When do you think you will buy a 100% pure electric vehicle?

[HFCS]

My spouse went all electric in 2021 with a Chevy Bolt. She had a 2011 Ford Fiesta that got ~325 miles per tank, so dropping to 260 with the Chevy Bolt wasn't a big deal, since most of her miles were driving back and forth to work (15 miles round trip).
We now use her car as our primary car for commuting to work (we both work at the same place).
My only complaint is the recall on the converters that has meant we've had to limit our charging to 80% rather than 100%. It's been an issue a few times when we've both been traveling 100+ miles in the same weekend to different places.

I bought a hybrid in 2018 (2019 Honda Insight) when the VW folks bought back my TDI Golf. We use my car for long road trips, and with it's 45 to 50 mpg, it's pretty ideal for trips up to MN, WI, WV, NM, etc.

Even the Volt before the Bolt was a great commuter option, I had a coworker who got many of years with it on a 100 mile daily. One thing Tesla got right was building a cool factor in advance. Volt/Bolt didn’t and don’t have it so they get overlooked and people price out EVs like a model S is the only option.

 

[dtISU]

I’m planning for my next vehicle to be the Ford Lightening.

Purely anecdotal evidence -

I was thinking the same thing. Talked to the local Ford dealer here. They've sold 4 so far. Three have been returned to them asking for a refund. Sounds like they have some work to do.

 

[Entropy]

Even the Volt before the Bolt was a great commuter option, I had a coworker who got many of years with it on a 100 mile daily. One thing Tesla got right was building a cool factor in advance. Volt/Bolt didn’t and don’t have it so they get overlooked and people price out EVs like a model S is the only option.

Before we bought a Bolt, I was looking hard at a Model 3, but it just couldn't pencil out for the price range we are in and our potential use. I also had concerns about service since support is better in larger metros than CR, IA.

 

[BoxsterCy]

I am supportive of the electrics, just not sure how it fits in for me in the near term. I generally buy used cars and it would seem that new is better for electric when you start to think battery life in a used one. Das Audi is a 2015 but it only has 33,000 miles on it. Lot of short hauls to LifeTime., grocery and wildlife preserves is my weekly year round routine. Still, it will be ten years old in 2 years which is sort of a shocker to me. Damn, time really does just freakin' fly! Post retirement me doesn't put the commute miles on anymore and hardly leaves the state by car. Throw in the option of driving the old Boxster during the summer and the main driver doesn't rack up many miles.


** Me in few years: FOR SALE. Nice mint Audi. Owned by little old man who didn't even drive to church on Sunday. Extra set of winter booties with their own OEM Audi rims.

 

[KennyPratt42]

Purely anecdotal evidence -

I was thinking the same thing. Talked to the local Ford dealer here. They've sold 4 so far. Three have been returned to them asking for a refund. Sounds like they have some work to do.

I looked really heavily at the Lightning when we got our Mach-E (I’m probably read or watched every review from journalists online and spent quite a bit of time on a Lightning forum). The Lightning has a lot more range variability based on use. Some people use a truck just like an SUV or car as a commuter/daily driver and it works well for them. Others who use a truck for interstate towing frequently struggle with range. Add in some range deduction during the winter in colder climates and it just doesn’t meet some people’s use cases. Other people love it for their use case because it’s like having a big generator/battery station with them all the time. I think it would be a dream tailgating vehicle for that reason.

 

[isucy86]

Does anybody miss returning VHS tapes to blockbuster?

Before getting an EV all anyone thinks about is range. Understandable but not entirely rational unless you drive 1000 miles a week.

After getting one you have the gas station equivalent of Netflix.

I gotta believe batteries/battery charging tech will be 50% better in 10 years. I am not concerned about range/recharging availability.

IMO the use of convenience stores to refill will be replaced by recharging at home or any place I visit for 30ish minutes like: grocery stores, mass retailers, coffee shops, work, sit-down restaurants, on-street parking, etc.

When EV market share reaches a certain market share that will create incremental revenue for businesses to provide recharging infrastructure and businesses will jump in feet first!

 

[cowgirl836]

Right? We just bought a minivan, and toyotas new models are hybrids, but the wait time is a year and cost 10k+ than the used models we were looking at. We needed a new vehicle. Not waiting a year for one.

yeah I see Honda may have an option by end of this year but That's a full 18 months from when we first start looking and over a year from when we would have purchased then. And I'm sure it'd be significantly more $$.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I have no idea what charge times are but if they can get them to like 15-20 minutes is that really any different than stopping to fill up for gas and then running inside to take a pee? I'm all about minimizing stoppage time and getting to my destination asap but stopping every 300+ miles for a 20 minute charge isn't that outrageous to me. Especially if I'm saving a bunch of time not having to stop for gas for my daily commute since I charge at home.

 

[Bigman38]

That's a big hang up for me. I value my time, and I don't want to be sitting for 45 minutes every 300 miles on a big road trip.

I've seen this concern a lot in this thread, and many agreed with you. You really do enough 300+ mile road trips to offset all of the time saved at gas stations the rest of time?

 

[Al_4_State]

I've seen this concern a lot in this thread, and many agreed with you, and it confuses me. You do enough 300+ mile road trips to offset all of the time saved at gas stations the rest of time?

It's less the aggregate time, but yeah, it's not that uncommon for me to travel 300+ miles one way in a 3-4 day window. I don't take long vacations, and given that I live 2 hours from a major airport, I rarely fly inside of 12-13 hours.

When I'm making those kind of drives, I'm banking on making the best time possible. Stopping for 45 minutes to charge, when I can fuel up and piss in about 5 minutes currently is a big deal when your free time is limited.

 

[Lafaester54]

I’ll expand on what I mentioned earlier re our 2021 Nissan Leaf. We’ve now had the car for 26 months, even though I have a 220 outlet (fast charge) in my garage I use the 110 option which adds to the battery life. our car is the Leaf S
which has a range of 160 miles. We get a bit more tho not sure why. Any trips that are local or to destinations of 60 miles one way we use the Leaf, we’ve also taken it 100+ miles and charged it at our destination.
My wife is a meticulous record keeper and she estimates a very small ($15/month or less) increase in our energy bill. We’re at just over 12,000 miles and have had no mechanical problems to this point. Fit and finish of the car is really top notch. The car is spacious, comfortable, responsive, easy to park and so on. No problems with hills or mountains….really a joy to drive.
At some point it will be traded for a car with a longer range. We did a 300 mile or so trip but I was a bit stressed re charging. Ended up no problems at all.

We ended up with the Leaf as mentioned because my wife wanted an EV. Nissan was running a $99/month 24 month lease with $1000 down. The residual was ~$19,000. Figured we’d give it a try and bought the vehicle at the end of a the lease. Glad we did.

IMO, for a daily driver or second vehicle, there’s no downside to an EV.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

It is absolutely mind-boggling the number of people here in Waukee that have massive trucks to run and get groceries with.

It's not just Waukee

 

[BryceC]

But this is also assuming the only reason to buy an electric car is for environmental reasons. I'd argue that the geo-political advantages of reducing our dependence on oil far outweighs the climate impact in the short term.

There is a myriad of reasons to buy them. I agree until we have a power grid that doesn't rely on fossil fuels it doesn't make perfect sense from an environmental standpoint. For me it would be a financial choice combined with a foreign dependence on energy resources.

 

[BryceC]

Purely anecdotal evidence -

I was thinking the same thing. Talked to the local Ford dealer here. They've sold 4 so far. Three have been returned to them asking for a refund. Sounds like they have some work to do.

What were the reasons given for the return?

 

[Bigman38]

It's less the aggregate time, but yeah, it's not that uncommon for me to travel 300+ miles one way in a 3-4 day window. I don't take long vacations, and given that I live 2 hours from a major airport, I rarely fly inside of 12-13 hours.

When I'm making those kind of drives, I'm banking on making the best time possible. Stopping for 45 minutes to charge, when I can fuel up and piss in about 5 minutes currently is a big deal when your free time is limited.

Yeah, that's the confusing part for me. Free time is important to me too, but that's why I'd take the option that costs less of it. Maybe we just live very different lives? Personally the time saved at gas stations in my normal schedule would dwarf the 20 mins I save every 300-600 miles road trip I take.

 

[surly]

I doubt they stop for 45 minutes. I wouldn't stop for 45 minutes on a 650 mile drive.

We stop at Minerva's in Sioux City for lunch, maybe 45-minutes. But is there a charging station outside, nope.

 

[JP4CY]

We stop at Minerva's in Sioux City for lunch, maybe 45-minutes. But is there a charging station outside, nope.

I feel like some HyVees have them, maybe that one will in due time.

 

[dmclone]

I wonder how many hours of my life have been wasted sitting at dealerships waiting for an oil change? Maybe 8 hours/year? I guess my tires would still need to be rotated.

 

[BCClone]

I wonder how many hours of my life have been wasted sitting at dealerships waiting for an oil change? Maybe 8 hours/year? I guess my tires would still need to be rotated.

Have them pick it up, it saves time.

 

[dmclone]

Have them pick it up, it saves time.

I'm not a fan of other people cruising around in my vehicle.