The EV Thread

Anyone here drive an EV? Curious about what you all are driving, how the experience has been, and any other bits of advice/experiences you may have to share.

I think this is where I'm going for my next car. The Chevy Bolts are going to be so cheap once the federal tax rebate hits in January, and the reviews seem solid outside of a slower charging battery. Non-issue for me since I would charge at my house every night and my commute isn't too long.

Anyway, just curious.

Thanks!

 

I drive a Renault Zoë. It’s an older model with 100mi range but that’s all I really need.

I live in an apartment too but the closest charging station is just a block from me so not a huge deal. Fast charging takes about an hour but I’d rather do slow overnight charging since it preserves the battery. One of the bonuses with home charging is that you can run the climate control while charging so it’s the right temp when you need to unplug an leave. Very useful in freezing or hot weather.

One thing is that buying used is a great deal. A lot of people still have the mindset as gas cars where past a certain mileage the performance goes way down. However EV cars have far less moving parts and motors are brushless which means minimal friction. Due to regenerative braking your brakes last much longer too. There’s reports of a fleet of early Tesla’s logging well over 300,000 mi and no plans to sell due to drops in performance. One of my favorite things though is how quiet it is. Loud motors annoy me now and music in the car is far more enjoyable.

Max efficiency is a bit different. Regular cars tend to be most efficient on the freeway at speeds of 60mph. An EV has max efficiency at slow speeds.