... you really want an electric car? sure about that?

We have forced air...but I went through exactly the same thought process as your post above. The jump from a little over 80% efficiency to 90% efficiency just wasn't worth it.

Thinking like this is also the reason we haven't bought a new car since 2012. Or maybe I'm cheap...probably both.

 

This appears to be a comparison of totally different designs. The two ICE are diesel, so complaints about noise are inherent to that drive train. The point that the EVs were faster is flawed, since the Merc has a top speed of 150 mph and 0-60 MPH acceleration of 7.4 seconds. while the VW id3 has a top speed of only 100 MPH and Acceleration 0 - 100 km/h in 8.9 sec. That's actually slower. I notice that there was no mention of being unable to merge into traffic with any of the 4 cars. I'd interpret that to mean that all 4 cars were quite capable for your purposes.

TL/DR: It's quite likely that the poster's judgement was influenced by expectations as opposed to real world experience.

 

On the point of ""being passed by an EV on the open road":

1) You will not be passed by cars driving the same speed as your car is traveling. If you want to judge the number of EVs on the road you have to count the EVs in the oncoming traffic. I did this back in 2019 and found that on a 300 mile stretch of highway there were very, very few EVs traveling through the rural areas of northern California. I did see them occasionally near the larger towns, but seldom spotted any in the large empty areas between populated areas.

On my last trip through northern California I saw more EVs than I'd seen in the past, but nowhere near what would be suggested by the 10% sales rate of EVs in the metropolitan areas. I did not count them.

Side note: I did see a Tesla pulled over to the side of the freeway about 20 miles south of Gustine on my last southbound trip. There was no-one in the car. My wife noted that there were many more Teslas on the road this time compared to the last monthly trip. I pointed out that he Teslas were more easily spotted due to the few changes from year to year. Then I pointed out the Rivians, Lucids, Mustangs and even a Toyota BZ4X headed out of the bay area that day. I still have not seen a F150 Lightning.

They are out there. Most of the supercharger installations were largely empty on that trip. That would suggest that either these EV drivers were charging more frequently or they were not driving much more than the 200 miles that the car can handle.

 

Well, the top speeds driven was 80mph, and the EVs likely were faster to 20, 40, or 60kph. Faster acceleration and instant torque will make a car feel faster. Since he didn't provide measurements, it was likely a statement based on the acceleration feel.

With the Prius being the media's poster child for slow car, these EVs are all fast.

 

Thank you. Yes, precisely.

The Mercedes has a faster drag-racing 0-60. Pulling away from a roundabout onto a 70mph dual carriageway, the ID.3s felt a lot faster than the Mercedes. Pulling away from traffic lights in town, with 30-40mph urban limits, the difference was even greater. That instant torque makes a massive different. On paper, the Mercedes is faster, but in real-world applications, the ID.3 - which is pretty slow by EV standards - felt faster, and probably was.

 

@Trollbait covered most of this beautifully, and I've expanded on it in my reply to him above.

As for noise and the diesel thing.... You'll be shocked to hear that I have also driven petrol cars! Recent hires - in Australia - include a petrol MG HS, a petrol Kia Rio (yes, I know what you'll say about both of these), a petrol non-hybrid Corolla, and a petrol Peugeot 508 (which was unexpectedly lovely), as well as a bunch of vans and trucks. Those are in addition to the British hires mentioned above. All were noisier than the ID.3. All were slower than the ID.3s in real-world everyday use.

Yes, of course they were. Even the Kia Rio was. My 1979 Peugeot 305 was. The OP, however, wittered "Never have you been, nor ever will you ever be passed, going cross-country, by an electric vehicle", implying that EVs are too slow. That was my point: they are not.

No. See details above.

However, I might have to throw that right back at you. After all, you appear to have come to your conclusions about those specific cars without driving those specific cars. Which is.... interesting.

 

I agree...I'd buy one of those old Toyota trucks in a heartbeat...especially if it has a manual shifter!!

I have a set of ramps to load thing in my Tundra, I'd be tempted to try to get that Baby Yota back there!!

 

Oh man..I LOVE old Toyota trucks. I sometimes see posts of restored ones on the Toyota subreddit...and man they are nice.

 

An old F-100(that is correct) once lived on my block that was well loved. Unfortunately, whoever did the repaint didn't properly repair the rust along the wheel well arches.

 

Yep, after my Mom died in 97 (in Maine), my Dad told me he no longer needed two vehicles so told me I could come get his 1992 Ford F-250 truck. (In-line 6-cylinder) Dad was cheap so it didn't have any upgrades whatsoever but did run good. I got it back to Texas and was fixing it up (maintenance) and was having trouble with the brakes...reservoir always was low. Took it into my mechanic and was shocked with the amount of rust underneath from a truck barely 10-years old. He still had it on the lift and, holy cow, a huge amount of rust, everywhere, especially on the back of the wheels. He said he was afraid to even try draining the brake lines due to the rust. But he knew some Texas farmers who wanted it so I was able to get a fair amount of money for it. (After getting the okay from my Dad, of course.)

 

There's a reason while states with real winter are known as the rest belt. Had a 2001 Sable we got in 2004 and had until 2017. Less than 80k miles and it ran fine. The rust was just reaching the point of euthanasia. It created a leak in the windshield gutter that would flood the driver's floor. Corrosion of the A/C compressor bearing caused it to seize and destroy itself. Rust of the door sills was coming through underside and cracking the paint when we finally sent it off to auction.

Toyota and other Japanese brands were ill prepared for rust when they came to the US. They don't salt roads at home. It's why I asked about the original bad earlier. Enough people loved those early pick ups to support fiberglass replacements. The original had weld points the domestic companies knew not to use, where rust would start.

 

Not all real winter states use (or used to use) large amounts of salt. Dad's 1990 and 1995 F-250s are still running, very beaten up from decades of rough farm work (or actual highway use from other family before being relegated to the farm), but not close to falling apart from rust. I was driving both last week for cattle feeding.

I've had much greater rust problems with my Subarus, now that Western Washington has 'discovered' salt.

A New England friend once helped one of his friends rehab a 1960s pickup acquired from a non-salt Western state (sorry, I don't remember just where), and was astonished how little rust it had compared to far younger local vehicles.

 

https://electrek.co/2023/01/12/amid-demand-concerns-tesla-cuts-prices-by-up-to-13k-in-us/

Yeah.
I'd buy an electric car, but only chumps are early adopters.

I'm old enough to remember watching people stand in line for the 'privilege' of buying a new iPhone for $1000, and now?
I can buy a brand spanking new iphone from the mother ship, delivered free the next day for $389 +tax (*)

The chumps are drying up, and so big T has to make the jump to the "SE" model.

SSDD


(*) With ID.me for educators and vets. Norms pay about $400

 

Too late, early adopters are already taken:


They're openings for bitter regretters.

Bob Wilson