Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

Just curious

I own three 4 cylinder vehicles. Age 10, 14 and 18 years. Gives you some idea of how much money I budget for motoring. Any new car would be a major outlay and not a sensible purchase for me. An EV would be an even greater outlay plus a huge depreciation risk IMO due to technology and pricing improving rapidly in the EV space.

Here in Australia, there are no Government subsidies for EVs, very little charging infrastructure and electricity prices among the highest in the world. For examples there are two Model 3 variants available. Off the top of my head they are priced at A$66k and $85K. (A new Mazda 3 starts at $20k)

Consequently the uptake of EV's in Australia is one of the lowest in the developed world.

Don’t own any personally, I have tdi VW’s for fuel getters. I do however have several that come to me for service, mostly prius with a civic or two thrown in as well as a fusion hybrid. The tech is interesting but they’re kinda alien feeling to drive, reminds of a golf cart in elec mode. They have their merits but most don’t really seem to be that great on fuel compared to my wife’s 04 vw that has 400k miles on it. She averages 56-60 mpg the Prius etc in the real world only seem to be in the high 40’s.

We own a Chevrolet Bolt for daily local errands. It is so much better than an ICE/hybrid in every possible measure, other than long road trips. The unobtrusive little sucker is just a hoot to drive. The instantaneous torque makes it seem quicker than most ICEs and one-pedal driving is the future.

Most here build ICEs and know cold starts are the major wear point. For local short trips, especially in the cold six months up here, it is so much more rational to hit the warm-up button while the BEV is plugged into the grid, get in a warm car with heated seats and steering wheel, knowing the one-mile trip isn't wearing out an ICE while it's running cold.

Conversely, on a 100-degree day, making a quick in-and-out stop, it's possible to leave the AC on, lock the door and walk away from a silent car. Upon return, the car is cool and away we go.

Having said how much we love our Bolt, the fuel-savings math would never cost-justify it, since we had two paid-for ICEs in the garage. Finally, we just decided we wanted a BEV and bought it anyway.

I have a customer with a volt for a company car, he loves it. He says the same about the cold weather, instant heat. I think he had to turn it in later this year and he’s a bit curious as to what he’ll get to replace it.

2014 sonata Hybrid, no complaint, ver good fuel mileage and quiet ride.

My wife has a BMW i3. It is pure joy to drive.

https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/bmwi/i3 ... rview.html

miniv8 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 5:34 pm My wife has a BMW i3. It is pure joy to drive.

https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/bmwi/i3 ... rview.html

X2 - our son and daughter-in-law have three BMWs, but they fight over who gets the i3. They like it so much, they're having to buy new tires and will most likely have to pay the substantial penalty for running past 30,000 miles on the lease.

We also love driving their i3. A lease-return 2-3-year-old i3 would have been the best bang-for-the-buck and we almost chose one instead of the Bolt.

After hearing about how fast the Tesla 3 is on an autocross course, I'm seriously thinking about one.

Those buggers will put down nearly 500hp to the wheels, and they can apparently handle, too.

Yeah they are expensive, but in the context of available performance, they're a bargain.

More info... $55k car. $55k will buy you an off lease Audi RS3, or a late model Corvette Z06... both of which are slower cars than a Model 3.

11s in the quarter. I don't care if it's running on electricity, gasoline, diesel, or unicorn farts, that's impressive for a four door sedan.

miniv8 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 5:34 pm My wife has a BMW i3. It is pure joy to drive.

https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/bmwi/i3 ... rview.html

I read through some of the specs. It says it gets 26 miles per every one hour of charging?

That's what they refer to as FAST charging

gmrocket wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:04 am

miniv8 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 5:34 pm My wife has a BMW i3. It is pure joy to drive.

https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/bmwi/i3 ... rview.html

I read through some of the specs. It says it gets 26 miles per every one hour of charging?

That's what they refer to as FAST charging

And? You don't need to go to a specific PLACE to charge like you do with a gasoline engine. You can do it at home. Most people spend at least eight hours a day at home sleeping or something, they can charge then.

EVs take a shift in thinking... you recharge when you can. But at the same time, you don't have to be there while it is happening. So you don't drive for 200 miles and then find a place that sells gasoline, you drive 50 miles to work and back and plug the car in after you shut the garage door.

The biggest problem for EVs for me is that I have on street parking. But, I might be able to convince the boss to let me plug in at work. I'm there every day anyway.

The Volt combines the best of both worlds, but I have blood pumping through my veins, I want SPEED, and you need a Tesla for that. (Hmm... the accountant we share a building with owns a Volt and a highly modified New Beetle, I should ask him for a compare and contrast...)

peejay wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:07 am

gmrocket wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:04 am

miniv8 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2019 5:34 pm My wife has a BMW i3. It is pure joy to drive.

https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/bmwi/i3 ... rview.html

I read through some of the specs. It says it gets 26 miles per every one hour of charging?

That's what they refer to as FAST charging

And? You don't need to go to a specific PLACE to charge like you do with a gasoline engine. You can do it at home. Most people spend at least eight hours a day at home sleeping or something, they can charge then.

EVs take a shift in thinking... you recharge when you can. But at the same time, you don't have to be there while it is happening. So you don't drive for 200 miles and then find a place that sells gasoline, you drive 50 miles to work and back and plug the car in after you shut the garage door.

The biggest problem for EVs for me is that I have on street parking. But, I might be able to convince the boss to let me plug in at work. I'm there every day anyway.

The Volt combines the best of both worlds, but I have blood pumping through my veins, I want SPEED, and you need a Tesla for that. (Hmm... the accountant we share a building with owns a Volt and a highly modified New Beetle, I should ask him for a compare and contrast...)

So you don't need to go to a specific place to plug in an EV? It doesn't have special socket ?

When you say gas vehicle need to go to specific places , you mean a gas station ,right? Like the stations on every main intersection on every street?

I can also put gas in my own vehicle at anytime, anywhere, pull over to the side of the road, get out my gas can and dump it in. Hahahaha. Sooo inconvenient

And it won't take me an hour to put in enough gas to drive only 26 miles

That's 1890's technology Hahahaha

I think you have the "specific " backwards

I'm home every night, I'm at work every day. For daily driver stuff, I don't need more than 60-70 miles of range per day. This is in line with 90% of the populace.

I doubt internal combustion engines will ever go away, but for the way the majority of people drive, it's not a bad scenario. You just need to realign your thought process from "fill up at quarter tank" to "remember to plug it in when I get home". People already do this with phones and even some modern prosthetics (I heard they're way better than the simple jointed deal my below-knee amputee grandfather had in the 80s, but they need power...)

gmrocket wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 1:54 pm

peejay wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:07 am

gmrocket wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:04 am

I read through some of the specs. It says it gets 26 miles per every one hour of charging?

That's what they refer to as FAST charging

And? You don't need to go to a specific PLACE to charge like you do with a gasoline engine. You can do it at home. Most people spend at least eight hours a day at home sleeping or something, they can charge then.

EVs take a shift in thinking... you recharge when you can. But at the same time, you don't have to be there while it is happening. So you don't drive for 200 miles and then find a place that sells gasoline, you drive 50 miles to work and back and plug the car in after you shut the garage door.

The biggest problem for EVs for me is that I have on street parking. But, I might be able to convince the boss to let me plug in at work. I'm there every day anyway.

The Volt combines the best of both worlds, but I have blood pumping through my veins, I want SPEED, and you need a Tesla for that. (Hmm... the accountant we share a building with owns a Volt and a highly modified New Beetle, I should ask him for a compare and contrast...)

So you don't need to go to a specific place to plug in an EV? It doesn't have special socket ?

When you say gas vehicle need to go to specific places , you mean a gas station ,right? Like the stations on every main intersection on every street?

I can also put gas in my own vehicle at anytime, anywhere, pull over to the side of the road, get out my gas can and dump it in. Hahahaha. Sooo inconvenient

And it won't take me an hour to put in enough gas to drive only 26 miles

That's 1890's technology Hahahaha

I think you have the "specific " backwards

Yes there are obvious disadvantages regarding EV charging. What you are missing, is that there are advantages - especially if the vehicle is used for a daily commute.
1. If you are able to charge nightly (or at work) you can actually save the time spent pulling into a gas station, filling, paying etc.
2. If you charge nightly (or at work) you start out every day with a "full tank".

Of course there remains the option of fast charging at the ever expanding network of fast charging sites. And no, 26 miles/hr is not what you should expect. Way faster options already exist and this area is being improved rapidly. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a1534 ... ticipated/