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

[thefortunes]

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.

Nope.

Miles on my mine (all original batteries):
Roadster 85k
S 160k
3 7k (old 3 40k)
Leaf 70k

The Roadster has the worst battery degradation (reduction in range) - right about 11% - which isn't surprising considering it was their pilot battery chemistry. My S is down about 7%.

My brother has something like 400k on his S (also original battery).

Regarding the comment about them riding "bad" - people have different opinions about what is "good" or "bad" in a car based on what they like. I prefer the minimalist interior (very few buttons, etc..) of a Tesla, but agree that they ARE NOT luxury cars. The materials are not high end, but they aren't Corolla either (lol at that comment). They are heavy cars, so they are much better straight-line than around a track, although the AWD is excellent (both for performance as well as weather).

Due to their EV drivetrain they are typically cross-shopped against other sporty vehicles (BMW 3 series or Audi A4 vs the 3, for example) or against economy vehicles (not as much, as the $ don't add up for a LONG time).

I've probably said this before, but I currently have a hard time even looking at anything but a Tesla due to their charging network (and the lack of options for other brands). I would NOT want to drive cross-country and rely on a 3rd party DCFC network (from what I have seen they are just not as plentiful, convenient or reliable). Although I believe that will continue to get better as more EVs are brought to market.

 

[Beachbummer]

Where are you? The leaf in Texas went down 32% in less than 5 years, but it's really hot here and the leaf has no thermal management of the battery. How is yours?

 

[thefortunes]

Where are you? The leaf in Texas went down 32% in less than 5 years, but it's really hot here and the leaf has no thermal management of the battery. How is yours?

Wisconsin. 11/12 bars still at 70k miles.

 

[Quad]

Pretty good video on the logistics of long-distance roadtrips with a non-Tesla EV.

 

[thefortunes]

Decent video that get a little into the weeds at times. Less discussion about the road-trip than I expected.

Summary for those who didn't want to watch:

1) Guy has been driving electric cars since 2017 (note, I have had at least one EV since 2009 and been exclusively EV since 2019). This roadtrip is the first time he has charged away from home (i.e. for 4+ years he NEVER went to a public charger so has SAVED more time over those years - vs gas stations - than the additional time he would use traveling with an EV).

2) Bunch of info about connectors (AC vs DCFC, Tesla vs non-Tesla, Amps/Volts/kW, etc...). Might be interesting if you are ready to purchase an EV. If not you can skip ahead to 23:30.

3) Pack architecture (voltage) matters. That is why he can take 350kW and I (in a Tesla) can only take 250kW currently.

4) He is somewhat anti-Tesla (who use their own proprietary connector instead of CCS - although Tesla has said they will add CCS to Supercharges in the future).

5) His 1200 mile journey took 20 hours (with 2.3 hours of charging). He states it "felt" like the fastest trip to/from Florida due to the short breaks. (I regularly do a 1050 mile trip with 2.5 hours of charging and agree that the short breaks keep you "fresh." I've also done 1500 miles in 26 hours - with about 5 hours of charging).

 

[BlkGS]

Re small breaks making you feel fresh... Depends on the person. We used to do FL to NC about 11 hours straight through, stopping once for fuel food and dogs. We now have a shorter trip, 8 hours FL to NC, but with like 3 short stops for the baby. We don't arrive fresh, we arrive hating our lives. Our 8 hour trips becomes 11, it turns an easy trip into a long ass day, and so we basically try to avoid long trips now. So I suspect it's a perspectove/what you're used to thing. The wife and I used to do NC to Orlando in like 6 or 7 hours in the vette... It's like 11 now with a few 30 minute stops for bottles and diapers. There's also the 5 minutes for gas and 10 minutes for the dogs to figure in too, but we do overlap tasks like that.

Either way, charging on a road trip is not for us. If we didn't have dogs or kids or something and each stop wasn't a horrible thing vs powering through, maybe it'd be different. But for us, a stop is like an instant shot of stressed.

 

[thefortunes]

...
Either way, charging on a road trip is not for us. If we didn't have dogs or kids or something and each stop wasn't a horrible thing vs powering through, maybe it'd be different. But for us, a stop is like an instant shot of stressed.

You answered your own "question."

Has nothing to do with stopping periodically - it is because of what occurs at the stops for you now vs the past when you didn't have those stressors.

Stopping every 2-3 hours for 10-15 minutes is the same as any other activity (work, recreation, whatever) - you are more refreshed with breaks.

Sorry, Julian, for the diversion when you specifically asked us not to (and for the fact we have discussed this before) but I felt I had to respond.

 

[seanmclean]

I think you're still comparing one short stop for fuel and food, compared to three extended stops. It would be a big difference for me, and I don't have kids. Once I'm in 'the zone', I prefer not to stop as well.

I want an EV quite badly for daily use, but just waiting to see what comes in the next 12-24 months - I still think that long trips are best suited for ICEs, for now. Stop frequency and duration is an objective limitation, it's one that you're totally okay with, its one that others aren't. That's okay.

 

[2kwik4u]

You answered your own "question."

Has nothing to do with stopping periodically - it is because of what occurs at the stops for you now vs the past when you didn't have those stressors.

Yea, it's the stop, not the number of them. Expectations are set for "pre family" and have not been realigned to the reality they live in. I was the same way when I was single. I drove my S10 from Louisville to Las Vegas in 2 calendar days (12hrs day one + 19hrs day two). No way in hell can I pull that off with the family in the car with me.

My dad used to be super proud of his "we made great time".......For what? Family was pissed off, he was pissed off, sure we had made it there really quick, and had very few stops, but good grief was it hard on everyone. Readjust those expectations, know it's going to take a day to get there, and just let it take the whole day. It's fine. IMO life is 90% how you take it, if you think it's gonna suck, it's gonna suck. If you think it'll be fine, it'll be fine. I purposefully don't "push" like that anymore, and my life has gotten a whole lot easier.

We made trip from Louisville to Destin last year (with the Q7), and Google says it takes like 10.5hrs. I think we were in the 13.5hr door to door time span or so. We stopped when we needed to, drove "sane" speeds, and generally took our time getting there. I was still capable of going grocery shopping for the week once we got there while Wife and MIL took the boys to the pool to burn off some energy. I can remember doing big "push" drives in the past (Louisville, KY to Raleigh, NC ~12hrs) and just being completely exhausted and somewhat frazzled when we got there. It's all in the mindset and outlook with which you take the journey. You only have to be as frazzled as you want to be about it.

Honestly, this has applied to my daily commute as well. Is the 5-10min I save really worth the extra hassle of "fighting" traffic, or can I just chilax and go with the flow of traffic and drop my stress level?

Sorry, Julian, for the diversion when you specifically asked us not to (and for the fact we have discussed this before) but I felt I had to respond.

I think it's worthwhile tangent......although he did say "to not to" The worthwhile part is the effect that the available equipment has on the journey. A charger that is out of service, overly crowded, or otherwise not up to par, can most certainly taint ones feelings about the brand. You mention not wanting to buy another because of the lack of charging network support. You're choosing a brand based on support features and charing times. Not all brands are equitable in that facet, regardless of ones perception of the time it takes to make it happen.

For me, I won't buy a Tesla. Period. Full stop. I've worked with the manufacturing engineers from that company, and it's a shitshow. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. If the design engineers are anything like the manufacturing guys then I don't want to be anywhere near that car. With that said, I'm sure every company has that level of BS, Teslsa's is just glaringly obvious to me, and the company has rubbed me the wrong way on a large scale.......And that's with them being customers, that somewhat directly affect my paycheck.

 

[jetboater4life]

I ordered a 7 seat Tesla Model Y LR, blue exterior, black interior, 19" wheels, and tow package back in mid November 2021. Expected delivery date is late August. I currently own a 2018 Kia Niro Hybrid and love it. Got 48mpg on a 1100 mile trip a few weekends ago. It's very comfortable to drive and our go to car for long soccer game commutes.

 

[2kwik4u]

I ordered a 7 seat Tesla Model Y LR, blue exterior, black interior, 19" wheels, and tow package back in mid November 2021. Expected delivery date is late August. I currently own a 2018 Kia Niro Hybrid and love it. Got 48mpg on a 1100 mile trip a few weekends ago. It's very comfortable to drive and our go to car for long soccer game commutes.

How do you plan for that long of a wait financially?

I'm |....| that close to putting a reservation in on a Rivian. It'll be '24 before it appears I'm certain. But that's a $90k buy, and I don't have that kind of cash sitting around. I'll be financing it at some level. Do you just sit on the down payment in some form of liquid asset, and well, wait? Is there anything more to it than that?

I'm debating on selling my Q7 outright now. Leasing an eTron while I wait for the Rivian. eTron is about a wash on lease payment and energy costs as compared to the Q7, I'll get something with a warranty, and I can start learning how to deal with the electric life. Any owners here have any thoughts on that plan?

 

[JASmith]

How do you plan for that long of a wait financially?

I'm |....| that close to putting a reservation in on a Rivian. It'll be '24 before it appears I'm certain. But that's a $90k buy, and I don't have that kind of cash sitting around. I'll be financing it at some level. Do you just sit on the down payment in some form of liquid asset, and well, wait? Is there anything more to it than that?

I'm debating on selling my Q7 outright now. Leasing an eTron while I wait for the Rivian. eTron is about a wash on lease payment and energy costs as compared to the Q7, I'll get something with a warranty, and I can start learning how to deal with the electric life. Any owners here have any thoughts on that plan?

For the Tesla you just order it with 100$ down. No major commitment.

 

[jetboater4life]

How do you plan for that long of a wait financially?

I'm |....| that close to putting a reservation in on a Rivian. It'll be '24 before it appears I'm certain. But that's a $90k buy, and I don't have that kind of cash sitting around. I'll be financing it at some level. Do you just sit on the down payment in some form of liquid asset, and well, wait? Is there anything more to it than that?

I'm debating on selling my Q7 outright now. Leasing an eTron while I wait for the Rivian. eTron is about a wash on lease payment and energy costs as compared to the Q7, I'll get something with a warranty, and I can start learning how to deal with the electric life. Any owners here have any thoughts on that plan?

It is a $250 non-refundable deposit. In my case I planned for the longer wait and secured the funds a month ago. Now I just sit and wait. My original delivery date was March 2022. In February time frame it got moved to June, then in April it got moved to July, then in May it got move to August. I monitor the November Order Date thread in the teslamotorsclub.com forum and several of my brethren have been getting VINs so I don't expect the wait to go much past August if at all. Gas is now $4.64 in MN. OUCH!!!! I wish I could have gotten delivery this month

 

[jetboater4life]

I will add that if you choose FSR (full self driving) for 12k your order will be prioritized. This is based off of empirical data from fellow orderers. Tesla does not confirm or deny this. I plan to subscribe for $200 a month to see if I like FSR before I decide on purchasing it. I don't expect I will want FSR based upon my current usage but it will be fun to try. Hope I don't wind up dead.

 

[JASmith]

I will add that if you choose FSR (full self driving) for 12k your order will be prioritized. This is based off of empirical data from fellow orderers. Tesla does not confirm or deny this. I plan to subscribe for $200 a month to see if I like FSR before I decide on purchasing it. I don't expect I will want FSR based upon my current usage but it will be fun to try. Hope I don't wind up dead.

FSR is still in beta, we've owned for two years and still haven't had it enabled. Autosteer is decent... usually. It's also hyper picky about how you hold the wheel or it nag nag nag nag nags the hell out of you. In many cases it's more annoying than useful.

On the freeway is another story, it's so nice on longer drives.

It's only tried to kill us like twice. One time at an intersection where there are several left turn lanes added, on an overpass with all kinds of dotted turn lines. I haven't seen any intersection like it before, and clearly either has Tesla, so it nearly turned into oncoming traffic. I'm not sure if it would have stopped itself or not, but it was the most freaked out we've been in the car. It's the "Don't use autopilot through me" intersection now, so we just avoid it easily by driving normally.

Round-abouts: It will kind of act like it's going to do the round-about, and then just fucking bail on you right as it enters and expect you to immediately correct its error. Round abouts as no go for us also now, so we haven't even tried them in years.

Auto Lane Change: Sometimes it'll be in the middle of a lane change and freak out and go back to the lane you were nearly completely out of abruptly enough that you'll want to check your pants.

 

[jetboater4life]

We have roundabouts all over the place in Rochester. I guess I'll keep that $200 rental fee in my pocket for a while. Thanks for the info.

 

[adrianp89]

FSR is still in beta, we've owned for two years and still haven't had it enabled. Autosteer is decent... usually. It's also hyper picky about how you hold the wheel or it nag nag nag nag nags the hell out of you. In many cases it's more annoying than useful.

On the freeway is another story, it's so nice on longer drives.

It's only tried to kill us like twice. One time at an intersection where there are several left turn lanes added, on an overpass with all kinds of dotted turn lines. I haven't seen any intersection like it before, and clearly either has Tesla, so it nearly turned into oncoming traffic. I'm not sure if it would have stopped itself or not, but it was the most freaked out we've been in the car. It's the "Don't use autopilot through me" intersection now, so we just avoid it easily by driving normally.

Round-abouts: It will kind of act like it's going to do the round-about, and then just fucking bail on you right as it enters and expect you to immediately correct its error. Round abouts as no go for us also now, so we haven't even tried them in years.

Auto Lane Change: Sometimes it'll be in the middle of a lane change and freak out and go back to the lane you were nearly completely out of abruptly enough that you'll want to check your pants.

Shouldn't need to hold the wheel - I used to just go volume up one notch and volume down one notch. It kept it happy.

 

[JASmith]

Shouldn't need to hold the wheel - I used to just go volume up one notch and volume down one notch. It kept it happy.

We have the Model Y, which was yours? It's a Nagatron. I'll give that a go and see if it appeases it!

 

[adrianp89]

We have the Model Y, which was yours? It's a Nagatron. I'll give that a go and see if it appeases it!

Model 3... should be damn near the same. Just did the volume up/down on the steering wheel. Sometimes did speed up 1 down 1.

 

[JASmith]

Model 3... should be damn near the same. Just did the volume up/down on the steering wheel. Sometimes did speed up 1 down 1.

Yeah we just tried it. Didn’t work. How stupid is that? Lol. It should be the exact same.