Electric cars & trucks

[shootist]

For me evs only offer blazing hot rod speed. A friend has been on electric vehicles for 11 years in a smaller town. But his wife has a real car. I typically drive 1400 miles nonstop in cars and have done 1800 2 times in my life. 750 is about all I like in the motorhome. It's just a lot of vehicle to stay on top of and takes more energy. So for me EVs are still a joke. They'll get there someday but especially here up north they are not too viable yet.

[Armye7]

Can the new Ford F-150 be towed? On all four down.

[Bedlam]

I despise all the gimmicks and electronics put into these cars. I still buy XL and Tradesman trimmed trucks to avoid that stuff which cannot fixed reasonably post warranty, but I buy vehicles for a minimum 10 year ownership and expect at least 15 years without large repair costs.


Maybe a company will come out with a spartan version built for longevity rather than bells and whistles?

[udid]

The new internal combustion engine tech making it was will push electric out.

[jerichorick]

I have considered electric car practicality. No matter how you slice it, you need fuel to make the thing go. So, converting any kind of energy into any other kind of energy is what we do now. I see no piratical way we can, in the near to sub-distant future, do away with some sort of fossil based fulled mass power production plants to supply our electrical grids to supply fuel to all these up and coming electric powered transportation machines. The day will come, for certain. But it is not here yet. Our old power grids are not equipped to supply the power hungry need of masses of electric cars and trucks trying to tank up ASAP. And, if you run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere will AAA be able to tank you back up without a generator powered by something than a battery? Maybe yes but it will be one big and heavy machine. Oh yea. And what about the added weight to the roads that are falling apart now. And what is to be done with all of the hazardous wast left behind by the old dead batteries?


Just my thoughts.

[Unclepaul]

Your reference to attending Woodstock reminds me of my parents wondering why we would want to camp out in the rain and crowds instead of our nice warm bed at night. Yet it was the place to be and comfort was not the issue.

Most trips are less than 350 miles. The few that are longer can easily schedule a 30 minute Supercarging stop while you take a bio break and a quick meal.

For people who drive heavy vehicles long distances gas/diesel may still be their best choice. Little by little electric vehicles will begin to replace the gassers.

[PLDieter]

Originally Posted by Dieselgem

I am not sure if I am the only one thinking this way or not. But at this point I could not live with a vehicle that has a 400-mile range and can take from 30 minutes to 7 hours to recharge. The shorter charge does come with some caveats. It would make me nuts on a cold rainy night to have to stop beyond 20 minutes to refuel. I am thinking they are pushing the models hoping people will bite. After all there were a few of us at Woodstock, looking to save the world. What would the charging time and distance be for you to make the move?

While there are some pretty amazing breakthroughs in battery technology as we speak, at present my dream vehicle is the Cybertruck by Tesla. (towing capacity is something like 14,500 pounds) It's made of solid steel, and has a range of about 450 miles, dry. A gooseneck would allow me to hook up my 5th wheel and hit the road. We are old, and rarely drive more than 200-250 miles a day.

Even allowing for the extra drag of the trailer weight, it would suit our lifestyle perfectly. We are full time nomads, so never in a hurry. Driving any more than that is extremely stressful for us, so it's kind of perfect. Yes, Lithium production is a bit dirty, but it's a once in twenty years process, so I think it makes up for itself fairly quickly in terms of environmental impact. The truck is mostly flat surfaces, thus numerous solar panels could be mounted as well!

[radar]

Originally Posted by PLDieter

While there are some pretty amazing breakthroughs in battery technology as we speak, at present my dream vehicle is the Cybertruck by Tesla. (towing capacity is something like 14,500 pounds) It's made of solid steel, and has a range of about 450 miles, dry. A gooseneck would allow me to hook up my 5th wheel and hit the road. We are old, and rarely drive more than 200-250 miles a day.

Even allowing for the extra drag of the trailer weight, it would suit our lifestyle perfectly. We are full time nomads, so never in a hurry. Driving any more than that is extremely stressful for us, so it's kind of perfect. Yes, Lithium production is a bit dirty, but it's a once in twenty years process, so I think it makes up for itself fairly quickly in terms of environmental impact. The truck is mostly flat surfaces, thus numerous solar panels could be mounted as well!

Nice. Just a heads up. The predicted EPA range for the tri-motor version is greater than 500 miles. Of course driving conditions and speed play a role like any vehicle.

Hope you get your dream truck.

[Fugereri]

One thing i do not get is, why no manufacturer is able to match Tesla’s autonomy.
This is known technology and Tesla opened most of their patents to other manufacturer a long time ago.

[DuraFlap Mud Flaps]

I have had a Prius for over 10 years and I am currently looking for my next. It is a great way to go. It gets 46-52 MPG on the older ones. Better on the newer models. It uses an electric battery along with the gas battery. It is comfortable, peppy and reasonably priced.
I am now looking at the Prius Prime that does plug in for the night and will go about 22 miles on the electric motor before kicking in the gas/electric combination that was the old style Prius.
These hybrids do cost more, they do not really save enough on fuel to justify it. But it is my way of doing a little bit to reduce my foot print.
It also helps make up for the 7-9 MPG we get in the motor home

[NeilV]

Been driving an EV for 4 years now and its been perfect in daily life. A drive that costs $6 for gas in her car costs me 60 cents for electricity. Maintenance on the EV annually is rotate the tires, change the wiper blades and change the cabin air filter. Battery can be traded in and refurbed by Nissan who takes care of recycling and I can get the larger extended range battery if I desire. The new batteries use less exotic materials and last even longer too.

Got mine off-lease for a bargain and it was like new looking like it just came off the showroom floor. Maintaining my wife's car with its $1,500 clutch changes every time the slave cylinder leaks, oil changes, coolant flushes, etc is much more costly on top of the 10X cost of keeping gas in the tank to drive the same distance as the Nissan Leaf. The current electric drive trains are good for 500,000 to 1,000,000 miles and will outlast most drivers.

For about 80% of the drivers here in the US an EV is a great choice as a daily driver since most people drive 20 miles or less per day. Most people I know don't take their personal cars on long trips any more either but get a rental so if they have a breakdown during their trip they just call the rental company for a replacement and keep on their way without having to stick around a day or so for repairs, etc so highway range is really a moot point for the many people.

Most people charge their cars off-peak while they are sleeping so the EV has not really presented this big load on the electric grid many have made an issue of and where the EV is being more widely adopted they are becoming part of the backup system for the power grid eliminating the need for backup power stations so that along with adoption of solar the cost of electricity has dropped to 1/3 of the 15 cents a kWh that many pay here in the US.

I have not bothered to install a 220 volt charging station at my home and use the 110 volt courtesy charger that came with the car. My electric bill went up less than $15 a month from charging the car while saving me $150 a month on gasoline.


I was skeptical at first but the reality has been a very good one. No gas lines or having to stop at a gas station is a wonderful thing. It becomes a pain point having to stop for fuel and deal with a gas station once your used to driving straight home and plugging in.

[Bobby F]

My main ride these days when I'm not RV'ing is my 395 hp 2004 GTO. Fun on the road, blistering on the strip. 150k miles, and I've burned through eight sets of rear tires.

But it can't hold a candle to a nicely equipped EV. I don't even try anymore if I come up against a tesla.

[Diesel-Lover]

Originally Posted by Skooter84

Who is looking at the large rise in electrical draw on an already overtaxed electrical grid? Just adding 200,000 charging stations doesn't work. Additional power plants will be required and no, solar isn't the answer.

What is the towing capacity of these electric trucks...probably not 20,000 pounds.

Nah, electric trucks I'll pass.

Check out Freightliner yea they are here with two ready for orders a bob tail and a medium duty. As to more electricity with windmills and solar we are gonna be covered. There is always biomass and geothermal as well. Saw some diesel rigs crawling up hills in KY and TN not purty if they was Hybrid they could have instant torque and HP too to flatten the hills and get mega good mpg! Then there are times on the flat whey they hold slug races with doubles and triples clogging the highways, electric power would make the trucks have more torque and hp too. Thank God that we are a free country and can abide by our beliefs though sooner than later we should hope that we can collectively act to save our little blue marble with science, truth and logic. Global warming is real as is COVID-19 the proof is inthe half a million plus deaths of US citizens, hope global warming does not end up killing more of US.


https://www.autocar.co.nz/commercial...for-u-s-market

[udid]

Originally Posted by Diesel-Lover

Check out Freightliner yea they are here with two ready for orders a bob tail and a medium duty. As to more electricity with windmills and solar we are gonna be covered. There is always biomass and geothermal as well. Saw some diesel rigs crawling up hills in KY and TN not purty if they was Hybrid they could have instant torque and HP too to flatten the hills and get mega good mpg! Then there are times on the flat whey they hold slug races with doubles and triples clogging the highways, electric power would make the trucks have more torque and hp too. Thank God that we are a free country and can abide by our beliefs though sooner than later we should hope that we can collectively act to save our little blue marble with science, truth and logic. Global warming is real as is COVID-19 the proof is inthe half a million plus deaths of US citizens, hope global warming does not end up killing more of US.


https://www.autocar.co.nz/commercial...for-u-s-market

And Jesus will be making his way anytime soon as well