Would you buy an electric car?

[SirJimmy]

I really want one, but they are either:

- too expensive (Teslas)
- too ugly (Leaf, I3)
- lacking in range (all except Tesla)
- lacking in enjoyable driving dynamics (Leaf, volt, ...)

The 2016 Chevy Volt does not look too bad, but it is a hybrid and not a true all-electric. You have to lug around an internal combustion engine with you wherever you go even if you mostly use electricity as fuel.

I'm surprised that I see so few around town because we Vancouverites are the perfect demographics for electrics. We have:

- some of the most expensive gasoline in North America
- some of the cheapest electricity in North America
- mostly green electricity (hydro vs the coal/gas used in many US states)
- a temperate climate that doesn't prematurely kill batteries as would excessively hot/cold areas (not to mention less need for cooling/heating to extend battery range).
- a left-leaning, environmentalist population

So are any of you seriously considering one? Would buy a used one like one of these:

http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/search/cta?is_paid=all&query=leaf

 

[take8easy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car?

 

[rlock]

If not for the cost, yes. But it's not just the cost of the car - you have to have a charging station at home too. Easy enough to install if you live in a house, but if you're in an apartment and they don't have one / won't install one, you're SOL.

 

[cumberland69]

http://business.financialpost.com/f...cuted-by-al-gore-and-his-environmental-allies

 

[SirJimmy]

http://business.financialpost.com/f...cuted-by-al-gore-and-his-environmental-allies

In the article, the phrase "Gasoline is cheap. Electricity is expensive." applies to the author's city (Toronto). It is quite the opposite here in Vancouver.

Mind you, electricity prices are due to rise in BC as well. BC Hydro wanted to raise rates 40%, but backed down during the last Provincial election to help get Christy re-elected.

Also, oil will not stay at $30 USD for very long as the article seems to assume. If gas went back to $1.50/litre instead of $1.00/litre here in Vancouver, a used cheap electric car could make economic sense. But it would have to be one of those fugly Leafs.

I guess I'll continue to sit on the fence for now and see how things pan out. Chevy will be releasing its new all-electric Chevy Bolt soon; and Tesla will be releasing its more affordable (relative sense) model III soon.

 

[pro-boner]

Certainly an electric is something to consider if you are just toddling around the inner core. Gas and Diesel engines are getting more and more efficient every year so the environmental benefit is a moot point, especially if you live on the prairies where long distances are the only distances and it is currently -10. I considered a second hand hybrid last summer but got the big shock when I checked with the ford dealer about what a replacement battery pack would cost and it was over 20K. I have heard lower numbers out of the states by companies that supposedly do aftermarket reloads but getting lithium into Canada appeared to be a bit of a hurdle. So I opted for the good old Impala, cheap to buy, cheap to fix, I get 7 on the highway all the time on the prairies and drives pretty good it is my second one. The first one was up to 265K when I wrote it off, having done nothing other than replace the water pump, the wiper blades, one bulb, and the tires a few times. So I did pretty good, for 5 years of ownership on a big car that cost me 10K to buy in the first place.

 

[wetnose]

You don't need to buy new - you can always convert an old compact (.e.g. Honda Civic) to full electric -

 

[PierreCoeur]

Gas combustion engines should be banned so I would be forced to purchase one. So would I buy one. Of I would if it was regulated.

 

[rlock]

The point I made above was really that the cars alone are not enough - you need infrastructure to back it up. Find a way to push people to build that too, and then the usage of such cars will really increase. (And the more such cars are on the actually used, the smaller the price difference will become.)

Certainly an electric is something to consider if you are just toddling around the inner core. Gas and Diesel engines are getting more and more efficient every year so the environmental benefit is a moot point, especially if you live on the prairies where long distances are the only distances and it is currently -10. I considered a second hand hybrid last summer but got the big shock when I checked with the ford dealer about what a replacement battery pack would cost and it was over 20K. I have heard lower numbers out of the states by companies that supposedly do aftermarket reloads but getting lithium into Canada appeared to be a bit of a hurdle. So I opted for the good old Impala, cheap to buy, cheap to fix, I get 7 on the highway all the time on the prairies and drives pretty good it is my second one. The first one was up to 265K when I wrote it off, having done nothing other than replace the water pump, the wiper blades, one bulb, and the tires a few times. So I did pretty good, for 5 years of ownership on a big car that cost me 10K to buy in the first place.

Well, that's the other issue - how people really use a vehicle. Hauling cargo or going long distances without support needs certain characteristics; where you live & what you do really matters. Still, 80% of people live in urban areas, and probably 90 or 95% of people probably do not ever need some sort of heavy duty vehicle. And for what it's worth, few people who own sports cars will ever be able to use their capabilities. So I mean, this issue comes down to: capabilities you need versus capabilities you want. People get that wrong, and a lot of that is marketing & culture, convincing people to buy what they'll never need.

LOL @ myself though, for if I won the lottery, I'd get a Tesla sports car, for sure. And probably drive it like Mad Max.

 

[badbadboy]

I'm addicted to 94 Octane (plus octane boost when at the track), the growling sounds of high spec engines, the high pitched sounds of turbo's and that gasoline smell at the track. That smell, that gasoline smell . . . . smells like Victory

Having said that, I really enjoyed ripping around in a Tesla even if it was only for 20 minutes. Very impressive machine but the limited distance between charges is the only thing that would limit people who really like to drive from buying or leasing one. Should there ever be a major infrastructure investment with charging stations then the public and guys like me will change their minds.

 

[yazoo]

I think that my current fossil powered car will be my last. I hope. To buy another would be like investing in a flip phone after smart phones have arrived. Gas powered vehicles will soon be shown next to steam powered ones. Why invest in a dying technology unless it is purely for a nostalgic thrill.

Hopefully we will get off-peak pricing to reduce the cost of charging. But even paying full price - it isn't that expensive.

 

[Sibar]

Range is my deciding factor. But I find the Tesla too small inside. If they made the Ford Focus better in range... That'll be the one for me.



http://www.caamagazine.ca/auto/best-affordable-electric-cars/

 

[sdw]

The Tesla is getting close to being good enough to replace a gasoline car. But, you are still range limited and we still see battery packs burning. I think that we still have another 10 years before electric cars will out number gas/diesel cars. We may actually see public transportation and heavy hauling adopting electric vehicles first. If the range on a heavy vehicle can be brought up to 10 - 12 hours doing useful work, electricity would have a real advantage over fossil fuels. With public transportation and heavy hauling, there is the advantage of known start and end points and they are usually at a terminal. Not that difficult to arrange for the necessary charging stations.

 

[MissingOne]

I think that my current fossil powered car will be my last. I hope. To buy another would be like investing in a flip phone after smart phones have arrived. Gas powered vehicles will soon be shown next to steam powered ones. Why invest in a dying technology unless it is purely for a nostalgic thrill.

Hopefully we will get off-peak pricing to reduce the cost of charging. But even paying full price - it isn't that expensive.

I just bought a great big gas guzzling pickup truck myself. But, it's old and I paid very little for it. I need a truck now, not at some fuzzy future date. I would not put out the several tens of thousands of dollars needed to buy a new truck, because I do think things will change big time in the next few years. I'll drive my new-to-me old truck while I can, and if five years from now a gas vehicle is no longer practical, I won't care.

 

[EuroSZabina]

I'm addicted to 94 Octane (plus octane boost when at the track), the growling sounds of high spec engines, the high pitched sounds of turbo's and that gasoline smell at the track. That smell, that gasoline smell . . . . smells like Victory.

Lol, yes !!! Same with me. For a girls I always loved fast sport cars since I was 17 in Europe my bf and friends would build race cars, we would go to Austria for parts and they would take me to the track. And I loved every bit of it.
Just ordered one of a top line car from Europe, I need to use 94 in it too but it's ok, when you drive this monster you cum non fucking stop. Lol
When Tesla came out in about 2012 I didn't know what kind of car was on the road and I followed to find out. I really wanted to get one, but too quiet for my liking and I worry about the battery lasting. I believe in the states there's more Tesla chargers are available then in Canada. I still would like one...
I think get what you can afford , suitable for you but most important it's in your budget.

 

[SirJimmy]

... I think that we still have another 10 years before electric cars will out number gas/diesel cars. ..

I think you are way too optimistic. In 10 years, I predict no more than 10% of vehicles on the road will be electric. People keep their vehicles longer these days. The average age of a vehicle on the road in 2014 was 11.4 years.

http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/r...ortation_statistics/html/table_01_26.html_mfd

All the gas vehicles leaving showrooms today will still be on the road in a decade.

Cars are getting more and more reliable, and the middle-class is getting poorer and poorer so the trend should continue. Of course, in area where roads are heavily salted, the body will rust out before the drive-train fails -- so there is a limit to how old vehicles can get.

Currently, most states/provs provide some form of rebate or tax break to buyers of electrics. In BC you can get rebated a little over $8000. In California, more than $10,000. When a non-trivial number of people start buying electric, these incentives will have to go away. This should slow down electric sales. These rebates are kind of unfair anyways. Young, low-income people (who bike, walk, public transit to work for financial/environmental reasons) are probably not very happy that their taxes are being used by a rich middle-aged guys to buy Teslas.

 

[SirJimmy]

Lol, yes !!! ... I need to use 94 in it too but it's ok, when you drive this monster you cum non fucking stop. ..

Don't use 94 octane. Use a really low grade fuel so that the massive engine mis-fires and makes the entire car vibrate. Just try not to get into an accident when you go out for your "joy rides".

 

[JimDandy]

I think that several different technologies are converging which will create a very different car, and how we use it, in about 10 years time. Specifically:

- The improvement in battery and fuel cell technology. It is not clear at this point which will eventually will win the battle to replace gasoline powered engines, but I believe one or both of them will eventually. Hybrid technology, which is really a "compromise technology", will eventually be phased out.

- Self driving technology. This is definitely on the way. Is only a question of when, not if.

- Modernization of the user interface for cars. For example, Apple and Google are working at creating an interface for cars more like how we use a cell phone or a computer and less like how we drive a bulldozer.

- Ride sharing technology. Already growing in popularity (See Lyft in N.A. and Bla Bla Car in Europe. Also HitchPlanet in Vancouver). And when we have self driving cars, it will become much easier to share vehicles rather than simply own one (or more). Uber is making big financial bets on this happening. If you remember that most personal vehicles are only on the road 4% of the time, it does not take a great deal of foresight to see the day when owning a personal vehicle will not make economic sense for most people.

As another poster mentioned above, it will become risky to buy a new vehicle in the near future for fear of it becoming obsolete soon afterward, in the same way your cell phone becomes obsolete in 3 years or less. I don't think I will be buying a new car going forward. Instead I will buy a vehicle with 100K on it and sell it when it reaches 200K to 250K.

JD

 

[sevenofnine]

A few months ago, I was curious and did some googling, there are quite a few charging stations for the Leaf and the Tesla, from Calgary I could go to Banff and back to Edmonton and back even Vancouver and back, still a hassle, and in the dead of winter in Calgary with heaters and defrosters running I doubt your range is very far. But it is the future, maybe, I guess with cheap gas, electric cars aren't the in thing anymore.

 

[paprides]

nope.
Range is very much a handicap, as is charging time and availability of charging. An alternative posted somewhere else was replaceable batteries.
You stop, replace your depleted/depleting battery with a fully charged one and move on.
Either way, it's not quite a replacement for fossil fuel. And that's without the discussion or debate about the source of electricity. We're fortunate in BC, hydro electric. In other areas of the continent it's electricity born from natural gas, coal or nuclear and the "energy savings," are nebulous at best.
Then there's the whole debate raging around Ethanol and how much energy it takes to produce ethanol which doesn't pack as much 'power,' as does fossil fuel, per pound of fuel.
I digress, as usual. The OP was looking for an opinion and mine is thank you, but not at this time.

Hybrid, now that's something i'd put money into. Efficient and socially responsible too.