Thread to talk about EVs

Tracy - There's a Rav4EV on ebay that closes at 7pm Pacific time.

click

I'll take my guess right here... $41k.

 

I was wrong. Already over $42k with 22 minutes remaining. Now I'm starting to think it'll go for $48k.

 

Pretty close! $45k. Not bad for a car with dents in the side, a crack in the $1200 heated windshield, and that cost the seller about $30k three years and 32k miles ago! What other car gives you that kind of return on your investment? How long will it take to repay the "EV" premium in saved gas? Negative 27 years or so?

 

Hey Darell,

When the range per charge up of an EV is stated does that take into account the regenerative braking? I'm just curious.

 

Unless you're about 80 or terminally ill I wouldn't bet on that.

 

Err... I think we missed the point here. I can drive an EV without using gas, for three years, and then sell it for a $20k PROFIT. The funny part is that I would have to go back in time, to join up with the day I broke even. That was NEGATIVE 27 years, not positive! OK, but anyway...

 

Tripp... this is just like comparing mileage of the Prius. We all drive differently and some can take more advantage of regen than others. Pure freeway trips gain you nothing in regen if you never have to slow down. That said, when somebody says they have X range, they mean that's how far they can go, including regen. On a good day, regen can extend your range by 10% or so. If it is all around-town driving, then you can extend it about 20%.

 

I can certainly offer my assistance. Don't know if it'll help or not.

The best Ranger and the best Chevy are about equal: 80 miles range.

If you want your 5,500 pound vehicle to weigh 7,500 pounds, and had lots of extra money, you could certainly do that. Well, not really. You wouldn't have the payload capacity for a second full pack.

 

Depends on the truck. There were two versions of each truck. Ones with less range, and ones with more. Comparing like to like, they both did about the same.

Welcome to my life. We're the ugly step children of auto ownership. Finding service outside of CA would be difficult at best.

I'm asked this all the time, though it is usually phrased as, "I don't want a batter car. What happens when I run out of charge?!" Well, the answer is simple - you do the same damn thing you do when you run out of gas. Call roadside assistance. Yes, it can be easier to dump a gallon of gas into a regular car, but here's the kicker. Listen close now.... you don't just suddenly run out of battery charge like you run out of gas. When you're out of gas, you're out of gas. No matter how hard you try, you won't move that car any more. But in a battery car, you know (or can know, if you care) EXACTLY how much charge you have left (none of this stupid blinking bar crap) - you know to a 10th of a percentage how much charge you have. And if that's not enough... when you get to zero, you can keep going, as long as you do it gently. And if you come to a complete stop, you can turn the thing off and let the batteries rest a couple of minutes, and have a few more miles of range. I have self-rescued my own butt in this fashion. I ran to the end of my charge. I stopped, restarted and drove the three miles home. Running out of charge is not something I fear, just like I don't fear running out of gas. In 600,000 miles of driving, I haven't really run out of either.

 

I didn't even look at the auction, but I can guess what they mean.... as the pack wears and ages, the range falls off, yes. New, the lead cars had 50 mile range, and the NiMH had 80. That slowly changes. The lead cars are the worst. Welcome to "quality is job #1." My Rav, on the other hand, has shown no signs of decreased range, and it is the same for every driver out there. We have private cars with 85k miles on them now, and no decrease in range.

 

where have you been Tracy? how is your Prius?