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I regularly have to drive about 240 miles to court and back on the same day, and just as frequently about 140 miles round trip. Is it possible to do those drives? Maybe, barely.
I have about 175k on my 2008 Prius, so I'm seriously considering that by the time I need a new car the range will be enough to do this reliably.
Right now the EVs with models with over 250 miles range are the Hyundai Kona EV and the three Teslas. The Kona EV is still eligible for the full federal EV tax credit so can be bought for a fairly low net effective price.
That being said, your location says Vermont which I reckon gets fairly cold, so on really cold winter days you’ll likely be dropping a significant proportion of miles on range. Fast chargers along the way might do it if along the way. You might have EV charging parking at court. If you’re talking about Montpelier, there’s a pretty large number of charging stations for a fairly small city.
If that 240 miles is each leg for a combined 480 miles, then combined with the fairly cold winters, a hybrid would make much more sense. If it’s 240 miles for the round trip, then a few EVs are probably fine for this now.
Last edited by OyCrumbler; 08-12-2019 at 06:22 AM..
I have a 2012 which requires premium. I feel this kind of offsets any degree of efficiency the hybrid-electric mode has over, say, a Cruze HFE which can get 40/41 mpg on straight gas and a conventional 12V battery.
My 2013 recommends premium, but I've done regular in it without issue, as do many people on the Volt forums.
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I've coasted down mountains (5+ minutes of winding downhill) and have never once "earned back" miles in either my Volt or a Prius (2006).
Maybe it's a early car thing, but my 2013 Volt earns back miles every time you let off the throttle. That's the green bar going down over on the left side (see attached picture showing regen happening)
I came down the Great Smokies and went from 18 miles range to 39 miles of range and the green battery graph went from less than a quarter to almost full. That's what regen DOES. and it's done it on every EV I've ever driven.
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Using "L" on the Volt (or "B" on the Prius) will result in too much braking and negate any extra re-gen you might have earned. In these modes, you will need to actively feather the accelerator to maintain speed downhill. It will definitely slow traction battery consumption, almost to a halt, if the grade is steep enough.
This is untrue. You use L for regen every time you let off the throttle and use the gauge below to judge how much you're getting. It allows for one pedal driving. I ONLY use L for driving, whether I'm in EV mode or Hold mode (which you don't have on your '12 Volt). I gain miles back all the time, in stop and go traffic or going down any hills.
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Mountain mode is ONLY a crutch for extended uphill sprints so that you do not wind up with the message "Propulsion Power Reduced" when 1.) the traction battery runs out, and 2.) the range extender cannot generate power as fast as you are using it.
Agreed. I've used it exactly ONCE for just that purpose (also in the Great Smokey Mountains).
Last edited by cvetters63; 08-12-2019 at 07:11 AM..
Maybe it's a early car thing, but my 2013 Volt earns back miles every time you let off the throttle. That's the green bar going down over on the left side (see attached picture showing regen happening) I came down the Great Smokies and went from 18 miles range to 39 miles of range and the green battery graph went from less than a quarter to almost full. That's what regen DOES. and it's done it on every EV I've ever driven..
Interesting. Going down a grade steep and long enough to warrant runaway truck ramps, I was keeping my eye on the battery miles gauge (which was spun around to the foreground) and though it seems the miles definitely stopped depleting during that time, unfortunately they did not add back.
Unrelated, but some other quirks of the (2011-)2012 also:
- Does not have EV Hold mode (only Normal, Sport, Mountain)
- Does not have streaming bluetooth audio (only bluetooth handsfree phone) Audio can be stored on the 30 GB hard drive, played off a USB stick, or via a USB cable connected to an iPhone
- Has the section of the liftgate under the small glass panel painted black, no matter what color the rest of the car is
For me, it's the fact that it's a car that uses very little fuel, but provides quite a bit of performance in a luxuriously silent package. The fact that I haven't bought gas in months in my daily driver is a bonus.
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Originally Posted by engineman
My condo has assigned parking spaces, no place to plug one in. I do not expect to ever replace my gas powered convertible.
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Originally Posted by Pilot1
Sometimes I drive to remote locations where there is no electricity for many miles, sometimes not even gas stations are anywhere nearby. I can take a five gallon jerry can of gas as a reserve it I need it. I can't take a spare battery, and hauling a generator would be silly. So an electric vehicle will not work for me.
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Originally Posted by AlaskaErik
What's right for me is an internal combustion engine. I see no electric vehicle in my future.
The OP asked, "Do you own an electric car? What is your motivation for owning an electric car?". I didn't read that as looking for reasons why people don't own an EV.
We own a 2015 Chevy SparkEV. We bought it used for about $15k with a little over 400 miles on it in 2016. We were looking for a small run-around errand vehicle. It's perfect for how we use it and we put 3,500 miles/year on the car. No stopping at gas stations, low maintenance, and it's fun to drive.
We have a Tesla and a regular gas car. Currently I’d say we use the Tesla 95% of the time, including for road trips. There is really no practical reason to even own the other car anymore. We’ll probably end up selling it and just going with the Tesla as our one car.
My condo has assigned parking spaces, no place to plug one in. I do not expect to ever replace my gas powered convertible.
I am in a similar situation with an assigned slot
in underground parking, nearest electric charging station is at the library a mile down the road, until my building installs charging stations an electric car is just not feasible.
I am in a similar situation with an assigned slot
in underground parking, nearest electric charging station is at the library a mile down the road, until my building installs charging stations an electric car is just not feasible.
This guy talked to his Condo admins and got permission to install a charger in his assigned underground space.
I would like to see what they use as fuel for the generators.
THe Volt is an EV that has a built-in generator. The gas engine maintains the charge in the batteries and the electric motor is powered by the battery charge. It only helps drive the wheels when the battery is depleted AND you're using full throttle. 99% of the time, in the '13 and newer models, the gas engine doesn't even run. I only use the gas generator in "hold mode" when on long trips to maintain battery charge for when I reach my destination, and it will stop running if I get into stop and go traffic.
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