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Anyone bought an electric car?

W

WinOrLose

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I have been toying with the idea for some time but with change in tax rules next year its looking even more attractive.

Welcome thoughts from anyone who has taken the plunge.
 
I have not purchased one but my company has a Tesla X that we each get some time with each year. Quite a nice rig and with around 400km range I feel pretty good driving. My uncle had a Nisan leaf a couple of generations ago. He lives in a town 150km away from where I am and with that model he was not able to reliably visit without recharging along the way. He now has a Tesla model 3.

I have a coworker with a new leaf now. I'll have to ask him about range and quality.
 
I just retired and without a commute I was thinking about getting an electric car.
A friend of mine has a Honda Clarity all electric and he is very happy.
Still, with range issues, even at 300 miles, and "refuel" times at various charging stations it doesn't seem practical for long distance travel.
For me we would use my wife's car to, say, travel out of state.
I guess you could rent a car also for the occasional long distance travel.
For local travel you can't beat the 100+ eMPG's of an electric though.

And Tesla, what a blast driving one. The S with the high end battery does 0 to 60 in about 3 seconds and is an unbelievable rush but you have to layout out 75K to 100K plus dollars.
If you have that kind of money that's the way I would go.
And Cat, even the "low end" 3 series that they starts at $35K with a battery upgrade and an option you're back up to 50-60K no?

BMW has an interesting eCar too.
 
We currently have a Landrover Discovery so need a bit of room to lug all our (read wife and daughters) cr*p around.

Had a look at an iPace but it felt very cramped.
Quite liked the eTron but reports are that the range isnt that great - 200 miles.
The model S seems to have a balance of everything, range, space etc.
The model X is bigger but the gull wing doors means no roof rack.

My daily commute is less than 20 miles round trip and we probably do a 200 mile single way trip 3 or 4 times per year.
 
I didn't think about the roof rack. Good point. Yeah the Teslas are expensive even the model 3 but yes they are a blast too. That acceleration is wild.

Your trip ranges seem pretty ideal. About five years ago some did the math on if electronic cars were actually effective at reducing your carbon footprint. It turns out that in places with large reliance on coal fired generation they were a net negative. At the time if you lived in Alberta your electronic car would generate more CO2 than gas and it you lived in Quebec they would reduce your footprint the most. At the time Alberta still had a very large number of coal fired plants and Quebec still has the largest percentage of electrical energy generated from hydro. I would be interested in your durisdiction and if anyone has done recent calculations for your area.
 
In the Netherlands, due to tax cuts, it was very popular to drive a hybrid. The range on the electric engine is usually enough to get around town and for the longer distances you have your built-in petrol or diesel engine.

Still, I don't think the electric cars will cut it the way they are right now. It wilI take too long to recharge the battery. I expect hydrogen to power cars is the future.
 
Good point on the energy production carbon. Though as time goes on and production becomes more "green" then it will only get better.

I could charge on the drive/garage or office so don't have any concerns for 95% of journeys. On the odd occasion we go farther afield you just need to plan a coffee/charging stop.
 
Just as an aside, I was looking some stuff up when I came across an article on the future of self driving cars.
https://www.automobilemag.com/news/driverless-autonomous-cars-timeline/

Here's a thought from:
Lawrence D. Burns, Ph.D., former chief of R&D at General Motors, and a prime consultant on Google’s self-driving-car project (now dubbed Waymo, for “a new way forward in mobility”) since 2011.

“Imagine, I have my own autonomous vehicle,” says Burns from his home in bucolic Franklin, Michigan. “I ride to my office in Detroit, where my vehicle drops me off at the door. It’s then intelligent enough to go find a place to stage—I call it staging, not parking. Maybe while there it’s re-energizing its batteries, or getting some maintenance, or being cleaned. During the day I can even dispatch it to get my kids at school and take them to soccer practice. Then, at the end of the day, my vehicle stops by a Chinese restaurant, picks up my takeout order, then picks me up at my office door and drives me home. Actually, getting the takeout brings up one of the best potential time-savers when using an AV: It’s not that you don’t have to pay attention when driving; it’s that you don’t have to take the trip at all.”
 
Now they can make their deliveries by themselves :)

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Gunner said:
I know what you mean Ted.

They say automation is eliminating the jobs of many here in the U.S.
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/automation-could-kill-73-million-us-jobs-2030

It may not be soon and it may not be all of them but truck drivers are in the sights of automation.
Click to expand...
Which just goes to show you the power of the railroad unions. A train is on a captive, closed system and you would think that would be the first transport system that could be automated, but alas, trucks are looking to be automated. What would the Bandit and Snowman say? Petal to the metal good buddy!
 
I agree with you 100% Ted.
I retired a couple of months ago now and I feel very fortunate to have made it.
For me it wasn't automation that was the threat but outscourcing.

Although if we could find some kind of free automation that would take care of my lawn and flower beds I'd be all for it. ;)
 
Just ordered a Tesla Model 3 for Mrs T as a dip into the electric car world. Anyone else have one?
 
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