Car lovers?

Agent 86 wrote:

To clarify, I think electric tow vehicles are inevitable but we have some time to kill before we get there.

Given how much money the trucking industry is worth and the potential savings of an electrified fleet, I agree with the inevitability.

Consumer-level hauling isn't the big money target, but it'll fall out of the development effort to electrify big rigs anyway.

You just need 2-3x more energy density vs modern batteries to make them viable tow rigs. Not a big deal, right?

(We'll get there, but don't assume soon)

My engineering takeaway from that video is that gasoline-powered cars are massively over-specced for their primary use-case while electric vehicles aren't (not least of all because they can't be).

Jonman wrote:

My engineering takeaway from that video is that gasoline-powered cars are massively over-specced for their primary use-case while electric vehicles aren't (not least of all because they can't be). :)

That was my takeaway too!

On the towing thing, I also see part of this as being an adjustment as to what one will tow with an EV. An EV (well, any passenger vehicle) towing a 14,000 lb travel trailer (!!) seems literally absurd to me. A smaller, more aerodynamic trailer is clearly going to make a difference here as well.

In brief, people should buy the vehicle that suits their needs (and budgets) and the people who think that EVs are for everyone or for no one are the same: clueless.

Taking the Lightning (which I have named Bluenose III - this is a Nova Scotia reference) from Boston to Halifax, NS tomorrow. It's about 1100 km (700 miles). I've mapped my route and expect stops in Augusta, ME, just over the border in St Stephen, NB and then in Moncton. Those are all about 180 miles apart and if all goes well, should get me to Halifax with about 30% charge left.

I'm a bit nervous about broken charge stations or busy/in use charge stations, but we shall see!

I upgraded from a Chevy Volt so the difference in what I can fit in the vehicle is profound.

Our 2023 Ioniq 5 arrives in a week, we started trying to find one in June, so its been a while! We'll have it for about a month and a half before taking a 1136 mile trip from Seattle to LA and back again a few days later, so a total crash course in the car and EV ownership in general. (its our first)

Got a favorite charge station locator / trip app? I tried ChargeHub but I don't like that you have to dig and dig to find the kW rating for the chargers. Apparently the in-dash navigation has a great trip planner and a great charge locator, but they dont really work together (second hand info)

Tach wrote:

An EV (well, any passenger vehicle) towing a 14,000 lb travel trailer (!!) seems literally absurd to me.

Maybe, but I can see an electric travel trailer (i.e. electric propulsion) being towed and controlled by an EV.

polypusher wrote:

Our 2023 Ioniq 5 arrives in a week, we started trying to find one in June, so its been a while! We'll have it for

Got a favorite charge station locator / trip app? I tried ChargeHub but I don't like that you have to dig and dig to find the kW rating for the chargers. Apparently the in-dash navigation has a great trip planner and a great charge locator, but they dont really work together (second hand info)

PlugShare seems to be the best I've found so far (in theory at least, in practice, I'll know tomorrow).

I've also installed all the various apps and put in a payment method for the different EV suppliers pre-emptively. This is great fun doing it for two different countries as well

Moggy wrote:
Tach wrote:

An EV (well, any passenger vehicle) towing a 14,000 lb travel trailer (!!) seems literally absurd to me.

Maybe, but I can see an electric travel trailer (i.e. electric propulsion) being towed and controlled by an EV.

Yes, that is at least reasonable. I mean, I wouldn't do it, but more competent people than me could.

Moggy wrote:
Tach wrote:

An EV (well, any passenger vehicle) towing a 14,000 lb travel trailer (!!) seems literally absurd to me.

Maybe, but I can see an electric travel trailer (i.e. electric propulsion) being towed and controlled by an EV.

True, but the economics of that gets pretty expensive.

People seem to just be thinking of personal use for towing these big trailers. This isn't all recreational stuff with people towing luxury things like boats, campers, and toy haulers.

What about the contractor hauling a big piece of equipment? Make them add $10K+ worth of batteries plus some motors and controllers to manage all of that stuff and you've got expensive trailers. That's potentially a high barrier to entry for the small contractor.

I think diesel is going to be around for quite awhile yet for some of these use cases. Probably not insurmountable, but it's a difficult challenge.

Alright, I did the drive from Boston to Halifax, NS and then one week later the return.

On the way there, I did it in one day (700 miles/1100 km). I stopped in Augusta, ME to use the fast charger (true fast charger - 160 kW). Truck went from 30% to 87% charge in about 40 minutes. Then into the charging desert. In eastern Maine, there are 0 chargers. Literally 0.

Across the border in southern NB (St Stephen) I stopped and charged at a "fast" charger that capped out at 50 kW. Went to lunch, walked around a bit and once the truck was back at 80%, pushed on to Moncton, NB.

There had to move to my second choice of charger (Magnetic Hill), where again the charger maxed out at 50 kW. Had dinner, walked around a bit and (impatiently) left when the truck was at 77% after 2 hours.

Made it to my place in Nova Scotia with 8% battery (!!).

My takeaways:

1) Split the drive into two days (which I did on the way back). The slow "fast" chargers add about 3 hours on to the trip making it non-feasible to really do in one day with a single driver.
2) The range estimate given by the software on the truck is wildly useless. This is supposed to get better as it learns how I drive etc., but as it stands, not even close (it underestimates).
3) Developed my own rule of thumb - 1% of battery (Lariat Extended Range battery) is 2.5 miles or 4 km. Knowing and using this made it much easier to deal with range anxiety.
4) Eastern Canada needs to get their sh*t together and put in proper EV charging infrastructure. There aren't enough and the ones that are there aren't fast enough.
5) Driving it is extremely pleasant. It's comfortable, spacious, people are less likely to cut me off then when I was driving a Chevy Volt.
6) While in Nova Scotia towed a boat. Range estimate still basically useless, but the backup with trailer aids were very important to me since I've never done it before.
7) Everyone wants to talk to you about your truck. This includes the US border guard who I had a ten minute conversation with (thrilling the people behind me I'm sure). Luckily, I love talking about my truck

Sounds like a fun trip!

just wondering what philosophy you all have on car maintenance. Just went to the toyota dealer in chicago after owning my car for about 10k miles and they said i needed $2200 of maintenance.... feel like it's a scam, and even if it's not, i think you might be better off just not doing any of these things and replacing the car at 100k from all the money you save.

https://consumer.xtime.com/asrmicros...

FiveIron wrote:

just wondering what philosophy you all have on car maintenance. Just went to the toyota dealer in chicago after owning my car for about 10k miles and they said i needed $2200 of maintenance.... feel like it's a scam, and even if it's not, i think you might be better off just not doing any of these things and replacing the car at 100k from all the money you save.

https://consumer.xtime.com/asrmicros...

For maintenance, find an independent but reputable shop. That's nuts.

To clarify, is this a car with 10K miles, or a car you've owned for 10K and has additional miles on it? Because I don't know why you'd need something like a brake fluid flush at 10K.

If it's more than 10K miles, you may be the recipient of a bunch of deferred maintenance from a prior owner. But those prices are still nuts.

Also why I do all the basics myself, but I know most can't or don't want to.

EDIT: Just noticed it's a 2015, so that answers my question on the used status. I'd still check around to find a reputable shop that works on imports.

EDIT2: Some of those things I wouldn't skip and just not do. For instance, if a reputable shop thought my coolant was bad and I lived in Chicago, I'd get that coolant replacement ASAP. A PCV valve is a $10 part that is generally easily replaced unless it is buried somewhere, but if it's bad, it can cause oil consumption or cause the engine to run poorly.

If the hybrid battery cooling fan is really clogged then yes it needs attention, but $441.17? Here's how to do the filter.

Or you could take it to this guy; he's in the Chicago area.

(He's been banging the drum about some time for keeping that battery airflow clear. It does help the battery life.)

Agathos wrote:

If the hybrid battery cooling fan is really clogged then yes it needs attention, but $441.17? Here's how to do the filter.

Or you could take it to this guy; he's in the Chicago area.

(He's been banging the drum about some time for keeping that battery airflow clear. It does help the battery life.)

wow just watched the video and can't believe that wanted 440 for that.

My maintenance philosophy runs as follows:

1: Do the scheduled maintenance per the manual, as it comes due. Slouching on those is how you end up with more expensive failures.

2: assuming you have a trusted mechanic, deal with any safety related issue they find immediately. Defer cosmetic issues forever unless doing so would cause further damage e.g. rust

3: have a conversation with them about the need for non-safety-related things they find. Ask "what happens if i do nothing about this". Consider how long you can reasonably defer it and whether doing so impacts any safety margins (i.e. bald tires not worth deferring because of the increased risk of poor braking performance, but you could defer fixing the back seat passenger window motor for the life of the car).

Basically boils down to asking what you're going to get for the repair money - if the answer is "more safety" or "less cost in the long run", pay it.

In their defense, after I shared that first video Youtube suggested this one, which actually removes the seat and gets at the fan itself.

Definitely a bigger job, but is it a $440 job? Is it necessary if the filter is doing its job? I'm not sure.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Car finally came! I’m working from home so I only got to take it around the block a few times, but I’m very impressed. The most surprising thing is how they manage to engineer such a spacious feeling interior into a car that looks quite small from the outside. The blend of luxury feel and sportiness inside is also great. I don’t care what youtubers say, I love piano black lol.

I came to seek out the thread again and realized I never provided a rather big update.

The VW had a weird issue where the interior windows would collect condensation and the only workable solution I found online was driving with the windows open and the heat blasting. This wasn’t great in November in New England. That, plus the feeling it was just too fast for me, plus my wife utterly hating it, led me to exercise the Carvana return policy. It took them about 3 weeks and a few delays to get my replacement.

I am now the happy driver of a 2015 BMW 428i Gran Coupe. I ordered it from them on a whim, because I needed to pick something, and my intention was to just try the BMW out. But I ended up falling in love with it.

It’s got a truly sick red, black and aluminum finish to the interior, with the classic BMW white paint. For those who don’t speak BMW, Gran Coupe means it has the body frame of the Coupe, but stretches a little to fit 4 doors. It also has a lift-back hatch so the cargo solution is excellent. It is BMW’s equivalent to an Audi A5 Sportback.

I was a little uneasy about getting the lowest power version of the car but it is plenty quick enough for me. It is also very agile thanks to the M-sport suspension package (which also bestows a much cooler looking steering wheel).

I’ve had it a year and two months now and no problems at all.

https://icedrive.net/s/vya3z7NQGPy8R... exterior

https://icedrive.net/s/aAabiStAktZ5Q... interior

Had to lose the nice tints due to state policy though.

That said… my itch for manual shifting has become insatiable. I’ve also always admired roadsters. My employer opened the floodgates of overtime and I’ve been taking advantage since November.

So I’m buying an old Miata. 2001 to be specific.

It isn’t a finalized deal yet but I’m 99% sure. It is my favorite color, green, which looks very classy over a tan leather interior. I never really thought to say Miata and classy in the same sentence but the NB generation really looks like a miniature Jaguar XK to me.

https://icedrive.net/s/4gb3bPXXZiBPN...

https://icedrive.net/s/iGiCTiXaVWhg7...

I also considered the low end of the newest generation Miata (2016) and the mid-range of the third gen (2011) but the 2001 was by far my favorite to drive. I also tried an old Porsche Boxster but didn’t like the clutch feel. Half the electronics also didn’t work, and while the dealer would fix that, it didn’t bode well for future running costs in my estimation.

Blind_Evil wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

Car finally came! I’m working from home so I only got to take it around the block a few times, but I’m very impressed. The most surprising thing is how they manage to engineer such a spacious feeling interior into a car that looks quite small from the outside. The blend of luxury feel and sportiness inside is also great. I don’t care what youtubers say, I love piano black lol.

I came to seek out the thread again and realized I never provided a rather big update.

The VW had a weird issue where the interior windows would collect condensation and the only workable solution I found online was driving with the windows open and the heat blasting. This wasn’t great in November in New England. That, plus the feeling it was just too fast for me, plus my wife utterly hating it, led me to exercise the Carvana return policy. It took them about 3 weeks and a few delays to get my replacement.

I am now the happy driver of a 2015 BMW 428i Gran Coupe. I ordered it from them on a whim, because I needed to pick something, and my intention was to just try the BMW out. But I ended up falling in love with it.

It’s got a truly sick red, black and aluminum finish to the interior, with the classic BMW white paint. For those who don’t speak BMW, Gran Coupe means it has the body frame of the Coupe, but stretches a little to fit 4 doors. It also has a lift-back hatch so the cargo solution is excellent. It is BMW’s equivalent to an Audi A5 Sportback.

I was a little uneasy about getting the lowest power version of the car but it is plenty quick enough for me. It is also very agile thanks to the M-sport suspension package (which also bestows a much cooler looking steering wheel).

I’ve had it a year and two months now and no problems at all.

https://icedrive.net/s/vya3z7NQGPy8R... exterior

https://icedrive.net/s/aAabiStAktZ5Q... interior

Had to lose the nice tints due to state policy though.

That said… my itch for manual shifting has become insatiable. I’ve also always admired roadsters. My employer opened the floodgates of overtime and I’ve been taking advantage since November.

So I’m buying an old Miata. 2001 to be specific.

It isn’t a finalized deal yet but I’m 99% sure. It is my favorite color, green, which looks very classy over a tan leather interior. I never really thought to say Miata and classy in the same sentence but the NB generation really looks like a miniature Jaguar XK to me.

https://icedrive.net/s/4gb3bPXXZiBPN...

https://icedrive.net/s/iGiCTiXaVWhg7...

I also considered the low end of the newest generation Miata (2016) and the mid-range of the third gen (2011) but the 2001 was by far my favorite to drive. I also tried an old Porsche Boxster but didn’t like the clutch feel. Half the electronics also didn’t work, and while the dealer would fix that, it didn’t bode well for future running costs in my estimation.

Nice on the MX-5! Any iteration of that is my dream car.

I miss read this thread’s title as ‘Cat lovers.’ Before checking the title again I was disturbed by the lack of focus on cats in favour of vehicular transport.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Nice on the MX-5! Any iteration of that is my dream car.

I had two of the NBs - my wife totalled the first (basic) one so i got to replace it with a Mazdaspeed one, and that one was a freaking brilliant little car to hoon around in.

There’s actually a decent mazdaspeed mx5 nearby that I could get but I prefer the LS that I’m buying for styling reasons. Also kinda miss natural aspiration.

Blind_Evil wrote:

There’s actually a decent mazdaspeed mx5 nearby that I could get but I prefer the LS that I’m buying for styling reasons. Also kinda miss natural aspiration.

I hear you, but the turbo on it was surprisingly spritely with minimal turbo lag and smooth power ramp-up.

My current WRX is certainly a lot turbo-ier both in terms of lag and oomph, and that's even comparing a twin turbo (WRX) with a single-spool (Mx-5).

The Mazdaspeeds will all be getting on in years anyway - the NB was the only generation to offer them.

Yeah, and only 2004-2005. But the LS I’m buying is a fairly pristine 2001, so age isn’t really a factor.

What is wrong with the BMW designers. Look what they did to the I7.

IMAGE(https://platform.cstatic-images.com/xxlarge/in/v2/aa18cc0f-1f79-5139-a140-a06c6cf9fc2d/279ddf2e-e21f-4e8d-a70f-dc7d9b2c4efd/OyMXM1UQ7jj3lDbdUeinmQ1_t0I.jpg)

IMAGE(https://platform.cstatic-images.com/xxlarge/in/v2/aa18cc0f-1f79-5139-a140-a06c6cf9fc2d/279ddf2e-e21f-4e8d-a70f-dc7d9b2c4efd/AcIaSg56iU7jdLwZMo5y3TpvePo.jpg)

I remember when this was their best looking car. It's been a while hasn't it?

Stick a Chevy badge on that and you'd have fooled me.

I'm just here laughing at the people who thought Chris Bangle was bad.

Jonman wrote:

Stick a Chevy badge on that and you'd have fooled me.

I don't think I've ever seen something that ugly with a bowtie on the front. Chevy styling is often bland and uninspired, but I feel like it's rarely actively ugly.

Phishposer wrote:

I'm just here laughing at the people who thought Chris Bangle was bad.

As someone who has always hated his work, I stand by that opinion. I don't think I have ever claimed anything along the lines of "nothing could be worse than a Chris Bangle design", but if I have then I stand corrected.

ElectricPi wrote:
Phishposer wrote:

I'm just here laughing at the people who thought Chris Bangle was bad.

As someone who has always hated his work, I stand by that opinion.

Oh for sure. And I agree this is soooo much worse (and those were Not Great).

I dunno who likes the enormous grills, but it ain't me.