Drove an Electric Car for the first time

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Yesterday I borrowed my brother's RAV hybrid/plugin to make a quick run (my car is in the shop). I tried to start it and I told my brother "it won't start". He poked his head in the window, looked at the dash and said, "it's running...see the image of electricity moving to the front of the car". I said, "oh, I was waiting to hear the sound of the engine or at least a bit of vibration in my seat...there was neither

Apparently, the motor only kicks on when the battery is mostly dead, then it kicks on by itself. So I took it out on the highway and the only noise was the sound of the tires on the road. I thought it would drive like a golf cart but was surprised it drove nearly identical to a gas engine driven vehicle. It didn't start stopping quick (like a golf cart) when I let up on the gas. Smooth as silk and the biggest surprise was when I stepped on it - threw my head back; instant acceleration the likes of my old souped up '69 440 GTX. Wow!

It only has about 60 miles of pure battery running the car so it's basically for short trips using the electric only. I only put 40 miles on it so I didn't get to see what it was like when it switched to gas power. My brother has a charger in his garage and charges the car at night when it's 1.5 cents an hour and it takes only a couple of hours to charge. He says he spends very little on gas and the only time he really bought gas was when he made a trip to North Carolina and back a month ago

Anyway, I've been very leery about electric cars and figured it would be a long time before I bought one. I have a completely different attitude now and my next car will preferably be a hybrid/plug in. Seems like it would pay for itself (or at least the additional cost) in gas savings alone

[MightyGiants]

Ric,

For at least the next 5 years, plugin hybrids make more sense than pure electrics.   The hybrid pretty much eliminates all the negatives of a pure electric vehicle while still giving you most of the advantages

[T200]

I'm with Rich. I'd get a hybrid over a fully electric vehicle. The charging technology and infrastructure isn't where I'd feel comfortable going on a long trip, which we do often.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I'm with Rich. I'd get a hybrid over a fully electric vehicle. The charging technology and infrastructure isn't where I'd feel comfortable going on a long trip, which we do often.

There's a difference between Hybrid and Plug-in/Hybrid. A straight Hybrid charges the battery as the car is running on gas, and it switches back and forth depending on the amount of electricity built up. A Plug-in/Hybrid allows you to charge the battery like a regular electric vehicle. But unlike a fully electric vehicle, it only has between 40 and 60 miles of range on a full charge. Great for short trips, not so much longer trips. The fully electric vehicles (I believe) has a range over 200 miles, but there is no gas backup. In essence, there are three types: Hybrid, Plug-in/Hybrid, Full EV

I'm no expert on this stuff. I learned a lot by my one and only test drive and asked a lot of questions

[T200]

There's a difference between Hybrid and Plug-in/Hybrid. A straight Hybrid charges the battery as the car is running on gas, and it switches back and forth depending on the amount of electricity built up. A Plug-in/Hybrid allows you to charge the battery like a regular electric vehicle. But unlike a fully electric vehicle, it only has between 40 and 60 miles of range on a full charge. Great for short trips, not so much longer trips. The fully electric vehicles (I believe) has a range over 200 miles, but there is no gas backup. In essence, there are three types: Hybrid, Plug-in/Hybrid, Full EV

I'm no expert on this stuff. I learned a lot by my one and only test drive and asked a lot of questions

Yes, that's correct. I do a lot of driving, probably close to 20K miles a year. I bought my Grand Cherokee in April of 2020 and I'm about 50 miles shy of 60K. I would get more benefit from a regular hybrid vs plug-in.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Yes, that's correct. I do a lot of driving, probably close to 20K miles a year. I bought my Grand Cherokee in April of 2020 and I'm about 50 miles shy of 60K. I would get more benefit from a regular hybrid vs plug-in.

Yep...I suppose it all depends on driving habits and the amount of driving one has to do. The plug-in is great if you make a lot of short trips, but once in a while you make longer trips. From all I have read and heard about, a pure hybrid gets about 5 - 10 miles a gallon better than straight gas

[T200]

Yep...I suppose it all depends on driving habits and the amount of driving one has to do. The plug-in is great if you make a lot of short trips, but once in a while you make longer trips. From all I have read and heard about, a pure hybrid gets about 5 - 10 miles a gallon better than straight gas

I do like the instantaneous power of a full EV. I had a Tesla Model S Plaid (1000+ HP) in my shop last year for a ceramic coating. The owner was a tiny Asian woman in her 60s. I asked her what she was going to do with all that power. She said, "My husband asked me the same thing. He says I drive like a turtle." 

[MightyGiants]

There's a difference between Hybrid and Plug-in/Hybrid. A straight Hybrid charges the battery as the car is running on gas, and it switches back and forth depending on the amount of electricity built up. A Plug-in/Hybrid allows you to charge the battery like a regular electric vehicle. But unlike a fully electric vehicle, it only has between 40 and 60 miles of range on a full charge. Great for short trips, not so much longer trips. The fully electric vehicles (I believe) has a range over 200 miles, but there is no gas backup. In essence, there are three types: Hybrid, Plug-in/Hybrid, Full EV

I'm no expert on this stuff. I learned a lot by my one and only test drive and asked a lot of questions

Ric,

That 40-60 miles would cover most, if not all, of many people's daily work commute.  My work commute is about 63 miles a day.  If I got the plugin, I would be only using gas for like 5 to 10 miles a day which would be a big saving (I just read today that gas prices are likely to rise now that China is opening back up).

I will add one correction to my previous post.  There is one thing a plugin hybrid would not solve.  That is the issue of the battery pack having a limited life span of 10 or so years. 

I will add one thing I didn't add before.  Even when a hybrid has to go gas, they still save fuel in city driving and stop and go highway as they will not waste fuel idling and they reclaim some of the energy lost to braking. 

[T200]

Google is watching me... popped up in my news feed 

https://jalopnik.com/driving-100-miles-in-an-ev-is-now-more-expensive-than-i-1850031874

[Jolly Blue Giant]

They are always watching, snooping, logging information, selling that info...etc. They have better dosiers on us than the FBI

[Ed Vette]

Tesla and Mercedes have EVs with a range of 400-600 miles. The infrastructure for hookups will increase exponentially in the next couple of years as the financial incentives are there now. Technology will get better every year and someday electricity will be generated by solar, turbine and renuable energy. Batteries will get smaller and more easily and cost effectively replaceable. I have a gas station going up in my town that will have solar energy powering the station and EV hookup. E-15 and E-85 and biofuels and it will be the first state-of-the-art station of it's kind in the state of NJ. The owner is working with several government agencies to get this done.

Someday soon, EVs will have a range of 1000 miles and every highway station, Mall and hotel will have recharging stations. The time to charge will grow less and less.

At some point, auto companies will stop offering leases for gas powered vehicles.

I think Rich's timeframe is very realistic.

Twenty years ago my bet would have been Hydrogen as it's not only clean, it can be used in existing internal combustion engines with a few minor modifications.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

I think hydrogen is coming. Big issue right now is it costs 16.00 a gallon of fuel

Hyundai Nexo is a pure hydrogen fueled car. It's only available in California and Canada. The Toyota Mirai is also powered by hydrogen, but I don't know where it's available. It cost over 50k for the time being

Hyundai gives $15,000 towards fuel over the first three years. The car itself costs over 60k, so the big drawback is it's an expensive alternative right now considering the cost of fuel. But that will change, just like everything else. I remember when a little microwave oven cost 1200.00 and a big screen TV (not flat screen) was several thousand. It takes time, but everything that cost a fortune to produce comes down with a thud. Hydrogen will get there. And it will be wonderful for the environment

https://www.hyundaiusa.com/us/en/vehicles/nexo
https://www.toyota.com/mirai/2023/

[Ed Vette]

My choice would still be hydrogen but I think that ship sailed. Too much of an investment in EV by the US AND China as well as all Auto Manufacturers.

[babywhales]

My choice would still be hydrogen but I think that ship sailed. Too much of an investment in EV by the US AND China as well as all Auto Manufacturers.

I have been watching the Toyota Mirai and am I excited to watch this develop

[Ed Vette]

I have been watching the Toyota Mirai and am I excited to watch this develop

You have hydrogen filling stations in your neck of the woods?