On the upside, this is driving a huge shift towards EVs in the US. They’re selling out so fast that just finding a unit to test drive was surprisingly difficult. My city is rolling out a huge number of residential grid upgrades to handle the anticipated load increase, which is pretty nice. They’ll even run 3-phase to residential customers in some areas now, which as a machining nerd is fucking awesome
Ok, story time. I used to have an F150. Last week it decided not to start. So I fixed it. While lying under the truck replacing the starter, I got eaten alive by chiggers.
Again. Again I was lying under another old truck and again something got me. At least it wasn’t poison ivy. But it made me so mad.
Well, the previous week, before the truck issue, I test drove a Nissan Leaf. I didn’t intend to buy it, I just wanted to drive an EV because I thought they were cool and never driven one.
So I’m sitting on my couch, miserable and itchy, and something just snapped. I had spent $400 and been partially eaten and digested by thousands of tiny bugs. All to maintain the status quo of pouring gas in a 15 mpg vehicle. I called the car dealer monday, and traded the truck in on the used Leaf I drove. It was $11,000. The payments are cheaper than the gas I was putting in the truck.
But all that is beside the point, the little EV is amazing. It’s dead silent, it doesn’t vibrate, it’s so relaxing to drive. Its even relaxing to drive in traffic. I can keep it charged up most of the time with a 110 outlet. And its so cheap to drive. A full charge, which it hasn’t needed yet, would be something like $3. And there’s no starter. No oil changes. No transmission to worry about. (It does have a gearbox which needs the fluid changed every 60k but its easy) It barely even uses it’s own brakes.
I have been pushing the conspiracy theory that trump is a secret democrat plant to push the world toward renewables, by making gasoline unaffordable. It has been fun watching the penny drop for some of these guys.
I know that you’re more correct than what I said, but you see, I live around simple folk who aren’t able to grasp concepts like the existence of other world leaders.
That’s awesome! One thing nobody mentioned to me is that EV owners tend to know each other because we’re all hanging out at the chargers, and everyone (with the very notabale exception of tesla owners) is super nice! It’s just generally a pretty positive experience socially as well as economically.
Ha I love it! I charge almost exclusively at home, as I have a gas powered van for long distance trips and my Bolt EUV’s DC fast charging is limited to 50kW. I feel like I’m missing out now. Lol
Glad you like your Bolt too! Ended up trading a Honda CR-V for a 2027 Bolt thanks to all this nonsense too.
Do I feel a little foolish driving a car off the lot when I had to finance? A little. But even the LT trim we got is super neat, drives so ZIPPY…And I look at all the gas stations and constant-expensive-noise fixing auto shops I drive past, and feel such a relief.
… Now to just pay off this thing.
I’m convinced a Bolt was the very best choice all things considered… They don’t make an EV Honda Element yet, so the perfect E-SUV doesn’t exist yet! 😉
Upside, you can get a reasonable charge over the weekend on a Level 1 charger alone - something I really wish my ioniq 5 could do (not that I’m procrastinating hiring an electrician or anything…)
My wife has a short commute, and i have a long commute.
We figured out that if we schedule it correctly, we can keep the car charged up with only a lvl 1 charge. A lvl 2 charge will top it off overnight if i have some extra driving.
True. Most people don’t need more than that. Even if you have limited power, like an old 100 amp electrical panel, you can do a 230V 20 Amp plug. That’s still around 2.5x faster than a L1 charger, but draws as much as a large window air conditioner.
I have a 230V 32 Amp charger I installed myself, but I was using a Level 1 charger just fine until I got around to wiring up my charger outlet.
Has your Ioniq 5 had any of the issues with the ICCU people complain about? I was originally going to get that instead of a Bolt, but those failures scared me away. Also, the Bolt was cheaper. Lol.
Yeah, I’ve got a 230V 50A outlet I can hook into easily enough once I get the wasps cleared out. I’d really like to stick a dedicated lvl 2 charger out there, but IDK if my panel can even handle the load from that outlet alone. I’ve been putting off upgrading it for ages, and all the electrician friends I’ve asked for help about it have just sorta stared at my panel for a while then quickly changed the subject to asking about my smoke detectors, which seems like a good sign.
(My Ioniq is new enough to have come stock with the newer, supposedly-fixed ICCU + the software patch, so fingers crossed that it should be fine (I haven’t heard of them failing, at least). Really love the car though - first one I’ve owned that made driving actually like… a fun thing to do. Also damn that charge time on 800v is ridiculously nice)
Hopefully this forces the lesson on auto companies to keep up the investment on EVs and drives more people to try out an EV. I’m sure many would love them if they just gave them a try.
Yeah, this war convinced me to buy a Kona electric last month. I have been loving it! I just wish it was cheaper to install the charging port in my house.
On the upside, this is driving a huge shift towards EVs in the US. They’re selling out so fast that just finding a unit to test drive was surprisingly difficult. My city is rolling out a huge number of residential grid upgrades to handle the anticipated load increase, which is pretty nice. They’ll even run 3-phase to residential customers in some areas now, which as a machining nerd is fucking awesome
It would be a plus if we were moving towards walking, biking, trains, and buses.
There’s so little improvement in the world these days, we can’t really be picky about the improvement we do get.
Ok, story time. I used to have an F150. Last week it decided not to start. So I fixed it. While lying under the truck replacing the starter, I got eaten alive by chiggers.
Again. Again I was lying under another old truck and again something got me. At least it wasn’t poison ivy. But it made me so mad.
Well, the previous week, before the truck issue, I test drove a Nissan Leaf. I didn’t intend to buy it, I just wanted to drive an EV because I thought they were cool and never driven one.
So I’m sitting on my couch, miserable and itchy, and something just snapped. I had spent $400 and been partially eaten and digested by thousands of tiny bugs. All to maintain the status quo of pouring gas in a 15 mpg vehicle. I called the car dealer monday, and traded the truck in on the used Leaf I drove. It was $11,000. The payments are cheaper than the gas I was putting in the truck.
But all that is beside the point, the little EV is amazing. It’s dead silent, it doesn’t vibrate, it’s so relaxing to drive. Its even relaxing to drive in traffic. I can keep it charged up most of the time with a 110 outlet. And its so cheap to drive. A full charge, which it hasn’t needed yet, would be something like $3. And there’s no starter. No oil changes. No transmission to worry about. (It does have a gearbox which needs the fluid changed every 60k but its easy) It barely even uses it’s own brakes.
trump is unintentionally accelerating the phasing out of ice cars/oil gas industry.
I live in a red state.
I have been pushing the conspiracy theory that trump is a secret democrat plant to push the world toward renewables, by making gasoline unaffordable. It has been fun watching the penny drop for some of these guys.
putins pushing him to weaken the us, but unintentionally also pushing people towards renewables, thus reducing reliance on russian oils.
I know that you’re more correct than what I said, but you see, I live around simple folk who aren’t able to grasp concepts like the existence of other world leaders.
Thanks, Trumbama…
I bought my first used EV just a few months ago and am loving it
That’s awesome! One thing nobody mentioned to me is that EV owners tend to know each other because we’re all hanging out at the chargers, and everyone (with the very notabale exception of tesla owners) is super nice! It’s just generally a pretty positive experience socially as well as economically.
Ive had an EV for a week, and twice when I come out to a parking lot I’ve found people looking at the car who wanted to know more about it.
Ha I love it! I charge almost exclusively at home, as I have a gas powered van for long distance trips and my Bolt EUV’s DC fast charging is limited to 50kW. I feel like I’m missing out now. Lol
Glad you like your Bolt too! Ended up trading a Honda CR-V for a 2027 Bolt thanks to all this nonsense too.
Do I feel a little foolish driving a car off the lot when I had to finance? A little. But even the LT trim we got is super neat, drives so ZIPPY…And I look at all the gas stations and constant-expensive-noise fixing auto shops I drive past, and feel such a relief.
… Now to just pay off this thing.
I’m convinced a Bolt was the very best choice all things considered… They don’t make an EV Honda Element yet, so the perfect E-SUV doesn’t exist yet! 😉
Upside, you can get a reasonable charge over the weekend on a Level 1 charger alone - something I really wish my ioniq 5 could do (not that I’m procrastinating hiring an electrician or anything…)
My wife has a short commute, and i have a long commute.
We figured out that if we schedule it correctly, we can keep the car charged up with only a lvl 1 charge. A lvl 2 charge will top it off overnight if i have some extra driving.
True. Most people don’t need more than that. Even if you have limited power, like an old 100 amp electrical panel, you can do a 230V 20 Amp plug. That’s still around 2.5x faster than a L1 charger, but draws as much as a large window air conditioner.
I have a 230V 32 Amp charger I installed myself, but I was using a Level 1 charger just fine until I got around to wiring up my charger outlet.
Has your Ioniq 5 had any of the issues with the ICCU people complain about? I was originally going to get that instead of a Bolt, but those failures scared me away. Also, the Bolt was cheaper. Lol.
Yeah, I’ve got a 230V 50A outlet I can hook into easily enough once I get the wasps cleared out. I’d really like to stick a dedicated lvl 2 charger out there, but IDK if my panel can even handle the load from that outlet alone. I’ve been putting off upgrading it for ages, and all the electrician friends I’ve asked for help about it have just sorta stared at my panel for a while then quickly changed the subject to asking about my smoke detectors, which seems like a good sign.
(My Ioniq is new enough to have come stock with the newer, supposedly-fixed ICCU + the software patch, so fingers crossed that it should be fine (I haven’t heard of them failing, at least). Really love the car though - first one I’ve owned that made driving actually like… a fun thing to do. Also damn that charge time on 800v is ridiculously nice)
Unfortunate timing on a bunch of auto companies shifting away from EVs just before the war on Iran: https://www.autonews.com/ev/an-automakers-50-billion-ev-writedowns-0213/
Hopefully this forces the lesson on auto companies to keep up the investment on EVs and drives more people to try out an EV. I’m sure many would love them if they just gave them a try.
Why would they ever need to learn any lessons if they just get bailed out by the taxpayers whenever they get into real trouble?
Yeah, this war convinced me to buy a Kona electric last month. I have been loving it! I just wish it was cheaper to install the charging port in my house.