mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Need two cars, electric for local and hybrid for long road trips and perhaps local if really needed. :D
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
How long did the 2 recharging stops take ?
I'm curious, too.

But this will vary by battery capabilities, car software and the charger's capabilities.
I've seen reports that the newer Level 3 Charging Stations can fully charge some EVs from near empty to full in as little as 20 minutes, though I have no experience with this. The key is, as Swerd mentioned, making certain you find a charger capable of the highest possible voltage... but then you must also have a vehicle that can take advantage of that.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Ford took a page from Tesla and dropped the price of the Mach E

....
Haha maybe it’s because it looks more like a Taurus than a mustang lol. Fuuuugly
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
It’s not the first time Ford applied the Mustang label to an undeserving vehicle. Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Cheryl Ladd did what they could with their respective assets to pull eyes away from the Mustang Cobra II.:D
IMG_4088.jpeg
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
It’s not the first time Ford applied the Mustang label to an undeserving vehicle. Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Cheryl Ladd did what they could with their respective assets to pull eyes away from the Mustang Cobra II.:D
View attachment 61966
Good call! Those were always lame. And slow. And ugly. And Ford…
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
It’s not the first time Ford applied the Mustang label to an undeserving vehicle. Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Cheryl Ladd did what they could with their respective assets to pull eyes away from the Mustang Cobra II.:D
View attachment 61966
That's still a hell of a lot nicer than this K-Car wanna be. Late '70's was a bad time for Mustang.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
It’s not the first time Ford applied the Mustang label to an undeserving vehicle. Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Cheryl Ladd did what they could with their respective assets to pull eyes away from the Mustang Cobra II.:D
View attachment 61966
Pinto :) Good example of when you try to cut costs and it bites you hard.
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Poor Kate Jackson was given the Pinto. It was the real reason she left the show. :D
Screenshot 2023-05-16 at 8.29.37 AM.png
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
Thirteen billion bucks - even Canadian ones - is big chunk of change. I hope it doesn't turn out to be just magic beans.
VW CEO says EV battery plant planned for Ontario could become one of the world's largest | CBC News
a little update.........


so VW puts up 7 billion and you Canadians put up dbl that ? and 'up to 3000 jobs', wonder what the actual number turns out to be ?
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
and that's why I'm still not ready for an EV, the only thing I need to stop for in 300 miles is to hit the head. Perhaps in another 5-10 years ..........
I don't know about you, but in another 5-10 years, I'll need to hit the head every 30 miles instead of 300! Maybe Telsa will add an on-board head along with their self-driving cars :rolleyes:.
Most EVs now come with ~250-350 mi range. The Tesla model 3 just released a revised long range model with ~400 mi range, though with a higher cost. Lucid has a 500mi car, but you will pay a lot for that.
On the way home yesterday, I saw one of those Lucids recharging next to mine. It was quite the car.

At this point, EVs are still enough of a novelty (to me) that recharging stops can be fun. There are a wide number of EVs to gawk at/drool over, and the owners are happy to talk about them. It was like an impromptu 'new car party'. Helped pass the time. I saw at least 3 BMWs, that Lucid I mentioned earlier, a VW, an Audi, a number of Kia/Hyundais, and a very strange looking Mercedes. All of the people I met were interested in my Volvo, they'd heard of them when they shopped, but hadn't yet seen one. At one stop, I was parked right next to a blue Volvo C40. It was the first time either of us had seen another one on the road. We both took pictures :).
1684272951445.jpeg

How long did the 2 recharging stops take?
The 300 mile drive can be done in 5 hours with good traffic, and no stops. With me driving, and a packed lunch, I've done it in ~6 hours in a gas powered car. One stop for gas, and two for bladder relief. Overall, in the EV that 6 hour trip took 8 hours.

The EV added roughly 2 hours for 2 recharge stops. We ate our lunch at the first stop. All the stops were at large shopping malls or Walmarts. All had bathrooms & food available, with better quality than what you find on the 'service centers' on major highways.

The Google Map navigation system in my car was much better at finding suitable charging stops than I expected from using my phone or desktop computer. It may be a newer version, or Volvo/Polestar has developed it's own version in collaboration with Google. Either way, it was very good.

I was disappointed how Electrify America's 150 or 350 kW chargers didn't actually deliver anything close to what they promised (see Charger kW rating vs. Actual Avg kW in the table below). That might be blamed on what the shopping malls or Walmart were willing to pay for. Providing abundant 400V DC current requires lots of juice and BIG transformers. In Electrify America's defense, their smart phone app worked fast & flawlessly. I recommend it over using a credit card. And Electrify America is widely said to be among the best, at least on the east coast. Tesla still has more chargers where ever I looked, but I don't know their charging power.

I also learned that PlugShare is a useful free app to have on your phone. It tells you where fast DC chargers are located regardless of the network brand, how many are actually functional, how many are in use, and shows brief customer comments. I had previously thought they weren't good on the east coast, but I was wrong.

I learned an interesting tidbit from the Lucid owner I spoke with. He said Electrify America's capital investment start-up money came from VW's settlement with the US Govt. over it's diesel engine emission fraud case from a few years ago.

Here's the full disclosure for my first 5 road-trip recharges. Only once did I have to wait my turn to plug in, only about 5 minutes. (I avoided driving on the weekends.)
1684273546581.png
 
Last edited:
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I don't know about you, but in another 5-10 years, I'll need to hit the head every 30 miles instead of 300! Maybe Telsa will add an on-board head along with their self-driving cars :rolleyes:.
That's why you get a refillable cup, I thought... so after you finish your coffee you can...

...

:p
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I'm also waiting for Tesla to install an onboard espresso maker.
Great... The Model Y just jumped 20K in cost with a cooperative crossover from Miele supplying built in Bathroom and Barista capabilities.
;)

Make certain to turn that cabin camera off when you strap in for the "ablution" feature. :D
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Before making my first EV road trip, I really believed that I could make do with one recharging stop. I was too optimistic. Driving at highway speeds uses up more juice per mile than driving around town.

Northbound, I realized after my first charge up, that I would arrive at my destination with only 6% charge left. There was no home charger available at my son's house, so I added that second stop in northern New Jersey.

A few days before I drove south, I charged up at a nearby Walmart. But by the time I drove home, it was down from an initial 90% to 82%. I should have charged up fully before leaving. When I got to Maryland, I realized I would be down in the low 20% range when I got home. No problem, I have a charger at home … right? My wife talked me out of that. It wouldn't be fun at all if my optimism resulted in calling a tow truck. On your very first road trip experience, assuming the most optimistic outcome isn't always the best way. So, I made that last hour long stop when I was about an hour away from home.

Each charging stop added about one hour to the trip. In exchange, I never once had to buy gasoline :cool:. I'm still loving that!
 
Last edited:
J

Jeepers

Full Audioholic
I don't know about you, but in another 5-10 years, I'll need to hit the head every 30 miles instead of 300! Maybe Telsa will add an on-board head along with their self-driving cars :rolleyes:.
On the way home yesterday, I saw one of those Lucid's recharging next to mine. It was quite the car.

At this point, EVs are still enough of a novelty (to me) that recharging stops can be fun. There are a wide number of EVs to gawk at/drool over, and the owners are happy to talk about them. It was like an impromptu 'new car party'. Helped pass the time. I saw at least 3 BMWs, that Lucid I mentioned earlier, a VW, an Audi, a number of Kia/Hyundais, and a very strange looking Mercedes. All of the people I met were interested in my Volvo, they'd heard of them when they shopped, but hadn't yet seen one. At one stop, I was parked right next to a blue Volvo C40. It was the first time either of us had seen another one on the road. We both took pictures :).
View attachment 61979
The 300 mile drive can be done in 5 hours with good traffic, and no stops. With me driving, and a packed lunch, I've done it in ~6 hours in a gas powered car. One stop for gas, and two for bladder relief. Overall, in the EV that 6 hour trip took 8 hours.

The EV added roughly 2 hours for 2 recharge stops. We ate our lunch at the first stop. All the stops were at large shopping malls or Walmarts. All had bathrooms & food available, with better quality than what you find on the 'service centers' on major highways.

The Google Map navigation system in my car was much better at finding suitable charging stops than I expected from using my phone or desktop computer. It may be a newer version, or Volvo/Polestar has developed it's own version in collaboration with Google. Either way, it was very good.

I was disappointed how Electrify America's 150 or 350 kW chargers didn't actually deliver anything close to what they promised (see Charger kW rating vs. Actual Avg kW in the table below). That might be blamed on what the shopping malls or Walmart were willing to pay for. Providing abundant 400V DC current requires lots of juice and BIG transformers. In Electrify America's defense, their smart phone app worked fast & flawlessly. I recommend it over using a credit card. And Electrify America is widely said to be among the best, at least on the east coast. Tesla still has more chargers where ever I looked, but I don't know their charging power.

I also learned that PlugShare is a useful free app to have on your phone. It tells you where fast DC chargers are located regardless of the network brand, how many are actually functional, how many are in use, and shows brief customer comments. I had previously thought they weren't good on the east coast, but I was wrong.

I learned an interesting tidbit from the Lucid owner I spoke with. He said Electrify America's capital investment start-up money came from VW's settlement with the US Govt. over it's diesel engine emission fraud case from a few years ago.

Here's the full disclosure for my first 5 road-trip recharges. Only once did I have to wait my turn to plug in, only about 5 minutes. (I avoided driving on the weekends.)
View attachment 61980
Thanks for the details. The 2-way trip was roughly 600 miles.
In general, was this trip, charging-wise versus fuel only, cheaper or more expensive than in the past when you visited your son with your gas powered car ?
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
.48 a kWh, wow :eek: if you ever make it up to Fairport , NY they have free chargers !
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
Thanks for the details. The 2-way trip was roughly 600 miles.
In general, was this trip, charging-wise versus fuel only, cheaper or more expensive than in the past when you visited your son with your gas powered car?
Those 5 charging sessions cost $105. On the road, Electrify America charges 48¢ per kWh, but at home I pay much less. I'll have to look closer at my next electricity bill to see what I pay per kWh at home.

In comparison, 2½ or 3 tanks (15 gallons) of gas (about $3.40/gallon?) would cost $127 for 2½ tanks, or $153 for 3 full tanks. Gas is expensive and the price never goes down for long. But, in fairness, electricity also doesn't get cheaper. In the USA, gas is subsidized by the US Govt. In Europe, gas cost (2019 in the UK) more than $6/gallon.

Electrify America offers different payment plans depending on how much you drive and where in the USA you charge up. When I signed up I chose their plan with no monthly charges plus 48¢ per kWh for what I took. They have other plans for people who charge up on the road more frequently – $4 monthly fee plus 38¢ (?) per kWh. While charging up, I spoke with someone who drove long road trips regularly. He said the $4 per month plan paid for itself quickly.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
.48 a kWh, wow :eek: if you ever make it up to Fairport , NY they have free chargers !
Not a fair comparison, at all.

How powerful are those free chargers? If they're in the range of 5-10 kW, they're the low powered Level 2 chargers. They're useless on a road trip. I have an 11 kW Level 2 charger at home (240V 48 Amps), and it can fully recharge my car in about 6-8 hours. The Electrify America Fast DC chargers where I paid 48¢/kWh deliver juice from 50 to 150 kW at 400V DC. I can fully recharge in less than an hour. I doubt if those free chargers can do that. (Google Maps tells you the charger power & type. Level 2 chargers are labled J1772 and Level 3 chargers are CCS. Most EVs, other than Tesla, take J1772/CCS charging plugs.)

Upstate New York has unusually cheap electricity because of the abundant power made by Niagara Falls. It might be subsidized by the state government.
 

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