Electric Vehicles

[silversleeper]

Originally Posted by Martinjlm

I just configured one as close as I could get to the content in our Model Y. It prized at $52,610. Our Model Y priced out at $52,790. The Blazer RS (ICE) that I priced fell in at $52,810. The Model Y and the Blazer RS are both AWD while the Equinox EV is FWD..

And that's the rub. I was all set to buy a new Equinox until they didn't show up and price was way over the internet rumored $35k. It doesn't even have the standard features you get on a Corolla or Civic unless maybe the top models.
The Y went from $50k to $48k for taking in stock car, and still had a $3k and 7.5k rebates. $38k for a well proven design with no dealer ripoffs buying the whole thing online not stuck in front of one desk to the other forcing a ripoff on you. Or wait for $52k Equinox and hope for some rebate to offset additional ripoffs the dealer.

racerx youtube guy posted about his new Demon170 engine blowing along with all the massive BS dealers have put him through. A changed engine in a collectors interest car is like having a big accident on its records, devalue. Not to mention now that a few have blown is it really the top dog now? Fastest car in the world except a stock grampa's S Plaid sedan outruns it at far cheaper price in the real world.


This video is a long winded guy about his 4+yr 100k mi experience with a Tesla 3. I'll save you the time he only replaced a $10 seat switch and $400 oil circulation pump for the rear motor/diff in 100k mi plus worn suspension at $1k. He estimated $2k spent on electricity BEV vs $15k in ICE fuel if he had to buy it at UK prices. It had similar depreciation to a similar ICE car. Many comments by people driving up to 188k mi without problems. A few problems mentioned out of hundreds of thousands sold. A very few battery replacements but relative to how many sold and the fact they keep improving the batteries even mid year it's not common now, also how did they treat them? Fully charged and left sitting in hot weather beats them down. IIRC the heat pump has been updated and suspension to eliminate a failure point. Don't know about the power steering pump a few have had problems with. The China made 3Performance battery might be a bad trend like the Demon170 engines. The only thing I learned was tire life can be as good as any other car if you don't beat on it's performance. People getting 47k mi out of them. There were a few trolls in the comments section repeating FUD aka BS.
Edit: Here is some info on 2017-2021 power steering problem solved with OTA software update, Don't know if that resolved it but I don't really see any trends on late model Ys. https://www.consumerreports.org/cars...m-a4893117329/
I might add IDK if I would buy a BEV with intentions of trading it in or selling it within a few years of ownership. Because of dropping BEV retail prices and many peoples fear of them used markets are still more uncertain for many dealers. I never lease but BEVs are getting crazy low lease offers now and I would go that route except I intend to keep mine longer than that.

[lbls1]

Originally Posted by speedyink1

I like the idea of less things to break (at least on commuter cars where "soul" or "driving character" isn't necessary).

My biggest worry is the battery.

If you do not follow the traditional "Don't discharge below 30%/Don't charge over 80%" at all, how long does the pack last? I'm not talking even talking strictly from a mileage point of view either. The chemicals in the battery degrade over time as well. I can see an EV in 10 years with lowish mileage being ok, I can see a 2 year old EV with high mileage being ok, but what about a 10 y/o car with say 200,000 Miles on the clock?
Battery replacement cost is huge. Not to mention, with a 10's of thousands $ repair, would you want to invest that in an EV with "old" drivetrain technology?

With ICE cars, you can buy a 40 year old car that may only take a few thousand to get running great.

As for sports cars, the gimmick isn't just "pedal go down I go fast", it's also the sound of the motor, the feel of the motor, the connection to it and the transmission and everything.

Not to discredit engineers working on electric vehicles as the work is still impressive, but their inherent simplicity also leaves less room for areas of engagement/excitement.
I can buy an ICE car from 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, and feel like I am having way more fun, even if it's just a car with 130 HP. Maybe it's a tiny high revving V6, with amazing induction sounds, and a crisp free shifting manual transmission. Maybe it's a 180HP V8 with huge sound, lumpy idle, and again, just super fun to master the transmission.
Will there be people looking back at any EV car and go "yeah, this car has so much character regardless of deficiency A or B"? Is there enough to make it feel "special" like many ICE cars in the past still do to this day?

I get I kind of have "old school" thinking and really like all the moving parts that just sing when you have the right car on the right road. If you're totally ok with just having the push you back in the seat feeling, all my points are basically moot.

I was away from this topic a bit, but thank you for sharing this. This hits home for me. I can remember when I was in college and I would go to the dealer with dad, and I sat in an IROC or MC SS. I remember how good those cars felt at the seat of the pants, and how much I wanted one. Mind you, this was the late 80's where 180 hp was considered good. I would get more excited and I felt better behind the wheel of these two weak 80's cars than I would a 300 hp. front driver or most of "today's" performance cars, with one or two or three exceptions. The end of Camaro, Challenger and Charger signaled the end of affordable performance. Now there's nothing to look forward to, save for the excellent pickup twins. It leaves me sad because I remember a time when cars were one of the main things people got excited about. Now, they have been reduced to mere household utensils, with no thought given to them unless they need repair or replacement. We are witnessing the end of an era, and it leaves me sad.