- Mar 27, 2006
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When do you think you will buy a 100% pure electric vehicle?
- Thread starter dmclone
- Start date
The reason I was concerned is my brother has a hybrid truck and the battery is failing. He had to disable something to bypass the hybrid system to keep it running.
Do they just replace individual cells instead of a whole battery?
I don't want to buy a used EV and later end up with a gigantic paper weight after 4 years.
If you find yourself in Minneapolis soon, their dealership (Motorwerks) blows DSM out of the water on inventory.
DSM has great people and salesmen just not enough inventory.
If you are willing to have a smaller mid size SUV, I would do Tesla Model Y for charging network and technology. You could even get the 7 seater if need some flexibility. Third row is pretty small, but works for kids. Used ones are around 25-30k. New one is 40k after EV tax credit.
Other options could be used VW ID4 similar pricing as Model Y. If looking for van, you could wait a couples years for used VW ID buzz that just came out, as can only find new now.
Battery replacement is unlikely. Lots of studies show current ev batteries will outlast the car 200k+ miles. Tesla has service center in Urbandale, but other car makers have dealers that ev certified.
For charging, home charging is 4x cheaper than charging at charging station. To give some data battery is 80 kWh, and will go 300 miles (Tesla Model Y stats but others similar). My home charging cost is $0.10 per kWH so costs $8 to go 300 miles. Charging stations typically cost around $0.40 per kWH so would cost $32. Gas to go 300 miles on 30 mpg car at $3/gallon would be $30, so charging stations are usually same price as gas. Home charging is best part of owning EV, you wake up with full tank every day. You could use regular outlet if have short commute otherwise could install dryer outlet for cheaper home charging (Nema 14-50) option or hardwire a charger.
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- Mar 27, 2006
- 42,752
- 33,772
- 113
Yeah, the staff in Des Moines is fantastic. My wife had just an incredible experience with her last vehicle, there. I probably wouldn't have considered BMW if I hadn't seen how good that dealership was, firsthand.
Nope home charging is actually a lot better for battery, then fast charging from charging station.
No. Most manufacturers recommend setting the charging limit to something like 80%. One downside to buying a used EV is you don't know how it was treated, similar to how you don't know if someone constantly redlined your ICE vehicle.
good to know. I'm more worried about frequency of charging. I thought that you were only supposed to charge 1-2x per week at home to prolong battery life. Maybe that doesn't matter.
Not sure where you heard this, but yeah, that doesn’t really make any sense for regular use. I suppose if you’re only driving a few miles every day, you could skip charging every day at home; but that’s just a case of using it less, therefore it lasts longer. There isn’t anything inherently harmful regarding charging at home.
I’m driving about 200-250 miles a week and a level one charger at home has been fine (my L2 install is on the tricky side and just not worth it yet). My phev had already trained my mind to remember charging though, if I forgot all the time I’d probably wish to have level 2.
There’s a park where I dog walk daily with free level 2 and if I can get that twice a week I don’t have to plug in at home at all.
Unless someone is a 70+ mile a day driver or we’re talking about a huge ev truck battery I think home charging speed may be the most overblown concern.
Last night at 8:30 I was at 70% and plugged in, probably at 86% now (timed for cheap rate). I’d need to forget 3-4 nights in a row for it to be an issue and even then I could go pay at neighborhood fast charger in a pinch if I was somehow below 20%. This is only with level one regular 110v wall socket, if I had level 2 this would be even less of a concern.
Motorwerks is also sketchy as f**k. Have had some of the worst experiences of my life as a car owner dealing with them. Agree inventory is great, though.
Whether to charge daily and charge fully (versus 80%) depends on the model of car and battery you have. Dealership and manufacturer will be able to provide details.
Agree with HFCS points about charging concerns being overblown. Totally depends on your driving habits.
Wife takes our Tesla to work each day and we run errands with kids after work. Maybe 25-30 miles a day. Charging through regular outlet has been totally fine (we just hit one year anniversary). Glad I saved money not updating electricity situation in my garage for faster charging. Would have been a total waste of money.
That said, if you drive much longer distances each way it’s more of a concern.
Like most thinfs, depends on your specific needs and habits.
Agree with HFCS points about charging concerns being overblown. Totally depends on your driving habits.
Wife takes our Tesla to work each day and we run errands with kids after work. Maybe 25-30 miles a day. Charging through regular outlet has been totally fine (we just hit one year anniversary). Glad I saved money not updating electricity situation in my garage for faster charging. Would have been a total waste of money.
That said, if you drive much longer distances each way it’s more of a concern.
Like most thinfs, depends on your specific needs and habits.
I just had a 14-50 outlet installed and use the mobile charger, it works great and was $250 total.
Batteries have a federally mandated warranty of 7 years or 100k miles. Unless you're talking about one of the Chevy's that haven't been produced in over a decade your brother is probably getting his battery replaced free of charge.
This is what we had but was about $600 after removing finished drywall and drilling through to get into the utility room from the basement.
There's a tax credit for that too. It isn't much but it's something.
