Welcome to the wonderful world of EV ownership

[Clipper]

washingtonengager.com/2023/11/line-electric-cars-charge

I guess a Tesla owner in California should carry a "charging line survival kit." Bottled water, protein bars, a fully charged laptop or tablet with a Netflix subscription, and a cell phone to call a tow truck when their car dies completely before reaching the charging station.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Several people in this apartment complex own Teslas. Nice looking car. I am waiting for an EV Bus to take me around town making less noise.

[Clipper]

My youngest son has a Tesla. They ARE a nice looking car and quite luxurious inside. The back doors on his are gull doors that open upward. He charges at home, but when they take a family trip they take his wife's Ford F150.

I have never ridden in my son's Tesla, but I have ridden in a Prius a couple of times and when it was running off the battery it was very quiet. If I were forced to buy an EV I think Prius or a hybrid of some sort would be my choice so that there was a gas engine backing up the electric.

[kit]

A fellow in my apartment building has a Chevy Volt hybrid. He says he usually drives it with the gasoline motor. I wonder how good it is? Anybody know?

[Clipper]

Chevy and Ford have had several recalls on their hybrids. If he is driving it on gas most of the time that alone should be a hint as to how good the car is. If he is driving it most of the time on gas, why would he waste the extra bucks to have a hybrid. I read the other day that the most dependable hybrids are made by Toyota. Other manufacturers seem to have more issues than Toyota and Tesla which is ALL electric. Personally I would not own a car that I couldn't put in the garage or park near the house for fear of burning the place down. Our dog groomer has a Chevy Volt and after hearing about battery fires the started parking it away from t he house in the driveway turnaround instead of under their attached carport. She says it's a great "grocery getter" to drive around town and for short trips, but when they take a longer trip they drive their gasoline powered Toyota Sienna minivan.

I am sure in the next few years there will be many improvements, and advances in the technology. It is interesting to see companies producing every thing from school buses to a Ford pick up truck and a Volvo semi tractor. Can you imagine watching a tractor trailer go by and not hearing anything but the hum of it's tires on the pavement?

[clarencebunsen]

Reducing the amount of coal, oil and natural gas we burn is a worthwhile objective. Bills to push switching to electric powered vehicles seldom account for the infrastructure needed to support them. New Hartford school district learned that when they wanted to add two electric school busses to the mix.

Is your dog groomers charging station a panel in the car port with 220 volt service? I would expect the greatest fire hazard to be during the charging process.

[Clipper]

The charging station is in the carport but her husband is going to run it to the place that they are parking it. It is about the same distance that the 220 runs to the garage from the house. I know little about electricity. I imagine that they have a 220 volt hook-up for their kitchen range, another for the dryer, and has 220 running to the garage to operate his welder and the car charger. I would assume that they will give it proper thought before spending the money to modify their entrance to handle that many 220 needs. I would not invest too much until I was sure I was going to keep the car, haha.

[clarencebunsen]

That has to be a load similar to the welder. At least it is someone who knows what he is doing.

[BHU]

From what I understand EV's can be charged off a 110 outlet but the charging time is substantially longer. A 220 volt dedicated service is the way to go to reduce the time it takes to get a full charge, which means hiring an electrician to install one unless you really know what you're doing. 220 volts takes no prisoners. That job is above my pay grade.

If I was to go that route it would be a hybrid.

[Clipper]

One of the social media sites had a commercial yesterday that uniquely touted hybrids for what they really are. Good in that you can use electric on short trips and gas on long trips. The first honest evaluation by an auto maker.