Is it time to get an EV?

In reply to Nate90LX :

I’ve had a 2014 i3 Rex for almost 2 yrs now. Got it CPO for $20k. It’s got 80k miles on it and I’m very happy with it as my only non project car. I commute 70-100 mi a day round trip and charge both at home and work, but could skip home charging if i really wanted to. I usually end up with 50% battery left by the time i get home. The REx usually gets used on road trips, and aside from having to stop for gas every 100 miles it’s no big deal.

As far as handling goes - it’s rwd but I feel it’s hampered by the weird 155/70-19 tires.  It feels nervous when you really wring it out. I’m trying to find some compatible wheels that’ll give me more width - id be happy with 195’s and some more sidewall. I have some x1 wheels I’m about to test fit.  Flares from the s model should give a little more fender to play with. 

The 500e was more fun to drive (especially after I put on my miatas sticky 205-50-15’s ) but the i3 is a much better all around car with it’s usable rear seat and quasi-4 doors  

The interior is a cut above any of the other EV’s I’ve been in, especially with the mid or top level trim. It’s got real wood and real leather with decent infotainment.  Fortunately they’ve deprecated heavily off original $50k msrp

Don’t forget about the Chevy Spark. I think GRM did a story on autox one of them. 

Its a bit of a risk buying an old EV in terms of resale so price must be right. 

I wouldn’t touch the BMW. They had to drop leases to 59 a month to get rid of them. The tires are ridiculously expensive and wear quickly and then there’s the maintenance cost. 

Spark, 500 and Leaf are what I’d consider for a cheap EV runabout. 

Thread is very relevant for me. Traffic is just sucking the life out of me and I end up driving like 12 miles on a good day. I see eGolfs for 10-12k in the low end. Here is my question. What do chargers cost? Are the universal or semi universal?  Would you want a used charger if it came with the car?

I also like the CMAX energi. Heavier with bigger battery but appear to be faster than non plug in. Anyone own one?

i think most chargers are in the $1500 range installed, as long as you have enough service for one.

In reply to GTwannaB :

Semi universal. Just about every modern plug-in vehicle sold in North America accepts a J1772 plug. Tesla is the main exception, but they sell J1772 adapters for every vehicle they've made, going back to the Roadster.

Beyond this, there are various fast charging standards. 

Chademo uses a separate, larger plug. It's supported mostly by Nissan and Mitsubishi.

SAE came later. ItsIan enhancement to J1772, adding an extra two connectors below the standard plug that support fast charging. US and European brands selling in the US tend to support that.

And again, Tesla, who have two different ports: Roadster and everything else. The everything else ports can support Supercharging™. There was supposedly a Chademo adapter sold by Tesla, but I think it was Japan-only, ehrew Chademo has wide adoption.

Regarding the expense of "chargers":

• Technically, the dohicky that connects your car to electricity is called Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, or EVSE. 
• The charger is actually a component in the car.
• Most plug in vehicles include a Level I EVSE in the trunk. That's a 110v cord.
• Depending on model, an overnight charge on a Level I charger is worth about 40 miles or so.
• If you don't drive enough to need more than that, maybe don't spend the extra dough.
• Many states have tax credits for EVSE purchase, even if you buy a used EV.
• Some cars have a manufacturer recommendation that Level I is for occasional use, and Level II is preferred. I think LEAF had this, at least certain years. If this is the case, ignore the above and get a Level II.
• If you have a plug-in with active battery management and live in an extreme climate with very cold winters, you may find a Level I is taxed hard just keeping the battery from freezing. Ignore the above and get a Level II.

So, if you live in a moderate climate and tend toward driving fewer than ~40 miles in a day, and if the maker of your plug-in doesn't advise otherwise, you may not need to buy an updated EVSE.

Source: owned a plug-in for two years and never bought the Level II EVSE.

j1772 is universal for level 1 and 2 charging  

Level 2 chargers range from $200 to basic but works to $500 with a few bells and whistles like WiFi to ‘saw em coming’ $1k models like the optional  or Tesla changers. 

For home charging a simple 240v outlet at $200 evse from Amazon have been great for me. Just plugs in the dryer circuit.  However I did make do with the 120v level one it came with just fine.. I just plug in when I get home and have the cars timer set to go when electricity is cheapest. 

Chademo, Tesla supercharge and CCS are basically super duper fast  charging which only applies to commercial installations. 

No concerns whatsoever with using a used EVSE as it’s really just a glorified cable - the real chargers in the car. 

GTwannaB said:

Thread is very relevant for me. Traffic is just sucking the life out of me and I end up driving like 12 miles on a good day. I see eGolfs for 10-12k in the low end. Here is my question. What do chargers cost? Are the universal or semi universal?  Would you want a used charger if it came with the car?

I also like the CMAX energi. Heavier with bigger battery but appear to be faster than non plug in. Anyone own one?

The CMAX Energi has the same battery and power train as my Fusion Energi. I can charge from "empty" to "full" 21 mile EV range in about 6.5hrs from a standard 110 outlet. The 240v Level II chargers will do that in about half the time.

The two primary factors in battery degradation seem to be heat management and number of charging cycles. Heat is added to the battery through charging and regenerative braking. The faster you charge, the more heat you put into the battery. So, technically level 1 charging should be better for your battery than level II or fast charging Level III setups (like Tesla's supercharger's) but there's a convenience trade off. If you only need to add 40-50 miles of charge overnight  for your commute, or that's above the EV range of the vehicle (like most PHEVs), then a basic level I charging setup is plenty adequate while costing nothing and being better for your battery.

I think I still have a Level 2 charger rattling around that I never installed at the last house; our Leaf usage never saw us needing to change out from the Level 1.

I thought for a while that I'd off it, but it seems likely that we'll wind up with another EV, and not unlikely that we'll try one with a longer range and thus use it for more stuff where the L2 might be handy.

I was wondering about the CMAX Energi too, as for the price it seems like it has a good amount of space, decent pickup and a decent interior (and some combination of those points seem to be lacking on some of the other electric options).

Having that as a daily would probably give me the option of having adding a third project/weekend vehicle to the household. But it is tough to part ways with my tried and true GX SUV...

For anyone looking at a Cmax Energi, make sure you're looking at pics of an Energi when assessing space in the hatch. The bigger battery takes up probably 40% of what the regular cmax has for space back there. 

In reply to Vigo :

It's true! Another one that I wrote off for forward visibility, but the fact that it had a big awkward pack sitting in the trunk didn't help...

I don’t have much to add, but 15 years ago, whodathunk we’d have multiple relevant EV threads?

This topic intrigues me. As I'm starting to REALLY consider getting rid of the 135i for something cheaper, at least for the next year, and something like the cars discussed would be nearly perfect for almost every situation I would use one. 

I only come to the office 3 days per week, and it's 11 miles roundtrip. And on the weekend maybe a 20 mile roundtrip to go to our favorite area of town to grab lunch.

In reply to z31maniac :

you definitely sound like an excellent candidate for one of the used Leafs.. 

Just don't forget that these oldest mainstream EV's are over 8 years old - that means no more warranty of any kind on the battery.  That's why 2011 Leafs are crazy cheap right now ($4k in my area) ...and they had a bad rep for longevity.

In that price 4-6k range you do indeed have options - Focus, Fiat, Smart & Spark, so look around.

A few years ago there was a local report/article on driving a Honda EV from the Albany area to Montreal .  He looked on it as an adventure as it took him days.  Forget how many.   Looking ahead he had to locate charging stations and drive accordingly .   He took his bicycle to explore the area while the car was charging.

Nearly same distance I can do the trip in 4 hrs in my Fiesta.

So it depends.

In reply to iceracer :

Link stolen from One Lap thread

2 Teslas ran One Lap this year. The one entrant had planned on it, the other didn't. The team that planned ahead claimed only an extra 150-180 miles to get to Supercharge stations. 

So I'd say they're getting there, but there is a difference between the Midwest US in May and Canada not in May. 

I've been seeing a lot more Tesla vehicles locally but not a single charging station.

In reply to RevRico :

Probably not as common or as noticeable as gas stations, but there are a few charging stations near you with 12 charging "ports":

In reply to STM317 :

huh. The one blue basically at the end of my street is a Nissan dealer, that makes sense. Those 2 to the west look like Sheetz locations or very near to Sheetz locations. I never noticed or even saw a sign for them before, but makes sense being right off the turnpike. Now I wanna go look at them to see if they're like the charging spots from parking lots in California or how they're setup.

Edit: according to Google, one is actually AT a Dunkin Donuts. 30 cents per minute for level one charging in a 45 minute session, $1.50 per hour for level 2