EVs not ready for prime time?

[MillCreek]

Back in 2020, at the height of my left hip problems, when I could no longer swing a leg over the bicycles and motorcycle, I bought a 2011 Yamaha Zuma 125 flat floor scooter, and a 2020 Tern HSD 8Si electric cargo bicycle with a step through frame.  The Tern cost me just over $ 4000.  By doing this, I was still able to enjoy two wheels.  Now that I am all better after the left hip replacement, I still enjoy riding both the Yamaha and the Tern.  I can turn off the battery assist completely on the bicycle and pedal along, or if I want some extra speed or help on the hills, I can turn on the battery motor.  With the crate on the back of the Tern, I can ride down to some of the local breweries and pick up a six pack or growler to bring back home.  It is a great bicycle, and I probably ride it the most frequently of all my bicycles, which include the Tern, two road bikes and a mountain bike.

[charby]

I'm also going to be curious in the meantime (as the charging stations get better and more accessible) for folks like me who are given a company car for work and drive 30-40k miles per year.

[MechAg94]

I wouldn't mind an electric version of my Dad's UTV.  Mainly to be able to cruise around the woods quietly.  Not sure the cost is worth it since I can just walk.

[WLJ]

Irony can be pretty ironic

    Maine's vote on banning gas cars was supposed to be today but was postponed due to widespread power outages.

    Happy solstice.
    — Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) December 21, 2023

https://twitchy.com/dougp/2023/12/21/maine-vote-to-ban-gas-powered-cars-in-favor-of-evs-postponed-the-most-ironic-reason-n2391035

https://twitter.com/kerpen/status/1737862698614833268

[AZRedhawk44]

I wouldn't mind an electric version of my Dad's UTV.  Mainly to be able to cruise around the woods quietly.  Not sure the cost is worth it since I can just walk.

Same.  An electric quad or ranch utility vehicle could interest me.

[WLJ]

I wouldn't mind an electric version of my Dad's UTV.  Mainly to be able to cruise around the woods quietly.  Not sure the cost is worth it since I can just walk.

Being far quieter would be a big plus IMHO

[dogmush]

Plenty of options:


https://www.huntve.com/copy-of-models

https://landmaster.com/utility-vehicles/amp-4x4-crew-2024

https://www.polaris.com/en-us/off-road/ranger/models/ranger-xp-kinetic/?model=ranger-xp-kinetic-ultimate&option=2-SEAT&trim=icy-white-pearl

https://www.drrusa.com/ev-pathfinder-electric-utv

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/4-wheel-electric-tricycle-Cargo-electric_1600079365560.html

^^Video on that Chang Li: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bixJDOH864U


ETA:  Apparently there's and electric Gator too:  https://www.deere.com/en/gator-utility-vehicles/traditional-gators/te-4x2-electric-utility-vehicle/

[Ben]

Plenty of options:

https://www.polaris.com/en-us/off-road/ranger/models/ranger-xp-kinetic/?model=ranger-xp-kinetic-ultimate&option=2-SEAT&trim=icy-white-pearl


ETA:  Apparently there's and electric Gator too:  https://www.deere.com/en/gator-utility-vehicles/traditional-gators/te-4x2-electric-utility-vehicle/

Yikes! No thanks. Polaris actually put out an electric 570 the year after I got my 500, and I was thinking, "Man I should have waited a year", because for my uses, and electric would be just fine. But I distinctly remember that the local dealer was selling it for $16ishK. The one in the link is $30K, which is more than double what a gasser 570 goes for, and triple the $10K I paid for my 2020 500.

I can only imagine what the electric Gator goes for, given John Deere is already pretty proud of their stuff.

[cordex]

The Chang Li looks kind of cool.  If landed price were closer to $4k then I'd be significantly more interested.  It doesn't look quite as capable as I'd want when it comes to hills and the woods, but it would get plenty of use around the property.

A lot of the other electric UTVs are way outside my price range for that kind of thing.

[Ben]

Ok, I actually hit the link on the Gator, and it's going for $15.5K. That's actually competitive, though I expect the 4x4 is a couple grand more. I don't know what the heck is going on with that Polaris.

[Perd Hapley]

I'm more curious about that $10K Toyota truck I've been hearing about. How come the furriners get all the cool stuff?

[Northwoods]

I'm more curious about that $10K Toyota truck I've been hearing about. How come the furriners get all the cool stuff?

No crash standards or emissions requirements.

[Pb]

I'm more curious about that $10K Toyota truck I've been hearing about. How come the furriners get all the cool stuff?

Yeah, that does sound neat.  Though I am not sure about door locks being optional... 

Apparently the tarriff on imported trucks is high, so that hurts us here.

[AZRedhawk44]

No crash standards or emissions requirements.

Not really.  The real culprit is CAFE standards.

[Northwoods]

Not really.  The real culprit is CAFE standards.

That's part of emissions requirements.  Indirectly but still part. 

The lack of passing DOT crash standards, and not having modern emissions equipment though is a big part of why they aren't imported until 25 years old.

[HankB]

I saw my first Tesla truck the other day, parked outside the local Barnes & Noble in Bee Cave, Texas.

My impression: That is one ugly ass truck. It looks a LOT worse in person than it does on TV or in pictures.

[Boomhauer]

I saw my first Tesla truck the other day, parked outside the local Barnes & Noble in Bee Cave, Texas.

My impression: That is one ugly ass truck. It looks a LOT worse in person than it does on TV or in pictures.

I like Elon and I like a lot of what he’s doing or trying to do with SoaceX and Tesla

His stainless steel dorito is a complete WTF moment though. None of it makes any kind of logical sense and it is something you can just look at and tell is absolutely useless and stupid.

[Perd Hapley]

I like Elon and I like a lot of what he’s doing or trying to do with SoaceX and Tesla

His stainless steel dorito is a complete WTF moment though. None of it makes any kind of logical sense and it is something you can just look at and tell is absolutely useless and stupid.

The stainless steel doritos are actually pretty good if you dip them in SoaceX.

[WLJ]

The stainless steel doritos are actually pretty good if you dip them in SoaceX.

Their Raptor sauce is really spicy. Just got to watch out for pieces of concrete and you may destroy your toilet.

[Hawkmoon]

The Chang Li looks kind of cool.  If landed price were closer to $4k then I'd be significantly more interested.  It doesn't look quite as capable as I'd want when it comes to hills and the woods, but it would get plenty of use around the property.

A lot of the other electric UTVs are way outside my price range for that kind of thing.

I like the ChangLi, but when I first hit the link I got an error message informing me that it's not available in my region. I fired up a VPN set to Japan and then I was able to view it.

[MillCreek]

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/ev-battery-icbc-writeoff

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/yikes-the-60000-hyundai-ioniq-5-battery-replacement-saga-continues-226590.html

Hmm, very minor damage to a battery pack can result in an essentially new car being scrapped, at least in British Columbia.

[Northwoods]

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/ev-battery-icbc-writeoff

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/yikes-the-60000-hyundai-ioniq-5-battery-replacement-saga-continues-226590.html

Hmm, very minor damage to a battery pack can result in an essentially new car being scrapped, at least in British Columbia.

Given the higher than you'd like probability of spontaneous combustion that's not entirely unreasonable.

That said I think some important advances that will be demanded by the marketplace (probably via insurance companies) will be finding ways to make batteries that A) don't self-immolate from minor damage, and B) can have damaged/failing portions replaced without scrapping the whole battery pack.

[zahc]

Rented a car for a 2 week trip from Columbus OH airport, Avis "upgraded" me a plug-in hybrid.

Thought it would be fun to check out my actual MPG, see how long it would run on pure electric, etc.

When I picked it up the battery was on 0%, even though they apparently had chargers in the garage. Asked the attendant how to charge it, do I have to bring it back fully charged, etc, he had no clue as expected. It was midnight so I figured I would call later.

Next day I checked US govt website (pretty good) and downloaded the most popular app to find chargers. Zero J1772 chargers available in the city I'm visiting. Zero. A small fleet of superchargers, but those don't work. Official adapter doesn't exist; unofficial adapters exist, but are hundreds of dollars.

My fallback plan was charge it off a regular extension cord. Can't do it out of the box. Need a special pigtail thing, rental company probably should have given me one. Really stupid you can't charge it off an extension cord.

The car says fully charging the battery would take 14 hours on an extension cord, 3 hours on a proper charger. At this rate it looks like I'm going to spend the whole trip on gasoline, dragging around an empty battery and motors...a true compliance car

[MillCreek]

My fallback plan was charge it off a regular extension cord. Can't do it out of the box. Need a special pigtail thing, rental company probably should have given me one. Really stupid you can't charge it off an extension cord.

So I learn something every day and I would have had no idea that you would need an adapter to charge it off a 110 circuit.  I wonder if that is common across plug in hybrids.

[HankB]

So I learn something every day and I would have had no idea that you would need an adapter to charge it off a 110 circuit.  I wonder if that is common across plug in hybrids.

My next door neighbor has a Hyundai Ioniq and she has a special charging cord with a good sized in-line converter (transformer?) to charge he car from a standard wall outlet. It seems to suit her just fine for topping off the battery every day since most of her trips are local, but I don't think she wants to admit to just how long it takes her to charge the vehicle from the wall plug if she lets the battery get really low.