Featured I'm A Gas Car Fan. Here's Why I Love My First EV

The biggest pain I had was from grinning too much ... and return of the smug:


Bob Wilson

 

I hate gas cars, that’s why I love my bolt.
Even the engine in the hycam makes my teeth rattle now.
And Mrs B has fallen in love with the bolt, I think our days of hybrid ownership are coming to an end

 

Better ½ is in a rental Toyota hybrid minivan right now. I have to remind her to "please open" the garage door before turning it on so we don't fill the garage full of nasty fumes. Same with coming back into the garage. Often she'll sit there & yammer on the phone for 5 minutes before turning the car off - so .... "can you please leave the garage open until you turn the thing off?" sigh ... mize well be talking to myself.

yea ... not a fan of zero EV mile vehicles
.

 

just a litlle thing like wanting to move the car out of the garage, but worrying that the ice is going to start

 

From the article:

Ah, so his favorite feature is provoking road rage in others. Got it.

What an antisocial jerk.

 

Actually running away from road rage and coal rollers.

Bob Wilson

 

I don't care if he's running towards one thing or away from another.

Knowing that his favorite feature is something that enables the opposite of defensive driving is damning enough.

 

it's inside evs, take it with a heap of salt

 

Faster breaking or acceleration is not in and of itself dangerous. It's how the driver uses or abuses it. It can be just as much considered a safety feature as a point of danger.

 

...which is why I called out the writer, not the car he was in.

 

yeah, there's way too many of those whack jobs on the highway, leaving a trail of death and destruction...

 

If I had to worry, maybe give more priority to all the inattentive drivers - rather than the ability to start/stop a car fast. We almost blew through a stop sign out in the middle of nowhere late at night crossing farmland all around. Too busy watching for dear farther out - & the next thing you know - the better ½ loudly says "stop sign!".

 

'Tis certainly the season for dead deer by the side of the road. Must have seen two dozen on a 100 mile Interstate speeds trip this morning.

But for every dead deer, there were dozens doing 15 over. Not one was an EV. Most were vanity trucks driven by invincibles. (Vanity truck = one obviously never used for work).

 

Once again: I don't care whether the car gives you the ability to drag race or fly through the air.

It's that the article author put it in writing that his favorite thing about that car is abusing that ability.

And you know what? Even that isn't the end of the world, but it's a great reason for him to stay quiet about it rather than writing public blogs.

 

Near as I can tell, he makes a living writing articles, that is his bread and butter. Leasing a new EV was a great story line and the article was well written. I had a similar experience, though not abrupt, in 2016 with my first, a PHEV. Yet I bought a Prius Prime only to learn that not all PHEVs are great. So I traded the 2017 Prius Prime in for a 2019 Model 3 and never looked back ... with one exception.

My first PHEV, a 2014 BMW i3-REx, left with an ex-wife. So later, I added a 2017 BMW i3-REx because it is such a good City car with enough EV range for the vast majority of my driving. I still have and enjoy my aging Tesla which is a superior but larger, cross country car. Especially Full Self Driving that I find delightful but best used on predictable, longer trips. But I sense of trend of the author, Mack Hogan, confirmed by his self description:

Mack Hogan is the Deputy Editor of InsideEVs. He started reviewing cars for CNBC in college, interned at Jalopnik, and then spent four years at Road & Track. He believes horsepower is overrated and vehicles should be built to last.​

But to make a living, he accepted employment with INSIDE EV and can afford to live in San Diego. As he writes:

... became the reviews editor at Road & Track. But when I got the call to work at InsideEVs, I knew it was time to take a step into the future.​

He made a logical and profitable choice and that bodes a trend those working with and in the car world should listen to.

Bob Wilson

 

or, he's living in his blazer making minimum wage

 

This is what erks me when reviewers describe a car as "fun." It's always about the acceleration or how it handles when going fast around corners. I hate being pushed back into my seat or going around a corner fast. If someone I ride with drives like that I ask them to pull over and let me out.

I'm not against EV's and will definitely consider one for my next car. But there aren't any that seem fun to me. To be fair there aren't many modern ICE cars I consider fun either. My plan is to drive my current car as long as I can. I was getting a little excited about perhaps saving up and buying a Mini Cooper in a couple years until I found out they no longer make Minis with manual transmissions.

 

If you like acceleration, they’re a blast!
Handling depends on the vehicle.
If you like vroom vroom, you’re in the wrong game.
Before buying a bev, there are many new things to consider.
Fossil fuel cars are familiar, an easy choice for most.
As I see it, there are only three reasons to buy a bev:
Environmental
Cost of ownership
Ease of fueling

and they don’t work for everyone.
Personally, I love how quiet they are, and not having to mess with engines, cat theft and etc, but many people love that stuff

 

Ya, everyone's likes and dislikes are going to be different. And that's fine. I do feel, though, that I'm the only person in the world (or at least the USA) that likes small, "underpowered," stick-shift cars in bright colors. One with big round nostalgic headlights and and a minimalist interior.

As far as needs go, that's a different story. If it gets me any my wife and our stuff from point A to point B, then it fulfills our needs. It doesn't matter if it's a car, truck, SUV or public transportation system.

Cost and environment are important factors. The Nissan Leaf lease deals here in Colorado were tempting. But as long as the range and infrastructure don't seem to be enough for a Leaf for the mountains where I live, I don't see the point in getting one. It's cheaper to just keep driving what I got and only pay liability.