What Electric Car(s) do you own and what do you think of it?

[JASmith]

I'm dying for a plug in hybrid F150 with 100 miles of range on battery. That would meet nearly all of my daily use requirements, but still allow me the freedom to travel and own a single truck. The new lightning looks awesome, but I would expect its electric range while towing to leave me a razor thin margin for the furthest of our usual boat ramps. Probably in the next 12-24 months I'll retire it to just do truck stuff and pick up an EV for daily driving, but it'd be nice to only have to have one vehicle.

Ford should have been at the forefront of the Diesel-electric hybrid space in the F-150. I really am kind of shocked we haven't heard a peep about such a product.

 

[Quad]

Ford should have been at the forefront of the Diesel-electric hybrid space in the F-150. I really am kind of shocked we haven't heard a peep about such a product.

Is anyone doing Diesel-electric hybrids? (even in the commercial/industrial space?)

 

[JASmith]

Is anyone doing Diesel-electric hybrids? (even in the commercial/industrial space?)

Not production that I know of.

 

[adrianp89]

Ford should have been at the forefront of the Diesel-electric hybrid space in the F-150. I really am kind of shocked we haven't heard a peep about such a product.

Not a fan of diesels but man 30+ on interstate and pure EV for local. Talk about game changing truck.

 

[JASmith]

Not a fan of diesels but man 30+ on interstate and pure EV for local. Talk about game changing truck.

Not a fan why? All the extra regulatory BS on them? Thats the only part that isn't great tbh.

My F-350 gets 25~ unloaded when cruising longer distances. It's nearly 8000 pounds and putting out 1050 lb ft of torque too... Diesel is phenomenal for mileage. Full electric drivetrain with diesel generation would be the best utilization of a diesel engine and would easily be in the 30+MPG, possibly near 40 with a 1/2 ton flavor.

 

[2kwik4u]

Another thing to consider (I don't think it was discussed) is the tax credit. If simply buying an EV today I would recommend a Tesla even though they no longer qualify for the $7500 federal rebate. However $7500 is a lot of money and enough to sway me to whatever may be my close second. As you do your research I would be aware of tax credits for manufacturers and possibly when they will be reduced.

Does the tax credit apply to used sales? I could google, but I like talking with you guys more

Not a fan of diesels but man 30+ on interstate and pure EV for local. Talk about game changing truck.

Man, OH Man, you hit the nail on the head here. I've been doing a ton of research on the PowerBoost Hybrid driveline they have now. It's a really good solution to get good mileage and good power from the truck. The onboard generator option is a STEAL at $750 for a 7.2kW generator if you're already buying a truck anyway. Throwing a small 4cyl diesel in front of that driveline would easily get them up to the 30+mpg, have the torque needed for a work truck, and be a helluva package.

Missed opportunity for Ford there IMO. We might even be able to talk @BlkGS into that

@Julian I haven't seen the Audi Etron brought up yet. There is a guy here at work that buys high performance cars (Dual income, no kids). His stable currently has a built CTS-V, C8 Corvette, Audi RS3 (wifes), and an Audi E-Tron. He daily drives the ETron as he wanted an electric car that WASN'T a Tesla (lots of reason, I won't get into here). He's been pretty happy with it as a daily. It doesn't have the style, flash, or unique factor as the rest of them, but it's a sharp looking, good driving, medium sized SUV. It won't tow your 255, but you have experience with the brand already, which might (or might not) be a good thing.

I did some "back of the napkin" math on an ETron awhile back, and it would likely drag my 190 around to "most" of the places I want to boat. Those outside the roundtrip on a single charge range; have a charger along the way where I could top off to get home.

 

[1BadTundra]

We're heading out to test drive the Audi E-tron GT this weekend. Its a hard sell, as I really wanted the Cadillac CT5 Blackwing. But with the direction the gov't agenda is driving, it looks like electric may be the way going forward. And I will most likely daily drive whatever I buy. My current '18 A6 has 60,000 miles and I'm really wanting to step up.

 

[Julian]

We're heading out to test drive the Audi E-tron GT this weekend. Its a hard sell, as I really wanted the Cadillac CT5 Blackwing. But with the direction the gov't agenda is driving, it looks like electric may be the way going forward. And I will most likely daily drive whatever I buy. My current '18 A6 has 60,000 miles and I'm really wanting to step up.

Let us know what you think

 

[1BadTundra]

Let us know what you think

Will do, they have a black one in Lancaster PA... Its about 45 mins from us.

 

[Woodsy]

 

[BlkGS]

Does the tax credit apply to used sales? I could google, but I like talking with you guys more



Man, OH Man, you hit the nail on the head here. I've been doing a ton of research on the PowerBoost Hybrid driveline they have now. It's a really good solution to get good mileage and good power from the truck. The onboard generator option is a STEAL at $750 for a 7.2kW generator if you're already buying a truck anyway. Throwing a small 4cyl diesel in front of that driveline would easily get them up to the 30+mpg, have the torque needed for a work truck, and be a helluva package.

Missed opportunity for Ford there IMO. We might even be able to talk @BlkGS into that

@Julian I haven't seen the Audi Etron brought up yet. There is a guy here at work that buys high performance cars (Dual income, no kids). His stable currently has a built CTS-V, C8 Corvette, Audi RS3 (wifes), and an Audi E-Tron. He daily drives the ETron as he wanted an electric car that WASN'T a Tesla (lots of reason, I won't get into here). He's been pretty happy with it as a daily. It doesn't have the style, flash, or unique factor as the rest of them, but it's a sharp looking, good driving, medium sized SUV. It won't tow your 255, but you have experience with the brand already, which might (or might not) be a good thing.

I did some "back of the napkin" math on an ETron awhile back, and it would likely drag my 190 around to "most" of the places I want to boat. Those outside the roundtrip on a single charge range; have a charger along the way where I could top off to get home.

I've long said a PHEV with a diesel, either generator or drive motor makes the most sense of any potential vehicle they could sell. Hell, even a gas PHEV is the right solution really.

But again, the big money interests want us in battery cars. They don't care about emissions, they care about lining their pockets.

I think FCA is most likely to do this. They've got 3 PHEVs now? Supposedly the hurricane motors are designed to be paired with a PHEV setup. I strongly suspect the srt version of WL Grand Cherokee will be a hurricane with PHEV. I think it'll also sell, well it'll probably sell pretty well, about as well as previous srt jeeps. Jeep sells probably as many srt products as they can because in the end, even trackhawk is just a jeep, and not seen as impressive as a Benz or Range Rover or whatever to the types of people who care about such things. Plus, they're getting to be expensive to the point that if you can afford th, you can probably afford their more expensive competition too.

Anyways, a wagoneer L with a PHEV hurricane 6 would be probably the perfect vehicle for us, other than the damn air vents. If Ford did a PHEV power stroke expedition, I'd probably trade ours in on it, trade in hit and all.

Also, no, the tax credit only applies to the original purchaser.

 

[adrianp89]

View attachment 179076

So sick of this. Most EV owners I know don’t care about being cleaner. It’s about saving money and having a better driving experience.

 

[BlkGS]

So sick of this. Most EV owners I know don’t care about being cleaner. It’s about saving money and having a better driving experience.

You're not going to save money in an EV though, you're just front loading your costs so you can pay interest on it. Maybe in states that waive sales tax or something like that, but if you compare a model 3 to a corolla that's of similar interior quality but way better build quality, you'll never make up the difference in purchase price in gas vs charging.

Better driving experience is all subjective. Your "better" is "quieter". Mine is "louder and more dynamic". I like drama and character out of a vehicle, and I've yet to drive or see a review of an EV that has that. I think thebPHEVs are most likely to offer that at some point.

 

[Julian]

View attachment 179076

Clean my ass! Would you like to come clean up the coal ash pits here in NC? Try googling "coal ash spill"....happens pretty often. And only 20% of our electricity comes from coal thankfully.

 

[BlkGS]

Clean my ass! Would you like to come clean up the coal ash pits here in NC? Try googling "coal ash spill"....happens pretty often. And only 20% of our electricity comes from coal thankfully.

Interesting note, I watched a video last night about nuclear power. Turns out all the "dangerous" waste, the stuff that is highly radioactive and lasts a long time, all of that waste the US has ever created is smaller than like, just one of those coal ash pits by a massive amount.

It's OK though, all our clean renewable energy stuff is made in China via dirtier coal plants than our worst ones.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

@Julian what is your time frame? I’m sure a lot of new EVs will be introduced in the next 24 months.

We would purchase an EV if we could find a nice 40Kish, compact SUV with decent range (say 300 miles). Price would be the deciding factor for us, as with a large segment of the general public. We will probably buy our next vehicle in 2024 (to replace her 2007 Jeep Commander), I'm looking to see what the options are in two years, as I agree there will be a large selection of new EV's to choose from.

Jim

 

[BlkGS]

We would purchase an EV if we could find a nice 40Kish, compact SUV with decent range (say 300 miles). Price would be the deciding factor for us, as with a large segment of the general public. We will probably buy our next vehicle in 2024 (to replace her 2007 Jeep Commander), I'm looking to see what the options are in two years, as I agree there will be a large selection of new EV's to choose from.

Jim

I'm surprised they haven't announced a phev wagoneer yet. It's gonna be a winner IMO.

 

[AZMark]

Has anyone here had to replace a battery on any hybrids or EV? Maybe @thefortunes

I keep cars a very long time and this has always been my worry with those cars. My wife really wants us to get a Tesla or something. I’m surprised by the comments about them riding bad, I’ve never been in one.

 

[BlkGS]

Has anyone here had to replace a battery on any hybrids or EV? Maybe @thefortunes

I keep cars a very long time and this has always been my worry with those cars. My wife really wants us to get a Tesla or something. I’m surprised by the comments about them riding bad, I’ve never been in one.

Buddy was trying to do a side business doing this on priuses. At the time, the battery was like 5 to 8 grand (a pure EV battery would of course be larger and cost more), and from our basic calculations, we couldn't buy the cars cheap enough to pay ourselves for our time and make money on it.

Tesla are actually pretty junky inside, they're a big step below Ford/GM in materials IMO, and their build quality is insanely bad. They're economy cars sold at luxury car prices for the powertrain in my experience. I'd buy something from an established brand, they'll be far nicer and better built.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

LOL, because of the batteries, this was me when the Prius first came out:

I was certain the batteries would be the achilles heel of this new (at the time) battery system. Fortunately, I didn't know beans about battery life!

Jim