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Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:00 am
by Monzsta
PackardV8 wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 8:48 pm
gmrocket wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 8:21 pm Holy cow... I heard some people who buy them are a little off the wall.
From the other perspective, how off-the-wall are those who spend their life dreaming and scheming to get a few more horsepower out of an obsolete design sixty-five-year-old Chevrolet V8? I know guys still living in parent's basements to save money to build one. Can't count the divorces I've seen over the years, "You love workin' on them damn motors more than you love me. I'm outta here."
Ssshhh! You're going to ruin our easy out! :P

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:12 am
by Monzsta
gmrocket wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 3:46 pm
PackardV8 wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 5:03 pm
Chris_Hamilton wrote: Sun Aug 02, 2020 4:30 pm Pure EV vehicles still only have limited range, especially in real world driving and the time required to recharge them makes taking any sort of long trip in one, untenable to me. Not to mention the lack of true infrastructure for re-charging. Many of you may disagree but they are still a Eco Pipedream IMO.
Chris, what may be untenable to you is just you; that BEVs are not long trip cars is a straw-man argument. The typical US driver goes 29.2 miles a day. Currently available BEVs are perfectly suited to 99.9% of US daily driving. Only .1% of US POV daily driving exceeds the 250-mile range of the Bolt and Tesla.

For the few trips a year longer than 250 miles per day, rent an ICE.
Ooooh, 29.2 mile per day,, that’s just awesome 😂

Be honest, is it your only vehicle or could it be?

I do that 29.2 before 10am...and I drive a hybrid.

They are for city short commutes only, if you want to run the a/c or heat to be comfortable...cut that 29.2 down when stuck in traffic..

They are very very rarely your only vehicle...so, now you have two vehicles polluting the landscape...

If you live in the inner city, do a specific route each day, less the than the vehicles max range..and it’s not hilly , or really hot, or really cold, or you don’t need to pick up a piece of wood, or a few passengers, or go off your course because you descided to do something crazy like..visit a friend out of the 29.2 range...

They are PERFECT 👌
I have a 36 mile commute. With my Volt I can make it in on battery if I drive it easy. They let me charge at work, so it's a free ride home. The 1st gen Volt typically will go 40-50 miles on the battery, depending on the driver. Driving like a nut and going 80+? I can wipe the battery out in 25 miles. Pittering along on 45-50 mph roads? Easy 50+ miles. I go months between fill ups at times.

The Volt's advantage is it's not game over when the battery runs out. It just turns on the engine and runs in series hybrid mode, a bit like a locomotive. In gas mode I get around 40 mpg at the speed limits. I pulled off a 2 day dash from NC to NM really pushing it and averaged 34 mpg. My speeds were well over 80 most of the time. There are people who own Volts that never plug them in, but you're not using the car's full potential that way.

The Malibu hybrids use the gen 2 Volt powertrain, (smaller hybrid only battery) but beat out both gen Volts with 57+ mpg, in a larger sedan.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:03 pm
by 54chevkiwi
I have a 2007 prius ... im 37, a journeyman cnc machinist in a modern mazak shop and STILL not paid enough to afford the gas bill of a car that runs on gas full time.....nor enough to afford a new car note lol

Costs me about $15 a week to run to work and back, 20 miles each way, 4 days a week on a 4-10s schedule.

Absolutely notice a difference in the GFs gas car..
Theres definately a tecnique to driving a prius and keeping your foot out of it, or that gas bill sky rockets with no power to go with it!

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:54 pm
by Belgian1979
Electric cars are nothing more than a piece of shit, a dumb idea.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 3:38 am
by gruntguru
A soundly reasoned case. Well put sir!

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 1:33 pm
by Belgian1979
Thank you.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:32 pm
by gruntguru
You're welcome!

I am sure all here are equally convinced by the facts you have quoted and the sound logic used to reach your conclusion.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 3:37 am
by Geoff2
Heard on the news here [ Australia ] recently that Calif wants ALL cars to be electric by 2035. Do you guys think this will happen?

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2020 2:47 pm
by Belgian1979
gruntguru wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:32 pm You're welcome!

I am sure all here are equally convinced by the facts you have quoted and the sound logic used to reach your conclusion.
I'm sure.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:25 pm
by 54chevkiwi
Geoff2 wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2020 3:37 am Heard on the news here [ Australia ] recently that Calif wants ALL cars to be electric by 2035. Do you guys think this will happen?
I havnt read anything about it, so i could be wrong, but i mean.. trying to use my rational thinking skills here, this is my opinion.

My opinion On this, is that, they wont just one day say “alright america! no more driving fossil fuel vehicles! We’re forcing you to all buy electric!” Cant happen, wont happen, peoples circumstances wont allow it.. poorer people who still rely on their banger to get to work and cant buy a new car.. just cant, and wont.

I think itll happen, but it wont change anything for us hotrodders, not for a while. Our classic cars are only a tiny tiny portion of emissions. Yes they have no cats etc, but theyre also kept in a better state of tune, better maintained and theres not nearly enough around to be driven on sundays to make an impact on the environment.

I think itll just mean that by 2035, youll only be able to buy non fossil fuel cars off the lot brand new.. so, you can still drive your gas guzzling daily, itll just lead to parts to fix gas guzzlers slowly drying up, getting more expensive, till it gets to a point itll be so expensive to fix it, you haveto buy a new car and your only choice will be electric.
Likely itll drive the gasoline used car market up though, eventually, not enough people will have money to martyr themselves and still fork out for a gas car on principle at that point. everyone wouldve adjusted by then. I also imagine another cash for clunkers type incentive scheme to help get some people into electric cars. Upto each person at the time if they decide to.

Im 37, a millenial, and all for diversifying energy, heres my opinion on why.
If we continue to use fossil fuels, we wont have another option, then opec will have us completely by the balls and theyll be able to charge and do whatever they like. If we have diversified into another form of fuel, then theyll realise they haveto keep prices down in order to stay competetive. On that note, you then have an electric vehicle you can use to get to work and grocery shop etc, which just keeps more money in your pocket from lower running costs, to keep putting fuel in your hotrod. Even if the gas prices do go up to a point they haveto still make money on the fewer people using it, having an electric vehicle to offset that means youll be able to afford sunday drives more. The alternative is their greed and putting the prices up anyway, so then you have a gas guzzling daily you can barely afford to run to work letalone your hotrod. And no other option but to bend over and take it. This scenario frightens me the most.

In short, will it happen..? More than likely. Am i panicing about it..? Nope. Pancing only affects my life enjoyment RIGHT NOW, ill cross that bridge when that time comes.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:47 pm
by af2
I have read all the quotes and such. But having a company that uses electric cars will not use them when testing my duct systems in the mountains. They ran out of gas/electricity on the first job... Took 2 hours to get back shutting down and re start on a 40 Minuet drive with a gas guzzler.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 2:20 pm
by PackardV8
af2 wrote: Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:47 pm I have read all the quotes and such. But having a company that uses electric cars will not use them when testing my duct systems in the mountains. They ran out of gas/electricity on the first job... Took 2 hours to get back shutting down and re start on a 40 Minuet drive with a gas guzzler.
And that proves what?

Four years ago, we bought our Chevrolet Bolt EV; about the same time, a friend bought his wife a new Mercedes-Benz. He wanted an EV but the wife was, "afraid it would run out of juice and strand me in the middle of nowhere." Last week, we got a call asking if we could come pick her up. The M-B had suffered some yet-to-be-diagnosed failure in the middle of nowhere. The Bolt in which we went to get her has never been back to the dealership and has needed zero service in four years. But this is one anecdote and does not prove M-Bs are not reliable daily drivers.

Bottom line - there's nowhere an ICE can go in forty minutes that the Bolt wouldn't easily go there and back with plenty of range remaining. That your example company chose the wrong car for their needs or didn't keep it properly charged is their failure; nothing to do with today's EV capabilities.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 6:39 am
by Chris_Hamilton
Perhaps one of you EV experts can answer this. And please understand that I'm asking these questions without an agenda. I don't like the idea of EV's replacing ICE's but I can see where they would be useful in certain situations.

One thing I don't see being talked about is the Grid. :?: Specifically what is going to happen to the grid when more people buy EV's. California can't produce enough electricity at times as it is. What happens when EV reach a 25-50% market share? Where is all that power going to come from? There will have to be an expensive and very extensive grid overhaul across the Nation as most residential areas are not capable of handling the load that eventually will come when say 1 out of 2 households has an EV and plugs them in at night.

Seems to me that it;s easy to say now that we will just increase capacity and improve the grid. Where is that money going to come from? What about the F.E.T.?

Doesn't seem like even a 1:1 trade to me. :(

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 12:10 pm
by PackardV8
Hi, Chris,

There's enough grid capacity, if it's used evenly across 24-hours. Many high-demand AC areas, such as Phoenix-Scottsdale, have for many years had very high Time-of-Use charges for the noon-8 PM. The cost of afternoon/early evening use of AC is high enough that average folk time not only their AC use, but even their laundry and baking for off-peak hours. Backyard clotheslines were at one time extinct in suburbia, but they're making a comeback in areas with TOU charges. The same will happen with EV charging. The TOU charges will be such owners will program their car to take charge after midnight.

Re: Who here actually drives an EV/HYBRID?

Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:00 pm
by gruntguru
The other factor is time.

The additional capacity required will phase-in over many decades. There are many other factors of similar magnitude that are also changing grid demand. Things like population growth, conversion to renewable electricity generation, consumption efficiency (LED lights, smart control systems etc etc)