It hasn't happened in the last year or so, but I've had 3-4 people over the past 4 years aggressively confront me in parking lots (some with my child) about my Tesla, why it sucks, why I don't support Alberta O&G, how it's stupid, etc...
No, I don't have any decals of any sort on it. JFC, I only bought it because car goes zoom. Leave me alone.
Tell them you are supporting Alberta Natural Gas and Coal which is the majority of our electricity generation...
I think there is a likely a "New Model" bias here.
Most EV's and Plug in Hybrids are first generation models, many only 1-3 years old.
New models are always going to have more problems. I would think if you compare new gas models to more mature ones, you'd likely see something similar.
Meanwhile Hybrids are a lot further along than pure EV's and Plug in Hybrids. So they are more mature technology/models.
The fact that they have fewer issues than pure ICE cars is interesting. If you're comparing similarly mature models then is what that is showing is adding an electric component to your drivetrain improves reliability? Could be.
I suspect as you see EV models mature you'll see the reliability/number of issues come down pretty substantially, and they'll blow ICE cars out of the water.
So long as it’s made by Toyota and not Ford, yes.
You’ll never lose sleep buying a 15 year old Prius with 300,000km.
__________________ ”All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.”
You’ll never lose sleep buying a 15 year old Prius with 300,000km.
Toyota's only foray into the EV space was the worst of all automakers. Awful. Terrible. The wheels could fall off and it was worse than the Leaf which debuted in 2010.
My neighbour bought a $100000 Toyota Tundra Capstone Hybrid. Towed 3 times the first 1200 kms. He's a toyota guy and hates the truck. Says it's the biggest piece of garbage he's ever owned.
It would be a fallacy to automatically apply Toyota's traditional automotive reliability to a completely new technology space.
It would be like assuming that Kodak would be the best at making and marketing digital cameras.
Like the German automakers who are on the brink (VW), they have been spending too much time trying not to sabotage their traditional internal combustion business and not being focused. Both have recently canned leaders and they can't seem to decide on a direction.
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Location: In my office, at the Ministry of Awesome!
Exp:
I'm not sure if this should go here, or in the Tesla thread. I mean it's general EV news, but they are specifically calling this thing the Tesla Killer, so maybe it should go in the Tesla thread:
It looks like Russia has no access to modern day battery technology so its this tall because the bottom of the car is just stacks of oldschool lead acid batteries.
It has a radiator and gas filler cap so I'm guessing it's a hybrid which means 2x as many Russian powertrains to break.
Question for EV owners: I may be purchasing a not Tesla EV in the near future. For at home charging, is there a better charger than another to get? Going to have it hardwired by an electrician but looks like I would need to buy the hardware and there are a lot of options out there. Any suggestions??
Question for EV owners: I may be purchasing a not Tesla EV in the near future. For at home charging, is there a better charger than another to get? Going to have it hardwired by an electrician but looks like I would need to buy the hardware and there are a lot of options out there. Any suggestions??
Consider getting the electrician to install 60a in case you plan on getting a second ev down the road.
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Question for EV owners: I may be purchasing a not Tesla EV in the near future. For at home charging, is there a better charger than another to get? Going to have it hardwired by an electrician but looks like I would need to buy the hardware and there are a lot of options out there. Any suggestions??
1) Unless you're driving more than 45km a day without back to back long trips, a level 2 charger is helpful, but not urgent so don't go and rush into anything that isn't what you want. You can trickle charge about 50km in 12 hours at 110v. The level 2 is more important if you go on longer trips, and in the long run is much more convenient, but not absolutely necessary
2) Starseed makes a good point about wiring. Lots of chargers go up to 50amp, and though you can limit them, if you have two EVs you're really neutered if you don't have 60amp service to the charger(s)
3) big difference between indoor and outdoor installation. The cord on some units gets incredibly stiff when it's cold which makes it virtually unusable
Doesn't mean anything today but most (all?) manufacturers have said they're switching to the Tesla connector in the future. Not sure if you can get something that'll work with either so you're future proof? Though by the time you replace that EV who knows there might be something else entirely.
__________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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Doesn't mean anything today but most (all?) manufacturers have said they're switching to the Tesla connector in the future. Not sure if you can get something that'll work with either so you're future proof? Though by the time you replace that EV who knows there might be something else entirely.
Good point. A few non Tesla manufacturers are now starting to make chargers with NACS connectors but noon Tesla EVs won't have the NACS connector for probably a year or two minimum
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1) Unless you're driving more than 45km a day without back to back long trips, a level 2 charger is helpful, but not urgent so don't go and rush into anything that isn't what you want. You can trickle charge about 50km in 12 hours at 110v. The level 2 is more important if you go on longer trips, and in the long run is much more convenient, but not absolutely necessary
2) Starseed makes a good point about wiring. Lots of chargers go up to 50amp, and though you can limit them, if you have two EVs you're really neutered if you don't have 60amp service to the charger(s)
3) big difference between indoor and outdoor installation. The cord on some units gets incredibly stiff when it's cold which makes it virtually unusable
He gives really good rundown on any charger you could look at and rates it for cold weather as well
Really want to emphasize point 1 here. We got our Tesla a year ago. I was adamant we needed a Level 2 charger to make it work. My better half said we didn’t but I went ahead and got a quote for the circuit we would need. After seeing the quote I decided she might be right and she was. In this first full year we have never supercharged it in our city. It is in the garage usually 10 - 12 hours a day and in a heated garage gets about 7km/hr of charge added at 12 amps. There are a few times where have needed a few days to get back to our 80 percent charge limit after heavy use but 95 percent of the time it is at 80 percent when we start every day.
Your amount of usage will obviously impact this and so will whether you have a heated garage but I am super happy we didn't do the work for a Level 2 for now. Might want to consider it.
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The only issue with that worth considering is the lower charging rates are less efficient, particularity if you have an unheated garage. It needs to heat the battery, so more percent of the energy delivered goes to heating at lower rates. That, and because you are at 110v 220v you have more resistive losses. I think it's in the range of 20%, and if you add that to a cold garage problem, you may pay for the difference in electrical usage over the years.
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So all the news is that BYD overtook Tesla recently. I keep looking at Chinese EV prices with envy. I wonder when we will be able to get any Chinese EV brands here. They are already making strong market penetration into South America and Europe.
There are already BYD delivery vans in Vancouver and BYD taxis in Montreal.
BYD can keeps its costs low in part because it owns the entire supply chain of its EV batteries, from the raw materials to the finished battery packs. That matters because a battery accounts for about 40% of a new electric vehicle’s price.
... to say nothing of the insanely low labour costs.