Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

tjc78

@benjaminh said:
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?

I do agree that the subsidies have certainly helped EV sales, there is no denying that.

laurasdada

To quote the philosopher The Pointer Sisters, I'm so excited!

Spent a few days at my fave native American reparations spot (ok, casino). Because of my generosity, I've been rewarded with a promotion in status (ok, lost a goodly amount of $). Included amongst the plethora of advantages of this newfound status is free electric charging in the exclusive, reserved parking area (ok, just a gated section of one of the standard parking structures)!
With several free nights reserved for next week (and a free folding chair!), I look forward to trying out one of the many Tesla destination chargers being offered (they are equipped with a CCS adaptor, in addition to the native NACS). To fill the tank, only ~2 hour time commitment while I no doubt add to my stature.

I really can't afford to be promoted again...

suydam

All this hand wringing and what ifs! So drive your gas cars then. No one is putting a gun to your head. But those who have them know these are silly worries. And more people are driving them every day. The fact is that if the US automakers want to compete in a global market they must make EVs. Otherwise they will lose market share, especially to the Chinese. EVs are not just the future, they’re here now. We may go backwards but everybody else won’t.
The Ariya is not typical of most EVs on the market now because its range is so short. The new Leaf is going to be much better in that regard. Most EVs now on the market have a range of at least 300 miles, which is fine for most folks.

tjc78

@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.

You only get 150 miles? In that case I’d agree

laurasdada

Know your use case and technology.

My longest, semi-regular, trip is to the aforementioned casino destination. Without side excursions, about 230 miles round trip (with noted many Tesla destination chargers available at said destination, I think ~60 chargers). So, if I were to Lucid Air Touring it, I could do the trip sans trip charging, likely even in winter.
I'd probably have range anxiety the first time I made the trip but likely alleviated after that initial excursion.

Now the ~500 mile each way trip from my hometown to Selbyville, DE? That might be a horse of another story. We did that with 2 stops: to gas up at Costco in CT and DE Southbound, then one gas at DE Costco and lunch Further On Up the Road on the way home. Might have to add a third stop in the Air.

oldfarmer50

A coworker has a 2012 Accord with 119k miles that threw a code P1009 which has to do with the VVT solenoid being clogged or dirty. He says he changes his oil every 5-6k miles so it seems strange that it would get clogged up. Any of you had any experience with this problem in a Honda? Seems low mileage for that to happen.

Just having to replace the solenoid would be bad enough but if the cam phasers or timing chains are involved it could end up costing a lot of money.

corvette

@tjc78 - yeah, it has a 200 mile stated range, but at highway speeds, 150-ish is pushing it. Then, assuming you only charge to 80% since you don’t want to stay there an hour for a full charge, you’re looking at 125-ish miles for the next leg of the trip.

explorerx4

@tjc78,
You haven't heard of Depends?
Driver100 said he only stopped to fuel up once, not anything about other breaks.

kyfdx

corvette said:

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

It's already been axed

driver100

tjc78 said:

@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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good detective work...he said 1200 miles but it is just over 1000 miles....from Tampa to Columbus Ohio. He's in Florida and I haven't been there for 8 months so I may have got the mileage wrong...but it still works out the same, 1 stop compared to 3 or 4. When we stop while driving we sometimes stop for coffee, but sometimes we just want to fill up with gas....5 minutes...and get back on the road. I don't get all of this .......you can stop and buy lunch, dinner, walk around the mall......., you are making your life fit your car. I want my car to suit my driving needs.

tjc78

I can 100% tell you that my life has not been altered by a car.

I think you are fighting this to fight it. We have shown countless examples of how living with an EV can be a hassle free experience. With the infrastructure available now (and even more if your car can charge on the Tesla network) road trips with cars that will get at least 300 miles on a charge are more than possible.

All you do is throw anecdotal stories out there to support your claim. I don't care what your buddy says - he isn't driving Tampa to Columbus only stopping once. Snapping pictures of a charger that is out of service... that's one charger of thousands.

I'm not saying you need to run out and buy an EV, but you can't continue to be so short sighted to realize they are a viable alternate to a gas vehicle.

Lastly - more and more manufacturers (Mercedes is one of them) are looking at battery technology for a possible 600 mile range. That will be a game changer IMO

graphicguy

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.

This is true. My GPS map shows me where the charging stations are, and if they are available.

graphicguy

corvette said:

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

From everything I've read, the Prologue has been a sales success for Honda. I do know Honda is bringing out a replacement developed entirely in-house. Will they call it a Prologue? Who knows?

Which begs the next question...if the TLX is history can the Integra be far behind? Or, are they just going to have C/SUVs? ADX, RDX, MDX.

(EDIT....@kyfdx....just saw your post. Didn't know they already killed off the Prologue)

tjc78

ab348">I dunno if I would want to depend on an ACME charger.


Acme is a regional grocery store chain here (owned by Albertsons)

roadburner

My philosophy is: Drive what you like; it’s your money. As for me, I might eventually find an EV that I would like to own- but so far I haven’t. That said, I think that EVs need to succeed on their own merits- without the government putting a thumb on the scale.

ab348

tjc78 said:

ab348">I dunno if I would want to depend on an ACME charger.


Acme is a regional grocery store chain here (owned by Albertsons)

They must have diversified from manufacturing anvils and 10,000 pound weights.

suydam

The government always has its favorites. The federal gas tax hasn’t changed since the early 90s.
I think there are a lot of factors that go into which vehicles we drive. It’s a fact that the global market is changing, and we will have to decide how we, both as individuals and as a country, will deal with that. I enjoy reading our group’s experiences during this time of rapid change.

jmonroe1

Delete

nyccarguy

tjc78 said:

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).

Planning - like knowing the perfect time to wear a striped shirt

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

Delete

Your best post yet!

driver100

graphicguy said:

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.

This is true. My GPS map shows me where the charging stations are, and if they are available.

Unless I am reading it wrong...it looks like 2 places have one charger available, 1 place has a few available.
My Tesla friend sometimes the chargers are way off from the highway.
I am not against EVs and they will get better.
Keep in mind Canada is a huge country with long trips between cities in many places, and it can be below 32F for a few months, and range can diminish by 40% or more, especially if you are using a heater and other things.
If it suits you get it....it would not suit me.
Soon we will be traveling 120 miles on a trip. 240 miles + some extra driving 300 miles total.
I can do that easily on a tank of gas.....with no stops.
Not so easy in a Mustang for example:
Model Variant Battery Size EPA Estimated Range
Select RWD Standard Range 72 kWh 250 miles
Select AWD Standard Range 72 kWh 226 miles
Premium RWD Extended Range 91 kWh 310 miles
Premium AWD Extended Range 91 kWh 290 miles

explorerx4

Driver is referring to a Mach E not an ICE Mustang.

andres3

suydam said:

All this hand wringing and what ifs! So drive your gas cars then. No one is putting a gun to your head. But those who have them know these are silly worries. And more people are driving them every day. The fact is that if the US automakers want to compete in a global market they must make EVs. Otherwise they will lose market share, especially to the Chinese. EVs are not just the future, they’re here now. We may go backwards but everybody else won’t.
The Ariya is not typical of most EVs on the market now because its range is so short. The new Leaf is going to be much better in that regard. Most EVs now on the market have a range of at least 300 miles, which is fine for most folks.

I for one am Pro-EV for others (though I don't like my taxes paying for part of their car through subsidies). It keeps the lines at Costco for cheaper gas shorter at least (sometimes longer than I'd like but manageable). I'm sure it's just a matter of time before Costco is forced by some State mandate to add EV chargers to their massive parking lots.

andres3

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

Delete

Your best post yet!

Now that's funny!!!!!!! I second this nomination!

Being as he has nearly 10,000 posts under this screen name of his that's quite an honorary award.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

Driver is referring to a Mach E not an ICE Mustang.

Above the mileage for each model it says;
Model Variant Battery Size EPA Estimated Range

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

Delete

Your best post yet!

————————————————
If there wasn’t a glitch by Edmunds, putting my post here instead of in CCBA, I wouldn’t have had to deleted it. That never happened before nor do I know how that is even possible. I guess I could have done something wrong but to the best of my knowledge I don’t know how.

jmonroe

explorerx4

@driver100,
When people read Mustang the last thing on their mind is a Mach E.

stickguy

I am an agnostic, but get a quick out of how many hoops the anti-EV contingent will jump through to prove they are the devil, and completely useless. Like I have said before, EVs are an option (of which there are many choices in the genre). Along with many other genres. And everyone should buy what they like, and makes sense for them and their use case. Corvette bought a low range EV version, so of course it is not going to be a marathon runner on the highway. But he did not buy it for that.

I hear about how city people with an apartment and street parking don't have chargers so they are a bad option. But so is an F350 dually. And a Miata is a lousy long distance highway travel car too, but still a lot of people love them. They just don't buy one to drive from Miami to Detroit with 6 months of stuff packed in it!

so buy what you want and works for you. I am considering one for our 2nd car that primarily stays within ~30-45 miles of home, and might get 250-300 miles pre month, and have an outlet in the garage for a charger already. But I would not get one for the car we use for longer road trips (which hopefully there will be more of when we retire, assuming I make it there!)

stickguy

channeled my inner Sandy yesterday. Managed to fall in the bathroom early yesterday morning, and spent the day in 2 hospitals (the close by one did not have a neurosurgeon on hand). Fun times!

And now I know a head is hard enough to dent corner bead. and staples in your head feel funny when you touch them. and subdural hematomas get docs all excited.

corvette

Yikes, @stickguy ! I hope next Monday is way less exciting, and I'm glad you're okay.

corvette

@stickguy - funny you mention it, I just ran the numbers on the back of a napkin, so to speak, and I'm kicking myself for not getting the longer range version. I'd have paid about $100 per month more over the 15 months I leased it, and it would have cost me maybe $4k more to buy at lease-end, assuming they offered the same discount. It still wouldn't have been ideal for road trips or longer day trips, but it would definitely be more feasible.

explorerx4

@stickguy,
I was going to put your EV vs F350 and Miata post down to falling down and hitting your head.
Turns out you actually did that.
Just kidding, hope you are OK.

stickguy

surviving! But yeah, now I have an excuse for making no sense.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
When people read Mustang the last thing on their mind is a Mach E.

I was trying to think of an average car to use as an example.......Teslas are too common and reported mileage is all over the place.....in fact they were cheating on their supposed results, so a Mustang came to mind.......kind of an average example. I thought all these knowledgeable people would know Mustangs are now E-Cars!

benjaminh

@stickguy oh no. I'm so sorry. Hope your recovery goes as well as possible.

driver100

@stickguy What a thing to happen. How did you fall.....trip, pass out,........?
Hope you are OK.

jmonroe1

@stickguy, how did you manage that? Getting out of the shower or what? Who knows, you might make more sense now.

Get well and we all hope you feel better each day.

jmonroe

stickguy

a mystery. I don't remember until some hours later after getting hauled down to the hospital and having a number of things done. apparently, I talked a lot to my wife though. It happened at 5:30 so I woke up abnormally early to go into the bathroom and must have had something sore (we did have vaccines Sunday, so could have been from that) since the wife found Tylenol strewn around. No clue why I fell though. at least the neurologist that finally saw me was not too concerned about what she saw on the CT (done a lot earlier), that I have no recollection of combined with her exam, so I was able to go home.

qbrozen

@stickguy said:
a mystery. I don't remember until some hours later after getting hauled down to the hospital and having a number of things done. apparently, I talked a lot to my wife though. It happened at 5:30 so I woke up abnormally early to go into the bathroom and must have had something sore (we did have vaccines Sunday, so could have been from that) since the wife found Tylenol strewn around. No clue why I fell though. at least the neurologist that finally saw me was not too concerned about what she saw on the CT (done a lot earlier), that I have no recollection of combined with her exam, so I was able to go home.

Oh boy. That’s scary. Keeping my fingers crossed that it all pieces together into nothing of concern.

stickguy

I hope so too. really do not want to have to deal with aftershocks.

tjc78

Feel better! Definitely sounds like a scary one.

ab348

stickguy said:

surviving! But yeah, now I have an excuse for making no sense.

Ouch, @stickguy ! I was reminded of the old baseball manager's line after one of his hitters caught a beanball in the helmet: "X-rays of his head showed nothing". Except in your case it seems they might have.

Now that it seems like you have entered your dotage, you need to take care of yourself. I am in the same boat. Get better soon.

ab348

With my long and sad medical history I have had a few events that kind of sound similar though not the same. In my case I had some occurrences of low BP that made me pass out, but they usually were linked to surgeries where I lost blood or was otherwise running right at the "add oil" mark on the dipstick.

This was years ago, in the early '90s, when I went into the hospital (which coincidentally was right up the street from my apartment, so close that I just walked there on the day) for an outpatient procedure involving an angiogram where they stick a catheter into your groin and go up with it to look at your coronary arteries using a radioactive dye. The procedure was completed and to my surprise they did not sew up the hole but just stopped it with pressure on the incision for a while and let nature take over the rest. I gather this is normal.

I was wheeled back into a room and was laying still as instructed when I began to feel funny and my head began spinning. Thankfully I hit the call button and a nurse quickly came in who took a look and immediately freaked out and called a code. Long story short, I was bleeding into my leg which apparently had swelled up badly and had little blood for the heart to pump. I remember a doctor climbing on top of me in the bed to really put pressure on the wound while other people stuck IVs into me. I remember hearing a nurse tell them my BP was 30 over 0. By that time I was watching from what seemed like a corner of the ceiling of the room, and remember thinking that I wasn't breathing, but wasn't particularly bothered by that. You hear about these things sometimes but that was a first for me. They finally pumped enough of whatever into me that the heart had something to pump and I came back. Within a very short time I felt normal.

Here's where it gets weird. Because I was in an outpatient unit they could only keep me there for the rest of the day and so I was discharged. I only had about two blocks to walk but I barely made it back to my apartment. No family knew what was happening since I was told it was just a simple day patient procedure, nothing to worry about, so I hadn't bothered them. Mistake. Somehow I made it to my apartment, had a quiet night and went to bed. The next morning I woke up not feeling bad, saw my leg looking bruised but normal sized, got out of bed and immediately fell over backwards back into the bed since my BP must have still been low. This was a Saturday IIRC. I gathered myself and gingerly went about the day with no further incident. On Monday I called my doctor's office and told them what had happened, so he wanted to see me. I went in later that day, he took a look at the leg which was now a dark purple from hip to knee, and immediately started with the expletives directed towards the hospital. He went into his office across the hall, made a call, and tore strips off whoever was on the other end. It took weeks for the color to go out of the leg.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

channeled my inner Sandy yesterday. Managed to fall in the bathroom early yesterday morning, and spent the day in 2 hospitals (the close by one did not have a neurosurgeon on hand). Fun times!

And now I know a head is hard enough to dent corner bead. and staples in your head feel funny when you touch them. and subdural hematomas get docs all excited.

Did your wife find you? Spouses are useful, that way.

Guy that lives a few blocks from me, 63, retired.
His wife left for work in the morning. Shortly after, he tripped on the basement stairs, broke both legs, and she found him there when she got home, 8 hours later.
He passed away the next day at the hospital. 😢

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

channeled my inner Sandy yesterday. Managed to fall in the bathroom early yesterday morning, and spent the day in 2 hospitals (the close by one did not have a neurosurgeon on hand). Fun times!

And now I know a head is hard enough to dent corner bead. and staples in your head feel funny when you touch them. and subdural hematomas get docs all excited.

Yikes! You old fellas need to be more careful. Hope you heal quickly.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
When people read Mustang the last thing on their mind is a Mach E.

I was trying to think of an average car to use as an example.......Teslas are too common and reported mileage is all over the place.....in fact they were cheating on their supposed results, so a Mustang came to mind.......kind of an average example. I thought all these knowledgeable people would know Mustangs are now E-Cars!

Stealing a name doesn’t make it a Mustang.

graphicguy

suydam said:

The government always has its favorites. The federal gas tax hasn’t changed since the early 90s.
I think there are a lot of factors that go into which vehicles we drive. It’s a fact that the global market is changing, and we will have to decide how we, both as individuals and as a country, will deal with that. I enjoy reading our group’s experiences during this time of rapid change.

EVs are here to stay. The global market for them (especially a market as large as China) will make sure of that. We're at an inflection point. Manufacturers are starting to bring out EVs that are cheaper than their gas driven counter parts. KIA, Nissan, GM....all are moving in that direction.

Anecdotal evidence, but I see more EVs on the road every day. And, the only thing standing in the way of more adoption is the political hot potato of EVs somehow being the "car of choice" to those who are "green". The economics of EVs as they drop in price will erase that bias, however.

stickguy

My BP does tend to run low. I do remember once getting up to go to the bathroom and that can cause a drop in BP for some reason and resulting in getting light headed (I think fell down). But the medical answer was “yeah, that can happen”. The key is, try not to bang your head on anything hard if you go down.

explorerx4

Depreciation is still a big issue for EV's, 50% after a year or two.

Kirstie_H

Sorry for the downtime - I had to change a setting, and inadvertently toggled one so that members could ADD a discussion, but members couldn't actually VIEW discussions. Dumb setting interface, but my bad for not noticing.