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The Times They Are A-Charging

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Electric looks like the way of the future. I will miss the rumble of IC motors, but I really like the power, packaging, and flexibility of electrics (perfect traction control? no problemo! easier than ABS). It's likely that both will coexist for several decades.
 
Electric cars will only be the way to go if the government keeps funneling money into them and keeps clamping down on CAFE. If they had to stand on their own, they would wither and die overnight. Despite subsidies, Tesla continues to bleed money and may not survive despite the government assistance. If the market were to actually decide things, I would bet on biodiesel.
 
I put my deposit on a M3 with no consideration to rebates and by the time mine is built may not qualify for the fed rebate. I’m not cancelling my order. Main considerations for my purchase for my wife are carpool lane sticker, “refueling” at home and not a gas station (who really likes going to a gas station), and fewer trips to a dealer for maintenance. The ICE isn’t going away anytime soon but electrics may be a better option for urban and suburban buyers. Frankly this is the car of the future I dreamed about as a kid. :)
 
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FR500S-44

It's the challenge
Mmmm, count me as a bit of a dinosaur, but..... straight line, around town, short runs or even freeway runs BUT I've yet to see an electric vehicle street car (not formula e) that would make 25 minutes at Laguna without fire-balling itself. I know I'm gona catch it. But, hey, what's a discussion and opinion related forum for? Cliff BTW comment is not related to hybreds
 
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IMG_3399.jpg I have a second generation 2016 Chevy Volt Premier. (poor mans Tesla i call it) It has been a great car for me! With all the city driving i do taking my kids to school and back home (48 miles a day) i could'nt justify driving my 2007 F150 at 16mpg any longer and wanted to save a few bucks on gas and life on my truck. My Volt has done both of those things for me.The Volt has a battery pack that gets 53 miles from a full charge if not more from driving city streets/hwy. The range extender (gas motor) with 9 gallon tank makes for a 400 plus range on a full charge and full tank of fuel. I do most of my driving on electric only. Im able to charge at work for free. I only commute 5 times a month to work though.
I think people would change there perspective of electric cars if they test drove one. I did. This car has great power,brakes ,and handling.
The only thing i hate about my Volt is the registration tax (tags) for it($520 a year).That goes for all newer cars in AZ. Arizona has some of the highest registration rates in the nation. I bought this car used last spring for 22k. It listed new for around 41k before incentives. (Car was bought new in California). Az use to have discounted registration rates for electric vehicles, but the current AZ officials decided to pull that 3 months prior to me getting my Volt.(its all about the $) (the same ones who say they care about clean air)So in AZ there really is not any incentive for driving a clean air car at the current price of gas and registration incentives. Unless you care about clean air and enjoy driving it. Check,and check.\
Side note
(1)My race car does'nt have cats on it.
(2)Once a 47 year old male Firefighter buys a electric car his co-workers might think you have turned liberal,gay,or into a hippie. Spirited conversations will follow.:D Not that there is anything wrong with that.:D
 
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Electric cars definitely are an advantage to own when doing cross town tasks and small highway trips..but I would miss the growl of my Boss if I had to choose between one or the other...plus I don't mind going to the gas station.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
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If I was an urbanite I'd definitely look at electrics, but out in the small town rural area that I live in I can't see it working very well at the moment, 300 km range is really not enough. Plus there's the cost of power in this province, we have some of the highest rates for electricity on the continent, the actual cost after all the surcharges and fees are added has been as high as .31 cents per KWH on my bill. I haven't done the math on it, partly because there's little standardization in the math, but at those prices I'm hard pressed to think there's much saving in fuel costs there especially since I would not be getting any free power.

There's an election coming next year and our current highly unpopular government has artificially lowered rates to closer to .22 cents KWH by extending the debt of the hydro utility for another 40 years or so, effectively tossing the cost onto the next couple of generations. Nice way to buy votes, but given that our province has more urban than rural voters, it has worked in past. They're also giving 5 figure rebates for electrics which has a lot of people outside the cities pretty upset. Most people that I talk to are unaware of how much more electricity we will need if electrics get really popular, and how much that is going to cost and how it's going to get paid for, given the massive debt this government has run up. It's a bit of a con job, I think. Dreamland is alive and well in these parts.
 
I work for the State of CA and we had free charging for years at my office but about three years ago they added more chargers and they are no longer free. For those that don’t know payment is all done electronically and you receive notification on your smart phone when your car is fully charged. It works pretty slick. So @302BOB would have to upgrade to smart phone before he buys an EV. :eek:
 
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JDee, It's never going to change...Governments WILL always seek ways to get your money!!!! The newest trend is not to raise taxes but take away stuff (deductions or/and benefits you already have). This is evil, because before we wake up to this , we will have nothing!!!
 
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My next door neighbor is an EE at Tesla. He said the total cost of ownership will be 50% less with the Tesla big rig vs a diesel.
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
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Interesting info, and source. Tell any truck driver, the guy making a living with a truck, he has a 300 mile limit. Wait for him to stop laughing and then apologize.
Some day it may pay to have an electric vehicle. That day will likely be when the battery range is extended, Considerably. Until then, they will be limited to a local delivery truck. BTW, not a whole lot of money made in local delivery with a truck in the class shown. LTL and larger rely on steady highway miles to make money. Loads are then broken down and put on smaller trucks for local delivery.
Don't get me wrong. I would LOVE to see practical electric vehicles, expansion of nuclear power plants, supplemented by wind and solar power. We could then drastically reduce our dependence of fossil fuels. It may happen. The little nuggets they are showing us now are meant to keep the subsidies going until a breakthrough is made. If the industries were subsidized by private funds, then great. Does anyone believe this is the case?
 
I think the Gov't wants to move away from oil dependency to get away from the Middle East mayhem and also for environmental concerns. Electric power still has a long way to go but it WILL get there...I believe more solar stuff will come into play.
 

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