What are your thoughts on EV or Hybrid cars?

[Del.]

I doubt I get one but they are definitely here to stay. Be interesting on a 1000 mile trip how long you spend waiting on a charge.

[mega]

It's a broken business model imo..

[gcode]

I doubt I get one but they are definitely here to stay. Be interesting on a 1000 mile trip how long you spend waiting on a charge.

I read an article by a guy who drove an EV from Denver to Boise Idaho, in the summer time.
It took him about 36 hours. It's an 850 miles drive. That same drive in the winter would have been much worse
as EV battery performance is heavily degraded by cold temperatures.

When I was young and stupid a friend of mine and I made that drive in 9.5 hours one hot summer night.
Sadly, the return drive took 24 hours.
I was arrested and had to bail out of some small town country jail in northern Colorado for 135mph in a 55 zone.

[neurosis]

Just wait until some of these blue States start implementing a 'pay by the mile' road tax. It won't matter if you're driving an electric or a gas vehicle. You'll pay both taxes, gas and miles driven.

[jas6142]

I bought a tesla when gas was 4 plus a gallon. I have a 150 mile day commute, traded in my full size ford truck. Saves me about 400 a month on gas. I live in what would be rural Iowa, and just charge at home every night. Takes about 4 hours and costs me about $2.40 in electricity. I didnt do it to save the planet, but I think that is where the hate comes from? And yeah dont test drive until you're ready to buy. When i have to drive my wifes ice suv feels like its 50 year old technology.  Ev will not fit everyone's lifestyle or need so there will need to be something else for sure.

[CNCAppsJames]

I see a lot of animosity on this and other boards I frequent regarding EV or Hybrid cars Vs. ICE cars.  I'm curious why this is.

Is it because people see Big Gov pushing toward EV when obviously the grid is not anywhere near ready for this kind of load?

I will only speak in terms of how this push affects my state and local region. This is 100% the case. Our grid won't be able to handle the mandates. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next year. Not in 5 years. Not in 10 years. Not in 25 Years. My state is run by imbeciles. To them there is no such thing as a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th order consequence to any of their decisions.

Is it because of the perception that EV/Hybrid owners are a bunch of tree huggers who are too stupid to realize their car likely has as big of or larger carbon footprint than it's ICE equivalent?

Check.

Or do you have no problem with them, you just don't want them to try to tell you what type of car to drive?

No. Yes.

I don't care what kind of cars people drive, I see that as their choice and preference.  I don't understand the level of vitriol against EV/Hybrid vehicles.

You aren't who gets the microphone though. You aren't the voice of EV/Hybrid. Alyssa Milano, Ed Bagely Jr., Al Jazeera Gore, etc... those are the voices of EV/Hybrid. Those idiots... 

So many of the arguments "for" them are specious at best. "It's better for the environment." When children have to work the lithium mines in Congo, and THAT never gets put into the calculus or even acknowledged publicly by the voices, I have a problem with that. I have a problem with people that have no clue about the manufacture of toilet paper that are making decisions about the wholesale replacement of mature and RELIABLE energy sources with something we can't even trust our mission critical infrastructure and defense to. I have a problem with the range of EV's. I have a problem with how long it will take to "refuel" an EV. When I have to drive (as I frequently do) hundreds of miles to get to a customer, are they going to foot the bill for the extra few hours I'll have to wait to "fuel up"? A 5 or 10min. stop is a whole lot different than a couple hours.. BOTH WAYS.

For a lot of people, an EV is fine. If it meets their needs, by all means. Buy it/Lease it. Enjoy it. But EV's are not for everyone and we need to stop telling people they are.

[beej]

Just wait until some of these blue States start implementing a 'pay by the mile' road tax. It won't matter if you're driving an electric or a gas vehicle. You'll pay both taxes, gas and miles driven.

It won't be just the blue states. That's coming for all of us. there is no way our highways, here, will be maintained on a gas tax in a few years.

[CNCAppsJames]

1st Step EV's/Hybrids. Next step autonomous vehicles.

Everything you need to know about Autonomous Vehicles you can learn in i,Robot.

Think they can't be hacked? Think again. Any "connected" thing CAN and WILL be hacked. Government decides there are too many people in your city/county they'll have the digital keys (for your safety of course), they can just run you off a cliff or into a wall. Oh sure, they'll have "manual overrides" in at first. Eventually though "...they are so safe, we won't need that. It will lower the cost of the vehicle by X%...". and people will like it. 

[YoDoug]

We have four cars and five drivers in my house. With differing work schedules there is always a car available when needed. Most of cars are older and paid for. I do most of the work on them myself. I don't like being in debt so I try not to have a car payment. However, we also try to make sure one of the cars is 6 passenger and road worthy for trips to visit relatives. The current is a 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe with 180k miles on it. We have owned it since 20K miles and it is still very road worthy. I do see needing to replace it in the next couple years. That is the car that I will borrow money if necessary. That kind of excludes an EV because there are no <$10K used EV cars out there that I would pay cash for and the 6 passenger needs to be able to take trips, which EV's are not ideal for. Maybe in a few years when I can buy an older Model S or model 3 for $15k and pay cash I may get a Tesla.

[Jim at Gentex]

For a lot of people, an EV is fine. If it meets their needs, by all means. Buy it/Lease it. Enjoy it. But EV's are not for everyone and we need to stop telling people they are.

That pretty much summarizes my opinion as well.

Someday EV's may be a viable choice for most everyone, but until then, removing all other choices is stupid, short-sighted, and is the polar opposite of freedom.

It's amusing how liberals talk about 'threats to our democracy' on a pretty regular basis, yet they are the first ones in line to buy EV's, wear masks that don't protect them, and take experimental injections that may do more harm than good, all because .gov said so.

And it doesn't stop there.
Those same 'lovers of freedom' DEMAND the rest of us to comply, which is where they lose me.
Forced compliance is tyranny, period.

You be you, and I will be me.
THAT is the only way freedom works. 

[CNCAppsJames]

We have 2 cars. My RAV4 and My wife's 2018 Chevy Suburban. With 6 grandkids (4 in car seats) all the traveling my wife and I do, it's the perfect vehicle. This summer we drove from home (SoCal) to Phoenix, up to Sedona, up to the Grand Canyon, over to the Meteor Crater, up to Capitol Reef National Park, down to Bryce and Zion National Parks and back home, we averaged between 18mpg and 20mpg. If I didn't have such a lead foot, we could probably get 22-23 out of it. We initially got a Suburban because when I was Scoutmaster, nobody in the Troop had a vehicle that had towing capacity and 8 passengers (incl. driver). This is our 2nd one.

Both cars are paid for.

[Incogneeto]

Just wait until MY blue State starts implementing a 'pay by the mile' road tax. It won't matter if I'M driving an electric or a gas vehicle. I'll pay both taxes, gas and miles driven.

Fixed

[Incogneeto]

I bought a tesla when gas was 4 plus a gallon.

That would be Biden in May of 2020.

 I have a 150 mile day commute, Saves me about 400 a month on gas.  and just charge at home every night. Takes about 4 hours and costs me about $2.40 in electricity.

Fixed.

And sorry no offense meant.

But I think you are FOS.

My night light uses $2.40 a day.

4 hours , 150 miles a day, $ 2.40 = NOPE

[BrianP.]

My night light uses $2.40 a day.

WTF do you have for a night light?

[neurosis]

4 hours , 150 miles a day, $ 2.40 = NOPE

May not be too far off?  Probably more like $7.00?

The price for a full charge varies by model and battery capacity, but using the U.S. average price of $0.14 per kWh, Electrek calculates that most models cost between $4 and $5 for 100 miles of charge if you're charging at home. The Model 3 is the cheapest by far, with estimated cost per 100 miles of charge in the $3 range, with slight variations based on the range rating of the vehicle.