Electric Cars

[Doug Garson]

If you want to charge by miles driven, why not just require that you report your mileage each year when you renew the vehicle license plates? Yes some people will cheat but if you make the penalty severe enough, say take away the plates for six month for a first offence, twelve for a second, I wonder how many will risk it? Enforcement could include odometer checks whenever a vehicle is stopped for a traffic infraction, mandatory reporting of odometer readings by all licensed garages or whenever a title is transferred, spot checks when vehicle license plates are renewed etc.

I'm puzzled why the concern about paying for miles travelled out of state comes up so often. Do they scowl at out of state licensed cars that aren't helping to pay for road maintenance in their state?

[Doug Garson]

Not any different than me having to plug in the jacket water heater on my vehicle when I get home, or unplugging it when I use the vehicle….Rod

Or trying to thaw out a frozen gas line or start a diesel you forgot to plug in at twenty below.

[Ronald Blue]

The vast majority of commercial vehicles at least those using eLogs already record mileage for the apportioned plates based on GPS tracking of location. I used to have to show 5 entries on a paper record for less than a 100 miles driven because I would be in 3 states.

[Brian Elfert]

I'm puzzled why the concern about paying for miles travelled out of state comes up so often. Do they scowl at out of state licensed cars that aren't helping to pay for road maintenance in their state?

Right now, out of state cars often buy fuel when in another state so it mostly evens out. Commercial vehicles have to pay fuel tax for each mile they drive in a state regardless if they bought fuel there or not.

I have a motorhome that does less than 10% of its miles in the the state of Minnesota. What happens if Minnesota becomes the first state to the USA to tax miles instead of fuel and the other states still tax fuel? I would end up paying road taxes twice.

[Scott Clausen]

I think the viability of electric cars are soon to meet their real test. As numbers are increasing their batteries will soon be reaching their maximum five year life span in ever increasing numbers. If the cost of a battery replacement is a large financial hit and causes consumers to sell or dump the cars prior to this unsubsidized hit then the trade in amounts will reflect that hit. I think consumers will have a day of reckoning. Many can deal with a subsidized purchase and a lower cost to operate but if battery replacement is a $10,000.00 pay it now cost it will leave many feeling screwed. Many may still be paying for the initial purchase, asking can I finance the batteries? Me I like to drive a car 10 years or until is no longer road worthy.

[Doug Garson]

I think the viability of electric cars are soon to meet their real test. As numbers are increasing their batteries will soon be reaching their maximum five year life span in ever increasing numbers. If the cost of a battery replacement is a large financial hit and causes consumers to sell or dump the cars prior to this unsubsidized hit then the trade in amounts will reflect that hit. I think consumers will have a day of reckoning. Many can deal with a subsidized purchase and a lower cost to operate but if battery replacement is a $10,000.00 pay it now cost it will leave many feeling screwed. Many may still be paying for the initial purchase, asking can I finance the batteries? Me I like to drive a car 10 years or until is no longer road worthy.

Maybe true but the predicted battery life is 10 to 20 years not 5 years and the average cost to replace is $5500 not $10000. The average gasoline engine car lasts about 12 years.

[Mike Kees]

I agree with Scott ,in that the battery life /replacement cost and or ability to replace will be the one thing that makes or breaks EV sales long term. I also wonder where is all the additional power going to come from and how much will our electric bills increase when we all end up driving electric vehicles ? The technology is fascinating and with out a doubt will continue to change/improve as time goes on.

[Peter Mich]

Not sure that our situation is generalizable, but we are installing solar panels to reduce our reliance on the existing grid and we’ve added capacity to our solar installation to accommodate our plans to purchase an EV in the near future. Maybe more homes and neighborhoods in the future will take advantage of solar power. Fingers crossed.

[Brian Elfert]

Maybe true but the predicted battery life is 10 to 20 years not 5 years and the average cost to replace is $5500 not $10000. The average gasoline engine car lasts about 12 years.

What kills cars in Minnesota is rust if you drive the vehicle in the winter. If you drive 12,000 miles per year it is likely your car will have rust issues before the drivetrain fails. My parents had a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan that had to be scrapped due to rust at only 140,000 miles.

The painted parts of car bodies are definitely lasting longer, but they still rust eventually. My brother has a 2011 Honda Odyssey that is just starting to show some rust and he drives it a lot. Electric vehicles might not make to 15 years in Minnesota if they are still made of steel like today's cars.

[Doug Garson]

What kills cars in Minnesota is rust if you drive the vehicle in the winter. If you drive 12,000 miles per year it is likely your car will have rust issues before the drivetrain fails. My parents had a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan that had to be scrapped due to rust at only 140,000 miles.

The painted parts of car bodies are definitely lasting longer, but they still rust eventually. My brother has a 2011 Honda Odyssey that is just starting to show some rust and he drives it a lot. Electric vehicles might not make to 15 years in Minnesota if they are still made of steel like today's cars.

I grew up in Ontario and it was like you describe there back in the 70s and 80s but I thought today's cars were much better. Out here in the Vancouver area, cars rusting is a much smaller issue partly because a lot less road salt is used due to the milder climate.

[Warren Lake]

if you want cars to last then rust proof them. Ive done it myself for years as rust proofers are set up well but cant take the time to do it well and skimp on materials. When I got new tires on my current small car main driver they said they had never seen one in such good shape.

[Warren Lake]

im stuck on old cars and staying there. Ive said when they get better for retrofit of old stuff then ill pay more attention. Looked at you tubes of all different electrics, EV in California and even manufacturers who are bring back old body styles ( a thing ive said for years) but doing it in electric. EV is set up so well he has solar, has it down and is charging all the cars there off what he collects all be it in the right place to collect. They make it better and simpler to the point you can buy a kit that is designed to fit your motor mounts and mate to the transmission you have.

[Mike Henderson]

im stuck on old cars and staying there. Ive said when they get better for retrofit of old stuff then ill pay more attention. Looked at you tubes of all different electrics, EV in California and even manufacturers who are bring back old body styles ( a thing ive said for years) but doing it in electric. EV is set up so well he has solar, has it down and is charging all the cars there off what he collects all be it in the right place to collect. They make it better and simpler to the point you can buy a kit that is designed to fit your motor mounts and mate to the transmission you have.

Chevrolet announced an electric retrofit kit some time back. But there are a number of issues with converting a vehicle to electric.

1. Where to store the batteries? And can the vehicle suspension take the weight? And how will it handle with the weight balance?
2. Convert your heater and A/C to electric. Today, the heater uses hot water taken from the engine and the A/C is driven by the engine.
3. Convert power steering to electric.
4. Anything that takes power or vacuum, or anything else, from the engine has to be converted, such as power brakes.
5. A bunch of electronics has to be added and a display for monitoring and control of the electric systems (you need to know how much charge is in your batteries).

Would the transmission be left in the vehicle, or removed? It's generally not needed in an electric vehicle.

Cars are designed as systems - you can't just change one part without affecting other parts.

Mike

[Doug Garson]

I would think that the conversion kit would be a small niche market, surprised GM would be bothered marketing it.

[Warren Lake]

yeah been around cars for 50 years have friends that restore them to ones that work on racing cars. EV has worked some of that out and it will only get better and more and more info I saw all kinds of conversions and it wasnt even even all recent. 50 year old pick ups etc. I like the 400 small block and the 411 rear, I like the sound as well.

Electric with more power, figure out what rear ratio and a muncie 4 speed, no need for a Tremec six speed. Sure that would be amazing. Ill let them keep working on it for now. Like water base it had a learning curve,