'Not ready for primetime': EV fans take road trips to prove a point, just not the one they expected(ford CEO) 'I recently found this out the hard way'

dailycallernewsfoundation.com ^ | 10/21/2023 | Nick Pope

[rktman]

Farley, whose company is set to lose $4.5 billion on its EV production this year, remains confident in their longer-term profitability. He embarked on a Route 66 road trip in August in Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, noting that “there are things you can’t learn in an office or from a PowerPoint,” in a LinkedIn post announcing the trip.

While on the road, Farley encountered inconsistencies in available charging. Some of the EV chargers he used were effective and provided a painless experience, while in another case, he had to use a low-speed charger that juiced up his truck’s battery to 40% in 40 minutes because there were no high-speed chargers available, he said on X, formerly Twitter. “It was a really good reality check,” Farley said of his experiences with EV charging, which he also described as “pretty challenging.”

The Biden administration, recognizing the up-front costs for both EV producers and consumers, has spent billions of dollars and aggressively regulated markets to facilitate its EV push. President Joe Biden is aiming for 50% of all new vehicle sales to be EVs by 2030, according to the White House.

The administration has committed $12 billion to allow manufacturers to retrofit their plants for EV production and $7.5 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law to develop a national charging network, while the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) contains $12.5 billion worth of tax credits to entice consumers into switching to an EV, according to UtilityDive.

[cyclotic]

This spring my wife and I drove from Maryland to Wyoming. Besides Mt. Rushmore and a wedding to attend, we planned absolutely nothing.

We stopped when we wanted and left when we wanted. Can’t do that with an EV.

Next year we might deadhead from Maryland to Washington State. I’ve got my eye on an overland camping rig there.

Not a chance with electric.

[Organic Panic]

WHAT!!!??? You think hood rats will vandalize and steal the copper from all the charging stations that the government will install all over the “inner cities?” NAH. Umpossible.

[rivercat]

At some point we’ll replace the ICE car with either another EV or likely a plug-in hybrid. For now the ICE car is only for when I need to get out of the house during the week. I work from home, she commutes.

[Seruzawa]

Maybe in 100 years. No way these econuts are going to allow nuclear powered vessels in orbit. Which is what it would take. Heck, they call space probes on Mars and the moon “pollution”.

[rivercat]

Currently I’m still charging at charging stations. I have yet to get around to installing a home charger. Florida Power and Light has a bunch of free charging stations around and I use those when I’m out to dinner, or at a local brew pub.
The rest of the time I use the Tesla superchargers.
We keep the charge level between 20% and 80% unless we plan to drive a long distance, like Key West, then we’ll charge it to 100% before we leave.
Typically, we put the car on the Supercharger that’s at the local Target, then we’ll go in and do some shopping while it charges.
We use it as a commuter car, maybe 40-50 miles per day, but we’ll also take it on long trips, like to Key West (372 miles). There are plenty of superchargers along the way and the software does a great job of recommending charging stops and charging times while you’re on your long drive. You can put 200 miles really quickly, so it’s not a big deal.
Yes, for us we could get by with just an EV if we wanted.
The long term studies show that the batteries are still well above 80% capacity after 200,000 miles, and that would be kinda like switching from the long range version to the standard version, so it would just become our second car.
By the time I put 200k miles on it there should be a pretty easy solution for replacing batteries too. Not worried about it at this point.
I have not had the car long enough to need new tires, but they are wearing fine and don’t seem to be wearing out quicker than normal.
Yes, A/C is a must in Florida! I have not seen noticeable range-reduction from the A/C usage. Sentry Mode will reduce your battery range, so we only use it when we’re parked somewhere where we need toe car to record its surroundings. It’s not a huge difference, but it is something to be aware of.
Also, if you’re wanting to continuously drive 90 mph on I95, then you’ll see range reduction!
All in all, we’re super happy with the purchase. It’s super quiet, super fast, the safety features are incredible. I’ve never felt safer in a car in my life. Truly amazing American ingenuity at play here!!

[central_va]

How much is your insurance EV guy?

[central_va]

It is your patriotic duty to drive an ICE powered vehicle.

[SunkenCiv]

https://www.youtube.com/@EngineeringExplained

https://www.youtube.com/@EngineeringExplained/videos

[rktman]

I do with vigor. Gotta keep muvver erf from freezin’ up again. 😁👍

🙏🇮🇱👍

[rivercat]

I use Connect by American Family Insurance here in Florida. Florida auto insurance is a bit pricy in the first place. We had a 2012 Honda CR-V and a 2014 Toyota RAV4 on the policy. We replaced the Honda with the Tesla, and the rate went up $10/month with all the same coverage levels. The safety features of the Tesla offset the cost of a more expensive car on the policy.

[Yardstick]

Thank you very much for that reply! That is great perspective to add into the hopper on these EVs.

[roadcat]

You know taht feeling when your car is on 1/4 tank and you think maybe a fill-up is needed soon. That is how you feel in an EV - ALL THE TIME.

I took a road trip late at night from San Francisco to San Diego, and a couple times was afraid of running out of gas because open gas stations were not plentiful. I learned to carry a full 2-gallon gas can in the trunk just in case, and no longer worried about running out of fuel. There was a time long ago where I ran out of gas at night, left my car on the side of the freeway and walked a long way to an exit, came back the next morning to retrieve my car - not a pleasant experience. Don't take an EV on a long road trip unless you know what you're doing!

[roadcat]

How do you use your EV?

I can answer some of your questions you posed to rivercat. I've owned an EV for over 4 years, and use it as a daily driver.

Charge it mainly at home. There have been a few times I charged it at shopping malls or casinos when far from home, but I prefer driving it no farther than half of the car's range so I can return home without recharging on the road. Because of using a charge station at places that I spend few hours at, it isn't inconvenient. I own several vehicles, would not consider only having just an EV. My gas truck is good for hauling or long distance drives; so is my gas sports car (trips between 300 to 2000 miles away). But I save a lot of money not having to buy gas all the time. The EV is ideal for local shopping or cruising near town, and can carry a lot of goods. My truck is used for large stuff.

Tire wear is a false claim by EV haters. No more wear than other vehicles, the tires roll and wear depends on how you race (I have a heavy foot in my sports car).

I don't need heat and A/C much, here in the SF Bay Area, and has minimal effect on EV range. I use it as much as I like because of ease of recharging at home.

As for battery capacity - so far after 4 years I still have 100 percent capacity. Warranty guarantees replacement for 10 years if the battery pack goes bad. Before then I'll probably upgrade to a newer model.

I find that there is a lot of false information on both sides of the EV vs ICE debate. EV's are not for everyone. ICE cars can be problematic for many things going wrong and costing owners thousands of dollars in repairs, while EV cars often trouble-free in maintenance. My EV service visits every 6 months run about $35 each time, while my ICE service visits cost hundreds of dollars, sometimes almost a thousand dollars (and then there is the high cost of gas which the cars suck up constantly).

[Yardstick]

Thanks — more good perspective.

BTW, since you’re a sports car guy, how does your EV feel in terms of handling? It’ll naturally have great acceleration, but do you notice a tradeoff in nimbleness compared to an equivalent ICE due to the extra weight of the battery? Does it feel heavy?

[roadcat]

There is a difference in handling. My sports car is low to the ground, and very nimble. The EV sedan has the bulk of weight low to the ground, and is also nimble, but sometimes can feel scary when accelerating very quickly and dodging around other vehicles. The extra weight can be felt due to inertia - in other words, when turning left and then right during acceleration you can feel the weight resisting the turn although the car’s steering does comply - the scary feeling is that you don’t want to flip over. So I wouldn’t recommend full acceleration when dodging obstacles or quickly changing lanes and back.

Then again, there are times in my ICE sports car where I’ve skidded during same maneuvers and almost gone off the road (I haven’t driven like that in the last 20 years, getting too old in my 70’s). Best way to imagine the scenario is to load up your pickup bed with bricks and cement, and then try to race around corners - you won’t want to do it twice. Be careful no matter what you drive.

[dynachrome]

“pretty easy solution for replacing batteries too”

Mr. Fusion?

[Yardstick]

Got it. Sounds like the extra mass is noticeable when you’re wanting to do something sudden with the car. Along those lines, I think the weight issue is why the big EV makers haven’t shown much interest in putting an EV sports car on the market. I read somewhere that Porsche was looking at doing an electric 911 but wound up abandoning the project.

[roadcat]

Along those lines, I think the weight issue is why the big EV makers haven’t shown much interest in putting an EV sports car on the market.

I belonged to car clubs with similar sports cars to mine, and we would get together for spirited drives on country roads and mountain roads. More than once, guys would spin out and almost lose control. A close friend of mine would race same car at Sonoma Raceway for vintage sports racing, one time lost it on a turn, busted a rear wheel off and hit a wall going backwards, no injuries. He would use special slick sticky tires for the track, but that won't guarantee overcoming inertia. Plus the tires were expensive and quickly wore out during racing.

So if EV makers build sports cars, it's unlikely tires built for the masses will keep the car on the road during high acceleration on turns. Too much risk of crashes and bad publicity.

[Svartalfiar]

I think it is very telling that no one posts how long it takes to charge the battery. I get that sometimes it is a long time and sometimes it is short time, but what is a long and short time. minutes? Hours?

This is gonna vary based on battery size and charger capability. For example, the Leaf battery is around half the size of the base Tesla, so its charging times would be half what I say below, but until it's full, you should get about the same range per minute charging, plus or minus.

Assuming a nearly dead battery to start (10-20%) (and don't go all the way to dead-dead or you'll have problems, just like running a diesel dry). Using the regular 120V wall outlets in your home, it'll take 24+ hours to charge. If you pay a couple thousand for the level-2 charger (or non-Tesla equivalent), 240V will cut the time to about eight hours. These are the type some businesses have installed, so you can always top off during the day and keep your charge up.

Switching to DC charging, the Tesla Superchargers are 400V (and DC), and they'll take about an hour. Tesla claims to run 50,000 of these around the world, but note these are equal to gas pumps, not stations. There's less than 1500 stations in these US. To compare, there's about 150,000 gas stations. (So what, 1.5MM stalls?) But these'll keep you going, 15-30min should be enough to top you off to get to the next station / home. If there's any close to you / along your route.



Tesla is starting to go with even higher voltage chargers, that'll be even faster, but the faster you charge, the more it wears your battery down and a) reduces your max capacity, and b) brings you closer and closer to that $5-10,000 battery replacement!

.

.

So, long story short, slow charging is measured in days, and fast charging is 30 min to an hour.