DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Electric cars

It's nice to hear from people who actually have the experience of owning them. Most of what we hear is people who have never driven or own one complaining about them.

Exactly. Drives me nuts.

Fate, I will add that Tesla gave everyone free FSD for a month recently and that’s when I tried it. I did not subscribe after the trial ended and it is not the reason I enjoy the car. However, the tech is really cool and only going to improve. I was actually blown away by how good it was, which was the whole point on why it was given away for free for the trial. They had recently made a ton of improvements and wanted people to subscribe.

That’s actually not the letter of the law. You’re supposed to keep your hands on the wheel and apply slight “turning pressure” when prompted basically as an “audit” that your hands are on the wheel.

You’re supposed to keep both hands on the wheel and attentive to take over at any time.

Drives me nuts that anyone who raises any counter-points is "complaining", or is against them, or is against "saving the environment", or is "just railing". I don't think you need to own one to discuss facts about them, whether that's battery lifespan or how fast you burn tires. I know it sounds counterintuitive but many times the opposite is true... If stats show that they burn tires twice as fast, across the experience of a million EVs, then how would one person's singular experience even matter? j/s And not picking on you Rish, you just gave me the perfect jump point.

EVs are great, can't wait to own one, can't wait til most of the planet does, however, I won't be here to see that and probably shouldn't be. This pie-in-the-sky "all electric by 2035" or such dumb slogans are some of the dumbest, if not careless statements I've heard in my lifetime. There are at least ten good reasons why this should be a 50 year proposition. Talking about them doesn't mean one has some sadistic fantasy of the Earth going up in a big ball of fire.

There. Disclaimer #38 of how I really like EVs but don't think we should all be driving them by next Tuesday.

I bought the whole thing with the purchase of the car. It has definitely improved. Am I “blown away”? No. But perhaps it a because I’m jaded having had it now for 2.5 years.

That being said, it’s pretty cool and has come forward a lot. Just had to jump over that big barrier. I think other companies are more well versed at manufacturing and after-market gains on parts and whatnot, mostly due to the fact they’ve been in the automotive market longer.

Musk has the tech element for sure. That’s always been his edge over the “oldies.” He has to keep pushing that part further though. I worry his purchase of Twitter is dragging him down somewhat on that front. Now that TSLA has taken a hit, I hope it becomes more of a priority again for him.

In almost a year of ownership I have never done that. And you don’t have to either.

You can still be attentive without having your hands on the wheel and able to take over when needed.

I’m in over 2.5 years. I’m just telling you what the rules are, bro. Take it for what it’s worth.

My other buddy is in for 4+ years now. He does the 1 lb weight approach which really pushes the envelope.

If there’s an accident while in FSD, that cabin video footage could really come into play.

If people are concerned about range or tires, that’s reasonable to me. But I read a lot of comments about how it’s not a good product, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. And a lot of people make these comments who have never driven or experienced one.

Ultimately at the end of the day I think people should drive what they want and what makes them happy. I’m a car guy. I’ve owned dozens, all kinds…expensive, cheap, different transmissions, suvs, sedans…and over a year ago you wouldn’t have been able to convince me to consider or buy an electric. Thankfully gas prices out west begrudgingly led me to consider one, and now I don’t know if I would ever consider an ICE car again.

I also hate going to the gas station. The only way to get discounted gas (and discount is a relative term here) on the west coast is to go to Costco and those lines are typically 10+ cars deep. I didn’t realize how much I hated going to the gas station until I didn’t have to.

But the stats don't show that. And the way it's delivered by the detractors leaves it very open ended most of the time. They make an issue sound much worse than stats would indicate. And I suppose if you have an EV owner who has kept track of how much they saved on fuel verses the cost of tire wear, that would be far more relative than open ended statements that did not have a cost breakdown or even take that perspective into consideration.

But we do live in an era where first hand experience is often times rebuffed.

I've spent a fortune on gas over the past four years of living in two places. Thankfully, that's about over. Which finally puts me in a place where I can drive an EV. I love cars as well, but never purchase new cars and don't finance. I would love to drive a new Tesla but don't see myself writing a check for 70k in the foreseeable future.

I'm early in the process of seeing where pricing intersects with value and longevity. With EVs, there's a new factor -- the "ticking time bomb". I know people don't like me calling it that, but I've been buying and driving cars for over 35 years, this will be the first time I'm looking at a fairly solid expiration date. It's completely different than ICE. There are many things I can do to an ICE vehicle to get the most life out of it. Gave my 03 Vibe GT to my father-in-law a few years ago. Still runs like a ____ ape lol. 260,000 miles... tires, brakes, a new clutch at 200,000, and religious oil changes.

EV batteries? I guess there are a few "helpful tips" but nothing with solid evidence of drastically increasing shelf life. So, looking at the market, I have to consider where the price drops enough (age and mileage) to make it a worthwhile investment and then either face a huge expenditure (replacing battery) or a very large reduction in trade in value. It will probably be another year or two until there is enough inventory for me to find a sweet spot.

Quick questions. Looking at Teslas I see terms like: long range, mid range, standard range plus... is that directly related to the type of battery? Is battery size and capacity an option when buying new?

I will echo you on the gas station. It’s very nice having a 50 amp in the garage and coming out to a car that has a “full tank” every morning. That has been a huge boost to owning a Tesla.

If there are ever any men masochistic enough to want their AI sex doll to be exactly like their first wife, they should have you write the algorithm.

You have the range options. Oddly enough, I’m not sure how that correlates to size but I imagine long range are bigger. If you, or anyone, ever decides to go buy a Tesla, make sure you go with long range. I think the Model 3 is the only option where you had the choice between standard and long range. It came standard with the Y when I purchased.

The usual white noise retort with zero substance. I see you have no value for an actual EV owner who has done a cost study of fuel savings over tire wear and this is all you have. Sad really.

Did I mention to you that it's Mental Health Awareness Month?

I'm reading that you shouldn't charge every night and shouldn't charge to 100... is that just gurglefitz and whatnot?

I’m reading you shouldn’t overfill your gas tank as well. More gurglefitz.

You can charge every night no matter how low you are but depending on the model, they don’t want you to charge to more than 80% or 90% unless you are going on a trip, then charge to 100%. It’s the same reason iPhones don’t want you to charge to 100% every night. 80% or 90% is plenty and then some for daily driving.

I’m not sure I share your other concern about “the ticking time bomb”. I think similar to a gas car, you can get a couple hundred thousand miles on an EV if you treat it well. You’ll get some battery degradation but they’ve got 10 year studies now that show battery degradation can be minimized if you follow the guidelines on how to take care of the car and battery. Even so, let’s say in 150k miles you need a new battery, hopefully they’ve come down enough in cost that it would be comparable to replacing an engine or transmission. Just like you can keep doing things to keep the ICE car running, you should be able to do the same with an EV.

Another nice thing about teslas specifically is there is no functionality or software difference between a 5 year old car and a new one. Everyone gets over the air updates so no reason to buy something newer because it has more software bells and whistles.

Read the post after yours. Maybe you'll understand why I asked. Probably not, but anything's possible.

Thanks! I found a couple cool sites after digging in a little today. I'm going to go ahead and retire the ticking time bomb moniker. I think I was a little too caught up in the stated warranties rather than some of the practical studies like you mentioned. I think you'd have to develop some good habits as far as battery maintenance, but it seems like just getting used to something new. I'm also seeing some decent pricing on used with low mileage.


More dumb questions...

Home charger is around 500? Are you paying an electrician another 500? Can I program the car to charge to only 80%?

EDIT: This site was very informative...

Top 10 Tips to Maximize EV Battery Life

Yes, I spent about $500 on the charger and $550 on the install. Install can be more expensive depending on age of the house, breaker box situation, etc. It’s not a terrible idea to get a quote on that before purchasing the car just in case.

And yes you set the car to what level you want to charge it to.

Haha. No you can charge every night. They just recommend that you cap at 80% charge which you can do via the app. Super easy. It used to recommend a 90% cap but they dropped it. 80% is still more than enough to get me where I need to be.

If you’re getting ready to take a massive road trip, you can go full hundo right before hand.

I had a 40 Amp installed at my last house by a guy that Oober referred to me (thanks again Oobs). He was very reasonable. More reasonable than my builder actually, although my new outlet at my new house is 50 Amps.

Funny story about the install at my last house: I got talking to the guy and he was like “How do you know Oober?” And I’m like “Actually I’ve never met him. Just know him from a Browns message board.” He kinda smiled and gently laughed, but his eyes said “I hope this guy isn’t Buffalo Bill.” Haha.

That is funny. Oober seems more like the shoot you in broad daylight type.

Found this:
Essentially, if you install a home EV charging station, the tax credit is 30% of the cost of hardware and installation, up to $1,000. Also, beginning last year the EV charger tax credit for business and home installations applies to other EV charger equipment like bidirectional (i.e., two-way) chargers.

Also, I thought you have a recently built home, as far as wiring, shouldn't that have been EV ready?

https://blinkcharging.com/blog/new-building-code-standards-will-require-wiring-for-evse

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ev-charging-us-building-codes/

Yeah it was EV ready when it was built, but the option for the 50 Amp in the garage was extra when we were making our floor plan selections with the builder.

Oddly enough, I’m the third house in a row of Tesla owners on my new street. We all had the outlets installed. It was something that had to be selected though when you finalize your floor plan. Anyone who didn’t choose that will have to get it done post-build.

So it is true all you bougie types stick together.

It’s boughetto types actually

That's pretty good.

I think EV's are great right now so long as you have the right set of circumstances (daily mileage and propensity to road trip, and access to charging at your home).

More traditional automakers are signing on to Tesla's charging network. There was a large group that all announced late last year.

And don't you forget it.

Man, between you shoot-in-broad-daylight types and these creepy, rusted, broken down vans parading as ice cream trucks driving by my house as I type this, I'm beginning to wonder if moving to Ooberville was the right idea

You and Oober should work together in order to get your HOA board to keep those rusty vans parading as ice cream trucks out of the neighborhood. We only permit top shelf food trucks and organic ice cream vendors into ours.

He's in a different part of town from me. I'm pretty sure he's using his pull around these parts to make sure we only get the bad ice cream trucks while his neighborhood probably has door-to-door Graeter's delivered fresh daily.

Yeah, that sounds like something he would do.

I live so far back in my development that the HOA doesn't even bother with us. It's the wild west back where I'm at. Mailboxes don't match, people can have small sheds... PURE CHAOS!!!

I know right. Many people here are actually parking their RVs beside their own home on their own property. It’s crazy.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/china-develops-revolutionary-electric-car-113440354.html
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/chinese-scientists-found-way-batteries-165858822.html

The Chinese are light years ahead of us in EV tech. Too bad libtard run shools have dumbed down their equity based curriculum so much that America's future is full of morons who have no ability to compete in the world.

From the sounds of things those schools were turning out very similar students when you were going to school.

No, but I'm sure its responsible for your underachieving life.