How many miles are you getting say for 50% of the battery capacity ?

[Kern Dog]

I can understand the appeal.
I am not interested but if someone else is, I wouldn't care...UNLESS they try to say that they are saving the planet or some other similar nonsense.
Just admit it...some people don't care for the smell of gasoline, the noise of the engine or whatever. It is the hypocrisy that annoys me. Mining for chemicals to make batteries harms the environment. Disposal of the batteries harms the environment. Charging the batteries has an effect too. Electric cars are impressive now because they do most of what a gasoline car can do and most people will not see the drawbacks in front of them. They exist though, they are just occur out of their immediate view.

[funknut]

This guy is swapping a tesla drivetrain into a 71+ Satellite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BycKHIT7Ono