When do you think you'll buy your first electric car?

Our family currently have 2 EVs.  A 2016 eGolf and a 2013 Fiat 500e,  My wife drives the Fiat and it will make the 80 mile round trip from one side of Los Angeles to the other and back for her commute with about 10% to spare depending on conditions.  Plus she has chargers at work so she can charge if she needs to run errands after work or meet friends for drinks.  I drive the eGolf and my commute is about 19 miles round trip and since I am in education, I don't have to commute 3 months out of the year.  We share a hard wired level 2 charger at home.  I get home earlier and plug in and by the time the wife comes home, I'm charged and she takes over.  Sometimes I park out on the street but since my commute is so light, I can easily go 2-3 days without charging.

Someone mentioned maintenance costs and that is where I think EVs shine.  No oil changes, no spark plugs, and they are super easy on brakes because of the regenerative systems.  My wife's car has 95K miles on it and the battery life is still probably around 85% of new.  The eGolf has been flawless and the only thing I've changed is wiper fluid and wipers.

With that said, I don't know that I would have an EV as my only car.  I'd probably shop around for a hybrid at that point.  But if you can afford multiple cars, I think an EV makes sense.  My parents have a Lexus UX hybrid and a Tesla between them to cover all the bases.   We have a Honda Odyssey as a backup car and for runs to San Diego or Las Vegas (came in handy for our Yellowstone trip this summer as well).

Our friends are in the "new phone every year gotta have bleeding edge tech" category. I've driven their model3 and been impressed with it, hoping they'll sell it to me cheap when they get a model Y

I may have to eat my words; I guess there are outdoor chargers which shouldn't surprise me but it does for some reason. Still, I think an electric car is at least 5-10 years away for me if not longer.

Never.  As in, not ever.

I could almost see a scenario that could justify a hybrid, but something with batteries only?  Never.

I know someone who recently bought a Tesla.  Used it to run up to Maryland a couple times a week to play poker.  He kept it maybe a month or two.  Range anxiety, you know.

1988RedT2 said:

Never.  As in, not ever.

I could almost see a scenario that could justify a hybrid, but something with batteries only?  Never.

I know someone who recently bought a Tesla.  Used it to run up to Maryland a couple times a week to play poker.  He kept it maybe a month or two.  Range anxiety, you know.

Range anxiety or range problems? Because they're not the same thing.

Pretty much all public chargers are outdoors. That's a solved problem ;)

1988RedT2 said:

Never.  As in, not ever.

I could almost see a scenario that could justify a hybrid, but something with batteries only?  Never.

I know someone who recently bought a Tesla.  Used it to run up to Maryland a couple times a week to play poker.  He kept it maybe a month or two.  Range anxiety, you know.

That makes as much sense as worrying about running out of gas. When low on gas or charge you stop to deal with it. 

I really like my 2016 Cadillac ELR.  Commute on all electric, charger plugs in to my welder's outlet and I have a 110 portable charger too in case my garage is occupied like it was this weekend.  When it's time for a road trip, 10 gallon gas tank and 35-38 mpg.  I like that I pretty much only go to a gas station in conjunction with a road trip.  If I do end up with a '22 Golf R I'm going to install my own fuel station in my shop so I can just buy gas 55 gallons at a time and refill at home.  I hate having to wait for a gas station attendant at stations in Oregon.  

frenchyd said:

1988RedT2 said:

Never.  As in, not ever.

I could almost see a scenario that could justify a hybrid, but something with batteries only?  Never.

I know someone who recently bought a Tesla.  Used it to run up to Maryland a couple times a week to play poker.  He kept it maybe a month or two.  Range anxiety, you know.

That makes as much sense as worrying about running out of gas. When low on gas or charge you stop to deal with it. 

Except filling a tank with petrol takes what, five minutes, tops?  How much of a charge can you get in five minutes? 

frenchyd said:

slowbird said:

I may have to eat my words; I guess there are outdoor chargers which shouldn't surprise me but it does for some reason. Still, I think an electric car is at least 5-10 years away for me if not longer.

I understand, don't worry about it. Some people are leaders and some prefer to follow the pack. 

And still others firmly believe that both the so-called leaders and the pack that follows have completely lost their freaking minds. 

When the market makes them convenient, cost effective, and necessary. 

I currently DD a hybrid. Won't go full electric until the electric recharging infrastructure rivals gasoline infrastructure for both availability and refuel times. Would totally consider a plug-in hybrid next time, however. 

1988RedT2 said:

frenchyd said:

1988RedT2 said:

Never.  As in, not ever.

I could almost see a scenario that could justify a hybrid, but something with batteries only?  Never.

I know someone who recently bought a Tesla.  Used it to run up to Maryland a couple times a week to play poker.  He kept it maybe a month or two.  Range anxiety, you know.

That makes as much sense as worrying about running out of gas. When low on gas or charge you stop to deal with it. 

Except filling a tank with petrol takes what, five minutes, tops?  How much of a charge can you get in five minutes? 

Why are you treating an EV like an ICE? They work differently, it takes a while to learn this. They prefer to sip instead of chug. If you just drive until the battery is depleted and then stand beside it as it refuels, yes. They respond poorly.

And the whole five minute thing has been debunked so many times it's not funny. Seriously, time your next 20 fuel stops on a road trip. Not just the time you spend at the pump, the time you spend not moving.

When over a ten year span of ownership they are cheaper than an internal combustion car. Current purchase cost make this not be the case.

In reply to frenchyd :

Massive difference in more areas then not,gas stations WAY more frequent then a charging station.

 And if I'm out and about 3 minutes time to fill with liquid fuel buys me hundreds of kilometers of motoring again.

That alone is worth it to me.

When we retire and go to one vehicle it for sure won't be all electric.

 Hybrid truck most likely

frenchyd said:

slowbird said:

I may have to eat my words; I guess there are outdoor chargers which shouldn't surprise me but it does for some reason. Still, I think an electric car is at least 5-10 years away for me if not longer.

I understand, don't worry about it. Some people are leaders and some prefer to follow the pack. 

Little known fact is that there is a third category of people called "Observers". They neither lead nor follow, but rather sit back and observe how things actually work. The other two categories are blind. And funny.

Right Meow

I guess we bought it 3months ago, but took possession today.  So, close enough.

In reply to NOHOME :

Observer right here. Once they get cheap like all the other used cars I've owned I'll be on board. My job and house don't have charging stations, nor does the shopping center a block away from me, but it's only a matter of time.

I do want a Honda e though.

Keith Tanner said:

And the whole five minute thing has been debunked so many times it's not funny. Seriously, time your next 20 fuel stops on a road trip. Not just the time you spend at the pump, the time you spend not moving.

See, this I do not understand.  If I'm not pumping fuel at a gas station, what the heck am I doing?  I don't do convenience stores.  I never go inside.  Pay at the pump.  Five minutes, stopped to rolling again, unless the pump runs slow, in which case I've been known to shut it off after a few gallons and vow never to buy gas there again.

I am not a patient man. 

it will be a while before there are used electric minivans at a ten year old used, so the family will be in ICE for some time. Personal vehicle is another matter.

I LOVE the feeling of torque. LOVE to accelerate fast from a stop. LOVE LOVE LOVE - hate a turbocharger, love a supercharger. So I’d take any old boring design EV if it jumped off the line AND was -relatively speaking- as cheap as the average 15 year old ICE is these days. I have no attachment to the particularities of ICE. I gave up on the “driving experience” of 3 pedals a while back; my wife hates them and I prefer to eat my French fries AND drive at the same time. 

1988RedT2 said:

frenchyd said:

slowbird said:

I may have to eat my words; I guess there are outdoor chargers which shouldn't surprise me but it does for some reason. Still, I think an electric car is at least 5-10 years away for me if not longer.

I understand, don't worry about it. Some people are leaders and some prefer to follow the pack. 

And still others firmly believe that both the so-called leaders and the pack that follows have completely lost their freaking minds. 

Cars mainly started out steam driven. Then some electrics and along came gas burners.  
Electrics never really went away, they just found special niche's to work in.  
    As far as I'm concerned there is room in the market for a simple electric. battery, drive, and charger.    
    A lot of people are frightened of complexity. Of technology. They want to reduce that and maybe lower the cost a little bit. Self driving, smart cruise control, GPS, maybe even HVAC  is to fancy, complex for them. 

1988RedT2 said:

See, this I do not understand.  If I'm not pumping fuel at a gas station, what the heck am I doing?  I don't do convenience stores.  I never go inside.  Pay at the pump.  Five minutes, stopped to rolling again, unless the pump runs slow, in which case I've been known to shut it off after a few gallons and vow never to buy gas there again.

I am not a patient man. 

I'm kinda the same way with refueling on a trip, but given enough range to avoid frequent stops, I don't think it's a huge issue.  If chargers become common enough, I can get a few minutes of charging whenever I stop for a bathroom break.  Same thing if I stop for coffee.  All of that adds length to the trip before I'd need to sit around waiting for the car to charge.  If the car's range plus those incidental stops gets me  400 miles, that covers the majority of trips I'd take. 

But even then, with a shorter range EV, it would still cover 80% or more of my driving and I could just take an ICE car for longer trips (I don't expect to shed all of those from the fleet any time soon). 

1988RedT2 said:

Keith Tanner said:

And the whole five minute thing has been debunked so many times it's not funny. Seriously, time your next 20 fuel stops on a road trip. Not just the time you spend at the pump, the time you spend not moving.

 

See, this I do not understand.  If I'm not pumping fuel at a gas station, what the heck am I doing?  I don't do convenience stores.  I never go inside.  Pay at the pump.  Five minutes, stopped to rolling again, unless the pump runs slow, in which case I've been known to shut it off after a few gallons and vow never to buy gas there again.

I am not a patient man. 

Same. My fuel stops usually only add 5 minutes tops to my GPS' ETA. If I run inside to use the bathroom, then the entire stop takes maybe 10 minutes. And I consolidate my bathroom stops with my fuel stops. 

I bought my first electric vehicle in 1982. 
 

I would love to buy one right now as a dd, but I can't justify it.  I drive 1000 miles a week to projects without decent electric, and I have to drive a truck. 
 

But the real reason I won't do it any time soon is that my company pays for all my gas, including personal use. Electric will never be cheaper than what I have, regardless of how cheap it is per kWh.

Free is pretty hard to beat.  

1988RedT2 said:

Keith Tanner said:

And the whole five minute thing has been debunked so many times it's not funny. Seriously, time your next 20 fuel stops on a road trip. Not just the time you spend at the pump, the time you spend not moving.

 

See, this I do not understand.  If I'm not pumping fuel at a gas station, what the heck am I doing?  I don't do convenience stores.  I never go inside.  Pay at the pump.  Five minutes, stopped to rolling again, unless the pump runs slow, in which case I've been known to shut it off after a few gallons and vow never to buy gas there again.

I am not a patient man. 

Most people have biological needs, that's one thing to be doing.

People go in to convenience stores and gas station restaurants. That can be proven by the fact that 99% of gas stations offer these facilities. I've had a couple of friends do long distance, multi-day EV trips and they both reported that the car was almost never the limiting factor. They were doing extremely long days, though, so people maintenance was not optional. In at least one case, they were bringing their own food along so it wasn't a matter of waiting for a restaurant. And they still managed to maintain pretty high average speeds. There was also a forum member here who did his own timing/calculation and came up with similar numbers.

Based on observation, there are far more people leaving their car at the pump - fully fueled - to go inside the gas station facilities than there are tapping their toes while timing the speed of the pump with a stopwatch. Apparently everyone on the GRM forum is in the latter camp :)

It's kinda funny to propose the ICE as a replacement for electric passenger vehicles. The one thing it has going for it is a fast refuel time. That's about it. They're noisy, their exhaust is so poisonous it will kill you if you run them in an enclosed space, the fuel is carcinogenic and really ugly environmentally if you spill it, they require frequent maintenance (generating even more nasty byproducts), most of their fuel's energy is turned into heat which has to be dispersed, the packaging is not terribly flexible, each one requires a few thousand bucks worth of scrubbers and devices and monitors to keep emissions under control - and a subset of owners will actively remove/disable these components. That's not even getting into how/where the fuel comes from and is transported and stored.

But Paul's right. ICE vehicles are going to be around for a long time. EVs don't solve all problems (of course) and even if they did, we couldn't switch the fleet over in a hurry if we wanted to.