Electric and Hybrid Car Thread
 

There doesn't seem to be a thread anywhere (not that I looked that hard). Any suggestions on where to start one? I purchased an all electric vehicle and just love it. Would like to share experiences / pros and cons / etc. with other owners.

I'd suggest just in the VAC main forum for now.

How about a "Future Mobility" forum for hybrids, EV's, solar...etc?

As I see gas prices now in the $1.50+ range, I am so glad I took the plunge into a fully electric vehicle. No gas, oil changes, spark plugs, timing belt issues, etc. ZERO emissions. And, that HOV decal, lol.

I used to have range anxiety issues, but I'm so used to it now. Plus, with more and more DC Fast Charging stations, range anxiety is a thing of the past. 20 minutes is all I need to go from empty to 80% charge. I also have a level 2 charger at home. To charge my little car, it costs somewhere between $2.50 and $3.00 from nearly empty to full (~5 hours on level 2). Most of the time, I charge at shopping malls, so the cost is reduced by a fair margin. On a good day, I get upwards to 115 kms of range.

Electric vehicles are not for everybody, but the EV's with range extenders do make sense. The Volt, BMW i3, etc.

PHEV's are becoming popular, although it's just cheesy, IMHO.


I'm hoping the Tesla Model 3 will be delayed further, because once they come out, public charging stations would be full all the time.

BC government now offer rebates for people wanting to install charging stations at home or at their business. New condo's/buildings are now required to be installed in some municipalities.

The BC Scrap It program offers $6000.00 towards an electric vehicle for any vehicle that moves (as long as it has been insured for min. 6 months). On top of this, there is the $5000.00 government rebate that is available at dealerships.


I have no idea why I am posting this, because I have a good thing going here. As soon as people start to realize the benefits of owning an electric car and start buying them, everything will change.................

What did you get? You can get into one now pretty reasonable, used Leafs are flooding market.

Personally, I'm interested in the best plug in hybrid. Reduce range anxiety. Love the Audi A3 etron but $$$$$.

The Tesla Model 3 has just been announced with a Cdn price of $45.6k:

https://electrek.co/2018/03/21/tesla...-canada-price/

I remain highly skeptical of how soon and how many cars Mr. Con Man is capable of delivering though...

Used Fiat 500e? Staring at $14,500. About the same as used Nissan Leaf prices.

https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/...522322607.html

Golf E looks good but WAY too $$. Might as well get a slightly used R for that price.

That's like comparing apples and oranges.

People are willing a premium to offset the notion of not having to pay for gas. if the car car last for 5+ years without major maintenance cost, i'm sure it's total ownership value will be a lot less than a golf R.

lol moving this to VAC

When’s the first electric pickup going to come out?

https://electrek.co/2018/01/09/workh...-pickup-truck/

W-15 Pickup | Workhorse


A Canadian product............ Yay!

Havelaar Canada | Bison

https://www.investinontario.com/succ...k-made-ontario

MG1, you still didn't tell us what car did you get?

Black Leaf?

he's mentioned he owns a smart fortwo
how does an electric truck operate? instant torque translates to work? does towing drain battery?

But but but... Is it black?

I really liked the little Bolt at the Vancouver Auto Show, save for some typical GM crappy plastic finishing... but looks like a great product and really good range. Too bad it's $41k to start... yah you can bring it down to $30k with incentives if you qualify for all of them... but still...

For me, the technology just isn't quite there yet. Too many questions about reduced capacity in too few years... If you told me in 5 years my gas car would have 75% as much horsepower and 25% worse mileage capablity than when it was new, I'd be super pissed... and that's the reality of these cars right now.

Also, if you want a laugh MG1 (or cry for your future) google Tesla charging station lineups in Norway... they're almost always 15 cars deep, takes hours to get recharged there's so many Tesla's there. The infrastructure will catch up one day, but LOL at it until then.

Speaking of the autoshow, I talked to one of the charging station vendors, and he told me that with the combination of autoshow discount and government incentives, their basic single outlet home charging station would only come to ~$100 -- not including electrician / installation charges. That is seriously cheap!

If I was still living in my old house where the (attached) garage is just right outside (right on the other side of the wall) of the laundry room, it shoudn't be difficult to tap into the 220V wiring that is already there, and voilà~! I could have started EV shopping.

^ seriously? I almost would have bought one just for shits and giggles. Maybe make some new hippy friends.

I know, right? Mind you, the electrician work and stuff is still going to cost some money, but I can't imagine the whole thing being too expensive.

For what it is worth, this is the vendor I was chatting with:

https://www.chargepoint.com/en-ca/

This is largely a concern with the Leaf, which doesn't have any active cooling (other than a fan afaik) which is a huge issue for the 1st gen in warm weather climates. Replacement packs are $5500 from Nissan, which gets you the 2015 revision of the pack.

The 2nd gen Leaf seems to be throttling itself during quick charging since the algorithms to manage the thermals are more aggresive battery pack is now from a 3rd party vendor instead of in house.

All other batteries have active cooling, so it's much less of an issue.

waiting for the day we talk about adding capacitors in our cars

and having them explode :lawl:

Wait till Model 3's start arriving! I wonder what the experience of line ups are here in Vancouver.

Do we have anyone on RS driving a Tesla on a regular day-in, day-out basis? I remain very skeptical of the company and their products as anything more than a boutique brand. In particular, when everyday issues crop up -- servicing / maintenance type of stuff and esp collision repairs -- I am not convinced Tesla is ready to provide that kind of after sales support to their customers.

Would love to hear some owner testimonials though -- esp in regards to those everyday issues I mentioned.

An EV would fit my daily driving needs perfectly, which now since my office moved is about 50 kms a week (I walk 2kms to work unless I need to meet a customer or go to a job site).

However, at $35k+ it would take forever. Even when I was driving to/from work everyday (30km round trip) my annual gas bills came to ~$1200, and that's all at 94 octane.

Not to mention how bored I would feel driving an appliance every day.

LOL@SumAznGuy.........

RS profiler/stalker wannabe.

Comes to a meat once to check out everybody, never to be seen again.

Dude, I am the official profiler/stalker of RS.

To answer your burning question, yes, it is black.

any Hybrid that's in same class as CX 5?

Wish cx 5 came as hybrid!

^ Toyota RAV4 Hybrid would be one.

https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/...528009332.html

Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, didn't even know they made one

https://abbotsford.craigslist.ca/ctd...550052748.html

Porsche Cayenne Hybrid

https://abbotsford.craigslist.ca/ctd...536520282.html