Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

graphicguy

jmonroe1 said:

graphicguy said:

jmonroe1 said:

graphicguy said:

Advice sought from the peanut gallery....

I have been cleaning out some tech I no longer use from my home office. Some of it (particularly Apple gear) has worth on the used market. These days, eBay has become nefarious for buyers who either don't pay, or use some sort of silly reason why the gear wasn't "as described", or sometimes just bid and disappear after winning the item.

So, I'm giving them a rest.

There are some places out there who offer decent money for Apple gear. The catch is, you have to send it to them before you get paid. There's a level of trust there, even though many of them post glowing reviews (many times of dubious origins) on their WEB sites.

One of these places, "Jay Brokers", seemed to be legit. I sent them a pair of AirPod Max headphones. These days, I use "in ear" AirPod Pros and have not used the over ear Max headphones since I quit traveling all the time.

Price they offered was decent. We agreed on the price. I had assumed they'd send me a check, like other places do who buy tech on line.

Nope! These guys said they want to do a direct deposit to my checking account, and they claim in order to prove my identity, they'd need my DOB, last four digits of my SS#, my address, my checking account # and my routing #. Frankly, with all that information, you could dive into my checking and savings with little effort.

I balked at that. And, said I'd accept a check. They said they don't do checks. Don't buy that, at all.

But OK. We're at an impasse. I told them to send the headphones back to me. My hope is that they will.

Am I being unreasonable? They sure acted like I was.

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I wouldn’t have given them any of that info either. Just curious, how much are you out if they steal them?

jmonroe

A couple hundred dollars

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That’s worth finding a way to get them to return your hardware. If they balk maybe you can offer to pay the return shipping costs. Of course giving them a bad review on one of the sites that do that might be all you can do if they steal your stuff.

jmonroe

That's exactly what I did yesterday. No response, yet. ITwas a Saturday. If they're legit, maybe they aren't open on weekends.

tjc78

We had our EQE for 23 months without a home charger. Had free charging the entire time, so I was in no rush to install an outlet and charger. It’s not the most inconvenient thing in the world to public charge. 25 mins 20% to 80%.

Having said that.. if you have an EV a home charger is the ultimate in convenience. Plus you can eek out some more miles since you can get home at nearly empty if you have to and just plug in.

My wife is extremely happy that we have home charging now. Plus there is also no reason to not have a fully charged car

Michaell

I don't think my sister and BIL are planning to install a home charger for their new i5. They're using a 220 outlet and find that they need to charge it, overnight, about twice a week.

roadburner

I'd eventually like to install a Level 2 charger but it's not a pressing need since the 4xe charges overnight on the Level 1. If I get a CLE 53 or E53 I'd like to be able to charge it a bit faster while simultaneously charging the 4xe.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

as always, depends on individual situation and use case. I would think most people here think the Boxster is a fantastic car. But if you live up a logging road in snow country, it is basically useless and terrible to have.

Why would you drive a Porsche on a logging road or in salted conditions unless you’re a millionaire who throws cars away when they get dirty?

oldfarmer50

Ever since you guys mentioned the ducks on the dashboard of Jeeps fad, I’ve been seeing more and more Jeeps riding around with the windshield full of them. Is this a recent phenomenon or am I just seeing what was always there?

stickguy

Michaell said:

I don't think my sister and BIL are planning to install a home charger for their new i5. They're using a 220 outlet and find that they need to charge it, overnight, about twice a week.

maybe this is a dumb question, but isn't that going to charge the same? Since the charger just plugs into the 220 outlet. So using a cord just means what, the car has to manage the charging instead of the charger? I had an outlet put in the garage for a charger but I didn't ask much about it, so assumed I would just buy a charger, screw it to the wall, and plug it in. So maybe I just have a place to plug in an extension cord?

roadburner

oldfarmer50 said:

Ever since you guys mentioned the ducks on the dashboard of Jeeps fad, I’ve been seeing more and more Jeeps riding around with the windshield full of them. Is this a recent phenomenon or am I just seeing what was always there?

It's called "Rampant Stupidity"- and apparently it is extremely contagious.
Last Thursday I was driving the 4xe and after a stop I noticed a duck on the driver's door handle. I said "Oh that's just great!" my wife thought I'd noticed a dent or other problem but laughed when I showed her the stupid duck. Now I'll leave it on the Wrangler of a duck-hating kindred soul.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Michaell said:

I don't think my sister and BIL are planning to install a home charger for their new i5. They're using a 220 outlet and find that they need to charge it, overnight, about twice a week.

maybe this is a dumb question, but isn't that going to charge the same? Since the charger just plugs into the 220 outlet. So using a cord just means what, the car has to manage the charging instead of the charger? I had an outlet put in the garage for a charger but I didn't ask much about it, so assumed I would just buy a charger, screw it to the wall, and plug it in. So maybe I just have a place to plug in an extension cord?

As I understand it, they can still control the charging through the app on their phone. I guess it just charges at a slower rate than an L2 charger.

EV owners, can you confirm?

corvette

stickguy said:

maybe this is a dumb question, but isn't that going to charge the same? Since the charger just plugs into the 220 outlet. So using a cord just means what, the car has to manage the charging instead of the charger?

The charger/EVSE limits the amount of amperage the car can pull, depending on its capabilities, and some can do other things like schedule charging for off-peak hours. But the car is managing a decent amount of the charging, as well.

suydam

If you have a 240 v outlet, you can just use that. I didn’t have one so I had to have one installed.

tjc78

@Michaell
Assuming their car came with a charger?

stickguy

OK, so since my outlet (I guess it looks like a dryer plug) should be fine as is, as long as the car came with a cord. just plug in the wall and the car, and electrons will flow?

tjc78

@stickguy said:
OK, so since my outlet (I guess it looks like a dryer plug) should be fine as is, as long as the car came with a cord. just plug in the wall and the car, and electrons will flow?

There has to be some sort of electronic component to it.

I looked up BMW’s cable and it has a module inline with the cable. As far as I know there isn’t any vehicle that just plugs in without the aid of an electronic box to deliver the power.

Remember the actual charger is in the car, the wall box just delivers the power to it.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

@stickguy said:

OK, so since my outlet (I guess it looks like a dryer plug) should be fine as is, as long as the car came with a cord. just plug in the wall and the car, and electrons will flow?

There has to be some sort of electronic component to it.

I looked up BMW’s cable and it has a module inline with the cable. As far as I know there isn’t any vehicle that just plugs in without the aid of an electronic box to deliver the power.

Remember the actual charger is in the car, the wall box just delivers the power to it.

Yeah, I figured that it’s a bit more sophisticated than an extension cord.

explorerx4

Based on how many I am seeing, I should have bought stock in rubber ducks.

stickguy

was assuming it was the charger cable cars come with. Not an orange cord from harbor freight!

jmonroe1

If there is a cord from a car that can be plugged into a 220 volt outlet (like @stickguy) says he has the car must have a built-in charger that acts like a wall mounted L2 charger, although it may not be as powerful. So, as hard as it is to believe, @tjc is right.

jmonroe

ab348

Looking at some EV vehicles on manufacturers web sites, with some they list various chargers as options. I don’t know if they are upgrade options, though I presume so. Just one more thing to figure out.

suydam

Yes, chargers come with GM EVs. If you have a 240 v outlet you can plug it in. It’s designed for at least a 40 amp line. There’s no way to set the amperage lower if you have only a 30 amp line though. Teslas chargers do have that built in.

corvette

Off the top of my head, I think Teslas and Hyundai/Kia don't include chargers. I'll be annoyed when I have to buy one someday. I guess I could keep the Nissan one when I sell the Ariya, but I don't like its design.

I loved the (120V only) one that came with the Volt. It had mounting holes to hang the brick from the wall, which was nice, because you don't want something that heavy supported by the tension the electrical outlet exerts on the prongs of the plug.

laurasdada

My A7 PHEV came with a dual 120/240v EVSE (charging cord). The 120 is the default outlet plug; I'd have to remove that (a couple of screws) and install the 240 prongs.
Of course, my garage outlets are 120 and it "only" takes ~16 hours to completely fill the 14.1 KwH battery. If I did a BEV, I'd have a 240 installed in the garage and probably buy a wall mount charger simply for convenience (yes, I am that lazy).
Driving home in steady, hard rain last night, I was again reminded of the excellence of the A7; smooth, powerful, quiet, economical and just plain cute... Still haven't created the use case in my mind to replace it with a BEV.

tjc78

Our Mercedes didn’t come with a charging cord of any type.

I bought my wall box used off of FB marketplace for $150.

28firefighter

We have an L2 charger at home, but the i5 has free juice for 2 years so I’ve been using electrify America around the corner. 20-80 in 25 mins as well.

roadburner

laurasdada said:

My A7 PHEV came with a dual 120/240v EVSE (charging cord). The 120 is the default outlet plug; I'd have to remove that (a couple of screws) and install the 240 prongs.
Of course, my garage outlets are 120 and it "only" takes ~16 hours to completely fill the 14.1 KwH battery. If I did a BEV, I'd have a 240 installed in the garage and probably buy a wall mount charger simply for convenience (yes, I am that lazy).
Driving home in steady, hard rain last night, I was again reminded of the excellence of the A7; smooth, powerful, quiet, economical and just plain cute... Still haven't created the use case in my mind to replace it with a BEV.

I feel the same way about the C43 except that, while it's comfortable and relatively economical, it has a hard-edged competence that can be pleasantly enhanced by switching it into Sport+ mode. I can think of very few gasoline or PHEV cars that I'd consider replacing it with- never mind a BEV.

laurasdada

Ah, yes. Sport+ mode, also in the M240 yang to the A7 yin.

I remember test driving the M240, default Comfort mode, then switching to Sport (or as we say in Boston, Spaht) mode. As we were heading back to the mother ship, the salesdude (a car guy and Ferrari owner, 430 IIRC) was smiling as he lowered his hand to the mode switch and said, "Try this."
As my grandmother was known to say, "Ach mein gott!"

roadburner

laurasdada said:

Ah, yes. Sport+ mode, also in the M240 yang to the A7 yin.

I remember test driving the M240, default Comfort mode, then switching to Sport (or as we say in Boston, Spaht) mode. As we were heading back to the mother ship, the salesdude (a car guy and Ferrari owner, 430 IIRC) was smiling as he lowered his hand to the mode switch and said, "Try this."
As my grandmother was known to say, "Ach mein gott!"

What I love about the F22 M235i, M240i and my C43 is how switching into Sport or Sport+ completely transforms the car. The best of both worlds.

driver100

I won't mention that 20% of chargers don't work according to many surveys, and though it will upset some, a picture is worth a 1000 words! If I didn't comment I'd have a lot of disappointed fans

suydam

Pretty much like the signs you see on a few gas pumps: Out of Order. So you use another one.

tjc78

In two years I've encountered one down charger that my car or the app didn't know was down.

@driver100
The apps and/or your car communications know if there are issues with chargers or if they are full. On our car it shows right on the map on the screen

graphicguy

Granted, I rarely use chargers outside of my garage. But, I've heard there are some public chargers which are maintained by companies who really don't care about...well....maintaining them. I haven't seen any, but I'm sure they exist.

I use my TESLA converter when I charge my car "in the wild".

The level 2 in my garage takes about 7-9 hours charging from 20% to 100%. Don't know why there is a difference. Could be because the KIA charging app estimates it wrong, but really not sure. I estimate I charge every 1.5-2 weeks. But, I'm only driving about 800 miles a month.

laurasdada

Of course I meant Ferrari 460, my fingers remain fat.
"Local" Aston Martin dealer lowered price of '21 DB11 'vert by $6k. Mentioned to wife what a bargain it's becoming, she made the usual Marge Simpson noises of disapproval.

nyccarguy

driver100 said:

I won't mention that 20% of chargers don't work according to many surveys, and though it will upset some, a picture is worth a 1000 words! If I didn't comment I'd have a lot of disappointed fans

Did you not pay your credit card bill?

Michaell

RIP Roscoe

jmonroe1

suydam said:

Pretty much like the signs you see on a few gas pumps: Out of Order. So you use another one.

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I agree but at gas stations all you have to do is pull up to another pump. With EVs you more than likely have to drive off to another area or wait for a charger where you are to become available and because of a down unit or two that can be too long to wait. I don’t know this first hand but that’s what several EV owners have told me and most of them say that’s not a rare occurrence.

jmonroe

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

suydam said:

Pretty much like the signs you see on a few gas pumps: Out of Order. So you use another one.

————————————————
I agree but at gas stations all you have to do is pull up to another pump. With EVs you more than likely have to drive off to another area or wait for a charger where you are to become available and because of a down unit or two that can be too long to wait. I don’t know this first hand but that’s what several EV owners have told me and most of them say that’s not a rare occurrence.

jmonroe

I rarely see a gas pump that isn't working, and usually they put out a pylon with a sign so you can go to a working pump. With a charger you probably won't know it isn't working until you try to use it.
And 1 in 5 chargers don't work, your odds of getting a working one are not great!
Who wants to come home from work, and go out to a charging station after dinner or something....and wait for 30 to 60 minutes for a charge...oh I know, you can eat another dinner while waiting

Once again, if it works for you great, but it isn't the answer for everyone. Sales are off so much that some think the ones who buy into the whole concept have bought their EVs.....most people realize it isn't going to suit them.

tjc78

There should be no reason to arrive at a charger and have any surprises…
The apps tell all you need to know… it took all of 15 seconds to obtain this information on two different apps.

If you plan your charging right (if you don’t have a home charger) it is not an inconvenience. I have charged before work, lunch, during a random errand, etc

The only time it can be a bit of a nuisance is on a longer trip but, again you most likely need a bio break anyway.

tjc78

When I drove the family to Florida in my pickup we drove South Jersey to Savannah the first day.

This was 713 Miles. My Ram had a 26 Gallon Tank and was getting 20 MPG = 520 miles. Not once on that entire trip did we drain the tank. I think we stopped 3 times on that leg. Once for lunch and twice for rest room and I gassed up each time.

My Mercedes has a range of 300 miles. Provided I started at 100% - I wouldn't have had to stop any more driving the EV.

The lunch stop was at least 30 mins, so no time added. If we say the two rest room breaks were 15 mins each and charging takes 25 it would have taken a grand total of 20 extra minutes to make the drive in an EV. If I drove that car I would have made sure to stay at a hotel that had a charger or one very close by (you know... planning).

suydam

Many of these worries are really non-problems. I don’t hesitate to take long drives up and down our big state. Once you get one you find out how easy it is to own an EV. And what great cars they are to drive.

tjc78

@suydam Yep!

ab348

I dunno if I would want to depend on an ACME charger.

corvette

I'm going to continue to disagree on the viability of an EV roadtrip, at least in my own situation... Driving 1,500 miles in the Ariya would require at least ten DCFC stops at 20-30 minutes each, plus overnight charging at hotels when you can. I like to be able to cover up to 5-600 miles in a day, so a 30 minute stop every two hours really adds to the travel time.

driver100

Like a friend in Florida, he travels between Tampa and Ohio a few times a year...about 1200 miles. In his gasser Mercedes he can stop once for gas. If he had an EV he would have to stop 4 or 5 times....in cold weather probably more..........that is a lot of stopping for a bite to eat while charging....he'd weigh about 80 pounds more after a year of that!

andres3

jmonroe1 said:

suydam said:

Pretty much like the signs you see on a few gas pumps: Out of Order. So you use another one.

————————————————
I agree but at gas stations all you have to do is pull up to another pump. With EVs you more than likely have to drive off to another area or wait for a charger where you are to become available and because of a down unit or two that can be too long to wait. I don’t know this first hand but that’s what several EV owners have told me and most of them say that’s not a rare occurrence.

jmonroe

I know I got super pissed the other day when an ATM was down and the ATM had not communicated that to Apple Maps/Navigation.

andres3

corvette said:

I'm going to continue to disagree on the viability of an EV roadtrip, at least in my own situation... Driving 1,500 miles in the Ariya would require at least ten DCFC stops at 20-30 minutes each, plus overnight charging at hotels when you can. I like to be able to cover up to 5-600 miles in a day, so a 30 minute stop every two hours really adds to the travel time.

Also what happens if you find yourself in a caravan of Audi's all going 90 MPH? How fast does your battery consumption go up then?

andres3

tjc78 said:

There should be no reason to arrive at a charger and have any surprises…

The apps tell all you need to know… it took all of 15 seconds to obtain this information on two different apps.

If you plan your charging right (if you don’t have a home charger) it is not an inconvenience. I have charged before work, lunch, during a random errand, etc

The only time it can be a bit of a nuisance is on a longer trip but, again you most likely need a bio break anyway.

What if someone beats you to the charger by 5 seconds? At a gas station, big deal, costs you 5 minutes while they fill up, if that.

andres3

roadburner said:

laurasdada said:

Ah, yes. Sport+ mode, also in the M240 yang to the A7 yin.

I remember test driving the M240, default Comfort mode, then switching to Sport (or as we say in Boston, Spaht) mode. As we were heading back to the mother ship, the salesdude (a car guy and Ferrari owner, 430 IIRC) was smiling as he lowered his hand to the mode switch and said, "Try this."
As my grandmother was known to say, "Ach mein gott!"

What I love about the F22 M235i, M240i and my C43 is how switching into Sport or Sport+ completely transforms the car. The best of both worlds.

The X3 m40i really was a different car in Sport+, and I liked the balance of Sport between Comfort and Sport+, though I usually drove around in comfort as it was pretty balanced unlike Eco which I never drove in that mode.

The sound insulation in the Macan is so good at isolating you, it actually has a decent exhaust note, you just can't really hear it from the driver's seat.

benjaminh

corvette said:

I'm going to continue to disagree on the viability of an EV roadtrip, at least in my own situation... Driving 1,500 miles in the Ariya would require at least ten DCFC stops at 20-30 minutes each, plus overnight charging at hotels when you can. I like to be able to cover up to 5-600 miles in a day, so a 30 minute stop every two hours really adds to the travel time.

On my road trips I usually like to go 300-450 miles in a day, and so I'd agree. My TLX has a highway range of 600+ miles, and so I don't need to worry about getting gas until I stop for the day.

Maybe it's good that EV subsidies have helped people get into electric vehicles. But with the subsidies ending, if the cost for these vehicles goes up by $7,500-$20k I wonder what the economics for them will look like. Already the economics aren't viable for some of the current EVs from Nissan and Acura, since the Ariya and ZDX have both suddenly been scrapped.

I wonder if any other EVs will also be canceled in the next year?

corvette

If Acura killed off the ZDX, can the Prologue be far behind?

tjc78

@driver100 said:
Like a friend in Florida, he travels between Tampa and Ohio a few times a year...about 1200 miles. In his gasser Mercedes he can stop once for gas. If he had an EV he would have to stop 4 or 5 times....in cold weather probably more..........that is a lot of stopping for a bite to eat while charging....he'd weigh about 80 pounds more after a year of that!

So your buddy drives 600 miles straight through (8.5 hrs at 70) without a bathroom break? Then gasses up and runs another 600 miles without sleep? He runs it down to zero miles? I call BS

Also what Mercedes does he have? A new E-class 2.0 hybrid) is rated at 33 mpg hwy with a 17.4 gallon tank. That’s 574 miles - so he is stopping two times minimum for gas provided he was full when he left.