The Tesla and other Electric vehicle thread.....

[ajkula66]

Drove the ID.4 round trip today from Eugene (elevation 450 feet) to Odell Lake (elev 5000 feet).

That's a fine looking vehicle, congrats.

Is it my imagination or do you have a "thing" for the VWs...

 

[Alkali Ike]

That's a fine looking vehicle, congrats.

Is it my imagination or do you have a "thing" for the VWs...

It is not your imagination.

So here’s a rant.

The VW ID.4 comes with 3 years of free fast DC charging on the Electrify America charging network. Not surprisingly, EA is largely funded by fines from VW for Dieselgate. Whatever.

We have an EA charging station here. Up to 350kW of fast charging depending on the vehicle. They have 7 CCS fast chargers capable of 150kW or 350kW charging, plus a chademo 50kW outlet for Nissan Leafs. Awesome!

Except as of today, one dual 350kW charging station (2 outlets) is out of service. Two 150kW stations (4 outlets) won’t deliver above 32kW. One dual 350kW station seems to running at nearer to full capacity - i got 84kW from it yesterday.

I reported this to EA. They’re like gosh we had no idea, thanks for telling us. Meaning they apparently don’t check the charger status remotely so they can proactively do something about a problem in a timely manner.

So then I go on PlugShare to check for EA fast charging stations in Bend. They’re all offline due to technical problems with no ETA on repairs.

This DC fast charging setup for non-Tesla’s seems very unreliable. Are Tesla superchargers more well maintained?

 

[woodyng2]

I’ve had issues with getting my i3 charged at EA stations in SMF,GrantsPass,Eugene,and PDX.
Almost always takes a phone call to get it to work. If I’m lucky.
The one at the Chevy dealer in Medford (not an EA outlet) always works,though.

 

[squarepeg]

There seems to be a lot more choice in the electric car market here in Europe. I picked up my new Renault Zoe at the beginning of last week.

400 km range, and I can charge it overnight from an outlet at my house. There's a fast charger at the building where I work, but I haven't used it yet. There are also several fast chargers around town, and they're all free.

It even comes with a little electric air pump to fill the tires, so I'll never have to visit a gas station again (except maybe to use the washroom).

My bass will fit in the back seat and my Barefaced Super Twin fits in the trunk.

(Mrs. Squarepeg chose the color).

 

[squarepeg]

Post Office delivery vans here are all electric, and the city has a fleet of electric minibuses (and rides are free).

 

[woodyng2]

There seems to be a lot more choice in the electric car market here in Europe. I picked up my new Renault Zoe at the beginning of last week.

400 km range, and I can charge it overnight from an outlet at my house. There's a fast charger at the building where I work, but I haven't used it yet. There are also several fast chargers around town, and they're all free.

It even comes with a little electric air pump to fill the tires, so I'll never have to visit a gas station again (except maybe to use the washroom).

My bass will fit in the back seat and my Barefaced Super Twin fits in the trunk.

View attachment 4320236
(Mrs. Squarepeg chose the color).

Looks like a nice car….no Renaults in the USA unfortunately. (Or opels,citroens,etc).
I’m loving my used bmw i3, which i just read is being discontinued in the usa as of now.
(In favor of more conventional suv/sedan style designs).
I admit to the i3’s quirkiness, but I find it a very practical and useable vehicle.

 

[Gaolee]

Post Office delivery vans here are all electric, and the city has a fleet of electric minibuses (and rides are free).
View attachment 4320263

That's kinda goofy looking, but it would be perfect if it was a little longer and had rear doors and no seats behind the driver and front passenger. And had a really long range.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I’ve had issues with getting my i3 charged at EA stations in SMF,GrantsPass,Eugene,and PDX.
Almost always takes a phone call to get it to work. If I’m lucky.
The one at the Chevy dealer in Medford (not an EA outlet) always works,though.

Another annoyance is the cords on the EA chargers are very short. I understand why: they're liquid-cooled and heavy. In any case the chargers here are very oddly spaced in a way that makes it nearly impossible for all 8 stations to be used at the same time. Parking spots are haphazardly marked and confusing. Just seems very poorly planned in terms of maximum accessibility.

 

[squarepeg]

Looks like a nice car….no Renaults in the USA unfortunately. (Or opels,citroens,etc).
I’m loving my used bmw i3, which i just read is being discontinued in the usa as of now.
(In favor of more conventional suv/sedan style designs).
I admit to the i3’s quirkiness, but I find it a very practical and useable vehicle.View attachment 4320384

Those are very common around here. I see a lot of them on the road.

Smaller cars are more conventional in Europe. Driving a big SUV around an old city center, and parking, is a pain.

The highways are pretty crowded too. The Zoe has cruise control, but I really doubt I'm ever going to use it.

 

[squarepeg]

That's kinda goofy looking, but it would be perfect if it was a little longer and had rear doors and no seats behind the driver and front passenger. And had a really long range.

They're ideal for here. Maribor is a small, very old town. The town center dates back to the middle ages, with narrow, winding, cobblestone streets. The center is a pedestrian area (bicycles and special-permit vehicles allowed). There's a phone number on the side of the minibus; you can call to arrange a pickup at your front door. We've ridden it a couple of times, just to try it out, but we usually just walk or bicycle. Most of the people we see riding the minibuses are pensioners going for their shopping, families with toddlers, and tourists.

I doubt they'd be well-suited for rural Wyoming.

 

[Gaolee]

They're ideal for here. Maribor is a small, very old town. The town center dates back to the middle ages, with narrow, winding, cobblestone streets. The center is a pedestrian area (bicycles and special-permit vehicles allowed). There's a phone number on the side of the minibus; you can call to arrange a pickup at your front door. We've ridden it a couple of times, just to try it out, but we usually just walk or bicycle. Most of the people we see riding the minibuses are pensioners going for their shopping, families with toddlers, and tourists.

I doubt they'd be well-suited for rural Wyoming.

I live in Seattle, not rural Wyoming. While Seattle is probably more like rural Wyoming than Maribor in some ways, that would work up to a point here as well. Not in rural Wyoming, though. No doubt. I like it. If it can haul a big-ass bass amp, and upright, and a drum kit, it's what I would use.

 

[squarepeg]

I live in Seattle, not rural Wyoming. While Seattle is probably more like rural Wyoming than Maribor in some ways, that would work up to a point here as well. Not in rural Wyoming, though. No doubt. I like it. If it can haul a big-ass bass amp, and upright, and a drum kit, it's what I would use.

The Zoe we bought is about the same size as our previous car, a Renault Clio Estate (which we gave to our daughter). From your description of your needs, something bigger like one of these would be more suitable:

https://www.drivingelectric.com/best-cars/585/best-electric-suvs

 

[Nedmundo]

@squarepeg , congrats on the Zoe. A couple of years ago, my wife and I rode in several of them in Portugal, and they seem perfect for cities. I very much liked the minimalistic interior design too. Extremely cool cars.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat in a Ford "Mustang" Mach-E and played around with the screen and interior. To my surprise, I was very impressed. It has good ergonomics and high-quality materials, and its form factor would be perfect for our needs. I wouldn't trust any first model year Ford, let alone Ford's first pure BEV, but give it a year or two of seasoning and I could be very interested, especially if the range improves. I hope to take one for a test drive soon.

 

[squarepeg]

@squarepeg , congrats on the Zoe. A couple of years ago, my wife and I rode in several of them in Portugal, and they seem perfect for cities. I very much liked the minimalistic interior design too. Extremely cool cars.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat in a Ford "Mustang" Mach-E and played around with the screen and interior. To my surprise, I was very impressed. It has good ergonomics and high-quality materials, and its form factor would be perfect for our needs. I wouldn't trust any first model year Ford, let alone Ford's first pure BEV, but give it a year or two of seasoning and I could be very interested, especially if the range improves. I hope to take one for a test drive soon.

It will do 140 km/h, enough to keep up with highway traffic, but not enough for me to lose my licence. It's perfect for our needs.

We had the choice of buying or leasing the battery, and chose to lease. Whenever upgrades are available we can just swap for a new one.

 

[D M C]

I have had a variety of charging speed experiences with my MY. I’ve never charged using a supercharger above 150kw. On a trip back from Florida, I stopped in Knoxville TN and got the only remaining slot in an eight stall charger and was charging at about 50kw. Since I was spending the night there anyway, I unplugged and went to my motel for the night. The next morning I went back to finish charging. I was the only one there but it still only charged at about 50-60kw. that is the slowest I’ve experienced, in my limited ownership.

Ive only been to one supercharger that had a broken plug. They’re pretty reliable in my experience.

 

[Alkali Ike]

The only non-Tesla DC fast chargers in town are Electrify America. I briefly got 86Kw today from charger 1. I was at 40% when I started and I suspect that throttles the max rate. If I was at 10% I might get higher. Many factors affect charging rate. But 86Kw ain’t horrible.

 

[D M C]

I completed a JD Powers survey on my Model Y today and one of the multiple choice questions concerned fast charging. Basically it asked if my experience was worse than expected, about as expected, or better than expected. Although I felt uneasy about the question, I answered that it was about what I expected, though I really think it’s more of a function of the charger than the car.
I believe newer model Teslas can charge at rates up to about 250kw and I understand that some BEVs ca charge at higher rates, I would not say that I’m disappointed in my car because of it. Overall, I’m pretty darned happy, even at lower rates of charge, yet one could conceivably knock down the satisfaction index for the car because of something that it beyond its control.
Thoughts?

 

[Alkali Ike]

I completed a JD Powers survey on my Model Y today and one of the multiple choice questions concerned fast charging. Basically it asked if my experience was worse than expected, about as expected, or better than expected. Although I felt uneasy about the question, I answered that it was about what I expected, though I really think it’s more of a function of the charger than the car.
I believe newer model Teslas can charge at rates up to about 250kw and I understand that some BEVs ca charge at higher rates, I would not say that I’m disappointed in my car because of it. Overall, I’m pretty darned happy, even at lower rates of charge, yet one could conceivably knock down the satisfaction index for the car because of something that it beyond its control.
Thoughts?

This is a complex topic with many variables. BEV makers love to shout about their maximum charging rate and boast of going from (say) 20% to 80% charge in like 20 minutes, which in fact may be achievable under absolutely perfect conditions: charging station is working right, vehicle battery is in a state that will accept max charge rate for a while (extreme heat or cold may throttle the charging rate) and so on. BEV makers are not being totally honest about this issue (probably mainly non-Tesla) and EV buyers are possibly not prepared for reality.

I believe my ID.4 claims to max out at 125Kw. Yet owners are reporting 140kw if only briefly. I’ve seen 86Kw in the real world when beginning at a state of 40% charge. I’m going to let the car get down to about 20% and then try the one Electrify America charger in town that seems to work correctly and see what happens. I would be ecstatic to get 100+kw even if only briefly. The charging curves are not flat and rate tapers off as charge moves toward completion. It might take as long to get from 80% to 100% as it takes to go from 20% to 80%.

“It’s complicated “

 

[Alkali Ike]

I've been able to get 111kW charging rate on my ID.4 when starting at a 32% state of charge. Not bad!

The author of this article about the problematic state of the non-Tesla charging infrastructure is pretty much right on. His comments about EA in particular mirror my local experience: broken chargers and terrible station layout making it impossible to use all the available charging ports.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[Alkali Ike]

The Chevy Bolt battery fire issue just exploded again. Another recall, the previous software fix didn't fix it. I have nothing against GM or Chevy or the Bolt. But this would be the last straw for me. I'd be moving into something else. If I'm constantly thinking "Is today the 1 in 5000 chance my car catches fire?" then I'm unable to just enjoy the car. It would have to go.

"Don't leave it unattended while charging. Don't park a charged Bolt in the garage. Don't charge it above 90%."

Forget it. Car must go.