Electric Cars - I'm Trying to be Open Minded

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

there are still a few electric cars out there that are over 100 years old. Even a few electric trucks. Those who have feelings against the concept will constantly come up with "but, but, but." Some are legitimate concerns that the industry is improving or has already solved. Battery tech over the past 30 years have given us incredible advances in ease of using power tools, kids motorized toys, even the cell phones we now carry in a pocket instead of a 15 pound brief case like my first cell phone. The lap tops and tablets many of you use to even view this forum. 40 years ago, I sat on the front porch with my grandfather having a beer one summer evening. He described the changes he has seen in his life. and his bewilderment at the changes I will see in mine. He saw the electrification of his home town, when telephones first interrupted the evening meal, motion pictures, the advent of the automobile, was the first teenager in his town to have a driver's license. Innoculations to save people from the misery of polio and other diseases, the development of pennicilin, heart transplants, man on the moon, intercontinental air travel, television sets. "trying to keep an open mind?" What ever the disadvantages, some engineer egg head has probably already solved the problem. it takes time for tech to be adapted to daily life. The first steam engine existed in ancient times, but it took over 2,000 years for a guy to make it do something useful. Ben Franklin probably invented the first electric motor and it took 100 years for Nick Tesla to improve it to be practical. I was in college when the first digital calculators were reduced to portable size. An engineering student I knew saved an entire summer for enough to buy an advanced calculator for his classes. Today you can buy a more advanced calculator for $3 at any discount store. My family's first color television in the 1960's cost almost $400. Now I can buy a 50 inch flat screen digital smart tv for that. Times they are changing. economics and gov't regulation will determine which direction things go.

[Chris Parks]

there are still a few electric cars out there that are over 100 years old. Even a few electric trucks. Those who have feelings against the concept will constantly come up with "but, but, but." Some are legitimate concerns that the industry is improving or has already solved. Battery tech over the past 30 years have given us incredible advances in ease of using power tools, kids motorized toys, even the cell phones we now carry in a pocket instead of a 15 pound brief case like my first cell phone. The lap tops and tablets many of you use to even view this forum. 40 years ago, I sat on the front porch with my grandfather having a beer one summer evening. He described the changes he has seen in his life. and his bewilderment at the changes I will see in mine. He saw the electrification of his home town, when telephones first interrupted the evening meal, motion pictures, the advent of the automobile, was the first teenager in his town to have a driver's license. Innoculations to save people from the misery of polio and other diseases, the development of pennicilin, heart transplants, man on the moon, intercontinental air travel, television sets. "trying to keep an open mind?" What ever the disadvantages, some engineer egg head has probably already solved the problem. it takes time for tech to be adapted to daily life. The first steam engine existed in ancient times, but it took over 2,000 years for a guy to make it do something useful. Ben Franklin probably invented the first electric motor and it took 100 years for Nick Tesla to improve it to be practical. I was in college when the first digital calculators were reduced to portable size. An engineering student I knew saved an entire summer for enough to buy an advanced calculator for his classes. Today you can buy a more advanced calculator for $3 at any discount store. My family's first color television in the 1960's cost almost $400. Now I can buy a 50 inch flat screen digital smart tv for that. Times they are changing. economics and gov't regulation will determine which direction things go.

Perry, you nailed it.

[Dan Friedrichs]

You don't travel very much by car do you?

Haha Actually, I own gas cars and spend a few hours a day commuting. I hate it. I'd much rather sit in a self-driving car and get work done instead of doing the driving. I change my own oil and do my own car maintenance, but I'd much rather not deal with the mess and the smell and the hassle. I pump my own gas, but it's inconvenient to stop for a fill-up. An electric car would meet 99.9% of my driving needs, and I'd charge it for free at work (because my employer sees "free electric car charging" as a perk to attract top-tier employees). For the other 0.1% of driving needs, I'll keep a gas car for now, but am anxious for the day when self-driving ride-share cars are a reality.

Not quite the same thing, but I replaced my gas weedwacker, lawnmower, and leaf blower with electric models, and could NOT BE HAPPIER. No more gas cans, mixing oil, spark plugs, flooded engines, pull-starting, priming, or bad fumes. Lightweight, quiet(!!), powerful, and with batteries that last more than enough time. I'm replacing the snowblower with an electric model, next year. After that, maybe the Tesla 3 will be out

[Brian Henderson]

It takes less than ten minutes for an Uber to arrive at my house. That's as "now" as needed since I'm still getting dressed, finding my wallet, or whatever. That's why it's better than Enterprise, which takes 1-2 hours to deliver a car. When you have a car being driven once per week and otherwise wasting hundreds of dollars, it makes no sense to keep it. I doubt I'd have NO cars, but it's a great replacement for a second car.

Good for you. That's not how I operate. I drive my car multiple times per day, every day, and I don't want to sit around waiting for 10 minutes for someone else to show up. If that works for you, fine. It doesn't work for me.

[Brian Henderson]

If you want to drive a car then you better not ever move to the city of Minneapolis. The city is making it as difficult as possible to own and drive a car in the city. Many streets have been reduced to create bike lanes. Parking rates are skyrocketing in downtown because the city doesn't want new parking. The city even bought a parking ramp and is tearing it down to build a city office building. New rules for parking in new buildings make it nearly impossible to include any above ground parking in new construction.

I predict by 2030 the city will outright ban private vehicles, at least in the downtown area.

I would never live in a city. I live in the outskirts of suburbia. In fact, if you drive east from my house, there is at least 30 miles of nothing. No houses, no businesses, nothing but desert. And I like it that way.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Perry reminds me that a few years ago when I started switching all my air tools to battery, people said I was nuts. Batteries can never compete with air!!! LOL, my 20v impact gun easily beats my air-powered gun. I sold nearly all the air tools, and my huge compressor now feels like the Maytag repairman. The only air tools I kept are a couple of the little grinders/drills because they are very small and work in tight spaces. I use them once a year maybe.

The only reason we don't own electrics is that they aren't made in the car styles we want (Jeep and BMW Z4). Both are toys as well as being tools.

[Jim Becker]

Carlos, the good news for you is that Jeep does intend to bring on hybrid and potentially electric in the reasonable near term. I help moderate one of the largest Jeep forums and that was encouraging to hear. On the sporty side of things...things bode well there, too, for electrics and hybrids. The instantaneous "zoom" factor because of the high torque is impressive in that respect.

[Edwin Santos]

Does anyone know how long it took for a nationwide network of gas stations to be developed following the advent of the automobile? Surely it must have taken time, and for a period, it must have been somewhat inconvenient to obtain gas and the new auto owner must have had to organize themselves and their schedule around the location of the nearest gas station and when they'd need it. I'm sure this might have been an objection for a lot of people, but as the gas stations proliferated and convenience of proximity increased, that objection went away. I thought Tesla had this in mind with their supercharger network.
Of course electric vehicles have an advantage in that you can refuel in your own garage. I'm seeing a lot more of the electric vehicle charging stations all over the place. Maybe they'll figure out a way to wirelessly recharge, maybe even on the go. Would it surprise anyone if they did?

Range will certainly increase. Remember when digital camera memory cards were limited in capacity and you had to worry about the "card full" warning? The card that would come with the camera would hold like 12 images? Now they are a tenth of the price and, depending on the camera resolution, hold thousands of images. I can imagine that kind of improvement curve with electric vehicles in terms of range and recharge time.

[Brian Elfert]

Does anyone know how long it took for a nationwide network of gas stations to be developed following the advent of the automobile? Surely it must have taken time, and for a period, it must have been somewhat inconvenient to obtain gas and the new auto owner must have had to organize themselves and their schedule around the location of the nearest gas station and when they'd need it. I'm sure this might have been an objection for a lot of people, but as the gas stations proliferated and convenience of proximity increased, that objection went away. I thought Tesla had this in mind with their supercharger network.

I would imagine most folks were not driving cross country when cars first came out.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Carlos, the good news for you is that Jeep does intend to bring on hybrid and potentially electric in the reasonable near term. I help moderate one of the largest Jeep forums and that was encouraging to hear. On the sporty side of things...things bode well there, too, for electrics and hybrids. The instantaneous "zoom" factor because of the high torque is impressive in that respect.

That and the diesel have interested me for a while. But I really hate the JL interior. Hate in a way that I don't think I could buy it. So when the diesel and electric are actually available, I will have a tough choice.

[Mike Cary]

As a biochemist, it’s difficult for me to consider carbon dioxide a pollutant.

[Rick Potter]

I am hardly what you would call an 'early adopter', I have always been into hot rods, jeeps, sports cars etc. I would not have bought the two little SUV plug in's if I didn't have the extra solar capability that feeds them most of the time. We drove one this morning, over 20 miles and the motor finally kicked in the last half mile. Now, 3 hours later it is completely charged, and the wife will be leaving again in an hour or so.

She hates to get gas, but doesn't mind plugging it in every time she gets home. We normally get gas about every 4 months. We never intended to use the plug in's on long trips, but have taken mine to Idaho/Wyoming twice.

We have a 15 year old mini van, my 15 year old F250 diesel, and four toy cars, We hardly drive the 'normal' ones anymore, because we really like the plug in's. We keep the others around for trips to the airport, taking friends out to dinner, etc.

I will never buy a sedan, we are waiting for a larger SUV plug in to come along, and we will get rid of the van and one small plug in.

Just saw some pics of the new 2019 Lincoln Aviator Rear Drive SUV. Twin turbo V6, and plug in hybrid. Hmmmm.

[Andrew Joiner]

Originally Posted by Andrew Joiner
I'm attracted to time proven designs and simplicity. Especially in higher expense things like cars. My experience with tool batteries has me questioning the actual battery life of EV's. A hybrid isn't simple and costs more than a high mpg economy car. I know I'm just an old closed minded frugal woodworker

Ditto. Can't keep cars as long as you because of salt, but I run them up to 170k usually. I buy cars that do not break and get great mileage, oh and cheap! My last car was a Mazda 3, paid 12k, drove it for 170ishk, nothing broke, sold it for 2500 to a friend that is still driving it but does not mind rust.

Have a 2,0l non turbo stick focus right now, hope it is as good as the Mazda. Work truck is as cheap as they come, which is not so cheap these days. I do not like any complicated systems, they cost too much and they break at an accelerated rate. Save me from the hybrids and the twin turbo blah, blah, blah. For my dollar, keep it simple.......

Great minds think alike! So are we both just simple minded?
My frustration with tools was solved by Ridgid's lifetime battery warranty.
I like the electric car for the simplicity potential.

I know I'm dreaming but I'd consider electric when.
1- The purchase prices come down.
2- Fast charging stations are brand universal.
3- A pop in spare battery pack is the size of a jerry can and will get you as far.
4- Big hatchbacks, station wagons or pickups are available.
5- Oh and now that Ridgid spoiled me the batteries will come with a lifetime warranty.

[Jim Becker]

That and the diesel have interested me for a while. But I really hate the JL interior. Hate in a way that I don't think I could buy it. So when the diesel and electric are actually available, I will have a tough choice.

Maybe the 2019 Scrambler (JT) will catch your eye...the EcoDiesel will be available, albeit as a late option. Jeep Pick-em-up! I'm guessing that the interior will be the same as the JL, however.

[Bill Dufour]

When gas stations first got stated you had to carry a map to find them. Now the Tesla has gps and a updated map showing the best route from supercharger to supercharger along the way to your destination. Steam cars had to stop at convenient horse water troughs but every town has those don't they?
Bill D.
PS: The Tesla supercharger is something like 440 volts at 400 amps this bypass the cars onboard charger circuitry. Of course the amps reduce as the battery back EMF builds. Also the amps are shared with every pair of chargers so if someone else is charging your rate will drop depending on relative battery conditions. More amps will flow to the lower battery but if your battery is already fairly charged it may not actually reduce the amps it can pump into yours.