Anyone own an EV? What is your experience?

wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
I'm looking at EVs, mainly to cut down on commute time by hopping into the carpool lane. I would like to know people's experiences.

From what I gather, range can vary a bit based on type of travel and how much in cabin HVAC you use.

The car I am looking at is the Chevy Spark EV with an 82 mile range. It should be enough for my 26 mile each way commute from the 880/92 interchange to 237/Laurence Expressway. Thoughts on this, 52 miles a day doesn't seem to be too out of the question?

There is a $7500 tax rebate from the Feds and a $2500 California clean vehicle rebate which offsets almost half the cost.

Right now I am driving a 2007 4Runner, gas isn't bad but taking an hour and a half, sometimes two hours, to get home suuuuuucccccckkkkkks. :p

What are other folks experiences with EVs on this board?
 
Reli

Reli

Well-known member
82 mile range, srsly?

What are the resale values on those things? They going to take a bath as much as Nissan Leafs have?
 
carries an axe

carries an axe

meat bone meat meat meat
This thread interests me.
My mother wants an EV but she has some really absurd requirements.

Needs to be small but safe:rolleyes

I'm hoping the new 30k Tesla will be worth looking at.
 
wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
carries an axe said:
This thread interests me.
My mother wants an EV but she has some really absurd requirements.

Needs to be small but safe:rolleyes

I'm hoping the new 30k Tesla will be worth looking at.
Click to expand...

The Spark EV MSRPs around $25k. Chevy has 0% financing and $1000 cash back. So doing the math:

$25k
-$1k rebate
-$7.5 federal
-$2.5 Cal
=$14k give or take. And that is MSRP on a 1LT, not sure how much negotiation these things have.

Sell my 4Runner to my bro-in-law for $12k and I am only $2k out of pocket. (floating the $7.5k federal tax credit for a year on the 0% interest)

White car pool stickers are only good until 1/1/2019 though.
 
TheRobSJ

TheRobSJ

Großer Mechaniker
If it's gonna be your only car....meh. I'd pass. I've heard from techs at a Chevy dealer that the Spark EV is pretty much garbage. Lots of problems. Plus even when it's working, 82 miles? That handful of times a month you need to take a longer trip? And it's raining or otherwise shitty out so the bike isn't a good idea...meh.

Come up another $5k and get the Volt. 50 mile EV range should pretty much cover your day, and if you need more miles, well there's gas stations everywhere. Much better reliability/quality than the Spark too.
 
Reli

Reli

Well-known member
Much better resale too, probably. People recognize the Volt name. Spark? Not so much.
 
wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
Volt is closer to $10k more than a Spark EV and the state ran out of the allotted Green Carpool stickers so it would make it a pointless upgrade as I would be sitting in the same traffic I am now.

We still have my wife's van to get around in as a family on the weekends, and I have my beast of an F150 if I need to go anywhere further. (37 gallon tank bishes :twofinger)

3 yr/36k mile bumper to bumper and 8yr/100,000 miles on the electric drive train & batteries should be ok. What type of problems are they seeing. I haven't been able to find any glaring issues on the forums, other than people needing software updates on some of the 2014 models. (pull battery (-) cable to reboot the car, pretty hilarious)
 
D

DReg350

Well-known member
We were given a Prius. Never would have bought one, but quickly learned that the cost to operate it was dirt cheap. Biggest problem was it was too old to qualify for HOV stickers. Just bought some stickers attached to a 2013 Volt. Completely different car. Not even close. So far I love it.

I looked at EVs, but my company is moving further North from where I am now. The new distance would put me on the edge of the round trip range. New place has no place to plug in. Means straight to work and straight home. No stops. Didn't work in my mind, so I got the Volt instead.
 
wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
Round trip is 52 miles, so I should be able to make it. DC rapid charger that will give me an 80% charge in 20 minutes is out front off a Peet's, walking distance from my office.
 
D

DReg350

Well-known member
wazzuFreddo said:
Round trip is 52 miles, so I should be able to make it. DC rapid charger that will give me an 80% charge in 20 minutes is out front off a Peet's, walking distance from my office.
Click to expand...

Sweet! Go for it! :thumbup From what I've been able to surmise most EVs have between an 80 to 87 mile range. Gave me range anxiety. :laughing

There's a TON of Volts coming off lease now and they're relatively cheap. Mine was one of those. Single owner, 28K miles, great shape, with stickers for 16K. I've see 'em cheaper than that too. TrueCar says new 2016s are above $35K.
 
Bowling4Bikes

Bowling4Bikes

Steee-riiike!
Leaf driver. here's my honest assessment:

-I'm guessing, like the Leaf, the 82 mile range is based upon ideal-case scenario. for the Leaf, the fine print says "104 miles at 41 miles per hour in stop-and-go traffic". If I travel at highways speeds, the range gets drained pretty quickly. so be aware of that. Also, using the A/C drains the battery.

-even though you forgo the $7500 kickback, I'd strongly consider leasing. for my Lithium ion battery, I've lost ~17% of battery capacity in 30k miles. Nissan's throwing all kinds of incentives at me to buy mine outright once my lease is up in May, but I'd much rather get a new one with better range.

-not going to the gas pump is fuggin awesome! no oil, no fluids. only tire rotation and changes.

-HOV lane access is crucial.

-I'm not too confident in it's overall safety. they need to build these things light.

-It has all the nice bells and whistles like keyless start and entry, Bluetooth pairing with the phone, etc. What I absolutely love about the Leaf is that I have a phone app that allows me to turn on my car's A/C. so before I go out, I can either cool down or heat up the car before I get in. Also has heated seats (front, passenger, back) and heated steering wheel. rear-view camera.

-it has the look and feel of a subcompact car. you know: nice but kinda cheap.

-you can get a different PG&E plan when you have an EV. if you charge/use your appliances after 11pm and before 7am, the savings is significant.

-I would highly recommend getting a tier-2 charger (220/240v) installed at your house. 110v gives you ~4 miles range per hour charged. 220/240 will give 16-20 miles/hour. This may impact you afa upgrading your fuse box and installation. well worth it.

-At first they were amazing, but now, public charging stations have become burdensome to charge at. always in use and/or someone just parks there while their car isn't being charged...this is against the whole social code for EVs, but it doesn't stop a lot of people. They're building new ones all the time though, so hopefully the demand will be met.

All in all, I'm very happy with the technology and the car. And I'm happy I leased it. I will definitely be buying/leasing another EV once my lease runs out.

let me know if you have specific questions, I'll be happy to answer.
 
D

DReg350

Well-known member
Bowling4Bikes said:
-you can get a different PG&E plan when you have an EV. if you charge/use your appliances after 11pm and before 7am, the savings is significant.
Click to expand...

I just switched to this PG&E plan, but be aware that this program closes at the end of THIS month! After the end of this month, they are not allowing any new participants. I just squeaked in. :teeth

ELECTRIC VEHICLES - Making Sense of the Rates
 
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wazzuFreddo

wazzuFreddo

WuTang is 4 the children
Bowling4Bikes said:
Leaf driver. here's my honest assessment:

-I'm guessing, like the Leaf, the 82 mile range is based upon ideal-case scenario. for the Leaf, the fine print says "104 miles at 41 miles per hour in stop-and-go traffic". If I travel at highways speeds, the range gets drained pretty quickly. so be aware of that. Also, using the A/C drains the battery.

-even though you forgo the $7500 kickback, I'd strongly consider leasing. for my Lithium ion battery, I've lost ~17% of battery capacity in 30k miles. Nissan's throwing all kinds of incentives at me to buy mine outright once my lease is up in May, but I'd much rather get a new one with better range.

-not going to the gas pump is fuggin awesome! no oil, no fluids. only tire rotation and changes.

-HOV lane access is crucial.

-I'm not too confident in it's overall safety. they need to build these things light.

-It has all the nice bells and whistles like keyless start and entry, Bluetooth pairing with the phone, etc. What I absolutely love about the Leaf is that I have a phone app that allows me to turn on my car's A/C. so before I go out, I can either cool down or heat up the car before I get in. Also has heated seats (front, passenger, back) and heated steering wheel. rear-view camera.

-it has the look and feel of a subcompact car. you know: nice but kinda cheap.

-you can get a different PG&E plan when you have an EV. if you charge/use your appliances after 11pm and before 7am, the savings is significant.

-I would highly recommend getting a tier-2 charger (220/240v) installed at your house. 110v gives you ~4 miles range per hour charged. 220/240 will give 16-20 miles/hour. This may impact you afa upgrading your fuse box and installation. well worth it.

-At first they were amazing, but now, public charging stations have become burdensome to charge at. always in use and/or someone just parks there while their car isn't being charged...this is against the whole social code for EVs, but it doesn't stop a lot of people. They're building new ones all the time though, so hopefully the demand will be met.

All in all, I'm very happy with the technology and the car. And I'm happy I leased it. I will definitely be buying/leasing another EV once my lease runs out.

let me know if you have specific questions, I'll be happy to answer.
Click to expand...

What year is your Leaf? I've been reading that Chevy was more conservative with range than Nissan was. Randos on the internet report their Spark telling them ~95 miles of range (I take that with a grain of salt though)

Leasing it looks like people have been able to use the $7500 to bargain down the lease rates. $139/mo seems to be standard for a 36mon/36k mile lease.

Only downside to the Spark vs a Leaf is 3.3kW/hr charger on the Spark vs 6.6kW/hr charger on the Leaf.
 
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louemc

louemc

Well-known member
wazzuFreddo said:
I'm looking at EVs, mainly to cut down on commute time by hopping into the carpool lane. I would like to know people's experiences.

From what I gather, range can vary a bit based on type of travel and how much in cabin HVAC you use.

The car I am looking at is the Chevy Spark EV with an 82 mile range. It should be enough for my 26 mile each way commute from the 880/92 interchange to 237/Laurence Expressway. Thoughts on this, 52 miles a day doesn't seem to be too out of the question?

There is a $7500 tax rebate from the Feds and a $2500 California clean vehicle rebate which offsets almost half the cost.

Right now I am driving a 2007 4Runner, gas isn't bad but taking an hour and a half, sometimes two hours, to get home suuuuuucccccckkkkkks. :p

What are other folks experiences with EVs on this board?
Click to expand...

Straight EV is very specific duty (range)...

The Owner should also be solar power on the home, for free charging.
That isn't easy either.... Having the storage for overnight charging.
 
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