Featured EV dollars and cents

Words catching on.

These Are The Cheapest 2019 Cars And SUVs To Buy And Hold On To – Forbes

 

They mention having to flush the battery-cooling fluid every 100K miles (a rather “nothing” maintenance concern), and then go through this big exposé about replacing batteries.

Kinda bizarre juxtapositioning there, in that the EVs that have a liquid-cooling system hardly lose any range (e.g., ~10% for Tesla) over the entire lifespan of the car (way past the warranty period). The cars that don’t have a liquid cooling system (pretty much just you, Nissan!), on the other hand, lose ~25% over just the 8-year warranty period.

If it weren’t for Nissan optimizing for low selling price over battery-longevity, there would be no point in mentioning battery replacement or range degradation at all.

Our P.Primes are a kinda intermediate case, in that they have small, forced-air cooled batteries, meaning probably barely adequate...

 

not around here where electrons cost 24 cents/thousand. i drive ev because i like it, but gas would be cheaper

 

I drive EV for both reasons: thankfully considerably cheaper than gas here (about 40% cheaper charging from home, and about 2/3 cent per mile on Austin Energy’s Plug In EVerywhere program), and I also just prefer it for its improved responsiveness and quietness.

At work, if there’s a logjam at the “electron pumps,” I jokingly tell them, “if need be, I can drive home on gas, but you know, eeeeeww!”

 

So @bisco, what do you think about this?

Bob Wilson

 

With the fed's remaining GM $3,500 (best to plan ahead, so you'll owe $3,500 in tax) credit, plus the state $$$ ... one has to see if they can find a gently used car, that beats the brandly-brand new tax/incentive deals. Best to haggle - armed w/ that knowledge.

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Hybrids are a different boat. The batteries have larger reserve capacities because of the federal emission warranty, and if the pack does get too hot, the car has an engine to fall back on instead of overworking the battery. Manufacturers pushing the pack in those cases to maintain the EV experience becomes a question though.

The main down side of an air cooled pack in a PHEV is the extra space required for air channels. Then more robust battery chemistries can carry a higher cost. Ford's new, non-plug hybrids are using liquid cooling.

 

see? ... w/ the Prime you don't have to flush anything in the traction pack - because it's air-cooled.

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