Electric Car Ownership - Any Experiences?

[Umbran]

In an unfortunate turn of events, my wife's car just got totaled. She absolutely needs one for work, so we are buying a car post-haste, and we are planning to go electric if at all possible.

In her line of work, a hatchback is absolutely essential, and being smaller is also pretty important - this car will be replacing a Prius c, to give you an idea of what we are looking for.

The leading contender is to find a 2020-2023 Chevy Bolt EV. The EUV is possible, but since it is a little bit bigger, it is less attractive.

I am most interested in people's experiences owning EVs, in general, and your experiences or information on home charging stations, specifically, as we'll need one of those as well....

 

[payn]

My brother and his wife have them. Being able to have 208-240 outlet in garage, or even better 480 is a big deal. Do you got space in your electrical service to add it? Not a must, but definitely makes life easier. EVs go through tires at an alarming rate. At least twice as fast as gas vehicles so be ready to factor that maintenance in.

Driving habits will matter, especially if you are in a cold weather clime. Usually just around a metro you will be good. If you often drive 100s of miles weekly to different towns and such, Id do some research on charging options.

 

[Umbran]

My brother and his wife have them. Being able to have 208-240 outlet in garage, or even better 480 is a big deal.

No garage, so it'll have to be mounted on the side of the house.

My understanding is that modern cars will not take 480v AC. Level three chargers are DC units - and that is expensive. Not doing that. We'll be going with a 240v AC line...

Do you got space in your electrical service to add it? Not a must, but definitely makes life easier.

I haven't checked the breaker panel yet - in the short term we will use household current and the level 2 charging station behind the local library, until the home station is installed.

There is an outlet in our living room that looks to be a 240v line - right by a window, so I expect it was installed for an air conditioner. We have never used it, though. If so, having an electrician run the line to outside by the driveway isn't too rough.

What really matters is what the spare capacity on the panel overall is. Upgrading that may be necessary, but so be it. Either way, the state will cushion the blow with a $700 rebate if we also enroll in an off-peak charging program.

EVs go through tires at an alarming rate. At least twice as fast as gas vehicles so be ready to factor that maintenance in.

What I've read is that they typically wear about 20% faster, not 100% faster. My wife winds up blowing tires at a high pace anyway, so I don't know if we'd notice.

I think the folks who burn tires in electric vehicles are probably indulging in the high acceleration EVs can offer. That's not our typical driving style. This is going to be mostly for a suburban veterinarian making house calls. Tearing out of the driveway after tending to Fluffy's arthritis isn't appropriate

Usually just around a metro you will be good. If you often drive 100s of miles weekly to different towns and such, Id do some research on charging options.

The longest driving day she had for work last year was 164 miles. We're looking at cars that have (including some loss per year) 230 to 260 mile ranges. So long as she gets home, a Level 2 charger should have her never needing to use a public charging station.

We expect that we are actually likely to also get a second car sometime soon to handle long-range trips, as a backup for my wife, and to allow me to run errands and the like when she's still driving for work. Probably another Prius c, to be honest.

 

[Blue]

Secondhand, but I've a close friend who has had several. Quite happy with them, doesn't plan to go back. If long distance driving (>300 miles) is an issue, it will take significantly longer to "fill" than a gas vehicle. But if you normal driving range is less than that you'll effectively never need to "stop at a station".

A bit more people get motion sickness, but it looks like they have narrowed that down to combining both the higher acceleration with a very aggressive regenerative breaking setting so your doing faster speed ups and slow downs than in a gas car - driving normally can avoid that.

Something he has talked about in the past is that the battery pack will lose effectiveness - I think about a decade ago he we expecting around 150,000 miles before it was significant in his max range, and those aren't particularly cheap to replace. So he was concerned about the secondary market.

That said, he's purchased several, from different manufacturers, and is more pleased with them than a gas car.

I'm in the NE of the US, where charging stations are fairly common. If the range is a factor then look into that wherever you are.

 

[James Gasik]

If you ever plan on doing any long-distance traveling, I would not suggest an electric car. There's not enough charging stations. Worse, since there's no industry standard, a given charging station might not accommodate your make and model!

Add to this the fact that there's apparently an epidemic of electric car haters who will go out of their way to vandalize a charging station for no other reason than to be a massive jerk should be enough to turn you off of electricity.

 

[James Gasik]

Just one of many examples

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I’ve only done back of the envelope calculations, but it appears to me that electric cars are greenwashing. Whilst it is generally more efficient to generate power in a power station than in a small engine, electric cars are considerably heavier, and therefore require more energy to move. And there is a very high environmental impact to scrapping and replacing a car.

The best things to do for the environment is drive less, work from home, don’t buy a new car unless your old one can no longer move.

 

[Zardnaar]

I’ve only done back of the envelope calculations, but it appears to me that electric cars are greenwashing. Whilst it is generally more efficient to generate power in a power station than in a small engine, electric cars are considerably heavier, and therefore require more energy to move. And there is a very high environmental impact to scrapping and replacing a car.

The best things to do for the environment is drive less, work from home, don’t buy a new car unless your old one can no longer move.

Think it was that 15 odd years ago. Not sure now.

 

[Staffan]

Don't have one myself, and even if I did I'd be ignorant of the American specifics, but this guy generally knows what he's talking about when it comes to everyday tech:

 

[Horwath]

I’ve only done back of the envelope calculations, but it appears to me that electric cars are greenwashing. Whilst it is generally more efficient to generate power in a power station than in a small engine, electric cars are considerably heavier, and therefore require more energy to move. And there is a very high environmental impact to scrapping and replacing a car.

The best things to do for the environment is drive less, work from home, don’t buy a new car unless your old one can no longer move.

There is lot's of local health benefits with EVs.


1. Even if you burn diesel in the powerplant, it more efficient, enough to offsets loss in power transmission from plant to car to road.

Also, you have only one point of pollution that can be heavily regulated instead of 100.000+ cars instead that are in various state of care by the owners.
Air would be much cleaner with one huge powerplant vs 100.000+ cars.

2. there is a lot less noise with EVs

3. there is almost no engine oil consumption, another ecological worry removed. I wish that all car owners dispose old oil where they supposed to.