Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle? | Page 81 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

I thought I will need at 40kWh battery minimum ... but the more and more I think about it, what I need and want is really not the same. I completely agree with Alex on Auto where in his review, he makes the point several times in his review .... and of course he's completely right. Simply speaking, for me it's a city car, with charging at home, probably once in 2-3 days. Period. I simply don't need the range, I'd be paying for upfront ... or maybe not. Hard to say without knowing leasing deals which I am planning to look into soon.

Out of all the vehicles with sub- 40 kWh battery, the IONIQ is the one which would be appealing somewhat. The issue will be, if they are too rare and costs as much as 40kWh Nissan .... most of the cars with sub 40 battery start magically at 36ish K .... magic number. So much for free market .... LOL
 
Rick CH said:
The total # of Ioniq EVs I've seen is 4 (5, if you include one that I saw on a dealer's lot). I've also seen the same # of Ioniq hybrids on the roads, so neither's out there in big numbers.
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Honestly, I am not sure it tells much ... I have not seen 5 Bolts where I live and drive ... Mississauga/Brampton most of the time. Teslas, yes ... one Soul months ago ... and bunch of old Leafs.

I am actually surprised you have seen that many IONIQ's ...
 
I called around a bit about the Ioniq while I was waiting for the Bolt to get built and the response I got from the dealers was that they were all sold out until 2018. Seems like Canada only got a few of them and they sold quickly. It looks like a pretty decent car though.
 
So, FWIW, the wife and I chatted a few days ago and have decided to buy a second Volt to replace my Magnum.

As much as I love the Magnum (honestly, that V8 roar and 400HP under the hood can be a lot of fun) I'm increasingly willing to trade that off when I fill it up and my stats show 16.9L/100KM in fuel consumption. Looking at the stats it's costing us more than $0.10 per kilometer to operate vs our Volt. And the Magnum needs work, but I hate spending $1000-$1500 on a car that I know I'll never recoup the cost out of because of it's mileage..so I'll toss it out on Kijiji when the time comes and get what I can get out of it and use it as a downpayment towards the Volt.

Secondly, for my typical day I'd be running on electric almost exclusively - my commute is 9KM each way, most of my running around is totally inside it's EV range, and even longer trips (to the stable for example) are almost doable on electric (return) with maybe 5KM of running on gas in the winter. In the summer we made it there and back with 5KM to spare left in EV range.

It's really a no brainer....so we are going to concentrate on paying down the line of credit more while I'm off, and once the right deal comes along we will snap it up in a heartbeat, probably sometime late winter or early spring.
 
Lunatic said:
I called around a bit about the Ioniq while I was waiting for the Bolt to get built and the response I got from the dealers was that they were all sold out until 2018. Seems like Canada only got a few of them and they sold quickly. It looks like a pretty decent car though.
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You mean until 2018 model year is open for ordering? Or 2018 calendar year?
 
PrivatePilot said:
So, FWIW, the wife and I chatted a few days ago and have decided to buy a second Volt to replace my Magnum.

As much as I love the Magnum (honestly, that V8 roar and 400HP under the hood can be a lot of fun) I'm increasingly willing to trade that off when I fill it up and my stats show 16.9L/100KM in fuel consumption. Looking at the stats it's costing us more than $0.10 per kilometer to operate vs our Volt. And the Magnum needs work, but I hate spending $1000-$1500 on a car that I know I'll never recoup the cost out of because of it's mileage..so I'll toss it out on Kijiji when the time comes and get what I can get out of it and use it as a downpayment towards the Volt.

Secondly, for my typical day I'd be running on electric almost exclusively - my commute is 9KM each way, most of my running around is totally inside it's EV range, and even longer trips (to the stable for example) are almost doable on electric (return) with maybe 5KM of running on gas in the winter. In the summer we made it there and back with 5KM to spare left in EV range.

It's really a no brainer....so we are going to concentrate on paying down the line of credit more while I'm off, and once the right deal comes along we will snap it up in a heartbeat, probably sometime late winter or early spring.
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In your case, it really is a no-brainer. I would never keep a car just for engine sound or fun (unless it's fully paid of and has a good shot to be trouble free for some time to come). In my case, I need the second vehicle to tow and be comfortable on long summer trips with 4-5 and luggage in it. Neither one can be done with current crop of EV's, except for Tesla. My budget is massively lower than Tesla cars and always will be. The far future might be different, but not anytime soon.
 
After driving a Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous mode, I am totally hooked with electric cars. My bike is still something I want to keep riding and having fun on, however, a decent electric car is perfect for family and other stuff.
 
black_CG2 said:
After driving a Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous mode, I am totally hooked with electric cars. My bike is still something I want to keep riding and having fun on, however, a decent electric car is perfect for family and other stuff.
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now if you had a ride in the new Roadster 2.0, you would probably never look at a gas powered vehicle again....

.
 
And if you had your own plane you'd never fly economy class .... and it goes on and on and on ... LOL
 
black_CG2 said:
After driving a Tesla Model S P100D with Ludicrous mode, I am totally hooked with electric cars. My bike is still something I want to keep riding and having fun on, however, a decent electric car is perfect for family and other stuff.
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zero motorcycle?
 
mxs said:
I am actually surprised you have seen that many IONIQ's ...
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You see a lot of different EVs when you spend time at free DC fast chargers. The only battery-only EV model I haven't seen is a Chevy Spark.
 
mxs said:
You mean until 2018 model year is open for ordering? Or 2018 calendar year?
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Yes, this was several months ago and they couldn't order '18's yet. Although at the time they weren't sure they would even be able to order them until Jan.
 
mxs said:
In your case, it really is a no-brainer. I would never keep a car just for engine sound or fun (unless it's fully paid of and has a good shot to be trouble free for some time to come).
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There's really nothing majorly wrong with my Magnum from a big picture longevity standpoint - it needs a front CV shaft, probably a ball joint or 2, and a tie rod end in order to be perfect again.

But it's still a 12 year old car with >350,000KM on it. Yes, it's still fun to drive and sounds really nice, but like I said, I struggle with putting $1500-$2000 of work into what is, honestly, an $1000 car, and will only ever be a $1000 car.

From a purely savings standpoint (for myself vs my wife) the argument for a Volt vs a cheaper econobox is not as strong as it is for her, however - the EV payoff (*complete payoff*, not just the difference between an ICE) for my wife is measured in only a few years, but I'd end up break even insie the same time.

Lets do some more math.

Our old Chevy Aveo averaged about 9.3L/100KM over the 120,000KM we owned it for which wasn't great, but also isn't abnormal for a small-ish car.

Say I still use a little gas occasionally on the Volt and average 1L/100KM instead. So the Volt (not including the electricity costs which make things nearly impossible to calculate, but they are a virtual pittance compared to gas) averages 8.3L LESS fuel for every 100KM. Lets say 8.0 instead.

Lets use $1.15/L as an average for gas.

If I spent $10,000 on a decent used econobox ICE car averaging similar ICE milage as the Aveo did, or $15,000 for a Volt instead, that results in $5000 difference.

So, using the difference in consumption, every 1000KM I would save 83L of gas for a savings of $95.45 for every 1000KM.

So, to save the $5000 difference I'd need to drive the Volt 52,000KM before break even. That's not far. Meanwhile I save every KM I drive and once the payoff point is reached, I'm laughing all the way to the bank.

If I compare against a bit more luxurious econobox more on par with the Volt itself (Say, a Civic), well, the prices are much closer and the gap closes even faster.

Yeah, no brainer.
 
PrivatePilot said:
There's really nothing majorly wrong with my Magnum from a big picture longevity standpoint - it needs a front CV shaft, probably a ball joint or 2, and a tie rod end in order to be perfect again.

But it's still a 12 year old car with >350,000KM on it. Yes, it's still fun to drive and sounds really nice, but like I said, I struggle with putting $1500-$2000 of work into what is, honestly, an $1000 car, and will only ever be a $1000 car.

From a purely savings standpoint (for myself vs my wife) the argument for a Volt vs a cheaper econobox is not as strong as it is for her, however - the EV payoff (*complete payoff*, not just the difference between an ICE) for my wife is measured in only a few years, but I'd end up break even insie the same time.

Lets do some more math.

Our old Chevy Aveo averaged about 9.3L/100KM over the 120,000KM we owned it for which wasn't great, but also isn't abnormal for a small-ish car.

Say I still use a little gas occasionally on the Volt and average 1L/100KM instead. So the Volt (not including the electricity costs which make things nearly impossible to calculate, but they are a virtual pittance compared to gas) averages 8.3L LESS fuel for every 100KM. Lets say 8.0 instead.

Lets use $1.15/L as an average for gas.

If I spent $10,000 on a decent used econobox ICE car averaging similar ICE milage as the Aveo did, or $15,000 for a Volt instead, that results in $5000 difference.

So, using the difference in consumption, every 1000KM I would save 83L of gas for a savings of $95.45 for every 1000KM.

So, to save the $5000 difference I'd need to drive the Volt 52,000KM before break even. That's not far. Meanwhile I save every KM I drive and once the payoff point is reached, I'm laughing all the way to the bank.

If I compare against a bit more luxurious econobox more on par with the Volt itself (Say, a Civic), well, the prices are much closer and the gap closes even faster.

Yeah, no brainer.
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And assuming Volt battery packs continue to hold up, your high mileage volt will be worth ~$1,000 to $2,000 more than an aveo with similar mileage when you sell it.

Hmm, I wonder how the packs cope with being vertical? As capacity drop limits their usefulness in a vehicle (or the vehicle gives up mechanically), I wonder if it would be worthwhile to lean it up against the wall in the garage and throw an inverter on it for load shifting and/or peak shaving. Cooling shouldn't be a problem if you empty and fill over a few hours.
 
Considering there's a Volt out there with 660,000+KM on it (238,000KM of them on electric) with no notable battery degradation (and countless others with 150,000-200,000KM in the same boat) it seems that the cars will probably start to fall apart around the batteries before the batteries themselves become an issue.
 
The trade off between hybrid and pure EV is the simplicity of a pure EV with possible range issues and the hybrid with maintaining both a battery pack and an ICE, two drive trains to think about.

Maybe a pure EV and tow a massive generator on a trailer.
 
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That is exactly what BMW i3 REX is ... trying to be, anyways. They just packed the generator neatly in the trunk .... LOL
 
mxs said:
That is exactly what BMW i3 REX is ... trying to be, anyways. They just packed the generator neatly in the trunk .... LOL
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And forgot to leave room for the fuel tank :/

Isn't average power to run a vehicle at highway speeds something like 20hp? Max charge rate on the Volt is 3.6 kW, so a 5 kW generator on a tiny trailer should be enough to keep many EV's going assuming you leave the generator going while you have occasional pit stops to let it catch up. I am not sure what interlock EV's have though, they may not appreciate you driving while they are plugged in.
 
LOL ... if you don't plan on passing anyone and stick yourself behind a trailer, I am sure you could get away with ridiculously low HP. Surely, someone somewhere in red neck country must have tried to rig something like this. If not, be the first, I promise, I would watch the video 100%. Can't wait for the OPP guy trying to figure out what's going on there ....
 
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