Semi OT: Detroit leads the way in EV technology

Fully charging up a 200 mile vehicle off a 220 ~40 amp "Level 2" charger isn't too bad...around 8 hours. You can get those installed in your garage for very little; if you're feeling adventurous you could even DIY it. 200 miles for me is the better part of a weeks worth of driving.

Most EVs going down the line will also have the "DC Supercharging" port that lets you charge up to full range in about 15 minutes. Every Starbucks could have a couple installed. Charge $5 or something for a full charge...undercut whatever gas is selling for, for equivalent range in an average ICE sedan by 50% or something. Buy your electricity at an industrial rate and the amortization cost wouldn't be long at all; if there's enough demand you could actually be turning a profit pretty quick.

What one learns from actually owning an EV for a year is that the majority of the objections people who aren't experienced with them have to ownership are essentially non-issues.

Do you have a parking spot with a plug nearby? Do you often sleep, at least from time to time? Then the "charging convenience" thing is pretty much a non-issue. It hasn't been at all a hassle, any more than dealing with the fueling process of any other car.

I think part of the issue might just be psychological. At the moment EVs are not like ICE cars, where you could just head out your front door and drive cross-country refilling in 5 minutes every 300 miles. You don't have quite that sense of "freedom." You do have to plan your trips a little more carefully, but honestly 99% of the time nobody is using their ICE car in that fashion.

If you can live with that limitation, then you'll be fine. You get the car. You drive it, it's fun, it accelerates like a bat out of hell, you save a good chunk of money and aren't smogging up the atmosphere. That's about all there is to it.

I know the future can be a little scary, but I assure you it's going to be OK. : ) Come with me...

Yeah, I think I was off on the numbers there. My lifetime MPG counter is reporting around 70 mpg combined. A full charge off a wall socket costs about 80 cents at my overnight rate.

I just checked my trip counter. Last week I drove 356 miles on 2.6 gallons of gas, plus electricity. I fully charged at home twice.

Oh, right. I meant $15 in gas and $8 in electricity...monthly. ; )

Made a mistake there. I drive ~250 miles a week. $15 in gas and $8 in juice is more like my _monthly_ fuel cost.

Anyway, a picture is probably more clear. Here's my trip counter for the week so far:

I added about 20 miles from a public charger in Boston last night - no fee. I haven't purchased any electricity so far this week, and probably won't, since I'm visiting the Museum of Science tomorrow with some relatives and there's a public charger in the Cambridgeside Galleria, and there's also one a mile down the street from my girlfriend's place.

I certainly disagree with that observation.

Batteries have, by weight, a small fraction of the energy density of gasoline. Power plants, distribution, chargers, and batteries themselves all have losses.

Not as ugly as a Tesla. Thet Chevy looks like a generic Toyota.

Red is better than grey.

It's towing all those batteries and motors. My car is mostly engine!

I've got to admit that free, govenrment-subsidized energy is cheaper than paid-for energy.

I still pay a lot more for insurance than for gasoline.

and that is the key,

if the govt wants us to accept electric cars for commuting, the fees for insurance should be changed so that if I buy a second vehicle for commuting, I don't have to pay double for insurance.

The insurance for my leased 2016 Volt is dirt cheap! All the comprehensive stuff required for leased vehicle, $300 damage deductible across the board. Plus a $20k personal injury rider.

About $280 for six months, prepaid through Geico.

The first thing insurers look at is your credit score, anyway.

And should be the legit rate for the life of the lease, so long as I prepay (and nothing unfortunate happens.) Not some introductory thing.

Thankfully, the petroleum industry has never accepted a dime of government subsidization.

It's a luxury hot-hatch, whaddya expect.

Apparently Audi is making a plug-in version of the A3. Like all the German offerings, it's probably junk for 50k or whatever they're asking.

Don't the oil companies pay corporate income tax? And the Feds and the states tax gasoline multiple ways.

They wrecked the A3 anyhow. It's now a boring sedan, no longer a hatchback, and it comes with a tiny turbo. My 3.2 V6 is no more.

The Q3 looks kind of cool.

Electric motors are way better than ICE's.. in all ways I can think of. Batteries suck compared to a tank of gas. There's some point where things will be kinda equal. (I burn oil to heat the house in the winter and drive cars year round...)

George H.

Den onsdag den 17. august 2016 kl. 01.51.20 UTC+2 skrev John Larkin:

afaict the sedan is called "limousine" the hatchback "sportsback"

the RS3 sportsback has permanent 4-wheel drive and a 2.5L 5 cylinder turbo engine with 367hp

I don't think you can call that boring

-Lasse

Unless you want to drive very far. Or drive in the boonies where there are no charging stations.

How long do Tesla batteries last? What does a replacement set cost?

I see numbers like $40K and 100K miles. That's 40 cents per mile!

Oil is a terrible way to heat a house. So is electricity.

So, you'd be dependent on a charge station half way to Truckee, near a restaurant for a nice lunch. No big deal.

As for battery operation in cold, ALL batteries have problems in cold, the folk in Minnesota can tell you how to solve that.

As for GM, they may have clout, but they have management... issues. One oughtn't wait for their 'maybe someday' solution to this (or any) pressing need.

I haven't seen anything that high but gas, even for my pickup, is about 1/4 of that. That doesn't include the cost of the electricity it sucks during its life, either.

Heat pumps work reasonably well, though are kinda weak at really low temperatures.

An eight hour lunch?

That's a lot of cost for areas that currently have no need for heater outlets everywhere.

What do you want from Government Motors? Sanity?