Electric cars

[Rick Potter]

State Farm has only asked for pics of my cars when they are old, and I specify a stated value, like my '55 Thunderbird. There can be a $40,000 or more difference in value on such cars, and they want to have baseline pics.

I was looking at ads last night, and found some priced from $15K to over $70K. The really high priced ones better have receipts, documentation, and appraisals, if the owners ever need to collect on the policy. The company also wants assurance the car is kept in a secure garage.

[Lee DeRaud]

State Farm has only asked for pics of my cars when they are old, and I specify a stated value, like my '55 Thunderbird. There can be a $40,000 or more difference in value on such cars, and they want to have baseline pics.

I was looking at ads last night, and found some priced from $15K to over $70K. The really high priced ones better have receipts, documentation, and appraisals, if the owners ever need to collect on the policy. The company also wants assurance the car is kept in a secure garage.

There's really no substitute for stated-value coverage on a vehicle like that. Although, despite being a State Farm customer for decades, I'm not sure they'd be my first choice for anything truly collectable: that's a pretty specialized market.

[Van Huskey]

Obviously, this has always been for used cars, never for new.

Oddly enough the one time I have been ask to "show them the car" was a brand new M3.

I added over the phone like I had for many cars in the past (and several since) and the lady said I needed to drop by my local agent for an inspection, I "corrected" her reminding her that it was a new car but she said I had to. No biggie the agent was on the way home when I got there and explained the agent said they had never had that request for a new car, he looked out the window, saw a new car and clicked the "box" on the computer and I was on my way.

[Ronald Blue]

Interesting thread. No opinion to weigh in with except where diesel electric locomotives are concerned. That's throwing information out there without the qualifying of it. Yes there was a diesel electric locomotive produced in the 1920's. However it wasn't until the 50's when the power reached levels that made them a good choice to replace steam power. There is not much chance that a rechargeable road locomotive will be produced in the near future unless there is a major break through in battery technology. LNG is being tested currently. That requires a "tender" car per locomotive. I don't know how the horsepower compares. I have saw them roll by though. Carry on.

[Rick Potter]

Porsche made two recent announcements.

1: They have been taking $2500 deposits for their new Taycan electric sports car, and they are already sold out for 2020.

2: The company predicts that half of all Porsche cars built in 2025 model year will have plugs.

This is being rushed by new European and Chinese laws for future cars.

Info from Green Cars.com

[Stan Calow]

Regarding electric cars, I'd like to know what their reliability is for all other components of the car, besides the engine/batteries. That is, since there is no exhaust or cooling system, and simpler transmission, ignition, oil etc., are the maintenance costs significantly lower and the repairs less frequent.

[Steve Demuth]

Interesting. Not even once since my first vehicle at age 21 have I been asked for photos of the same, even when changing insurers. (And i'm soon to turn 62) Maybe PA's insurance law doesn't permit it.

Ditto. New or used, never been asked for a. Vehicle photo.

[Mike Henderson]

Regarding electric cars, I'd like to know what their reliability is for all other components of the car, besides the engine/batteries. That is, since there is no exhaust or cooling system, and simpler transmission, ignition, oil etc., are the maintenance costs significantly lower and the repairs less frequent.

I don't have any data but if you look at tools that are electric motor driven compared to any tool with a gasoline motor, the electric motor driven tool will last longer and have less maintenance requirements.

The big question is how long the battery lasts since the battery is a major cost item.

Mike

[Bill Dufour]

Interesting thread. No opinion to weigh in with except where diesel electric locomotives are concerned. That's throwing information out there without the qualifying of it. Yes there was a diesel electric locomotive produced in the 1920's. However it wasn't until the 50's when the power reached levels that made them a good choice to replace steam power. There is not much chance that a rechargeable road locomotive will be produced in the near future unless there is a major break through in battery technology. LNG is being tested currently. That requires a "tender" car per locomotive. I don't know how the horsepower compares. I have saw them roll by though. Carry on.

The trolley buses in San Francisco now have a small battery in them so they can run one or two blocks off the hook to get around a stalled bus etc. It used to be they could not move if the hooks came off the wires.
Bill D.
T

[Yathin Krishnappa]

Regarding electric cars, I'd like to know what their reliability is for all other components of the car, besides the engine/batteries. That is, since there is no exhaust or cooling system, and simpler transmission, ignition, oil etc., are the maintenance costs significantly lower and the repairs less frequent.

I feel that it is going to be cheaper and more reliable, but it's probably not the most important factor in buying an electric car today. There's probably no real data except for a few outlier Teslas that have done hundreds of thousands of miles. For what it's worth, my personal experience is that Tesla maintenance costs (service+tires) are on par with Porsche. Also, Tesla parts are not easily available and that combined with proprietary software which is a major component of the car makes it not easily serviceable by third party.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Regarding electric cars, I'd like to know what their reliability is for all other components of the car, besides the engine/batteries. That is, since there is no exhaust or cooling system, and simpler transmission, ignition, oil etc., are the maintenance costs significantly lower and the repairs less frequent.

In addition to the complete lack of many maintenance "parts" (oil, exhaust, fuel system, etc), even brakes apparently last a very long time (since the regen braking does most of the work, not the friction pads).

[Bill Dufour]

I wonder how long the VFD will last in then real world of wet and vibrations. That is probably more expensive then the motors.
Bill

[Van Huskey]

I wonder how long the VFD will last in then real world of wet and vibrations. That is probably more expensive then the motors.
Bill

I can't imagine that vibration isolation and keeping the motor controller dry is much of an engineering head scratcher given the amount of electronics in even the cheapest cars today.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I feel that it is going to be cheaper and more reliable, but it's probably not the most important factor in buying an electric car today. There's probably no real data except for a few outlier Teslas that have done hundreds of thousands of miles. For what it's worth, my personal experience is that Tesla maintenance costs (service+tires) are on par with Porsche. Also, Tesla parts are not easily available and that combined with proprietary software which is a major component of the car makes it not easily serviceable by third party.

I mentioned the Edmunds true cost of ownership numbers a while ago. They show electric as marginally more expensive than gas for comparable vehicles, at least that is the way it looks to me. If others have other data I would be interested to see it, but that is what I can find.

People have mentioned oil changes a few times as an expense. I changed my oil once this year, and I drive a fair amount. Modern cars do not need the three month/three thousand mile maintenance that was standard thirty years ago. Mine has a sensor and when a change is needed it comes on. It is a five year old model.

Aside from a tire that ended up with a nail in it, My largest maintenance expense this year was actually wipers.

[Dan Friedrichs]

People have mentioned oil changes a few times as an expense. I changed my oil once this year, and I drive a fair amount. Modern cars do not need the three month/three thousand mile maintenance that was standard thirty years ago. Mine has a sensor and when a change is needed it comes on. It is a five year old model..

Good point - with average annual mileage of ~15k and synthetic oil, you probably only need 1 oil change/yr.

Still, the massively reduced complexity is exciting.