Electric Vehicles: Miles Per Gallon vs. Miles Per KwH

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Thanks for the comments.  I'm happy to say that many of the concerns you've all listed are interesting background for me - - but are of minor importance for us.

We'll be replacing Nancy's car in the next year or so.  It'll live in the (heated) garage at our house and be driven about 50-75 miles each day, returning to the house daily.  It'll be all-wheel drive.  Once or twice a year it'll be used on a trip of 500 miles or more.  Our home is supplied by a 200-amp service and yes, there's 220VAC in the garage.

I agree with Dean about the Tesla charging system's ubiquitousness.  I'd come to that conclusion already but his witness is reassuring.

Thanks again.  What else?

[Paulin adelaide]

I asked a friend ,what is the range of his car , he told me then he gave me a senario .
He visits his mum in the hills , we are on coastal flats , its 26 mile up their and 7 miles back acording to the computer..
coasting back and recharging ?

[jl222]

  shouldn't the extra price of the EV be factored in?

  JL222   

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Sure, the price differential of EV vs. ICE needs to be considered when making a cost comparison, but for now I'm just exploring if an EV can fill our driving needs.  For that matter, I expect that the EV industry, being as new as it is, will have all sorts of price gyrations before we're ready to get a new vehicle as new methods and materials are adopted.  I'll watch the fun.

In the meantime, next question:  Every vehicle we get is either four wheel drive or all wheel drive.  That's an absolute requirement.  Nancy has had a half-dozen Subarus and they're great.  My pickup with a real transfer case is dandy.  Her current ride, an '18 Chevy Trax AWD, has served us well.  Anybody got comments on this aspect of EVs?

[noboD]

Is it true you can only buy tires from Tesla? I'm told they are special because of the weight.

[manta22]

The worst thing about an EV- to me- is that you are totally dependent on China for batteries.

[bob]

ev.s and snow country are a hard mix .  ev.s and a lot of late model cars use high mileage tires , as in hard compound and virtually no tread , less rolling resistance , make sure you have a choice for snow tires .i am a permitted tire chain installer on I-80  Donner summit were anything 2-wheel drive needs to chain up when there are mandatory chain requirements , anything AWD or 4X4 with snow tires on all 4 wheels doesnt have to chain up . if you run these high mileage tires you gotta chain it up . absolutely useless tires in snow . another thing ive seen the last couple years , ev,s stranded dead on the shoulder covered with a lump of snow, dead . not uncommon to have lengthy road closures , as in 7-10 hours were you are imobile . also common even though the highway is open it can take upwards of 16-20 hours of stop and go to travel just from reno to sacramento over Donner summit in major storms , 150 miles .    I operated an auto repair business here for 35 years ,    love them subys and jap  i.c.e.  AWD cars , fairly inexpensive , easy maintenance , easy insurance , anybody anywhere can work on em , great fuel mileage , lots of tire choices , all are great in snow , and have great resale value. plus were I live in the rural high sierras , lengthy power outages happen .   nope ,   e.v.  not for  m.e.

[jl222]

  shouldn't the extra price of the EV be factored in?

  JL222

Just looked up cost of EV vs gas vehicle. $55,000 for EV 35;000 for gas vehicle per yr.

  More insurance cost for EV.

  $900 electric cost for Ev vs $1200 gas per yr.

  So #20,OOO more for EV +more cost for insurance to Save #300 per yr?

  And the wait to charge?

 NO thanks.

                   JL222

  PS  When this global warming SCAM started yrs ago  '' now climate change after caught cooking the books''

  There was an article about Norwegian farrms being uncovered after1500 yrs due to snow melt.

SO what does that indicate? 

[MAYOMAN]

Again, the EV is not the solution for everybody, especially right now. EV cost, range, etcetera, will become more competitive with ICE very soon as sales volume increases. I have owned Nissan EVs since 2014 and they were not very expensive compared to their ICE cousins. 2023 Nissan Leaf SV Plus (40kWh) MSRP is $37,135. The ICE equivalent Nissan Murano SV MSRP is $39,035. So, price is not the decider. Performance certainly is. The Nissan Ariya Engage model (63kWh) MSRP is $44,525. So, a $5,000 EV premium - for what?
My interest in EVs stems from my engineering career, not climate nonsense. In the 1960s, I was doing research on thin film semiconductors, later integrated circuits (chips). After that, designing electric-powered wheelchairs I designed the first solid state wheelchair controllers using FETs. So, I enjoy the EVs I owned as a continuation of my early R&D engineering career.
Also, I was a research engineer working in the natural gas industry around 1970. The concept of "peak oil" was discussed then. So-called "fossil fuels" are really petrochemicals - a mined resource. Some day in the future they will not be available. I would rather use them for making stuff, rather than a fuel, in the long term. Small modular fission reactors (SMRs) should be our commercial electrical power source. Amen!

[jl222]

Again, the EV is not the solution for everybody, especially right now. EV cost, range, etcetera, will become more competitive with ICE very soon as sales volume increases. I have owned Nissan EVs since 2014 and they were not very expensive compared to their ICE cousins. 2023 Nissan Leaf SV Plus (40kWh) MSRP is $37,135. The ICE equivalent Nissan Murano SV MSRP is $39,035. So, price is not the decider. Performance certainly is. The Nissan Ariya Engage model (63kWh) MSRP is $44,525. So, a $5,000 EV premium - for what?
My interest in EVs stems from my engineering career, not climate nonsense. In the 1960s, I was doing research on thin film semiconductors, later integrated circuits (chips). After that, designing electric-powered wheelchairs I designed the first solid state wheelchair controllers using FETs. So, I enjoy the EVs I owned as a continuation of my early R&D engineering career.
Also, I was a research engineer working in the natural gas industry around 1970. The concept of "peak oil" was discussed then. So-called "fossil fuels" are really petrochemicals - a mined resource. Some day in the future they will not be available. I would rather use them for making stuff, rather than a fuel, in the long term. Small modular fission reactors (SMRs) should be our commercial electrical power source. Amen!

Again, the EV is not the solution for everybody, especially right now. EV cost, range, etcetera, will become more competitive with ICE very soon as sales volume increases. I have owned Nissan EVs since 2014 and they were not very expensive compared to their ICE cousins. 2023 Nissan Leaf SV Plus (40kWh) MSRP is $37,135. The ICE equivalent Nissan Murano SV MSRP is $39,035. So, price is not the decider. Performance certainly is. The Nissan Ariya Engage model (63kWh) MSRP is $44,525. So, a $5,000 EV premium - for what?
My interest in EVs stems from my engineering career, not climate nonsense. In the 1960s, I was doing research on thin film semiconductors, later integrated circuits (chips). After that, designing electric-powered wheelchairs I designed the first solid state wheelchair controllers using FETs. So, I enjoy the EVs I owned as a continuation of my early R&D engineering career.
Also, I was a research engineer working in the natural gas industry around 1970. The concept of "peak oil" was discussed then. So-called "fossil fuels" are really petrochemicals - a mined resource. Some day in the future they will not be available. I would rather use them for making stuff, rather than a fuel, in the long term. Small modular fission reactors (SMRs) should be our commercial electrical power source. Amen!

 Some day in the future, and what year would that be?

 Natural gas? How long?

 Give me a break!

                 JL222

[bubruins]

You can barely buy a nissan versa for $20k these days but you can buy a chevy bolt for that with 259mi ev range. Insurance cost dollar to dollar with car value is the same and eventually will be much cheaper as more autonomous driving creeps in. My insurance costs the same as any new comparable price car. 

Tires are weird. Some manufacturers like maxxis are stepping up and building tires for cars with EV density and tire sizes. My chevy bolt is about 4000lb with tools, a spare tire i had to buy, and me. It's the size of a 2500lb car. The tires are rock hard eco tires that squeal all the time and I won't replace them with OEM. Tires are also very pressure sensitive for efficiency sake. Most people with toyota camry's don't care about the difference between 35psi and 41psi unless there's a light on the dash. Because the mileage displays are so front and center in EV's it seems more important, even though my car has plenty of range with 35psi in the tires. I expect that we'll see more tire offerings that'll wind up being stickier and require higher pressures than we're used to.

[Tybeeman]

Slim,

I have e neighbor who just lost his boat because of a lithium-ion battery fire. The boat was at his dock, and all breakers were open. More  than one vehicle manufacturer has suggested that vehicles be parked away from your house. At least three ships transporting electric vehicles have burned at-sea. Do you want a lithium-ion battery parked in your garage?

Chuck

[bubruins]

I doubt that lithium batteries are what burned down the boat. What's much more common in boat fires that get blamed on lithium is the 50 year old wiring just spliced open to include solar, inverters, etc..

https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires?slide=2

[sabat]

Is it true you can only buy tires from Tesla? I'm told they are special because of the weight.

No, I've replaced tires and had many brands and shops to choose from. Just follow the weight ratings like any other tire.

[Tybeeman]

Lithium batteries are exactly what burned the boat. They were forward, in the cabin, for a trolling motor. They had been charged the day before in preparation for an offshore trip, Circuit breakers were open. Everything else that may have started a fire was aft, and those breakers were also off.

The lithium batteries were at fault.