yea, no Chinese EVs here in the US either ... my needs are different, had 3 BMWs (2 X5 1 5) that I loved at the time but nowadays I look at a car as a means to get me from Point A to Point B. I was actually surprised by the interior of my Bolt EUV (compared to the Chevy rentals I have driven), and luckily, I'm not in the market, if I were, I'd take a hard look at Hyundai/Kia ...
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Who has or is planning to get an electric car / EV Talk
- Thread starter PracticalMac
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Absolutely, and people generally do. I just think people get a bit lost down the Tesla rabbit hole at times recommending them in every EV discussion when they are just one of the many options available now. They used to be the best option a few years ago before the market grew and it’s good we now have so many EV options across most price points. The very entry level is perhaps in need of more options but the affordable to mid range now has plenty from Hyundai, Kia and Ford to join Tesla.
The i5 M60 is a nice looking car, but I wouldn’t compare it to a Model 3 or Model Y as it’s really aimed at the executive market and is becoming a very popular company car, especially over here. BMW do interiors very well and even though they are one of the most popular cars on the road, they still have a good knack of making you feel like you’re driving a unique medium luxury car IMO.
Totally agreed. And the i5 Touring is also an amazing looking car. But as you say a very different category of car and segment. I also like the i4 M50 a lot. If we didn’t have a Polestar 2 already my wife would have chosen that one.
But a little city runabout I’m really liking the Renault 5. Such a cool retro vibe to it for those of us who remember the original. And a decent price as well.
Absolutely, we all have a reasons and needs. I’m still fore the foreseeable future having long distance needs where I’m like twice a month drive through at least four countries and cross a see. For that I want more than a2b and luxury with GT speed and comfort that gets me and my family through any weather condition.
But at our home in the Netherlands the car is just parked up most of the time. I just walk and cycle. Same at our holiday place in southern Europe. And also at our home in the UK.
I loved my test drive of the KIA EV9. It’s got a lot going for it. Just didn’t like the grey shiny plastic interior.
Hard to beat the value and performance of the Hyundai/Kia EVs.
800V battery architecture, great pricing, incentives, and performance.
The only issue is the service dept has a lot to be desired.
Some interesting figures regarding EV sales in the USA. Seems to indicate to me that there is a lot more choice now, Tesla "suffering" with buyers going to other cars, but oddly overal market not expanding as much. I expect similar results in Europe.
www.bloomberg.com
The Slowdown in US Electric Vehicle Sales Looks More Like a Blip
EV sales are still booming for most automakers — even if Tesla is in a rut.
www.bloomberg.com
Yup, I had seen this a few days ago but later couldn’t find it anymore.Some interesting figures regarding EV sales in the USA. Seems to indicate to me that there is a lot more choice now, Tesla "suffering" with buyers going to other cars, but oddly overal market not expanding as much. I expect similar results in Europe.
The Slowdown in US Electric Vehicle Sales Looks More Like a Blip
EV sales are still booming for most automakers — even if Tesla is in a rut.
It is interesting that it certainly appears that Tesla is “dragging down” the market so to speak, and, I also believe that Hyundai and the others mentioned will walk away with huge gains over the next couple years.
The focus of all manufacturers, high profit margin big luxury models is fading out, Tesla needs to go with the industry and provide updates more frequently (and no, I do not mean OTA SW updates), and finally, offering truly affordable EVs will swing the pendulum to the other side.
Agreed. If they can get a Model 2 hatchback out. And finally update that Model Y they’ll be back.
To be fair, the hardware updates a lot as well but you can’t see it and it’s not named as a new model. It’s clever but I don’t think the general public understand or appreciates that.
But there is so much more excellent choice these days. Good times to be a consumer.
To be fair, the hardware updates a lot as well but you can’t see it and it’s not named as a new model. It’s clever but I don’t think the general public understand or appreciates that.
But there is so much more excellent choice these days. Good times to be a consumer.
I can definitely see it taking a lot longer to get people into EV, if at all. You certainly have to think different when going to EV, at least from what I have discovered as I have been researching it as I look to get a Tesla through work.Some interesting figures regarding EV sales in the USA. Seems to indicate to me that there is a lot more choice now, Tesla "suffering" with buyers going to other cars, but oddly overal market not expanding as much. I expect similar results in Europe.
The Slowdown in US Electric Vehicle Sales Looks More Like a Blip
EV sales are still booming for most automakers — even if Tesla is in a rut.
Do we think the EV sales in the US will increase when more EVs have the NACS connector?
People often cite charging as one reason they are leery of buying an EV.
But if future EVs could have access to all the Tesla chargers in the US... it might alleviate their worries.
People often cite charging as one reason they are leery of buying an EV.
But if future EVs could have access to all the Tesla chargers in the US... it might alleviate their worries.
sure, it will help but in and by itself not sufficient. Charging infrastructure needs to grow quite a bit.
Today most of the "superchargers"/fast chargers (Tesla, EA, EVGO etc) are in travel corridors and we still need more.
But there must also be a focus on home and destination (eg hotels) chargers, and L2 is sufficient for that as most EVs can be charged easily overnight. Home is "easy" for newer home that have 200A+ circuits, older homes are more problematic, and condos/apartments are most challenging.
Chargers at work places will help, esp for those who (today) cannot charge at home.
For travelers, charging at hotels need improvement. While my experience is a year or so old, try to find a hotel with EV charging in Monterey CA, and in the whole vicinity: 1 Tesla super charger and 1 EA DCFC station ...
It will help, but it still comes down to personal opinions and preferences. Even though modern Tesla's can use V3 supercharging speed, it's still going to take time. ~15 Mins for 200 miles.
It's going to take a lot of engineering to make charging either via home or supercharging to be under 4 mins. [2mins is the average at gas station].
As many above have stated, those with "older homes" will have a more difficult time with charging. Same with Appts and hotels.
Car sales in general have slowed down in the US. Interest rates are 8%+. Also, it is easy to have a 50% increase in sales if you are low volume. If I sold 2 cars last year, and sold 3 this year, I have a 50% increase this year. When you are looking at high volume (like Tesla is) you are going to have a lot more swings, and it is going to be difficult to maintain 2023 numbers (where the TMY was the number 1 selling vehicle in the world).
It is good that other manufacturers are increasing sales, but they really need to increase their sales numbers. Tesla sold more EVs in Q1 2024 than all the others listed here combined…. Even with its own -13.3% decrease in Q1 2024 vs Q1 2023.
It is good that other manufacturers are increasing sales, but they really need to increase their sales numbers. Tesla sold more EVs in Q1 2024 than all the others listed here combined…. Even with its own -13.3% decrease in Q1 2024 vs Q1 2023.
when do you really need 200 mile range within 4 minutes? sure, when on a trip, but, the majority of people take way longer than 4 min as they also use the restroom, get a drink/snack or what not ... and at home? why would you need that in the first place? and given that you need 350kW chargers, that is unrealistic to begin with.
Charging speed has been increasing rapidly, Tesla is not even the top anymore as it doesn't have an 800V architecture.
The "200 mile range within 4 minutes?" is more of a comparisison talking point between Gas and EV charging.
I know most of who I talk to have stated that they hate waiting, and they love how fast it takes to fill up and leave.
"why make a 2hr drive into a 3hr drive" so to speak.
Obviously yes, those who go on road trips will use the restroom, buy items.
I know most of who I talk to have stated that they hate waiting, and they love how fast it takes to fill up and leave.
and every time I go to Costco, people seem to happily wait
leaving road trips aside, how many people drive more than 200 miles/day? very few ... I have aa L2 (240V) charger in my garage, gives me ~22-25 miles/hr, so I can have my car fully charged every morning. And yes I know (see my post above), not everyone is in that situation.
One has to have a different mind set when switching to an EV, it's a change, and change is hard. There is a lot of unnecessary anxiety out there, and there are also valid ones, and, EVs are not for everyone (yet). ICE automobiles have been around for well over 100 years, EVs are still in their infancy comparatively speaking
EDIT: I specifically speaking about road trips, not local DC Fast Charging.
As an EV x2 owner, this works now, because we are a small subset of the driving population. As the EV adoption increases, we will find lines waiting to use DC fast chargers. So, let’s take a gas station on a heavy use highway like the NJ Turnpike. It is fair to say they have 12-20 fuel pumps servicing all the ICE vehicles that come through (ignoring the truck pumps and trucks). How many EV DC chargers would you need to ensure EV owners can pull up, wait 10-15 minutes (like I often did in line for a pump), then be able to charge in 10 minutes?
We will need some serous numbers of chargers to facilitate road tripping EV owners once adoption is anywhere close to 50% of passenger vehicles. 15 minutes per user really ties up the “pump” if there is a line. You also can’t go inside and leave your vehicle at this time.
So it is something we will have to find a solution to. But, as we EV owners know, this only happens during trips, we save time the rest of the year, when we can charge at home.
And that is where Goverment Policy needs to play a role. In most of Europe, that started a long time ago. There is excellent coverage, and yet still expanding, such that you can go with an EV from say Norway down to Spain without issues. In August, typically a lot of countries have school holidays at the same time, the route-du-soleil (route to the sun) can get busy nowadays, but just like with ICE cars and busy service stations, people are herd animals and stop at the same time when leaving from the same country. In my experience, you often just drive on to the next service station and all of a sudden, it is a lot quieter.
Charging on street infrastructure in places like the Netherlands is outstanding. We are lucky as in our inner-city home we have off-road parking, which is unusual, and we are having dual charging points installed. But on our road, which is in a protected historic area, there are a whopping 12 on-street chargers. Not that different on the surrounding streets. Heck even where my parents live which is a very remote coastal area they've put in all on-street guest parking area dual charging bays.
Other government policy also dictates for many years now that for new builds provisions for charging must be made, both homes and apartments. And basically any destination carpark has them as well.
I just don't think about it.
Charging on street infrastructure in places like the Netherlands is outstanding. We are lucky as in our inner-city home we have off-road parking, which is unusual, and we are having dual charging points installed. But on our road, which is in a protected historic area, there are a whopping 12 on-street chargers. Not that different on the surrounding streets. Heck even where my parents live which is a very remote coastal area they've put in all on-street guest parking area dual charging bays.
Other government policy also dictates for many years now that for new builds provisions for charging must be made, both homes and apartments. And basically any destination carpark has them as well.
I just don't think about it.
First the excellent retro Renault 5 (and Alpine A270)...But now the BMW i1....Those of you wanting smaller hatchback have some good times ahead...
www.autocar.co.uk
BMW 1 Series to be reinvented as radical EV hatchback | Autocar
BMW's Neue Klasse platform will be used for new i1 hatch - and a taller i3 replacement
www.autocar.co.uk
And as some have desired, the change is happening. Volkswagen is bringing out a much cheaper, lower powered (still 170Hp) and smaller battery (still 388Km range) version of the ID3. Here come the cheaper EVs. More than sufficient for most people and most journeys.
www.autoweek.nl
Elektrische Volkswagen ID3 flink goedkoper als minder potente Pure -
De Volkswagen ID3 krijgt een nieuwe motorversie. Die heeft een kleinere accu én een minder sterke elektromotor. Het gevolg: een lagere vanafprijs.
www.autoweek.nl
Tesla does have a 800v pack (the Cybertruck). With no way to charge it at 800v (currently).
Yea, I forgot about the CT. Don’t know if you could charge it at a 350kW station with an adapter though
It's been over 2 years now that we've gone fully EV. Never regretted a single moment of it. It is typically the car of our choice whether we take a short trip, or do a pan European trip. Our first venture was a brand new Polestar 2 with the full Pilot and Plus packs, and Performance upgrade. Although the Snow (white pearl metallic) was an extra, my wife was smitten with the Aston Martin F1 Green livery, so we did a full colour change 2 years ago. And it is still holding up.
Over the last few months I've done a lot of test drives of both new and old, and really got to learn that Polestar has done a lot of things very right, from using the existing Volvo dealer network, to the way it handles and is set up properly for the pan-European road trips. Very excited about the Polestar 3 for which deliveries have started, which is a larger family SUV.
Over the last few months I've done a lot of test drives of both new and old, and really got to learn that Polestar has done a lot of things very right, from using the existing Volvo dealer network, to the way it handles and is set up properly for the pan-European road trips. Very excited about the Polestar 3 for which deliveries have started, which is a larger family SUV.