Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Hi John:
My point is this. I don't know what EV you have but my co-worker had/ has a Leaf. Nice little car but very expensive. My other co-worker has a Volt. Again, nice car but it was 40 grand for this tiny car. 40 grand!............for a little tiny car!
I can buy a Juke or something like that for 25 grand. If I only own the Leaf that is going to put me and "most Americans" in a jam because of the range deal. If that's the case, then you have to buy another car and that just adds to more expense.
Now if I buy a Juke I can drive it coast to coast with no worries. If I buy the Juke I would only have to buy one car for all my duties. Not so for the very expensive Leaf or Bolt or Tesla.
This is America. Open country and long distances. EV's work very well in small counties where the distances are not so great.
This is why the Bolt is failing. It has nothing to do with Big Oil or whatever. It does not pan out for the average American and they know that so it shows in EV sales.
Now if gas goes up to lets say 10 or 15 bucks a gallon then EV's would work. They don't now.
Yah I get that. It sounds like you travel a lot so a non long range EV is probably not a viable car for you. We live in the Okanagan Valley in Canada and only occasionally drive to Vancouver so a car with 180 km range and fast charge works good for us. But they are not that pricey. A base 2018 Nissan Leaf with 150 miles of range is just under 30,000 bucks before any kind of incentive or discounts. They are a nice sized very nice car with a bullet proof reputation (other than some battery degradation issues some of the phoenix and Palm Springs crowd had with the first few years. Heat).
But yah I get that. It has to be right for you. What’s viable for me might not be right for you.
The Bolt is kind of a funny situation. Those of us who have been driving EV’s for a while have been shaking our heads a bit. First they only release it to a few states. There was demand for them right away but dealers didn’t even want them on their lot. We got to test drive one a year ago and were told it would be a year before we could even think about buying one. They have good range but most dealers were ordering them without fast charge. Who would even want one without fast charge. There are three of them sitting on a lot here in the Coachella valley that don’t move because they don’t have fast charge. For GM it was all about building a small car with lots of range. They have horrible seats, they are loud and they are small. Honestly they are not a bad car and a lot of this is just my personal preference...well other than the DC fast charge thing. Who would build a car with 250 mile range and then not include DC fast charge. I know you are not an EV Guy so robably don’t see the importance of that but it really makes the difference beteen a useable long trip car and not. You may have to take my word on this one. Anyway, in Britain they have a back log of 5000 orders for them. In Canada just our local dealer is waiting for 4. It just seems like they are trying not to sell them. Sales people are told to sell their custumers anything else.
Re the Volt. Yah. Also not a fan. Feels tight inside. Also not a Hybrid fan. As soon as it burns gas it kinda loses any advantage for me.
Anyway, it doesn’t sound like an EV would suit your lifestyle well. At least in their present form.
John.
