I rented a Tesla on my trip to NY

MSUDAWGFAN

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That’s solid. Ran into someone the other day who said they were replacing every 20k on average. Perhaps driving style or worse roads where they live?
I think some of both. I drive up and down highway 45 through West Point up to Saltillo every day. I try to keep it around 60 and don't launch. My first set of tires didn't last as many miles as my second one has, in my mind because I haven't launched. When I first got it, it was kind of a toy I had to show off and I am pretty sure I shortened the life of my tires by doing so.
 
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patdog

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When you charge to 80% on any fast charger higher than 60 kW, I have never spent m ore than 30 minutes. Usually when I go to a Buccees by the time I go in and go to the bathroom and get a drink, I am almost done. I've actually had to pay before because I couldn't get out in time and I didn't do anything other than what I just mentioned - go to the bathroom and get a drink.

Charging to 100% takes significantly longer and hurts the battery health. If I were to charge to 100%, yeah it would take a long time.
I never take more than 5-8 minutes to fill my gas guzzler, pee & get a water or coffee. Bit your point about only charging to 80% is valid. Problem is you don’t really want it getting below 20% either. So that 300 mile range just became effectively 180 miles.
 
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MSUDAWGFAN

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I'd double-check my life insurance first:

How many Pintos have you seen on the road these days? I can't recall seeing a single one TBH.

But if you are talking about EVs vs ICE cars vs hybrids, per 100,000 of each hybrids catch fire the most often at 3,500 per 100k sold, followed by ICE cars at about 1,500 per 100,000 ICE cars sold, followed by 25 for EVs for 100,000 EVs sold.

 
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dorndawg

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How many Pintos have you seen on the road these days? I can't recall seeing a single one TBH.

But if you are talking about EVs vs ICE cars vs hybrids, per 100,000 of each hybrids catch fire the most often at 3,500 per 100k sold, followed by ICE cars at about 1,500 per 100,000 ICE cars sold, followed by 25 for EVs for 100,000 EVs sold.

Pintos were last manufactured in 1980 - how many should I expect to see?

Sounds like EVs other than tesla death traps are extremely safe - legit appreciate the info.
 
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MSUDAWGFAN

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I never take more than 5-8 minutes to fill my gas guzzler, pee & get a water or coffee. Bit your point about only charging to 80% is valid. Problem is you don’t really want it getting below 20% either. So that 300 mile range just became effectively 180 miles.
This is true.

To anyone who is going to look at my posts and say I'm a defender of EVs, I'm not. I'll call out misinformation, or outright lies, but I'll also tell the downsides too. For me, there are a lot of upsides and it makes it worthwhile for me. But there are downsides.

For one, on my first day driving it to work, I started at 80% and got there with 60% in June. When winter hit, I usually got to work with about 53-55%, effectively meaning I couldn't go out to lunch or go back in town when I got home without charging ( I can do one or the other in summer but not both). So cold does affect the range, but a few weeks ago I drove 140 miles to and from work in 8 degree weather. It warmed up some by the afternoon, but it was still freezing.

And most people go through tires quicker than ICE cars. I think the quick acceleration has something to do with that.

One thing I've heard people say (incorrectly) is that you can launch (correct) but it's so heavy you can't stop (not true). I can stop faster with regen braking and friction brakes faster than an ICE car can.
 

MSUDAWGFAN

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Pintos were last manufactured in 1980 - how many should I expect to see?

Sounds like EVs other than tesla death traps are extremely safe - legit appreciate the info.
I guess my point was they seem to have selectively picked a model in order to get the stats they wanted.

And it's effective. When I found out my car was on the boat on the way over, a guy who I had worked with heard about me getting an EV and told me he hoped my house didn't burn down.

But think about it - with ICE cars you are literally putting a flammable liquid in your car that you burn in order to get the engine to take you places. It's inherently safe, but it's more prone to fires than EVs. I suspect most EV fires are caused by incorrect amp settings on the car when you are charging. I've never seen any data on that though.
 

dstatechamps

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Basically what I understand in a simplistic term is the electricity can only flow one way. So if it is being used it can't take any in. When you take your foot off the accelerator and stop the outflow it can now take inflow.

Because I always wondered like with the old bicycle light that had a little shaft you would drop on the front tire and it would generate electricity for the head light, why you can't have a generator on each rotating shaft to generate power and extend the battery charge. But it seems the battery can't accept this energy as it is expending energy.
OK, I get that. Why not two batteries? One charges while the other is used. When there is a certain level of charge/usage, a transfer switch of some kind kicks in.
 
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RocketDawg

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Great review. Sounds like a person can't be in a hurry if they want to rent an electric car, even a Tesla where there are more charging stations.
 

MSUDAWGFAN

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OK, I get that. Why not two batteries? One charges while the other is used. When there is a certain level of charge/usage, a transfer switch of some kind kicks in.
There are 2 batteries. A 12V battery that's similar to a battery in an ICE car and a high voltage battery. That's why there is no alternator. The 12V battery powers the electronics to charge the big battery, which in turn powers the 12V battery when the car is being driven.

If you are talking about range, the big battery is split into several battery packs. It's not one gigantic battery.

Before changing that 12V battery though, you should make sure you know how or get a dealer to do it. I took mine to Roadshow to get them to do it at 2.5 years for maintenance. They told me someone had disconnected theirs and the high voltage fried all of the electronics in theirs. Very expensive repair!

Changing mine was a little over $500. Only maintnance I've done just so I didn't have to get it towed when the 12V battery does eventually die.
 
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patdog

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This is true.

To anyone who is going to look at my posts and say I'm a defender of EVs, I'm not. I'll call out misinformation, or outright lies, but I'll also tell the downsides too. For me, there are a lot of upsides and it makes it worthwhile for me. But there are downsides.

For one, on my first day driving it to work, I started at 80% and got there with 60% in June. When winter hit, I usually got to work with about 53-55%, effectively meaning I couldn't go out to lunch or go back in town when I got home without charging ( I can do one or the other in summer but not both). So cold does affect the range, but a few weeks ago I drove 140 miles to and from work in 8 degree weather. It warmed up some by the afternoon, but it was still freezing.

And most people go through tires quicker than ICE cars. I think the quick acceleration has something to do with that.

One thing I've heard people say (incorrectly) is that you can launch (correct) but it's so heavy you can't stop (not true). I can stop faster with regen braking and friction brakes faster than an ICE car can.
I think you’re right about at the edge of an ev being a good choice for commuting. Any further & you’d be better off with a hybrid. BTW, you can charge to 100% for days you need a few extra miles. You just want those to be rare.
 

RocketDawg

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OK, I get that. Why not two batteries? One charges while the other is used. When there is a certain level of charge/usage, a transfer switch of some kind kicks in.
Probably because the battery is so large and heavy so having two of them, even smaller ones, wouldn't be practical. If they totaled to the same size and weight, it might work but would I could see it being a lot more expensive to buy.
 

MSUDAWGFAN

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I drove a Tesla for the first time not long ago. The power and acceleration those cars have are very impressive. Really fun car to drive. I’m several years away from needing a new car but would consider a Tesla for my next vehicle.
Last post for a while on this - I was anti EV until my friend took me around in his Tesla. Let me drive it even. It's really cool, but when BMW came out, I knew I'd rather have it. To my eyes, it's better looking car and with a Tesla I would just feel like one of the crowd. With my i4, I kind of feel unique because I hardly ever see them on the road.
 

PhredPhantom

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Someone essplain me this. There is an alternator on gas powered cars that keeps the battery charged. How has Tesla not figured out how to do similar? I know that the rotation of the motor supplies the alternator what it needs, but a Tesla has wheels that turn. Seems they could harness that.
Regenerative braking is what you’re talking about. Tesla has had this beginning with the first car they ever made and continues to be in all Teslas today (and my assumption is that it is on all other EVs in production that are made by other manufacturers, too).

When you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal, the wheel motors function as generators putting some electricity back into the battery. It also means less wear on the brake pads extending their life.
 

HotMop

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I went to NY this past weekend because I was being inducted into the inaugural group of my High School's Sports Hall of Fame. I decided to rent an EV and got a Tesla Model 3. Flew into LGA on Friday and was staying with my cousin in Lake Ronkonkoma which is about 47 miles. On Saturday I had to drive to Floral Park, about 41 miles, and back. Then back to LGA on Sunday.
Started at 100% charge and it was a slow drive with 5 pm traffic from the city to Eastern LI. Took 1.5 hours and got the charge down to 75. I went to a Tesla Supercharger Saturday morning and it took 1 hour 40 minutes to get it back to 95 percent and cost about $23. So did my Saturday travel to FP and back and it got down to 62. I was supposed to return to Hertz with a full charge so I found a super charger about 37 miles into the Trip back to LGA. It only took 1 hour to go from 38 to 100 this time. It defaulted to 80 percent since it was a high volume charge station but was pretty easy with the app to bump it to 100. Not sure what the cost was on that fillup.

So, I was impressed with the car itself in the technology and speed. The acceleration is very cool. I used the navigation everywhere because it's been a long time since I drove the area. It was very impressive along with the screen showing all that is going on around you.

For a rental car it was tricky at first because not everything is intuitive for how you are used to interfacing with a car. I wasn't sure how to get it into Park the first time I stopped. Definitely better to get the phone app than just use the backup key card. Again not very intuitive, but I am a programmer for 40 years and was able to get it working but it took time. I actually had to approve a firmware upgrade during the trip which made the car not usable for 55 minutes. I did figure out cruise control but could not figure out how to increase the speed other than stopping it and setting it again at the new speed. Adjusting side mirrors was weird in that left and right was toggling the little round button on the steering wheel but up and down was using the scroll wheel on that button.

One more thing that was very annoying. On the Sunday drive to LGA it had snowed 6 inches during the night. The road folks did a great job and the roads had all been plowed but they obviously where still wet. I am on 495 and the cars are putting the grimy water into the air on the windshield. The wipers seemed to be totally automatic. So I found how to clean the windshield. But then the wipers would come back on just enough to spread the grimy water all over the windshield and I had to run the washer again. I could not turn it off and only run the wipers when I wanted to. There might be a way, but I didn't want to figure it out at 65 mph. The warning for low washer fluid came on as I got back to Hertz.

The conclusion is that I would not rent one again because that necessary charging time on such a short trip is a nuisance. It took up time that I could have done some reminiscing and visiting old stomping grounds. Instead I had to be sure to give myself enough lead time to be sure I could make my appointments on time. If you owned it and had a home charger it would be a little better. It is just a specific tool for doing specific tasks. It is not a do it all tool.
Were you up there picking up Salsa?
 

Bulldog Bruce

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Since this topic has expanded about EV ownership let me add something I found out during the trip. My Brother-in-law has an Ionic, actually his sons, for 4 or 5 years now. The car was originally under his name since it was shortly after his son graduated and they switched it to his sons name after the loan was paid off. They did this so my nephew could buy his own insurance and it would all be on him. His son is 29 and no driving issues and it has proven very expensive to make the switch. The insurance is up around $3,500 for his son alone when it was in the $1800 range under his insurance. He also told me that friends of his with EVs have experienced insurance issues also. Now this is all in NY. However it is definitely something to look into before making a purchase.
 

HotMop

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One more thought. With the increased technology in all cars, one rental strategy is to rent the car you own, or very close to it. I did that in Detroit last summer. Made it much easier to drive an unfamiliar urban freeway system at night when I knew the car like the back of my hand. Either that or rent the car you're thinking about buying.
Yeah, but none of the rental places have a 1982 Yugo.
 
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HotMop

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I was tangentially involved in a project at State involving hydrogen-fueled cars in 2003. Hydrogen was the future then, too.
nbc GIF by Timeless
 
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patdog

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Yeah, but none of the rental places have a 1982 Yugo.
Hard to imagine why this car never took off in America. Perfect combination of butt ugly, under-powered and completely unreliable.
1739304238822.jpeg
 
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GloryDawg

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Get me a car with one of these bad boys on it!!!


Droning Green Energy GIF by Jocqua
All joking aside I wonder why they don't put a small turbine in the car to charge the battery using a small fan in the front where a fan goes on a fossil burning vehicle goes to turn the turbine, so it charges the battery. You basically have a mini windmill built into the car charging the battery.
 

ronpolk

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I'd double-check my life insurance first:

I got a pinto for my long distance driver and the Tesla for my work commuter… I’m 17’d****

Didn’t read the article so the answer may be in there… but is this just the cyber truck or all Tesla’s in general?
 
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HotMop

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All joking aside I wonder why they don't put a small turbine in the car to charge the battery using a small fan in the front where a fan goes on a fossil burning vehicle goes to turn the turbine, so it charges the battery. You basically have a mini windmill built into the car charging the battery.
I reckon the extra drag of a wind turbine would exceed the energy gain, basic Physics.
 

Bulldog Bruce

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All joking aside I wonder why they don't put a small turbine in the car to charge the battery using a small fan in the front where a fan goes on a fossil burning vehicle goes to turn the turbine, so it charges the battery. You basically have a mini windmill built into the car charging the battery.
Same issue of having spinning axles also spin a generator. It can't take in energy while expending it.
 

RocketDawg

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That’s solid. Ran into someone the other day who said they were replacing every 20k on average. Perhaps driving style or worse roads where they live?
It depends on the type of tire. If you have performance summer tires, you may only get 20,000 miles out of them driving "normally". But you can get tires with harder rubber that'll last 60,000 miles but don't hang on to the road quite as well.
 

dogmatic001

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My son-in-law has one, and I had much the same impression you had the first time I rode in it. I can see the advantages of having an electric car, but I would not want to charge them continually as you pointed out. It's not that I'm above having one. I don't like having the first few versions of anything. I'd rather wait until they've been developed for about 10 years.
Like you, I also remember Avid Nitrious 1.0
 

MSUDAWGFAN

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Since this topic has expanded about EV ownership let me add something I found out during the trip. My Brother-in-law has an Ionic, actually his sons, for 4 or 5 years now. The car was originally under his name since it was shortly after his son graduated and they switched it to his sons name after the loan was paid off. They did this so my nephew could buy his own insurance and it would all be on him. His son is 29 and no driving issues and it has proven very expensive to make the switch. The insurance is up around $3,500 for his son alone when it was in the $1800 range under his insurance. He also told me that friends of his with EVs have experienced insurance issues also. Now this is all in NY. However it is definitely something to look into before making a purchase.
I was always told to do a replacement policy. When I asked how much it would be it was going to be about $100 more a month over what I had, but I did a replacement policy and it is only $9 mkre a month.
 
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MSUDAWGFAN

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It depends on the type of tire. If you have performance summer tires, you may only get 20,000 miles out of them driving "normally". But you can get tires with harder rubber that'll last 60,000 miles but don't hang on to the road quite as well.
I have all season tires. That's the only way I'll go since I need more miles.
 

Ranchdawg

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I was tangentially involved in a project at State involving hydrogen-fueled cars in 2003. Hydrogen was the future then, too.
Toyota has backed away from ev and now developing hydrogen cars. Long term I believe they will win out. Charging is a show stopper for long trips.
 
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Captain Ron

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All joking aside I wonder why they don't put a small turbine in the car to charge the battery using a small fan in the front where a fan goes on a fossil burning vehicle goes to turn the turbine, so it charges the battery. You basically have a mini windmill built into the car charging the battery.
There is no free lunch on these sorts things. Even if you had a second battery, or realistically all you would have to do is partition a section of cells (which Tesla already does), generators are not 100% efficient. Doesn’t matter if it is using wind or attached to the axel. The force used to turn the generator will exceed what it produces, so you are actually losing range in either scenario.

What about solar hood or roof? If that were a 100% efficient, it could add a small bit of range, but since best case is about 28%, it would not do much. One thing Solar could do is trickle charge during the day while at work etc and replenish the small drains that happen from the systems thar are always on like Bluetooth.
 

T-TownDawgg

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All joking aside I wonder why they don't put a small turbine in the car to charge the battery using a small fan in the front where a fan goes on a fossil burning vehicle goes to turn the turbine, so it charges the battery. You basically have a mini windmill built into the car charging the battery.
The higher aero drag negates any gains.
 

patdog

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What about solar hood or roof? If that were a 100% efficient, it could add a small bit of range, but since best case is about 28%, it would not do much. One thing Solar could do is trickle charge during the day while at work etc and replenish the small drains that happen from the systems thar are always on like Bluetooth.
One thing it would do is add a lot of weight & cost to the vehicle. I can’t see that being feasible.