SOMETHING BIG IS COMING...

[McHenry2500]

but rather this neutered amorphous blob.

Honestly, I prefer the blob over the CG rendered version above. I was very pro-EV early on and even built an EV motorcycle in college. The technology is getting better every year. Would I buy one of the first REV's in '24? No. But I'd be willing to buy one down the line when they have more models that suit more needs.

 

[techman]

Until range is 400 miles plus regardless of climate and charging stations are as quick and plentiful as gas stations are today, hard pass.

Thanks to all the early adopters who have to have one and are working out the bugs for me. I honestly think it will be decades before the EV hype becomes more commonplace.

 

[jsalbre]

Until range is 400 miles plus regardless of climate and charging stations are as quick and plentiful as gas stations are today, hard pass.

Thanks to all the early adopters who have to have one and are working out the bugs for me. I honestly think it will be decades before the EV hype becomes more commonplace.

I'm not sure "hype" is the right word, because that implies there's no real use case, but for the vast majority of drivers in the US almost every EV on the market will meet their daily range requirements. Drive to work, drive home, drive to the store, charge at home.

They may not be "there" yet for heavy users (towing, long range, etc), but remember that most people driving half ton pickups are using them like the family car, *not* for towing.

 

[techman]

Maybe hype isn't the right word, but if EV's meet the need of the vast majority of drivers I would think EV sales would be exponentially higher. I just don't see it...yet. I think the charging infrastructure is the problem no one is seriously looking at. But, I suppose the car manufacturers are going by the "build it and they will come" adage.

How's the EV used/pre-owned market? I know several owners of hybrids that have bailed on theirs at 100K miles because they are convinced the batteries will be toast and not worth replacing.

Would you buy a used Tesla?

 

[jsalbre]

Maybe hype isn't the right word, but if EV's meet the need of the vast majority of drivers I would think EV sales would be exponentially higher. I just don't see it...yet. I think the charging infrastructure is the problem no one is seriously looking at. But, I suppose the car manufacturers are going by the "build it and they will come" adage.

How's the EV used/pre-owned market? I know several owners of hybrids that have bailed on theirs at 100K miles because they are convinced the batteries will be toast and not worth replacing.

Would you buy a used Tesla?

I haven't done much research, but I've heard the market for used Teslas is actually really good. I personally wouldn't buy one, but I wouldn't buy a new one either. Their consistency and quality control is abysmal. If I were looking for an EV it would 100% be the Hyundai Ionic 5. That's a damn good looking car.

 

[tchur1]

Maybe hype isn't the right word, but if EV's meet the need of the vast majority of drivers I would think EV sales would be exponentially higher. I just don't see it...yet. I think the charging infrastructure is the problem no one is seriously looking at. But, I suppose the car manufacturers are going by the "build it and they will come" adage.

How's the EV used/pre-owned market? I know several owners of hybrids that have bailed on theirs at 100K miles because they are convinced the batteries will be toast and not worth replacing.

Would you buy a used Tesla?

Im not sure where you live but I think this is really regional. I live in Lake Tahoe and EVs are VERY prevalent in this area. I see Rivians and Tesla's all over the place now.

 

[arx237]

"build it and they will come"

"build it because it is/going to be a federal requirement".

Cali's goalpost is 2030.

Cant wait to see how well electric garbage trucks work out

 

[techman]

Also, if there is a big push from the "government" to mandate EV's. Then why aren't local, state, federal governmental fleet's on the EV bandwagon? Where are the USPS delivery EV's? My town buys only gas/diesel for town employee's. No Hybrids even.

Do as we say, not as we do?

 

[techman]

Im not sure where you live but I think this is really regional. I live in Lake Tahoe and EVs are VERY prevalent in this area. I see Rivians and Tesla's all over the place now.

Affluent areas, you definitely see them for sure.

 

[Pitboss44]

Also, if there is a big push from the "government" to mandate EV's. Then why aren't local, state, federal governmental fleet's on the EV bandwagon? Where are the USPS delivery EV's? My town buys only gas/diesel for town employee's. No Hybrids even.

Do as we say, not as we do?

Have you seen those ugly ass “next gen usps” vehicles? They say they get like 8 or 9 mpg.

 

[jsalbre]

"build it because it is/going to be a federal requirement".

Cali's goalpost is 2030.

Cant wait to see how well electric garbage trucks work out

I'm not sure electric garbage trucks would be a problem at all. Most city buses are hybrids and there are a number of electric ones running around in big cities. They operate a lot like garbage trucks.

 

[jsalbre]

Have you seen those ugly ass “next gen usps” vehicles? They say they get like 8 or 9 mpg.

9 mpg for a vehicle that does 99% of it's driving at 3 mph and stops every 50' is pretty good I'd think.

 

[McHenry2500]

Also, if there is a big push from the "government" to mandate EV's. Then why aren't local, state, federal governmental fleet's on the EV bandwagon? Where are the USPS delivery EV's? My town buys only gas/diesel for town employee's. No Hybrids even.

Do as we say, not as we do?

I travel alot of the country for work and can say I'm seeing more police/municipal electric vehicles. Hell, supposedly that Ford Mustang-E is gonna be the new police cruiser.

 

[Pitboss44]

9 mpg for a vehicle that does 99% of it's driving at 3 mph and stops every 50' is pretty good I'd think.

I wouldn’t say it’s next gen good

 

[jsalbre]

I wouldn’t say it’s next gen good

It's a .5 mpg improvement over the LLV, but that's with AC on (which the old trucks didn't have). without AC they're supposed to get almost 15 mpg.

 

[arx237]

They operate a lot like garbage trucks.

Meh, I suppose in the sense that they have wheels and carry stuff.

Refuse trucks are bottom of the effeciency lists on all the fun gov sites. I would think there would be a little more effort to get them on the streets if making them work wasnt a problem at all.

 

[H3LZSN1P3R]

I'm not sure electric garbage trucks would be a problem at all. Most city buses are hybrids and there are a number of electric ones running around in big cities. They operate a lot like garbage trucks.

A bus has no hydraulics you cant run battery electric hydraulics very easily it would need a massive power pack to be able to run the compactor all day

 

[jsalbre]

A bus has no hydraulics you cant run battery electric hydraulics very easily it would need a massive power pack to be able to run the compactor all day

That’s a good point, I hadn’t thought about that. I wonder if they’d be a good use case for an electric vehicle with a small engine driven pump.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Also, if there is a big push from the "government" to mandate EV's. Then why aren't local, state, federal governmental fleet's on the EV bandwagon? Where are the USPS delivery EV's? My town buys only gas/diesel for town employee's. No Hybrids even.

Do as we say, not as we do?

We tried it (local/county gov't) and still have a lot of hybrids but no more plug-ins. Once the leases expired we let them go back. Part of the issue was just budget concerns. EVs are more expensive up front than comparative ICE vehicles. Our fleet services garages were not trained or equipped to work on EVs, so training costs or new hires would be needed. The biggest stumbling block was take up car policies, though. If the employee was unable to charge the vehicle at home, it was problematic. The employees were reimbursed for the electricity and the gov't did the install for the charging station, but of course not every employee owns their own home or has off street parking. Then what if the employee moved and the gov't was on the hook for another install? The costs for 3 years of plug ins was higher than the cost of 3 years of something like a hybrid Camry. Ultimately it just didn't make financial sense to have plug-ins over more mild hybrids, so now the fleet is a mix of hybrids and ICE.

The city bus network is still experimenting with electric and hydrogen bus multi-year pilot programs. So far they are both working just fine, but I don't know how the budgeting is working out for them, they aren't under my same umbrella.

USPS has been trying to increase EV usage with various designs submitted: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/nat...ploy-over-66000-electric-vehicles-by-2028.htm

• Postal Service anticipates increasing the quantity of purpose-built Next Generation Delivery Vehicles (NGDV) to a minimum of 60,000 of which at least 45,000 will be battery electric by 2028. NGDV acquisitions delivered in 2026 and thereafter expected to be 100% electric.

 

[techman]

Docwagon, excellent points!!

I figured adoption of EV's is a lot more than just buying/leasing them for fleets. There are a lot of moving parts that the ICE infrastructure already has in place. EV's are here, no doubt, but there is a long road ahead for them to be truly commonplace.