More on Why a THINK City EV is Our Everyday Driver

This reposted here in the Think EVs sub-forum for easy access by possible future Thinkars. Otherwise it is buried in a thread titled as Prius c, but then subject to gross topic drift, all over the place.
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First, poor exposure; this What Good is a Rav4EV? discussion is buried in a thread originally about the Prius c, and then the unending Prius/TDI circular kerfuffle, and now the Rav4EV, and even the uber-ecar Type S. That's some serious topic drift. If you really want owner/user comments, someone needs to start a new stand-alone Rav4EV or perhaps Leaf titled thread.

Second, even when you stumble upon the discussion, there appears to little to no reason to comment. Canfab has already made it perfectly clear that an EV of any cost, any range does/will not fit his needs/desires -- they are different -- now or in the foreseeable future... and in his opinion that apparently goes for everyone he knows and even the country as whole.

Why would our Leafers bother? (At one point, there were at least five, IIRC)

'Fools rush in -- No, let's make that, procede apprehensively -- where angels fear to tread'.
In the absence of any Leafers, I'll take a stab at explaining why an EV works in our
particular case and may be an example for other potential EV owners.
This is going to be longish, but you asked for it, and I can then be unapologetic.

For the last year, our daily vehicle of choice is a THINK CIty EV, It has roughly the same daily range as the GenI Leaf; all else being equal, up to 80 miles in mild weather, ~65 miles when heavy heat or air conditioning is called for.

It has to be said up front that whatever its range or cost, an EV is currently a niche vehicle. However, that does not mean it can't meet or even exceed the needs of a meaningful minority of today's drivers. IMHO, the biggest detriment to a broader acceptance of EV's is the unthinking mindset of the typical buyer/driver. For an EV to be a practical daily driver you have to be brutally honest about what you need in your specific individual case before you buy, and how you will use the car the next day every night when you charge.

To be more specific, you have to do a hard-nosed evaluation of what your typical daily range requirements are day-in, day-out, winter and summer before you buy any EV. Nobody else can tell you what this number is. Whether your daily needs can be met by any EV is primarily a function of a choice that you've already made and are probably deeply invested in, that is where you have chosen to live… and your home loan is probably 'underwater' and you can't relocate until the real estate market improves a great deal.

An 80 mile top range EV works for us, that is it is a hand-in-glove fit for three reasons, and I will admit while I want to believe that this happy condition is the result of good planning on my part, there is more than a little plain old good luck involved.
* Firstly, 5 years ago we downsized our house and moved right in close to the city. Now almost everything we need on a routine basis is within a 15 mile radius; jobs, downtown entertainment, suburban mall shopping, doctor, dentist, hospitals, libraries, restaurants, parks, fireworks at the harbor, professional sports, etc. (If I've missed anything important I'm confident it's within our range circle.)

* Secondly, about a year ago The THINK City came on the local market at seriously reduced price. (The car is hand built in Elkhart IN, from parts made in Finland, by a global company now based in Munich, and majority owned by a Russian!) Originally priced at something like $36K, the car was being offered at $22.5K before a tax rebate of up to $7500 and no state sales tax, about $1300. Admittedly a risky deal as both the car manufacturer and HV battery maker, EnerDel, were undergoing reorganization/bankruptcy. (Both concerns are still in business however and actively involved with the community of now some 400 Think drivers around the country, when/should we need them.)

* Thirdly, we can charge the car in our home's back yard. This might not have been be the case if we had moved into a condo, apartment or town house closer in. For our daily range needs we can get by with 120V charging, about 6% SOC per hour charge time. for us typically 4-6 hr. overnight charging needed daily to get back to 80% SOC. But we can charge up to 100% if tomorrow we need more range, typically for the weekend errand runs or drive-abouts on Sunday -- this zippy little car is so much fun to drive, that I sometimes think of it as a two seat, 4-wheel, full coverage motorcycle with room for 12 or more shopping bags. Ghosting along at above the PSL on country rural roads in the county is a real blast… to hell with the eMPG -- up to ~100 when driven sedately.

This distinctive looking, very basic all-electric wonder works for because of the above lucky conditions and the fact that as there are only two of us, we can generally anticipate and plan our next day range requirements and stay within the 20-80% SOC range that is recommended for long term HV battery capacity/range retention.

The one exception to being able to stay within the car's imposed range limits is a trip to the airport, on the far other side of the city and further on for ~10 miles, 30 miles+ one way. It would be a white-knuckle round trip on a single charge from home. But there are L2 chargers available there and I have the required charge card should I ever attempt it… Which I doubt I will. I wouldn't leave the car there for any extended periods or if going to pick-up/drop-off out of town visitors, would probably need more seats/volume.

Which brings me to trips of longer than 50 miles total. For them we have our 'big car,' an '08 Prius with ~76K miles on the clock. Typically these trips are rambles up and down the East Coast to visit family in Maine and Florida. Granted, these occur only once a year. But the Prius is paid for and the only accruing expense is insurance and oil changes. Our insurance is really low due our 45 year accident free history with USAA and the car no longer being used for daily commuting. For oil changes, I'll be changing oil at least once a year -- after the trip to Florida, ~2000 mi. -- we should see ~5000 mi annual total. As it is now, the Prius gets used maybe once a week, and spends one night a week on a battery minder to keep the weak sister, achilles heal 12V battery up to snuff.

Lastly, in the cases of both the Prius and the THINK, as constantly depreciating assets, they like any car don't make us any money. Its about lower $$ outlays over the long haul, and eventually on a fixed budget. But in my thinking even that is not enough justification for the forward looking THINK. Enter altruism. An important reason to drive the THINK is my two children. They are both in their 30's and don't (yet) subscribe to meaningful self-imposed minimum resource use. But I believe that one legacy that I can leave them is the thought, even if it is buried deeply in their unconscious, that both hybrids and EVs can be a responsible and workable solution to their transportation needs somewhere off in the future -- whether I'm still around or not. Is my example making a difference? Up to this point, only maybe. Both have downsized their primary vehicles… to smaller ICE powered car/small pick up. But, 'hope springs eternal.'

So that's my story. I know it is not typical due the luck noted above. But I strongly believe that there are many folk who can also find that an EV is easily workable for daily transportation… But only if they can overcome the typical American thinking of, "What is the biggest, most 'luxurious' vehicle that will accomodaate my desires and I can just barely afford right now," and substitute, "What is the smallest, most energy efficient vehicle that meets my needs over the long term, even if it may have a somewhat larger initial cost."

NB - Should you want more on my THINK City experience, a lot now probably repetitous, see my threads in the Th!nk EVs | PriusChat sub-forum.