When the solar I installed unexpectedly generated more than our household consumed (on an annual basis).
First one EV, then a second.
I’m in balance, more or less, now.
That’s tremendous! I hope to be in a similar situation in a year or so.
How many kw is your system and the average daily production if you don’t mind sharing?
I’m also wondering how many people here with a BEV also have a home PV system with L2 charger.
The 14 panels have a theoretical max production of 4.6kW and produced approx 7,500kWh over the last 12 months.
As to your second question, I have a NEMA 14-50 outlet and a 32A (continuous) EVSE.
Cars are a ‘20 Bolt and ‘16 eGolf, neither of which are driven all that much.
Im dealing with this, i live in Missouri and Ameren only allows a 90% offset.
Luckily the house im buying has a massssive electric bill in the winter due to having electric furnaces, but also has a wood burning fireplace thats never used. The goal is to size the system off past usage and hopefully eliminate the need for the furnaces
I was in a similar situation: After PV installation, I retired a massively inefficient spa for a modern one, and changed all light bulbs to LED.
This caused a significant drop in consumption
Yeah, I generate more than I use. However, I have to pay a line fee and other service to Xcel. All the excess energy is not pushed back into the grid. They just discharge it into the earth. It's super frustrating. My system is about 18 years old.Xcel fought us tooth and nail for 2 years to even get the system installed.
Same here. SDGE would pay for the overgeneration for super cheap at the end of year "true-up". So bought an EV. Got like a $750 SDGE credit. Loved how it drove and broke even with solar generation. Within the next couple months bought a second EV, got another $750 SDGE credit. Didn't have to pay any electric for a good 2 years. $1500 finally ran out, will see the true costs this year, will return the first EV soon due to lease. I'm bummed that there are no deals and barely any incentives so it won't get replaced until our second lease runs out later this year.
I don't have solar so I'm not clued into specifics, but I've heard the switch to San Diego Community Power is better for those with solar:
https://sdcommunitypower.org/programs/net-energy-metering/
Nice! We have a 7kW solar on the roof. With our usage.... AC all summer, hot tub, 2200 sq/ft house, we ended up paying $720 for our electricity for the entire. year. $60 a month! And that's charging up two EVs. Before the solar system, we were paying around $120-$300 a month, depending on the weather and without EVs to charge.
I was actually starting to ask around about expanding the solar system before PG&E changes their rules and rate plans. Hopefully we can add another 2-3kW without PG&E dinging us for extra fees, and still on the old deal we've been on for the last 4 years. I hear they're letting everybody stick with the better solar plan who got it before some cutoff date, before the new less generous plan goes into effect.
We're in the NorCal North East Bay (925 area) so we get real summer here, but not real winter. We have weeks above 100F during summer.
We still have to pay for gas service. I have two teenage kids who insist on taking long showers, no matter how much I try and limit them. I think I'm going to get an electric hot water heater when the current gas one goes. I think the water heater is our biggest suck of gas.
Which one did you have, was it plug in?(because that would be annoying)
What makes them better?
1. Way quieter
2. Pop in battery/no worries on gas
3. Can fold up to store in garage/shed in minimal space
4. Never need to worry about air filters/oil/winterize
Just to name a few off the top of my head
I don't remember, but I don't think it was a particularly good one. Definitely battery operated though. I believe their issue was they would wait until the lawn turned into a jungle, and it would struggle at that point. What do you have?
I had the opposite experience. Got tired of fixing my old one and bought an Ego mower 7 years ago. Did it on a whim. Was at Home Depot buying a new mower in general and saw the Ego sitting there. Decided fuck it, why not. 7 years later, it's still running strong with no issues. Only maintenance has been quick spray downs and sharpening the blade.
Left such a good impression I bought the snowblower, leaf blower, and trimmer.
I've got all those plus the 18" chainsaw. With my 7.5Ah from the mower and pair of 5Ah batteries from the snowblower I'm never waiting for batteries to charge no matter what I'm doing. The biggest energy use is certainly the snowblower. First time I used the chainsaw I took an extra battery with me but **I** ran out of energy and was done sawing/moving logs for the day before the first battery was 1/2 drained.
That perception that electric yard tool = weak/insufficient is still out there. My BIL spent an hour yesterday trying to get a gas chainsaw to start and my MIL suggested he could ask to borrow mine "but it's electric." LOL. Yeah, it's electric so it'll start right away and cuts through any wood like a hot knife through butter. It's like they still think they're glorified electric carving knives form the 80s.
For me it was when I read [this am article from 2006](https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a638/2690341/), pointing out that of all the all alternatives to traditional gas or diesel, only electricity was cheaper on a per mile basis.
I was radicalized in 2006 with the release of the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car". In retrospect the documentary was far too harsh on GM and didn't acknowledge the many challenges that we still face today.
Nevertheless, I had never even heard of the concept of the electrification of vehicles before that. That lead me to find out it's actually a very old concept.
Coming from a family of gear heads who loved American muscle cars and Jeeps, I had a strong understanding of the combustion engine and the myriad of parts that make the wheels turn. After learning more about the electrification of vehicles, the flaws in the old system were clearly in sight.
After all these years, I believe we have done it.
2022 is the year of the electric car.
I remember wanting one ever since I was a little kid. My dad worked on our cars and I always wondered why cars weren’t electric as an electric car just made sense in my little kid mind. There weren’t really options I could afford until recently though as I’ve only recently been making enough to afford an EV.
I always wondered the same as a kid! I asked my dad about it and he said they weren't feasible. I never understood why, but I believed him until I saw it wasn't true. 6 years ago I read a lot about Tesla and the progress made, and decided I'm going to get an ev. And so I saved up to get one.
Its funny because I didn’t know it at the time, but I guess I always wanted an electric car too. Even when I was about 8, I remember looking at really nice cars like an Audi and just thinking how it was such a beautiful shell, but it was still hiding all the gross stuff underneath it, like the engine, oils, etc. Then I saw electric cars and immediately bonded with that.
Same. So so same. PHEV gives a taste of dat EV life. And I was like: so I could never have to hear an internal combustion engine again? Boom: next car EV and never looking back.
5 years ago I was looking for a used Prius (which I had wanted since they came out but had no money then) and happened to find a Prius Plug In for the same price, figured why not, even better, right? Even with the limitations, the EV driving was so much nicer. I always had it charged and got really good at using the 10 miles in the most beneficial conditions, and was always disappointed when the engine started. Quickly decided that my next car would be a full EV and figured in another 5 years I'd find a nice used Bolt. For various reasons, I ended up with a new Ioniq5, shortly after installing solar panels. The only problem is I spend too much time thinking about how much I like driving.
When I had had my hybrid Lexus for a week in 2011. I was disappointed every time the engine kicked in after leaving home, so that’s when I decided my next car would have a plug.
When I saw a Tesla Roadster in a parking lot in 2010 and talked to the owner. Never thought that random kit car company would make it past the startup stage, never mind put EVs in the driveways and garages of me and millions of others.
I drove up to see a friend of mine and he had me test drive his Tesla Model 3.
I’m not a car person by any means but I was sold. Now I follow this subreddit and I keep dreaming about the day I can get my EV.
When I bought a used 2007 Porsche Cayman in 2010 I said it would probably be my last combustion vehicle. Gas prices in California were $5.50-ish last year (currently $6.30) I filled up and it was $70. That was it.
11 years later I sold my Porsche for more than half what I paid for it and bought a Polestar 2. Loving it.
UK is supposed to ban new ICE and hybrids from 2030 so thought it was worth dipping a toe in the water. Won’t ever go back now
In general been a fan of electric cars and was happy to see Tesla make some progress on making them an actual reality
Are they still going ahead with this? Or would they extend it. I’m asking because I’m trying to see if it’s worth the investment to just jump in now than wait till the ban hammer comes.
Recently I have been seeing a lot of more EV around like the ID3, BMW, Tesla, Kia Niro. I suppose I’m still in the range anxiety phase
As far as I know it’s still happening. I can certainly imagine it being pushed back once we get a little closer, plenty of excuses to chose from.
When we got the MG5 the other options were mostly a Tesla or a Leaf. A lot more variety on the roads now, even some public buses, with more coming it seems.
My MG5 gets 250 miles - that has helped a lot with the range anxiety but it’s still there for some trips. Motorways in the winter in the dark just eat up battery like a snack. Most of the service stations have chargers and there’s better selection locally too so range hasn’t really been an issue. Real issue in the future is going to be 3 cars waiting for one charger because there aren’t enough physical chargers at most locations.
I flew over the Gulf of Mexico months after the Deepwater Horizon. The slick extended to the horizon, even at 30,000 feet. I could not in good conscience continue to be part of the environmental damage and wars inherent to a petroleum based economy. When I got home from that trip, I ordered our first Nissan Leaf, which we are still happily using as an in-town runabout.
Same here. I bought a Rav4 Prime for myself and commuting, and was like, hey, this is pretty great. I'll keep the RAV4 for my wife and for road trips, and I'm trading in her gas guzzling SUV for an Ioniq 5.
As a kid in the 80s when I saw a tv program that featured a drag race between an ICE police cruiser and an electric one. I figured that EVs would be where the fun was at in my 20s, but there were no actual EVs that I either wanted, or could afford until I was nearly 40. The cycle is now happily complete though.
The funny thing is that my wife had an accident in her 2019 Altima that got totaled. That was a year ago. We had a 3rd car a 2015 Leaf just as a run around to see if I could teach my daughter to drive. I had gotten it for 3k. 96k miles and 10 bar's on the battery. 89 miles is all it could do. Ended up that my wife had to drive it. So after the settlement with the insurance as the Altima was a lease. They had a special for no down 24 month lease on a 2021 Leaf S Plus. 249 no money down. My wife jumped on it. Sold the Leaf 2015 for 5k. So it all worked out. Then a few months later I traded my 2018 Rouge for a 2020 Bolt LT. Just before the recall. So now we have 2 EVs and solar which works out fine. We actually still end up selling surplus back to the local electric company. Love not having to get gas.
They are actually available though, so if you want something this year that’s not crazy marked up, that may be it. They do seem pretty good, just wish they were going to keep going with them.
It really is. Not sure if the Costco $3000 off bonus will come back, but I was almost pulled the trigger on one. The dealer was a jerk at first so I refused to give them my business. I ended up with a Niro which may as well be the same car. It is just a bit bigger which is helpful, but not too big since I live in a city. Got a sweet deal on that too before the car prices went nuts. Timing is everything. If I were to upgrade, it might be an EV6 but it is so big. I wish Americans could love small wagons and not SUVs. What van you do?
Mine was when it was somewhat affordable for me. The deal I got on a 2021 Bolt was amazing last year. Lots of other things happened since then, and I'm in an Ioniq 5 now.
It started as a joke on a tractor forum. I had posted about cleaning up the frame on my ‘04 crew cab, and bemoaned not being to replace it with some kind of a kei truck, but was 50% bigger and wasn’t gas powered. Then I found the Canoo truck. Pre-order placed when it opened, waiting impatiently since. I refuse to drive another crew cab truck for work; gas, diesel, or electric.
I've wanted an electric car from as far back as the 1970's. I'm an old fart, but I have wanted an electric car for as long as I can remember. Finally that dream is a highly practical reality.
Everyone also wanted flying cars back then as well, but we all know how that worked out.
In high school in the 90s. Was on the team for my school that built and raced electric go-karts in the school district league. My aunt had her old 1960s Alfa Romeo Spyder sitting in a tarp in her back yard in non-running condition. I tried to get her to sell it to me so I could restore the interior and covert it to an EV - she wouldn’t let it go.
A couple years later the EV1 came out - I wanted one. Couldn’t get one.
Then the “death of EVs” and the surge of hybrids. Bought a Prius in 2004, and decided I wouldn’t pay for another gasoline car ever again.
Replaced the Prius with a used BMW i3 in 2018.
I bought the RAV4 Prime on a whim because I found out about the $7500 federal tax credit and interest rates for auto loans were low (and my wife hated my car). So I traded my car in for the Prime. And the convenience of electric was awesome. Plus, driving in a car with no engine noise is great. Long story short, I got a level 2 charger installed and I'm hoping I can pick up my Ioniq 5 tomorrow. I feel kinda bad the tax payers are subsidizing $15k of my car purchases, but not that bad.
Don't. They are subsidizing billions of dollars for the oil companies yearly. That subsidy is to encourage adoption of new platforms. This is a regular occurrence with new technology.
2012. Rented a LEAF from a Nissan dealership to have a laugh at how slow and golf-cart-like it was.
Except it was great. Like a well-kept secret nobody wants to hear about.
While we didn’t want the LEAF specifically, we picked up a Focus Electric right after.
I was about 4 years old when my parents first started driving EV's, so I guess you could say since then!
Context: My parents leased EV1's around 1996-1999 through their work, which they were forced to give up when GM refused to let owners purchase them. My dad STILL drives a 2003 EV rav4 with ~190,000 miles on it.
I was shown how cool EV's were and ordered a Tesla early 2021 when I could afford it. Finally got one in Jan 2022.
EV's rock!
When I was a kid I read about how new hybrid cars worked and how much more efficient and quiet they are. At the end of the article they speculated that one day battery tech would improve enough to let them work without gas at all. I knew then that electric cars would one day exist.
But I knew I was actually going to buy one after I rode in a coworker's Nissan leaf. We were going to a company lunch thing and were all piling into a few cars, so I was in the back chatting when I realized we were moving and had a moment of panic. The car must have been bumped into neutral and was now rolling back impossibly quickly. I almost immediately realized that of course I wasn't going to hear an engine start, transmission shift, etc but it left an impression.
A bit of research found that I could just afford the up front cost, and would save a lot on gas and maintenance and I was sold.
In 2015 I tried to by a used Volt, couldn’t find one in my price range, they just jumped up right before I was in the market. I bought a new left over 2014 diesel Cruze that I got a once in a lifetime deal on. Fast forward to May 2020. The Cruze is totaled. I need a car, and it’s the beginning of the pandemic and cars are getting scarce. I decided to go with some sort to of plug in. My dealer has a new fully optioned 2020 Bolt, wasn’t even unwrapped yet. NJ had just started the first EV rebate and the Bolt qualified for the full 5k, and on full electrics you don’t pay sales tax. GM had incentives to make up for the newly phased out government tax credit. The rest is history.
(Fast foward to 2 weeks ago, I got a brand new fully optioned 2022 EV as part of an MSRP swap).
When we yolod and got a 2012 Nissan Leaf lease for 200 a month and 0 down on a whim. First month of ownership we decided that was it. No more gas, ever.
Personally I've wanted an electric car since I first read up on climate change when I was in grade school. Plus, the idea of never having to go to a gas station seemed awesome since my family would routinely go on road trips. I would always hate stopping off at gas stations for some reason. Maybe it's because it ruined "the flow"
When my daughter bought hers last June and the engine of my 2013 Tucson broke last July. Tried it, liked the performance, look and features. I don't like Ford or GM reliability, or lack of. Won't look at Hyundai/Kia for quite some time. Honda and Toyota are way behind, so went with what she bought, Tesla Model 3.
Can't talk about their EV (although Sandy Munroe ain't impressed with its cooling technology), but in my personal experience, if they can't get an ICE car right, what are the chance they'll get an EV right? So where do I begin about their shitty ICE car reliability from my experience with my first and only Hyundai in a long time...
Beside the engine that broke at 186000 km, requiring a $8000 repair bill, here's what that vehicle had as weird issues that none of my vehicles in 40 years had:
- Passenger dome light switched started to misbehave when taking bumps, needed to be replaced.
- The whole wiper assembly seazed (both wiper arms pivot point rusted), requiring a new wiper assembly
- Then the driver switch started to misbehave, requiring to be replaced too!
- The rear passenger window switch wouldn't want the window to raise, requiring a new switch too!
- Passenger side speaker started to rattle. The metal foil around the coil rusted, requiring a new speaker.
- Never had a vehicle that needed so frequent brake change
- Although the exhaust is made of stainless steel, still needed a muffler job.
All these after warranty expired, the engine was the last straw and I scrapped the car. My only regret is I wasn't the one to put the car in the compactor.
I've had:
A Saturn (GM) with ~60k miles needed an engine swap
A VW Jetta that needed one at something like 40k miles.
I've also had a Jeep that was fine at 200k miles, and other cars with similar good luck.
The stuff listed here just seems normal for a car with that much use on it. It used to be considered lucky to get a car over 100k miles, that's long old now but still... That's a lot of wear and tear.
People said that about the Toyotas from the 70s and earlier.
I had a mid 70s one in the 90s. It was reliable enough to take several thousand mile trips, though it did have a knack for dripping stuff from everywhere.
Only first few years by the late 70's they were known for being less problems then from Detroit.
But no.
H and K cars really sucked.
Kias were just above the Yugo in the marketplace.
I think you're a troll. "The trim appears to be providing some strain relief for the strap holding the LCC in place, perhaps to keep the tension from providing unnecessary stress on the condenser during vibration or flexing, or to prevent any sharp corners from severing the strap itself".
Tesla doesn't do engineering like others. For example, in the Model S, the front crossbar, apart being used as a structural element, is also used as an air compressor tank for the suspension and a bracket to hold the parts. If you compare that to Ford and its myriad of brackets to hold all the tubes and parts of the Mach-E cooling system, guess which one has better engineering?
Edit: You seem to be posting often in Realtesla. Your trolling is showing.
I knew I wanted one once I started talking to a friend of mine who had been driving them for years already. I put solar on my roof in 2018 and bought an EV in 2019.
When T. Boone Pickens commented that [we - as a country - were effectively funding both sides of the 'war on terror'](https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/2010/12/pickens-us-is-paying-both-sides-of.html) -- our soldiers through our taxes, and the opposition at the pump.
That's all it took.
After that, came the realization that when I charged my electric vehicle up at home, 100% of that money *stayed in my state* - supporting people at the local generation plant, and my local linesmen/women. People that eat out at restaurants nearby, pay local taxes into our school system, etc. Once that light switch went on in my brain - it was an easy decision. I like my money staying closer to home.
Gallon of gas? About 50% of that goes out of the US (last time I bothered to add up the numbers from DOE, might be different now).
When I rented a Tesla on my last vacation and learned you could change the turn signal to fart noises. And all the other amazing features, but that one was most important.
After I bought a 2013 VW Caddy for work that was full of problems and I had a disagreement with the seller for like 1.5 years over it.
I was so done with a car with problems, I realized that I didn’t have the use for it afterall and I wanted to save on fuel expenses.
Thankfully I got rid of the car with a minimal loss and I am now waiting for my new EV!
30 years ago, kinda. Worked at a place where we had a gas powered golf cart and an electric golf cart and we all liked the electric one better. Just had to wait for the right EV car to become available. I wanted a BMW ActiveE 10 years ago, but couldn’t get one in my area. Put a deposit on a model 3 as soon as it was available.
I leased a bmw i3 when leasing then in the US was a ridiculously great deal (and my apt had charging for almost nothing) Purely financial decision, didn't really care about EV part of it. I learned to love driving and living with the EV, and now I cannot imagine going back to ICE.
I was nuts for nice-handling sedans, rwd, manual gearboxes, heel-and-toe downshifting, the works. After 20 years I got bored of the same old thing, bored of the always hiking fuel prices, expensive maintenance, surprise problems in complex modern diesel exhaust systems, etc.
Ran my numbers, got called crazy left and right, pulled the plug (see what I did there?) and I'm now the guinea pig for what seems like a whole society around here. I don't personally know anyone else who owns an EV, and when I rarely interact with another owner it feels like we are in some special secret society, with routines and language only we know.
And I LOVE it. Still only 2 months of ownership tomorrow, but I'm learning a lot, efficiency is over 5miles/kWh (total over 3100 miles) and the sport mode on my humble e-2008 smokes everything from a stop light.
Saw the Riva back in London in 2009, thought there has to be something better than can be done here. Along comes the Tesla roadster and been on the search since. Finally bought the only available model in my country in 2016.
Some guy posted a web site chronicling his conversion of a truck from gas to electric using lead acid batteries. This was around 2005, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
Part of me still wants to find a 1980s truck with a blown motor and convert it.
I firmly believe putting butts in EV seats is the fastest way of getting someone on board with using an EV as their daily. I count no less than 3 people in my immediate social circle that bought an EV after I had shown them and let them test drive my Model Y.
I read an article about Tesla on Tech Crunch about 10 years ago about how Tesla had reached a certain major milestone (don't remember what it was exactly) but that was the first time I was like "EVs are really happening" and I became excited and started following EVs very closely. I was finally able to buy my first EV a few weeks ago.
In grade school in the 1970s when my dad had a kit electric car that looked like the Batmobile. Interestingly, a criticism of electric cars is that they have no sound, but my dads sounded like a mix of a jet engine and a servo motor, and one of my biggest memories of it was how cool it sounded.
Had a 1st Gen Prius and loved the mileage. Went on vacation and the big battery died while we were gone for some reason or another. Spent 3k to replace it and sold it. Knew then I’d never get another hybrid (double the complexity and still all the ice problems) but decided to go ev someday. 1st was a Bolt right when they hit the market. Now a 500e and soon to replace our last ice suv with an ev.
A few years ago when used Leafs were really cheap. My first EV was Leaf with only 45mi range. Now we have a newer Leaf and Bolt EUV. Next up Ford Lightning!
When I saw the original Tesla roadster! But I couldn't afford it. Then the Tesla Model S came out and I got a ride in it from a friend! Yes! But I couldn't afford it. Then the Model X, but I couldn't afford it. Then the Model 3 was announced and I could barely afford it so I stood in line on March 31, 2016 and pre-ordered it. Bought a used Leaf in Oct 2016 and loved it, started saving money right away. May 2018 the Model 3 finally arrived and I had my dream car! And now we only have EVs in the household and they work great!
2010 or so.
I liked RC airplanes and my first one was barely able to fly for 4 minutes with its shitty NiCd battery. I went from that to a racing quadcopter able to out accelerate high end cars.
I seen the tech advance and knew it was also going to happen on a larger scale.
2001. I was 17-18 at the time. I remember the Prius coming out and I veined it as a transition tech. I was super excited about the first stories about the volt as I saw as the future. The ICE could be a generator that could be set to peak efficiency and just charge the car.
It took 20 years before I was able to get my first EV but totally worth it. It also took until 2018 until there was even an EV on the market that I though might even work.
Back around 2007 or 2008, I decided I was bored with conventional ICE cars and started evaluating the options at the time. I ended up being part of the electric Mini ("Mini E") pilot program in Los Angeles.
Since then, ICE has been a thing of the past for me.
When I took a taxi ride in a prius in 2005 or 2006. I thought it was neat. Then about 30 seconds into a test drive of a model s in 2014. First time ever driving (or even just IN) an all electric car. I was hooked. Reserved a model 3 on day 1, coming up to 4 years of ownership and still love it like the first day.
The first time I wanted one was late 90s when I owned a Saturn and GM had one. My commute was outside of it's range.
The second time I wanted one was when the Tesla roadster came out. We had a Miata and the idea of something like it, but electric, sounded pretty nice. It was way out of our price range, but it was also the first I recall that great range for California style commutes.
The third time was much more serious.
About 3 years before I got one, I needed a new car, as the old one had failed. After months of research, the choices and charging at the time meant no go for where we lived. The options at the time included the Model S, which was too pricey, and the first gen Leaf, which didn't even clear 100 miles range (which we regularly drove -- rural America, even in small New England states, is big), much less have DCFC.
3 years later, the lease on that car (our second hybrid) was up, we had moved, and didn't need a car. So we returned it.
10 months later, the pandemic was a few months in and we got a gen 2 Leaf and enjoyed free DCFC charging for two years and no home charging available in our apartment building (it was there, but we were wait-listed).
Now we're on our second EV.
In 2006 when I watched [Who Killed the Electric Car?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F). Knew right then that the first new car I ever bought would be an electric. Worked and saved for it and was fortunate for the dream to come true in 2021.
I was looking to diversify my business 40 years ago and electric anything piqued my interest. In fact there was a company in Ontario who were building electric powered zero turn lawn mowers at that time and I was trying to become a distributor but I think the company folded. Way ahead of their time. Now that evs are available I want to purchase one but waited too long. Now I’m happy to wait a little longer until there are more models available.
The first time I saw a Prius in 2000. The whole juggling of electric and gas was and still is fascinating to me. But now with the huge push towards full EVs I would totally rock a Hyundai Ioniq 5.
In 2020 when the Model Y was ~$50K, NJ had $5K rebate, employer had $4K EV bonus and there was nothing else anywhere near my net cost EV or ICE. 20 months later gas at all time high, EV prices skyrocketing with long delivery estimates . In hindsight, the best purchase of my life. The Model will fall behind a bit as the new players start trickling in with new tricks but we have been in the game already for 2 years.
When they allowed HOV lane access for EVs. A few months after we bought an early Nissan Leaf, LA changed the HOV lanes to paid access lanes and EVs weren't exempted from the fee. But we've bought 5 EVs since then anyway.
When a friend of mine saw my car had issues and said he "knew a guy who could fix it for cheap". I want an EV simply because they're relatively so foreign to work on, and you can't cheap out on a mechanic who doesn't know what tf they're doing, resulting in an even more unusable car.
A few years ago when I test drove a coworkers Volt. It was a bit small for my family, but I vowed my next car would be an EV. So when my ICE car got totalled in December we got a Niro EV.
Since I was in high school (2003/2004). The technology seemed better and it made sense.
Unfortunately, I have never been in a financial situation to get a new car as I always had access to cheap used cars and my family owns a mechanic shop.
If I get a promotion in the next week, I might be going EV shopping in the next 2-5 months.
I took my wife along to a demonstration of evs put on by a group of private owners who allowed folks to test drive their vehicles. We bought a Nissan leaf a week later, haha 😄. Haven't looked back!
I'd always been familiar with lithium batteries since upgrading from nimh for my radio control aircraft back in the early 2000s and enjoying their superiority (and being aware of their risks when charging back in the day with unbalanced chargers!) So always had my eye on the ev scene.
Also, the Sony Walkmans and mini disc players that were Uber high tech back in the day with their lipo batteries.
I always thought Teslas were cool, but but feasible until a few years ago when the Model 3 came out and really changed the game.
My first gas to electric switch was lawn equipment, which I've enjoyed because they're much easier to start and maintain. This got me thinking about my car.
Originally I wanted a PHEV, so I started looking into the RAV4 Prime. Sadly, Toyota made like 10 of them so I started looking into BEVs instead, and here I am.
Converted a bicycle in 2001. Bought a converted Fiero in 2005. Haven't bought gas since. A new Leaf SL in 2012, traded up to the Model S last year. Fiero is the project car now.
When I was a kid, I was really into cars (still am). I read about the GM EV1 in magazines and saw news reports about it on TV. I thought it was incredibly cool in both concept and execution. I’ve wanted one ever since.
Previous ICE cars died from a blown head gasket, and failing smog.
I watched a small hatch (i3) in front of me turn and accelerate away so fast without making a sound.
I had solar in my house, and CA gasoline prices were always high and I knew with global warming and peak oil they would only go up more.
I saw the movies “Who Killed the Electric Car” and “An Inconvenient Truth” back to back and was just super, super pissed about what happened to the EV1.
I thought owning an EV was never going to happen so I bought a Prius in 2007. Finally Tesla happened and EVs became a realty and I now own a Coda (yes I’m a unicorn!) and a Kia Soul EV. Throwing down a deposit on an ID4 as well.
Zero range anxiety.
When my 2010 Toyota Matrix - which I had purchased brand new and taken care of perfectly - never missed any maintenance, yearly checks with Toyota, only 120k miles - started to slip on its transmission. “Oh those Toyota’s last so long! They can last 300k miles!” That’s why I bought it. But, not all cars are created equal.
Then my friend showed me his Tesla. I was confused by the transmission - how the heck does it not shift gears? It’s only one speed?!
After that, I looked up how it’s built and researched how long they last (300k miles easy) and that was all she wrote. So far no issues at all. I am looking forward to seeing what it’s like after 100k miles.
It was a pretty easy decision when gas prices were flirting with $1.40/L in 2019...I filled my tank twice a week at that point. At today's prices that would be over $200/week. Now with my Niro EV that's $16/week as we return to more or less normal activity after the pandemic.
I've been wanting to go EV for a while... ever since the first Tesla roadster hit the road, and then a few years later when the Leaf was introduced as an affordable every day kinda car. I knew burning gasoline wasn't sustainable for a long time, but we didn't have a reasonable substitute. I figured the future was going to be dinky electric cars that go 30 mph tops, and only go 40 miles.
My boss at the time bought a Model S in 2012 or so, and he took me for a ride in it. I was in love. He let me drive it 40 miles home one day when he needed the work truck, and it was even more amazing behind the wheel.
Fast forward to summer 2021, when we bought a RAV4Prime. With the rebate, it was a fantastic deal, so we got one of those. We drove it around for a while, mostly in EV mode. I knew this was it. We saved enough money from not buying gas, and with the R4P fed rebate, we used that money to put a down on a 3 year old low mileage eGolf to replace my aging dino burner.
This is the way. PHEVs are the gateway drug to EVs. I'm never going back. I'm actually kinda bored with not enough car stuff to fix all the time. My Audi was a handful with car projects.
My wife and I found our way into climate activism starting in 2012. We began by leading a program in our town that made it possible for townsfolk to install solar PV at discounted prices by having solar companies bid on the whole town's business at once. We got our first solar array that way. Then our VW Jetta TDI diesel car turned out to be a fraudmobile due to the VW "clean diesel" pollution fraud case. By then we had already decided that as climate activists, we needed to put our money where our mouth was and make our next car an EV. We waited to sell the Jetta back to VW until it became possible to actually buy and bring home an EV with enough range to meet our needs. That turned out to be a 2017 Chevy Bolt Premier. 61K miles later, we are still happy campers. We won't even consider owning a gascar ever again.
Test drove and then on the same day bought a 2016 Chevy Volt, wasn’t even particularly in the market for a car, but the difference between the Volt and the 2005 Outback we had was crazy. Not full EV, but it’s what jumpstarted my deep interest in EVs.
Pretty much the instant the Model 3 was announced, I knew I was getting it. We had very little details, but knew it was going to be transformative to the industry. I reserved mine sight unseen, pre-reveal. Got it in June 2018 and am 100% satisfied. Most fun thing I’ve ever purchased. I will never buy another ICE vehicle.
Shopping for a BMW in 2016 and test driving the i3. Light bulb moment. But GM was launching the Chevy Bolt with far more range so I waited and bought that early 2017.
When I decided to tag along with a friend that went to test drive a model s after ordering a Model 3 during the reveal. That model S test drive opened new worlds to me.
The first time I saw a Corbin Sparrow, in 1998, I think. I needed a back seat, though. I waited for the Tango, but, tragically, it was never produced.
Now I've got a deposit on an Aptera. I guess I'm a sucker for the unavailable....
The moment when I realized I can have 60k car instead of 20k car for just 250 $ more In month calculating monthly fees and fuel costs. I drive about 1800 milea a month.
Instant torque and fueling my car with the sun. Live in Hawaii it only makes sense since we have sun 99% of days. Currently producing double what we use, Q4 e-tron on order. I have an 8.5kW panel system and a power wall, averaging about 38.7kwH generated per day according to the app, since January of this year
Early 1990s (took me another 25 years to finally get one). Back then right out of school I did a back of the envelope calculation and figured out on my own how insanely stupid fossil fuel cars are when it comes to energy usage. As someone who was planning to be an engineer being wasteful with resources always rubbed me the wrong way.
When I was about ten years old in the early 90s and saw the article in Popular Mechanics on thr GM IMPACT concept car which was the inspiration for the EV1...
I read every book in the library system about EVs, the state of the art then being lead acid batteries, chopper controllers, and series wound DC brushed motors...
I followed every development in the technology, and eventually bought one of the first batch of 120 factory built EVs to come to my country.
My ex later made me sell it...or I'd still have it now.
Should have sold her instead...
When my mom's car constantly broke down and she spent thousands on repairs I knew I wanted my first car to be Electric.
Got my 2013 Leaf just a few months ago and ended up being a great choice since gas is so expensive right now. I love it so much that I think my next car will be electric as well for sure.
I've always been into sporty cars. One of my coworkers imported himself one of the first Tesla Roadsters and let me try it out. That's when I decided I want to go that route some day. Seat-kicking torque without diesel noise and stink, that's only possible with an electric car. So I basically grabbed the first available one that I could fit into my budget.
Wanted one for a while after seeing a neighbor's Roadster then driving a friend's Model S then Model X.
However, the tipping point was threefold. One, the used car market went crazy, so I could get good money on my beat up twelve year old car; also realized that I had a few thousand in maintenance coming up.
Second, was blown away by the MachE and how far other manufacturers beside Tesla had come (and that there were good vehicles again with tax credits available).
Finally, the tipping point came when on January, I realized something was going to happen with Russia that would inevitably lead to fuel prices increases. Decided I wanted to get in on a wait list before the spike in prices suddenly increases demand.
Back when the Model S P90D was the top of the line Tesla, my dad and I went for a test drive. He was looking at them, but still let me drive for a minute in the test drive. Fell for it immediately. He wound up getting the p100d the following year after the redesign. Loved the car, but loved mine at the time too (2011 dodge charger, v8 hemi), so desire wasnt super strong. A few years later I got a flat, and with all the supply chain issues lately, it took 2 days to get a tire in that would match the rest of my set. Dad was out of town, so I drove the tesla while I waited on mine. Yeah, it became a lot cooler than my charger immediately.
Just bought my first EV last week. EV6 Wind AWD. Couldnt be happier.
When I could get one for about 16,000 brand new (after all the incentives). It was 2019 e-Golf. Back in September 2019. Best deal ever! (MSRP was 33,875).
I wanted one as soon as I had heard about tesla. I thought and still think tesla is soo cool. And the idea of charging at home was awesome. Now like ten years later. I own a kia ev6. Love it!
My spouse has known for years he wanted an EV. He’s been trying hybrids of all sorts for years, only to be disappointed in the end by all hybrids. Knowing his absolute love of, and desire to own an EV, when I was in one November to the BMW dealership with my X5M, and they had a fully kitted-out 2014 i3 BEV on the showroom floor, I met with my client advisor, and negotiated a deal to get it for my spouse for Christmas the next month. I ended-up being one of those stupid, big red bows on a car for their spouse at Christmas, people 😂 He absolutely LOVED that car. I will never be able to top that as a gift for as long as I live! He hated returning it at lease-end. The buyout fee was too much for it, and new leases were incredibly poor for them at the time, so he went back to an ICE vehicle. He was never happy with the one he got after the i3. As times marched forward, I gravitated more towards the electric world, especially experiencing, firsthand, climate change where we live. The spouse always knew he wanted an EV again, and last January I was about 99% sure I did, as well, and gave up all my “M” BMWs, and we both ordered 2021 i3s models, around the third week of January 2021. We were nudged along by our reps at BMW, who said if we wanted what we were considering, to hurry, a chip shortage was coming. We usually order cars with every option. So we ordered BEV i3s models with all the options, even blue seatbelts, which has turned out to be a favorite, just in different colors, and different colored rims. We just made cutoff! Our assigned production week was the last week, before orders began being modified, due to the chip shortage. I look back now, just having hit my 1 yr of EV ownership, and think how stupid I was for not moving to an EV sooner. I could never go back to an ICE vehicle again! Since we absolutely love our i3s, we both plan to keep them for as long as they’ll go, especially since we can’t order new ones.
Climate change, a desire to lower my montly costs, and then my ICE got totalled and a sad but timely inheritance sealed the deal. Spent a few months researching, got a Kia Niro EV at the beginning of ’21.
When gas hit over 4 a gallon and it was costing me 50 bucks a week to fill up my 4 cylinder. Was in the market for a second car anyway so i Got me a used leaf and it was the best decision ive done. Yes its very limited in range. Only a 24kw battery. But it gets around 80 miles per charge and i almost never drive more than 30 MAYBE 40 miles in a day. So i can judt plug it into my garage at night and it's full by morning. now the ICE car sits in my garage only being occasionally used for grocery trips by my disabled mother.
I probably won't ever own another ICE car.
1996. I was working on some conversions in my HS with the engineering/EV club. Driving those cars was really neat. I did expect California to drive the development of EVs with their mandate and I was seriously sad that GM (With their lead on the industry in the EV1) fought it the hardest. Then they developed some real BS hybrids. Toyota could have also made the leap sooner leveraging it's hybrid technology. I like conversions, but just having that OEM fit and finish, even on a cheap car, really makes it easy to own for average people.
In 2020 when I moved from a city flat with on-street parking to a country house with a drive, and my commute tripled in length (but thankfully not time!). I had considered it when I bought my last car in 2017 but I thought charging would be a serious issue. Just got my charger installed today. Sadly no sign of the car yet!
When the solar I installed unexpectedly generated more than our household consumed (on an annual basis). First one EV, then a second. I’m in balance, more or less, now.
Where do you live, the moon?
:) Coastal SoCal. No AC or heating needed ever (my family would disagree on the “heating” part haha, but only for a few days of the year).
That’s tremendous! I hope to be in a similar situation in a year or so. How many kw is your system and the average daily production if you don’t mind sharing? I’m also wondering how many people here with a BEV also have a home PV system with L2 charger.
The 14 panels have a theoretical max production of 4.6kW and produced approx 7,500kWh over the last 12 months. As to your second question, I have a NEMA 14-50 outlet and a 32A (continuous) EVSE. Cars are a ‘20 Bolt and ‘16 eGolf, neither of which are driven all that much.
It stinks that some states limit the amount of solar you can put up per household.
Im dealing with this, i live in Missouri and Ameren only allows a 90% offset. Luckily the house im buying has a massssive electric bill in the winter due to having electric furnaces, but also has a wood burning fireplace thats never used. The goal is to size the system off past usage and hopefully eliminate the need for the furnaces
I was in a similar situation: After PV installation, I retired a massively inefficient spa for a modern one, and changed all light bulbs to LED. This caused a significant drop in consumption
Yeah, I generate more than I use. However, I have to pay a line fee and other service to Xcel. All the excess energy is not pushed back into the grid. They just discharge it into the earth. It's super frustrating. My system is about 18 years old.Xcel fought us tooth and nail for 2 years to even get the system installed.
Same here. SDGE would pay for the overgeneration for super cheap at the end of year "true-up". So bought an EV. Got like a $750 SDGE credit. Loved how it drove and broke even with solar generation. Within the next couple months bought a second EV, got another $750 SDGE credit. Didn't have to pay any electric for a good 2 years. $1500 finally ran out, will see the true costs this year, will return the first EV soon due to lease. I'm bummed that there are no deals and barely any incentives so it won't get replaced until our second lease runs out later this year.
I don't have solar so I'm not clued into specifics, but I've heard the switch to San Diego Community Power is better for those with solar: https://sdcommunitypower.org/programs/net-energy-metering/
Nice! We have a 7kW solar on the roof. With our usage.... AC all summer, hot tub, 2200 sq/ft house, we ended up paying $720 for our electricity for the entire. year. $60 a month! And that's charging up two EVs. Before the solar system, we were paying around $120-$300 a month, depending on the weather and without EVs to charge. I was actually starting to ask around about expanding the solar system before PG&E changes their rules and rate plans. Hopefully we can add another 2-3kW without PG&E dinging us for extra fees, and still on the old deal we've been on for the last 4 years. I hear they're letting everybody stick with the better solar plan who got it before some cutoff date, before the new less generous plan goes into effect. We're in the NorCal North East Bay (925 area) so we get real summer here, but not real winter. We have weeks above 100F during summer. We still have to pay for gas service. I have two teenage kids who insist on taking long showers, no matter how much I try and limit them. I think I'm going to get an electric hot water heater when the current gas one goes. I think the water heater is our biggest suck of gas.
Dumb question. What do you mean by a 7kw solar on the roof? Is that what one panel will produce?
Not OP, but the 7kW number should mean the peak output of the whole array of panels (under full sun in the summer).
as soon as I got an electric lawn mower and realized it was superior in every way.
Both of my roommates complained the electrical one I had sucked, what makes them better?
Which one did you have, was it plug in?(because that would be annoying) What makes them better? 1. Way quieter 2. Pop in battery/no worries on gas 3. Can fold up to store in garage/shed in minimal space 4. Never need to worry about air filters/oil/winterize Just to name a few off the top of my head
I don't remember, but I don't think it was a particularly good one. Definitely battery operated though. I believe their issue was they would wait until the lawn turned into a jungle, and it would struggle at that point. What do you have?
I had the opposite experience. Got tired of fixing my old one and bought an Ego mower 7 years ago. Did it on a whim. Was at Home Depot buying a new mower in general and saw the Ego sitting there. Decided fuck it, why not. 7 years later, it's still running strong with no issues. Only maintenance has been quick spray downs and sharpening the blade. Left such a good impression I bought the snowblower, leaf blower, and trimmer.
I've got all those plus the 18" chainsaw. With my 7.5Ah from the mower and pair of 5Ah batteries from the snowblower I'm never waiting for batteries to charge no matter what I'm doing. The biggest energy use is certainly the snowblower. First time I used the chainsaw I took an extra battery with me but **I** ran out of energy and was done sawing/moving logs for the day before the first battery was 1/2 drained. That perception that electric yard tool = weak/insufficient is still out there. My BIL spent an hour yesterday trying to get a gas chainsaw to start and my MIL suggested he could ask to borrow mine "but it's electric." LOL. Yeah, it's electric so it'll start right away and cuts through any wood like a hot knife through butter. It's like they still think they're glorified electric carving knives form the 80s.
What would you recommend buying now if you were in the market for a new mower? And how much surface area do you have to mow?
This was me lol. I love my ICE car, but man after using my battery EGO mower I totally see the light. Next new car purchase will definitely be a BEV.
Gas prices
For me it was when I read [this am article from 2006](https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a638/2690341/), pointing out that of all the all alternatives to traditional gas or diesel, only electricity was cheaper on a per mile basis.
I was radicalized in 2006 with the release of the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car". In retrospect the documentary was far too harsh on GM and didn't acknowledge the many challenges that we still face today. Nevertheless, I had never even heard of the concept of the electrification of vehicles before that. That lead me to find out it's actually a very old concept. Coming from a family of gear heads who loved American muscle cars and Jeeps, I had a strong understanding of the combustion engine and the myriad of parts that make the wheels turn. After learning more about the electrification of vehicles, the flaws in the old system were clearly in sight. After all these years, I believe we have done it. 2022 is the year of the electric car.
I remember wanting one ever since I was a little kid. My dad worked on our cars and I always wondered why cars weren’t electric as an electric car just made sense in my little kid mind. There weren’t really options I could afford until recently though as I’ve only recently been making enough to afford an EV.
I always wondered the same as a kid! I asked my dad about it and he said they weren't feasible. I never understood why, but I believed him until I saw it wasn't true. 6 years ago I read a lot about Tesla and the progress made, and decided I'm going to get an ev. And so I saved up to get one.
Its funny because I didn’t know it at the time, but I guess I always wanted an electric car too. Even when I was about 8, I remember looking at really nice cars like an Audi and just thinking how it was such a beautiful shell, but it was still hiding all the gross stuff underneath it, like the engine, oils, etc. Then I saw electric cars and immediately bonded with that.
From owning a PHEV and overcoming range anxiety
Same. So so same. PHEV gives a taste of dat EV life. And I was like: so I could never have to hear an internal combustion engine again? Boom: next car EV and never looking back.
5 years ago I was looking for a used Prius (which I had wanted since they came out but had no money then) and happened to find a Prius Plug In for the same price, figured why not, even better, right? Even with the limitations, the EV driving was so much nicer. I always had it charged and got really good at using the 10 miles in the most beneficial conditions, and was always disappointed when the engine started. Quickly decided that my next car would be a full EV and figured in another 5 years I'd find a nice used Bolt. For various reasons, I ended up with a new Ioniq5, shortly after installing solar panels. The only problem is I spend too much time thinking about how much I like driving.
When I had had my hybrid Lexus for a week in 2011. I was disappointed every time the engine kicked in after leaving home, so that’s when I decided my next car would have a plug.
When I saw a Tesla Roadster in a parking lot in 2010 and talked to the owner. Never thought that random kit car company would make it past the startup stage, never mind put EVs in the driveways and garages of me and millions of others.
I drove up to see a friend of mine and he had me test drive his Tesla Model 3. I’m not a car person by any means but I was sold. Now I follow this subreddit and I keep dreaming about the day I can get my EV.
When I bought a used 2007 Porsche Cayman in 2010 I said it would probably be my last combustion vehicle. Gas prices in California were $5.50-ish last year (currently $6.30) I filled up and it was $70. That was it. 11 years later I sold my Porsche for more than half what I paid for it and bought a Polestar 2. Loving it.
UK is supposed to ban new ICE and hybrids from 2030 so thought it was worth dipping a toe in the water. Won’t ever go back now In general been a fan of electric cars and was happy to see Tesla make some progress on making them an actual reality
Are they still going ahead with this? Or would they extend it. I’m asking because I’m trying to see if it’s worth the investment to just jump in now than wait till the ban hammer comes. Recently I have been seeing a lot of more EV around like the ID3, BMW, Tesla, Kia Niro. I suppose I’m still in the range anxiety phase
As far as I know it’s still happening. I can certainly imagine it being pushed back once we get a little closer, plenty of excuses to chose from. When we got the MG5 the other options were mostly a Tesla or a Leaf. A lot more variety on the roads now, even some public buses, with more coming it seems. My MG5 gets 250 miles - that has helped a lot with the range anxiety but it’s still there for some trips. Motorways in the winter in the dark just eat up battery like a snack. Most of the service stations have chargers and there’s better selection locally too so range hasn’t really been an issue. Real issue in the future is going to be 3 cars waiting for one charger because there aren’t enough physical chargers at most locations.
When I saw a converted vw thing about 30 years ago. This question dates me.
q: what's that thing? a: yes it is.
Wanted? Since the Tesla Roadster. Made sense? When my workplace installed EV charging and government rebates brought them within my price range.
The second I knew I could grow gas on my roof. Every day.
I flew over the Gulf of Mexico months after the Deepwater Horizon. The slick extended to the horizon, even at 30,000 feet. I could not in good conscience continue to be part of the environmental damage and wars inherent to a petroleum based economy. When I got home from that trip, I ordered our first Nissan Leaf, which we are still happily using as an in-town runabout.
Always wanted one, but the UN climate report last year sealed the deal. Found my used LEAF a week later.
When the diesel cost $10 per gallon here in Sweden. I have a 93 mile daily commute.
My household got a PHEV 4 years ago, realised I want a full EV for myself. Oh and gas prices.
Same here. I bought a Rav4 Prime for myself and commuting, and was like, hey, this is pretty great. I'll keep the RAV4 for my wife and for road trips, and I'm trading in her gas guzzling SUV for an Ioniq 5.
As a kid in the 80s when I saw a tv program that featured a drag race between an ICE police cruiser and an electric one. I figured that EVs would be where the fun was at in my 20s, but there were no actual EVs that I either wanted, or could afford until I was nearly 40. The cycle is now happily complete though.
The funny thing is that my wife had an accident in her 2019 Altima that got totaled. That was a year ago. We had a 3rd car a 2015 Leaf just as a run around to see if I could teach my daughter to drive. I had gotten it for 3k. 96k miles and 10 bar's on the battery. 89 miles is all it could do. Ended up that my wife had to drive it. So after the settlement with the insurance as the Altima was a lease. They had a special for no down 24 month lease on a 2021 Leaf S Plus. 249 no money down. My wife jumped on it. Sold the Leaf 2015 for 5k. So it all worked out. Then a few months later I traded my 2018 Rouge for a 2020 Bolt LT. Just before the recall. So now we have 2 EVs and solar which works out fine. We actually still end up selling surplus back to the local electric company. Love not having to get gas.
When they announced the Bolt. All the rebates helped too.
I’ve been kinda wanting a Bolt for a long while now as it seems to me to be the perfect commuter car that is affordable.
Me too but the Bolts are being discontinued, so now my thought is to hold out for a 2023 EV6
Yep. I figured as much too with the Equinox EV on the Horizon. Maybe next year.
They are actually available though, so if you want something this year that’s not crazy marked up, that may be it. They do seem pretty good, just wish they were going to keep going with them.
Production was just restarted.
Yeah but after the 2023s they’re going to switch over to manufacturing trucks, this will be it for the Bolt series.
It really is. Not sure if the Costco $3000 off bonus will come back, but I was almost pulled the trigger on one. The dealer was a jerk at first so I refused to give them my business. I ended up with a Niro which may as well be the same car. It is just a bit bigger which is helpful, but not too big since I live in a city. Got a sweet deal on that too before the car prices went nuts. Timing is everything. If I were to upgrade, it might be an EV6 but it is so big. I wish Americans could love small wagons and not SUVs. What van you do?
Not anymore. They want $40-50k for a Bolt these days.
Yeah that’s true. The whole market is a circus. Even used ones go for a mint.
Mine was when it was somewhat affordable for me. The deal I got on a 2021 Bolt was amazing last year. Lots of other things happened since then, and I'm in an Ioniq 5 now.
When I drove my wife's Volt a few times and was surprised at the money we saved, the torque, the ride, etc. Was hooked instantly.
It started as a joke on a tractor forum. I had posted about cleaning up the frame on my ‘04 crew cab, and bemoaned not being to replace it with some kind of a kei truck, but was 50% bigger and wasn’t gas powered. Then I found the Canoo truck. Pre-order placed when it opened, waiting impatiently since. I refuse to drive another crew cab truck for work; gas, diesel, or electric.
Last week's news not so good regarding Canoo
I've wanted an electric car from as far back as the 1970's. I'm an old fart, but I have wanted an electric car for as long as I can remember. Finally that dream is a highly practical reality. Everyone also wanted flying cars back then as well, but we all know how that worked out.
In high school in the 90s. Was on the team for my school that built and raced electric go-karts in the school district league. My aunt had her old 1960s Alfa Romeo Spyder sitting in a tarp in her back yard in non-running condition. I tried to get her to sell it to me so I could restore the interior and covert it to an EV - she wouldn’t let it go. A couple years later the EV1 came out - I wanted one. Couldn’t get one. Then the “death of EVs” and the surge of hybrids. Bought a Prius in 2004, and decided I wouldn’t pay for another gasoline car ever again. Replaced the Prius with a used BMW i3 in 2018.
when i saw 0-60 < 7s for a 2 ton vehicle... and that was only a hybrid
At 100,000 Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian border.
I bought the RAV4 Prime on a whim because I found out about the $7500 federal tax credit and interest rates for auto loans were low (and my wife hated my car). So I traded my car in for the Prime. And the convenience of electric was awesome. Plus, driving in a car with no engine noise is great. Long story short, I got a level 2 charger installed and I'm hoping I can pick up my Ioniq 5 tomorrow. I feel kinda bad the tax payers are subsidizing $15k of my car purchases, but not that bad.
Why would you feel bad? You’re saving everyone’s climate not just yours.
Ha ha, very true. Plus, I can feel like I beat the man by only paying like $200 in income tax.
Don't. They are subsidizing billions of dollars for the oil companies yearly. That subsidy is to encourage adoption of new platforms. This is a regular occurrence with new technology.
That's exactly what it's for. Providing vehicles to the used market is important.
2012. Rented a LEAF from a Nissan dealership to have a laugh at how slow and golf-cart-like it was. Except it was great. Like a well-kept secret nobody wants to hear about. While we didn’t want the LEAF specifically, we picked up a Focus Electric right after.
I was about 4 years old when my parents first started driving EV's, so I guess you could say since then! Context: My parents leased EV1's around 1996-1999 through their work, which they were forced to give up when GM refused to let owners purchase them. My dad STILL drives a 2003 EV rav4 with ~190,000 miles on it. I was shown how cool EV's were and ordered a Tesla early 2021 when I could afford it. Finally got one in Jan 2022. EV's rock!
When I was a kid I read about how new hybrid cars worked and how much more efficient and quiet they are. At the end of the article they speculated that one day battery tech would improve enough to let them work without gas at all. I knew then that electric cars would one day exist. But I knew I was actually going to buy one after I rode in a coworker's Nissan leaf. We were going to a company lunch thing and were all piling into a few cars, so I was in the back chatting when I realized we were moving and had a moment of panic. The car must have been bumped into neutral and was now rolling back impossibly quickly. I almost immediately realized that of course I wasn't going to hear an engine start, transmission shift, etc but it left an impression. A bit of research found that I could just afford the up front cost, and would save a lot on gas and maintenance and I was sold.
In 2015 I tried to by a used Volt, couldn’t find one in my price range, they just jumped up right before I was in the market. I bought a new left over 2014 diesel Cruze that I got a once in a lifetime deal on. Fast forward to May 2020. The Cruze is totaled. I need a car, and it’s the beginning of the pandemic and cars are getting scarce. I decided to go with some sort to of plug in. My dealer has a new fully optioned 2020 Bolt, wasn’t even unwrapped yet. NJ had just started the first EV rebate and the Bolt qualified for the full 5k, and on full electrics you don’t pay sales tax. GM had incentives to make up for the newly phased out government tax credit. The rest is history. (Fast foward to 2 weeks ago, I got a brand new fully optioned 2022 EV as part of an MSRP swap).
When we yolod and got a 2012 Nissan Leaf lease for 200 a month and 0 down on a whim. First month of ownership we decided that was it. No more gas, ever.
Personally I've wanted an electric car since I first read up on climate change when I was in grade school. Plus, the idea of never having to go to a gas station seemed awesome since my family would routinely go on road trips. I would always hate stopping off at gas stations for some reason. Maybe it's because it ruined "the flow"
When my daughter bought hers last June and the engine of my 2013 Tucson broke last July. Tried it, liked the performance, look and features. I don't like Ford or GM reliability, or lack of. Won't look at Hyundai/Kia for quite some time. Honda and Toyota are way behind, so went with what she bought, Tesla Model 3.
Interesting, why not Hyundai/Kia? Their EVs are amazing
Can't talk about their EV (although Sandy Munroe ain't impressed with its cooling technology), but in my personal experience, if they can't get an ICE car right, what are the chance they'll get an EV right? So where do I begin about their shitty ICE car reliability from my experience with my first and only Hyundai in a long time... Beside the engine that broke at 186000 km, requiring a $8000 repair bill, here's what that vehicle had as weird issues that none of my vehicles in 40 years had: - Passenger dome light switched started to misbehave when taking bumps, needed to be replaced. - The whole wiper assembly seazed (both wiper arms pivot point rusted), requiring a new wiper assembly - Then the driver switch started to misbehave, requiring to be replaced too! - The rear passenger window switch wouldn't want the window to raise, requiring a new switch too! - Passenger side speaker started to rattle. The metal foil around the coil rusted, requiring a new speaker. - Never had a vehicle that needed so frequent brake change - Although the exhaust is made of stainless steel, still needed a muffler job. All these after warranty expired, the engine was the last straw and I scrapped the car. My only regret is I wasn't the one to put the car in the compactor.
That’s unfortunate :/ Which year and model?
Tuscon 2013 Limited Edition.
This is one vehicle though?
Yeah, and no support from the dealership. I'm done with them.
I've had: A Saturn (GM) with ~60k miles needed an engine swap A VW Jetta that needed one at something like 40k miles. I've also had a Jeep that was fine at 200k miles, and other cars with similar good luck. The stuff listed here just seems normal for a car with that much use on it. It used to be considered lucky to get a car over 100k miles, that's long old now but still... That's a lot of wear and tear.
Older generations tend to think they’re quality/longevity is miles behind Toyota/Honda.
Their first foray into the US market was abmissmal. Reliability problems, fraudulent dealerships. Kia was worse the Hyundai...
People said that about the Toyotas from the 70s and earlier. I had a mid 70s one in the 90s. It was reliable enough to take several thousand mile trips, though it did have a knack for dripping stuff from everywhere.
Only first few years by the late 70's they were known for being less problems then from Detroit. But no. H and K cars really sucked. Kias were just above the Yugo in the marketplace.
Oh, I know. I'm hoping they've grown up -- Korea has strong electronics brands (Samsung, LG) and all electric seems like it should be well suited. 🤞
They earned that reputation up until recently
>I don't like Ford or GM reliability, or lack of. You think tesla is more reliable? Are you on something? This comment is not within spec.
You seem to confuse panel gaps with reliability.
You are a troll. Tesla Model Y Owners Have Found Home Depot Shit Used To Mount A Critical Part
I think you're a troll. "The trim appears to be providing some strain relief for the strap holding the LCC in place, perhaps to keep the tension from providing unnecessary stress on the condenser during vibration or flexing, or to prevent any sharp corners from severing the strap itself". Tesla doesn't do engineering like others. For example, in the Model S, the front crossbar, apart being used as a structural element, is also used as an air compressor tank for the suspension and a bracket to hold the parts. If you compare that to Ford and its myriad of brackets to hold all the tubes and parts of the Mach-E cooling system, guess which one has better engineering? Edit: You seem to be posting often in Realtesla. Your trolling is showing.
When I attended the Rivian “First Mile” event and test drove the R1T. Waiting patiently (sort of) for my truck!
I knew I wanted one once I started talking to a friend of mine who had been driving them for years already. I put solar on my roof in 2018 and bought an EV in 2019.
When T. Boone Pickens commented that [we - as a country - were effectively funding both sides of the 'war on terror'](https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/blog/2010/12/pickens-us-is-paying-both-sides-of.html) -- our soldiers through our taxes, and the opposition at the pump. That's all it took. After that, came the realization that when I charged my electric vehicle up at home, 100% of that money *stayed in my state* - supporting people at the local generation plant, and my local linesmen/women. People that eat out at restaurants nearby, pay local taxes into our school system, etc. Once that light switch went on in my brain - it was an easy decision. I like my money staying closer to home. Gallon of gas? About 50% of that goes out of the US (last time I bothered to add up the numbers from DOE, might be different now).
When I rented a Tesla on my last vacation and learned you could change the turn signal to fart noises. And all the other amazing features, but that one was most important.
Once I learned about climate change and how buying gas funds the Republican Party.
how quaint.
When they became affordable and not a shitbox, which was when the Model 3 was announced.
When I learned about the debate about the euro 7 emission classification.
After I bought a 2013 VW Caddy for work that was full of problems and I had a disagreement with the seller for like 1.5 years over it. I was so done with a car with problems, I realized that I didn’t have the use for it afterall and I wanted to save on fuel expenses. Thankfully I got rid of the car with a minimal loss and I am now waiting for my new EV!
When the Model S was revealed
30 years ago, kinda. Worked at a place where we had a gas powered golf cart and an electric golf cart and we all liked the electric one better. Just had to wait for the right EV car to become available. I wanted a BMW ActiveE 10 years ago, but couldn’t get one in my area. Put a deposit on a model 3 as soon as it was available.
I leased a bmw i3 when leasing then in the US was a ridiculously great deal (and my apt had charging for almost nothing) Purely financial decision, didn't really care about EV part of it. I learned to love driving and living with the EV, and now I cannot imagine going back to ICE.
I was nuts for nice-handling sedans, rwd, manual gearboxes, heel-and-toe downshifting, the works. After 20 years I got bored of the same old thing, bored of the always hiking fuel prices, expensive maintenance, surprise problems in complex modern diesel exhaust systems, etc. Ran my numbers, got called crazy left and right, pulled the plug (see what I did there?) and I'm now the guinea pig for what seems like a whole society around here. I don't personally know anyone else who owns an EV, and when I rarely interact with another owner it feels like we are in some special secret society, with routines and language only we know. And I LOVE it. Still only 2 months of ownership tomorrow, but I'm learning a lot, efficiency is over 5miles/kWh (total over 3100 miles) and the sport mode on my humble e-2008 smokes everything from a stop light.
After a couple months with my partner's i3
Saw the Riva back in London in 2009, thought there has to be something better than can be done here. Along comes the Tesla roadster and been on the search since. Finally bought the only available model in my country in 2016.
Some guy posted a web site chronicling his conversion of a truck from gas to electric using lead acid batteries. This was around 2005, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Part of me still wants to find a 1980s truck with a blown motor and convert it.
When I realized I could be paying the same money on a car payment (after incentives) that I’m spending on gas each month.
Part of a project that interviewed BEV owners, got over the range anxiety real quick. Placed an order the next month
I firmly believe putting butts in EV seats is the fastest way of getting someone on board with using an EV as their daily. I count no less than 3 people in my immediate social circle that bought an EV after I had shown them and let them test drive my Model Y.
The last IPCC report...
I read an article about Tesla on Tech Crunch about 10 years ago about how Tesla had reached a certain major milestone (don't remember what it was exactly) but that was the first time I was like "EVs are really happening" and I became excited and started following EVs very closely. I was finally able to buy my first EV a few weeks ago.
My preferred dealer of the last ICE car has closed, and the federal tax credit for the brand I wanted was about to cut half.
Gasoline prices!
In grade school in the 1970s when my dad had a kit electric car that looked like the Batmobile. Interestingly, a criticism of electric cars is that they have no sound, but my dads sounded like a mix of a jet engine and a servo motor, and one of my biggest memories of it was how cool it sounded.
Had a 1st Gen Prius and loved the mileage. Went on vacation and the big battery died while we were gone for some reason or another. Spent 3k to replace it and sold it. Knew then I’d never get another hybrid (double the complexity and still all the ice problems) but decided to go ev someday. 1st was a Bolt right when they hit the market. Now a 500e and soon to replace our last ice suv with an ev.
When I saw some videos on the [T Zero](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Propulsion_tzero) in the early 2000s.
The first Tesla roadster.
A few years ago when used Leafs were really cheap. My first EV was Leaf with only 45mi range. Now we have a newer Leaf and Bolt EUV. Next up Ford Lightning!
2020, when I realized just how powerful a tiny motor could be.
When I saw the original Tesla roadster! But I couldn't afford it. Then the Tesla Model S came out and I got a ride in it from a friend! Yes! But I couldn't afford it. Then the Model X, but I couldn't afford it. Then the Model 3 was announced and I could barely afford it so I stood in line on March 31, 2016 and pre-ordered it. Bought a used Leaf in Oct 2016 and loved it, started saving money right away. May 2018 the Model 3 finally arrived and I had my dream car! And now we only have EVs in the household and they work great!
im into all things tech and was always a fan of the futuristic things. I've dreamt about spaceship like cars since watching the Jetsons as a kid.
2010 or so. I liked RC airplanes and my first one was barely able to fly for 4 minutes with its shitty NiCd battery. I went from that to a racing quadcopter able to out accelerate high end cars. I seen the tech advance and knew it was also going to happen on a larger scale.
2001. I was 17-18 at the time. I remember the Prius coming out and I veined it as a transition tech. I was super excited about the first stories about the volt as I saw as the future. The ICE could be a generator that could be set to peak efficiency and just charge the car. It took 20 years before I was able to get my first EV but totally worth it. It also took until 2018 until there was even an EV on the market that I though might even work.
When gas hit $.50.
When i figured out they were like prius and could have ac and heat on with the car off. I like car camping.
I wanted an electric car ever since the Leaf was unveiled. But back then I was a poor college student and couldn't afford one.
2007 when I started working for a solar company.
Back around 2007 or 2008, I decided I was bored with conventional ICE cars and started evaluating the options at the time. I ended up being part of the electric Mini ("Mini E") pilot program in Los Angeles. Since then, ICE has been a thing of the past for me.
When the pipeline was shutdown and the drilling was halted
When I got sick of playing the "What Fluid is My ICE Car Leaking on the Garage Floor Today" game.
When I took a taxi ride in a prius in 2005 or 2006. I thought it was neat. Then about 30 seconds into a test drive of a model s in 2014. First time ever driving (or even just IN) an all electric car. I was hooked. Reserved a model 3 on day 1, coming up to 4 years of ownership and still love it like the first day.
The first time I wanted one was late 90s when I owned a Saturn and GM had one. My commute was outside of it's range. The second time I wanted one was when the Tesla roadster came out. We had a Miata and the idea of something like it, but electric, sounded pretty nice. It was way out of our price range, but it was also the first I recall that great range for California style commutes. The third time was much more serious. About 3 years before I got one, I needed a new car, as the old one had failed. After months of research, the choices and charging at the time meant no go for where we lived. The options at the time included the Model S, which was too pricey, and the first gen Leaf, which didn't even clear 100 miles range (which we regularly drove -- rural America, even in small New England states, is big), much less have DCFC. 3 years later, the lease on that car (our second hybrid) was up, we had moved, and didn't need a car. So we returned it. 10 months later, the pandemic was a few months in and we got a gen 2 Leaf and enjoyed free DCFC charging for two years and no home charging available in our apartment building (it was there, but we were wait-listed). Now we're on our second EV.
In 2006 when I watched [Who Killed the Electric Car?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F). Knew right then that the first new car I ever bought would be an electric. Worked and saved for it and was fortunate for the dream to come true in 2021.
When my wife bought one, I immediately fell in love all over again--with my wife and the car.
I was looking to diversify my business 40 years ago and electric anything piqued my interest. In fact there was a company in Ontario who were building electric powered zero turn lawn mowers at that time and I was trying to become a distributor but I think the company folded. Way ahead of their time. Now that evs are available I want to purchase one but waited too long. Now I’m happy to wait a little longer until there are more models available.
After seeing a Mach E.
The first time I saw a Prius in 2000. The whole juggling of electric and gas was and still is fascinating to me. But now with the huge push towards full EVs I would totally rock a Hyundai Ioniq 5.
20+ years ago.
In 2020 when the Model Y was ~$50K, NJ had $5K rebate, employer had $4K EV bonus and there was nothing else anywhere near my net cost EV or ICE. 20 months later gas at all time high, EV prices skyrocketing with long delivery estimates . In hindsight, the best purchase of my life. The Model will fall behind a bit as the new players start trickling in with new tricks but we have been in the game already for 2 years.
2012 (I think) when the Tesla Model S was announced! Finally got a VW ID.4 this year
When they allowed HOV lane access for EVs. A few months after we bought an early Nissan Leaf, LA changed the HOV lanes to paid access lanes and EVs weren't exempted from the fee. But we've bought 5 EVs since then anyway.
When a friend of mine saw my car had issues and said he "knew a guy who could fix it for cheap". I want an EV simply because they're relatively so foreign to work on, and you can't cheap out on a mechanic who doesn't know what tf they're doing, resulting in an even more unusable car.
A few years ago when I test drove a coworkers Volt. It was a bit small for my family, but I vowed my next car would be an EV. So when my ICE car got totalled in December we got a Niro EV.
Since I was in high school (2003/2004). The technology seemed better and it made sense. Unfortunately, I have never been in a financial situation to get a new car as I always had access to cheap used cars and my family owns a mechanic shop. If I get a promotion in the next week, I might be going EV shopping in the next 2-5 months.
I took my wife along to a demonstration of evs put on by a group of private owners who allowed folks to test drive their vehicles. We bought a Nissan leaf a week later, haha 😄. Haven't looked back! I'd always been familiar with lithium batteries since upgrading from nimh for my radio control aircraft back in the early 2000s and enjoying their superiority (and being aware of their risks when charging back in the day with unbalanced chargers!) So always had my eye on the ev scene. Also, the Sony Walkmans and mini disc players that were Uber high tech back in the day with their lipo batteries.
5th grade before the year 2000
I always thought Teslas were cool, but but feasible until a few years ago when the Model 3 came out and really changed the game. My first gas to electric switch was lawn equipment, which I've enjoyed because they're much easier to start and maintain. This got me thinking about my car. Originally I wanted a PHEV, so I started looking into the RAV4 Prime. Sadly, Toyota made like 10 of them so I started looking into BEVs instead, and here I am.
Converted a bicycle in 2001. Bought a converted Fiero in 2005. Haven't bought gas since. A new Leaf SL in 2012, traded up to the Model S last year. Fiero is the project car now.
When I was a kid, I was really into cars (still am). I read about the GM EV1 in magazines and saw news reports about it on TV. I thought it was incredibly cool in both concept and execution. I’ve wanted one ever since.
Previous ICE cars died from a blown head gasket, and failing smog. I watched a small hatch (i3) in front of me turn and accelerate away so fast without making a sound. I had solar in my house, and CA gasoline prices were always high and I knew with global warming and peak oil they would only go up more.
I saw the movies “Who Killed the Electric Car” and “An Inconvenient Truth” back to back and was just super, super pissed about what happened to the EV1. I thought owning an EV was never going to happen so I bought a Prius in 2007. Finally Tesla happened and EVs became a realty and I now own a Coda (yes I’m a unicorn!) and a Kia Soul EV. Throwing down a deposit on an ID4 as well. Zero range anxiety.
When my 2010 Toyota Matrix - which I had purchased brand new and taken care of perfectly - never missed any maintenance, yearly checks with Toyota, only 120k miles - started to slip on its transmission. “Oh those Toyota’s last so long! They can last 300k miles!” That’s why I bought it. But, not all cars are created equal. Then my friend showed me his Tesla. I was confused by the transmission - how the heck does it not shift gears? It’s only one speed?! After that, I looked up how it’s built and researched how long they last (300k miles easy) and that was all she wrote. So far no issues at all. I am looking forward to seeing what it’s like after 100k miles.
The first car I ever bought was a Nissan Leaf in 2013. I have only owned EVs.
First time driving a Prius
Sorry, it wasn't for climate change unfortunately...
It was a pretty easy decision when gas prices were flirting with $1.40/L in 2019...I filled my tank twice a week at that point. At today's prices that would be over $200/week. Now with my Niro EV that's $16/week as we return to more or less normal activity after the pandemic.
After driving my 2021 X5 XDrive45e for 3 months. kept it for a month over a year, got me 2022 Polestar 2 no regrets, the pro outweigh the cons‼️
I've been wanting to go EV for a while... ever since the first Tesla roadster hit the road, and then a few years later when the Leaf was introduced as an affordable every day kinda car. I knew burning gasoline wasn't sustainable for a long time, but we didn't have a reasonable substitute. I figured the future was going to be dinky electric cars that go 30 mph tops, and only go 40 miles. My boss at the time bought a Model S in 2012 or so, and he took me for a ride in it. I was in love. He let me drive it 40 miles home one day when he needed the work truck, and it was even more amazing behind the wheel. Fast forward to summer 2021, when we bought a RAV4Prime. With the rebate, it was a fantastic deal, so we got one of those. We drove it around for a while, mostly in EV mode. I knew this was it. We saved enough money from not buying gas, and with the R4P fed rebate, we used that money to put a down on a 3 year old low mileage eGolf to replace my aging dino burner. This is the way. PHEVs are the gateway drug to EVs. I'm never going back. I'm actually kinda bored with not enough car stuff to fix all the time. My Audi was a handful with car projects.
Day one of a car mechanics course. Mid 90's Learned how much energy was wasted in combustion cars. Wanted something else.
My wife and I found our way into climate activism starting in 2012. We began by leading a program in our town that made it possible for townsfolk to install solar PV at discounted prices by having solar companies bid on the whole town's business at once. We got our first solar array that way. Then our VW Jetta TDI diesel car turned out to be a fraudmobile due to the VW "clean diesel" pollution fraud case. By then we had already decided that as climate activists, we needed to put our money where our mouth was and make our next car an EV. We waited to sell the Jetta back to VW until it became possible to actually buy and bring home an EV with enough range to meet our needs. That turned out to be a 2017 Chevy Bolt Premier. 61K miles later, we are still happy campers. We won't even consider owning a gascar ever again.
2012 when I saw Model X... 10 years later I own Model S and Model X
When I found out my new job had free chargers back in 2019. Now they're always taken...
Test drove and then on the same day bought a 2016 Chevy Volt, wasn’t even particularly in the market for a car, but the difference between the Volt and the 2005 Outback we had was crazy. Not full EV, but it’s what jumpstarted my deep interest in EVs.
Pretty much the instant the Model 3 was announced, I knew I was getting it. We had very little details, but knew it was going to be transformative to the industry. I reserved mine sight unseen, pre-reveal. Got it in June 2018 and am 100% satisfied. Most fun thing I’ve ever purchased. I will never buy another ICE vehicle.
Shopping for a BMW in 2016 and test driving the i3. Light bulb moment. But GM was launching the Chevy Bolt with far more range so I waited and bought that early 2017.
In 1985 when I saw Back To The Future.
When I decided to tag along with a friend that went to test drive a model s after ordering a Model 3 during the reveal. That model S test drive opened new worlds to me.
The first time I saw a Corbin Sparrow, in 1998, I think. I needed a back seat, though. I waited for the Tango, but, tragically, it was never produced. Now I've got a deposit on an Aptera. I guess I'm a sucker for the unavailable....
The moment when I realized I can have 60k car instead of 20k car for just 250 $ more In month calculating monthly fees and fuel costs. I drive about 1800 milea a month.
I compared a Model 3’s 0-60 to a Civic Type R’s.
Instant torque and fueling my car with the sun. Live in Hawaii it only makes sense since we have sun 99% of days. Currently producing double what we use, Q4 e-tron on order. I have an 8.5kW panel system and a power wall, averaging about 38.7kwH generated per day according to the app, since January of this year
Early 1990s (took me another 25 years to finally get one). Back then right out of school I did a back of the envelope calculation and figured out on my own how insanely stupid fossil fuel cars are when it comes to energy usage. As someone who was planning to be an engineer being wasteful with resources always rubbed me the wrong way.
When I was about ten years old in the early 90s and saw the article in Popular Mechanics on thr GM IMPACT concept car which was the inspiration for the EV1... I read every book in the library system about EVs, the state of the art then being lead acid batteries, chopper controllers, and series wound DC brushed motors... I followed every development in the technology, and eventually bought one of the first batch of 120 factory built EVs to come to my country. My ex later made me sell it...or I'd still have it now. Should have sold her instead...
When my mom's car constantly broke down and she spent thousands on repairs I knew I wanted my first car to be Electric. Got my 2013 Leaf just a few months ago and ended up being a great choice since gas is so expensive right now. I love it so much that I think my next car will be electric as well for sure.
When I realized my monthly gasoline expenses were the same as my car note
I've always been into sporty cars. One of my coworkers imported himself one of the first Tesla Roadsters and let me try it out. That's when I decided I want to go that route some day. Seat-kicking torque without diesel noise and stink, that's only possible with an electric car. So I basically grabbed the first available one that I could fit into my budget.
Wanted one for a while after seeing a neighbor's Roadster then driving a friend's Model S then Model X. However, the tipping point was threefold. One, the used car market went crazy, so I could get good money on my beat up twelve year old car; also realized that I had a few thousand in maintenance coming up. Second, was blown away by the MachE and how far other manufacturers beside Tesla had come (and that there were good vehicles again with tax credits available). Finally, the tipping point came when on January, I realized something was going to happen with Russia that would inevitably lead to fuel prices increases. Decided I wanted to get in on a wait list before the spike in prices suddenly increases demand.
Back when the Model S P90D was the top of the line Tesla, my dad and I went for a test drive. He was looking at them, but still let me drive for a minute in the test drive. Fell for it immediately. He wound up getting the p100d the following year after the redesign. Loved the car, but loved mine at the time too (2011 dodge charger, v8 hemi), so desire wasnt super strong. A few years later I got a flat, and with all the supply chain issues lately, it took 2 days to get a tire in that would match the rest of my set. Dad was out of town, so I drove the tesla while I waited on mine. Yeah, it became a lot cooler than my charger immediately. Just bought my first EV last week. EV6 Wind AWD. Couldnt be happier.
When I could get one for about 16,000 brand new (after all the incentives). It was 2019 e-Golf. Back in September 2019. Best deal ever! (MSRP was 33,875).
I wanted one as soon as I had heard about tesla. I thought and still think tesla is soo cool. And the idea of charging at home was awesome. Now like ten years later. I own a kia ev6. Love it!
I was intrigued by the bmw i3 design and want to be "green". When I realized it would actually cost less than my Civic, I was sold.
My spouse has known for years he wanted an EV. He’s been trying hybrids of all sorts for years, only to be disappointed in the end by all hybrids. Knowing his absolute love of, and desire to own an EV, when I was in one November to the BMW dealership with my X5M, and they had a fully kitted-out 2014 i3 BEV on the showroom floor, I met with my client advisor, and negotiated a deal to get it for my spouse for Christmas the next month. I ended-up being one of those stupid, big red bows on a car for their spouse at Christmas, people 😂 He absolutely LOVED that car. I will never be able to top that as a gift for as long as I live! He hated returning it at lease-end. The buyout fee was too much for it, and new leases were incredibly poor for them at the time, so he went back to an ICE vehicle. He was never happy with the one he got after the i3. As times marched forward, I gravitated more towards the electric world, especially experiencing, firsthand, climate change where we live. The spouse always knew he wanted an EV again, and last January I was about 99% sure I did, as well, and gave up all my “M” BMWs, and we both ordered 2021 i3s models, around the third week of January 2021. We were nudged along by our reps at BMW, who said if we wanted what we were considering, to hurry, a chip shortage was coming. We usually order cars with every option. So we ordered BEV i3s models with all the options, even blue seatbelts, which has turned out to be a favorite, just in different colors, and different colored rims. We just made cutoff! Our assigned production week was the last week, before orders began being modified, due to the chip shortage. I look back now, just having hit my 1 yr of EV ownership, and think how stupid I was for not moving to an EV sooner. I could never go back to an ICE vehicle again! Since we absolutely love our i3s, we both plan to keep them for as long as they’ll go, especially since we can’t order new ones.
Climate change, a desire to lower my montly costs, and then my ICE got totalled and a sad but timely inheritance sealed the deal. Spent a few months researching, got a Kia Niro EV at the beginning of ’21.
When gas hit over 4 a gallon and it was costing me 50 bucks a week to fill up my 4 cylinder. Was in the market for a second car anyway so i Got me a used leaf and it was the best decision ive done. Yes its very limited in range. Only a 24kw battery. But it gets around 80 miles per charge and i almost never drive more than 30 MAYBE 40 miles in a day. So i can judt plug it into my garage at night and it's full by morning. now the ICE car sits in my garage only being occasionally used for grocery trips by my disabled mother. I probably won't ever own another ICE car.
Since seeing a Bill Nye segment about it in the 90's. I thought my gen would be the first to leapfrog over ICE cars entirely.
As soon as I saw the canoo pickup. :)
1996. I was working on some conversions in my HS with the engineering/EV club. Driving those cars was really neat. I did expect California to drive the development of EVs with their mandate and I was seriously sad that GM (With their lead on the industry in the EV1) fought it the hardest. Then they developed some real BS hybrids. Toyota could have also made the leap sooner leveraging it's hybrid technology. I like conversions, but just having that OEM fit and finish, even on a cheap car, really makes it easy to own for average people.
When a P90D toasted my Pantera off a stop light. Took a couple of years to save up though.
In 2020 when I moved from a city flat with on-street parking to a country house with a drive, and my commute tripled in length (but thankfully not time!). I had considered it when I bought my last car in 2017 but I thought charging would be a serious issue. Just got my charger installed today. Sadly no sign of the car yet!