The ultimate TOAD...but you'll have to trailer it. Tesla

Old-Biscuit wrote:

John & Angela wrote:


Very fun cars though. Can't wait to get rid of our last tail pipe. :).

Not really getting rid of that last tail pipe..just swapping it from your place to a power plant

I suppose. Depends where you live though. Power doesn't come from tail pipes where we live. But even for those who live in places in the world where their power comes from other sources where fuel is burned, it's easier to regulate and control one big tail pipe than 100,000 little ones.

Besides, even at a basic level like our smart, there are few oil burners that will keep up to it, and they are not near as fun to drive. :) (at least for us, everybody has different taste in cars of course)

If it can`t be towed....its not a Toad!

Still nice cars though!

RAV4-EV at CarMax (Syntax will not do a proper link)

The only SUV-EV. Still need a trailer. 135 mile range.

John & Angela wrote:


Very fun cars though. Can't wait to get rid of our last tail pipe. :).

Not really getting rid of that last tail pipe..just swapping it from your place to a power plant

Golden_HVAC wrote:
You might want to check out the Spark electric car. We have one at my work, and the CEO has a second one. He used to have a electric Nissan. He will take it to the coast from Portland OR, and stops at a casino for a charge 1/2 way to his home on the coast.

Surprise - You do NOT need a 400 mile range in any car, not even a 100 mile range. I can't think of the last day that I drove my car over 100 miles in one day. Our CEO can drive 80 miles to his coast home with a short charge (about 1 hour during the 2 hour trip.)

Yet if your home has two cars, one of them could have a 300+ mile range, and the other can be electric.

If you will be camping with the electric car, it is nice to be able to recharge each time you get back to the RV, and you would not need to find a gas station. This would be especially handy if you have solar panels, and also nice in a place like Yosemite where they do not have gas stations within the park boundary.

What would rate 'excellent' in my book for an electric car is the ability to hook it up to a standard electric brake controller, and when the brakes are applied in the towing vehicle, then the charge controller in the electric towed car would apply the regeneration feature of the vehicle, and start charging the car batteries. If you could tell the car that you will be towing it today for a total of say 85 or 320 miles, then the car can predict when the trip will be over, and charge over the entire distance, so that the pack will be full at the end.

Good luck finding something! I hope to find out that the electric spark is towable on all 4 wheels, something that will push me in that direction to buy as my next towed vehicle.

AS it is, I am still thinking about getting a Spark electric. (yes they make a gas model). I am currently spending about $300 a month on gas (well perhaps $200 a month now that the price is a bit better) and the savings are almost enough to make my new car payment.




Fred.

The spark looks interesting. I agree. Our little smart is good for about 150KM and we rarely drive half of that. We hardly ever use our oil burner now.

Keep us posted on your findings.

You might want to check out the Spark electric car. We have one at my work, and the CEO has a second one. He used to have a electric Nissan. He will take it to the coast from Portland OR, and stops at a casino for a charge 1/2 way to his home on the coast.

Surprise - You do NOT need a 400 mile range in any car, not even a 100 mile range. I can't think of the last day that I drove my car over 100 miles in one day. Our CEO can drive 80 miles to his coast home with a short charge (about 1 hour during the 2 hour trip.)

Yet if your home has two cars, one of them could have a 300+ mile range, and the other can be electric.

If you will be camping with the electric car, it is nice to be able to recharge each time you get back to the RV, and you would not need to find a gas station. This would be especially handy if you have solar panels, and also nice in a place like Yosemite where they do not have gas stations within the park boundary.

What would rate 'excellent' in my book for an electric car is the ability to hook it up to a standard electric brake controller, and when the brakes are applied in the towing vehicle, then the charge controller in the electric towed car would apply the regeneration feature of the vehicle, and start charging the car batteries. If you could tell the car that you will be towing it today for a total of say 85 or 320 miles, then the car can predict when the trip will be over, and charge over the entire distance, so that the pack will be full at the end.

Good luck finding something! I hope to find out that the electric spark is towable on all 4 wheels, something that will push me in that direction to buy as my next towed vehicle.

AS it is, I am still thinking about getting a Spark electric. (yes they make a gas model). I am currently spending about $300 a month on gas (well perhaps $200 a month now that the price is a bit better) and the savings are almost enough to make my new car payment.


Fred.

turbojimmy wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
Our smart electric only has level 2 charge capability so it is 6 or so hours for a charge from empty. We tend to only use level 1 charging at home though. (Even longer). The reality is we only go 50 or 60 km max a day so we just plug it in at night or every second night. We kind of treat it like a cell phone. Plug it in at night. The smart has lots of Jam too but nothing like that Tesla. Wow.

Yeah, I hear the "insane" mode is aptly named.

Not to go too far off your original topic, but I worked out of my house for 7 years until this past January where I now have a 40-mile round-trip commute every day. Not only is the cost of fueling my Avalanche killing me, it's quite literally falling apart now. I'm seriously considering something battery powered, or partially battery powered anyway. 4-seat minimum tho.

If all you need is 40 miles just pick up a used leaf. Around 10'000 bucks will get you something good used. We actually thought about doing that but 4 seats was a deal killer for us. That and not available as a convertible. Check out cars.com. Many off lease cars there.

rk911 wrote:

turbojimmy wrote:

rk911 wrote:
we'll look into an electric car when re-charging or replacing the batteries takes about the same amount of time as filling up the tank and I can get 400-miles on a charge with some charge left over. did the Tesla dealer give you any insight into when that might be achieved?

good luck with your search.

With a 200-mile range, the Model III would be great as a toad. How far beyond your RV are you realistically going to travel in a day?

The downside is recharge time. At 120V it could take a couple of days to fully recharge the batteries from fully depleted.

A couple of friends of mine have Chevy Volts and love them. Not a huge range on them, but there is the gasoline engine backup. One of them just filled up his tank for the first time since May. They're good commuter cars, and as such probably good toads as well. Decent looking cars, too, IMO, unlike some other options out there (Tesla aside).

I'm referring to a daily driver not just a toad (although we do tow our daily driver). I make at least one trip in the car between Chicago and Florida each year. the 200-mile range wouldn't be too bad if the re-charge took 15-minutes. likely not gonna happen in my lifetime (I'm 65).

Well' right now it will take 30 minutes to 80 percent. Plan your lunch break around it. :)

John & Angela wrote:
Our smart electric only has level 2 charge capability so it is 6 or so hours for a charge from empty. We tend to only use level 1 charging at home though. (Even longer). The reality is we only go 50 or 60 km max a day so we just plug it in at night or every second night. We kind of treat it like a cell phone. Plug it in at night. The smart has lots of Jam too but nothing like that Tesla. Wow.

Yeah, I hear the "insane" mode is aptly named.

Not to go too far off your original topic, but I worked out of my house for 7 years until this past January where I now have a 40-mile round-trip commute every day. Not only is the cost of fueling my Avalanche killing me, it's quite literally falling apart now. I'm seriously considering something battery powered, or partially battery powered anyway. 4-seat minimum tho.

turbojimmy wrote:

rk911 wrote:
we'll look into an electric car when re-charging or replacing the batteries takes about the same amount of time as filling up the tank and I can get 400-miles on a charge with some charge left over. did the Tesla dealer give you any insight into when that might be achieved?

good luck with your search.

With a 200-mile range, the Model III would be great as a toad. How far beyond your RV are you realistically going to travel in a day?

The downside is recharge time. At 120V it could take a couple of days to fully recharge the batteries from fully depleted.

A couple of friends of mine have Chevy Volts and love them. Not a huge range on them, but there is the gasoline engine backup. One of them just filled up his tank for the first time since May. They're good commuter cars, and as such probably good toads as well. Decent looking cars, too, IMO, unlike some other options out there (Tesla aside).

I'm referring to a daily driver not just a toad (although we do tow our daily driver). I make at least one trip in the car between Chicago and Florida each year. the 200-mile range wouldn't be too bad if the re-charge took 15-minutes. likely not gonna happen in my lifetime (I'm 65).