real world EVs review

[oilhammer]

The US as a whole is still globally less taxes (percentage wise) than a lot of countries. Yes, it varies state to state, as do plenty of other things. And thankfully, we are free to move about if there is something that doesn't set well in a specific state or area with you.

Missouri has taxes yearly on vehicles, too... .but it is laughably cheap especially on anything after 10 years. Which is why I can have a bunch of old cars for next to nothing so long as I have a place to keep them all (which thankfully I do!).

 

[lemoncurd]

But if you own old cars the taxes are minimal. I have a lot of family in California. If you think it's expensive here, try there. 9.5% sales tax in Los Angeles is a good starting point.

yeah true, i just get around it by not registering in the state.... my residency is technically not CT anyways, though i am a qualified CT resident for income tax purposes.... which is annoying.

 

[turbobrick240]

Not all of New England does that - New Jersey doesn't assess property tax on vehicles, fortunately (at least not yet - don't let them hear you, they'll get ideas!!). Of course, whether you consider NJ to be "New England" or "Mid-Atlantic" depends on your point of view...

I don't think anybody considers New Jersey to be part of New England. At least nobody in New England.

The taxes may be high in the Nordic countries, but that has nothing to do with why they have no trouble charging their EVs. Unless you want to argue that a free college education makes for better informed owners. That one small Chicago supercharger station that had a backup during a freak cold snap will probably still be fueling the social media feeds of knuckle draggers 20 years from now, lol.

 

[gulfcoastguy]

Back to the Teslapop incident. The Supercharger was a V2 meaning 2 cables shared the same 150 kW supply. If both are in use each car draws 75 kW under optimal conditions. This slowed die charging. Then many cars were base model Tesla 3’s driven by rideshare drivers like Uber. Base model 3’s use LFP batteries which are particularly vulnerable to cold. With slow charging vehicles, vehicles in line either ran out of juice trying not to freeze or their batteries cooled off slowing charging when or if they got a chance.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

This suggests that TSLA still isn't a real carmaker who tests their vehicles in extreme hot and cold before they ever start production.

 

[turbobrick240]

Yes, the best selling car in the world last year was made by a fake car maker, lol. You can make the best ICEV in the world, but if the idiot owner runs it out of fuel...

 

[Daemon64]

Not all of New England does that - New Jersey doesn't assess property tax on vehicles, fortunately (at least not yet - don't let them hear you, they'll get ideas!!). Of course, whether you consider NJ to be "New England" or "Mid-Atlantic" depends on your point of view...

New Jersey, New York are not part of New England.

New England is -- Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

and onto "Tax Rate" Effective tax rate is much different. My wife and I make really good money w/ our 5 jobs between us... and effectively our tax rate is really low, most of our income falls under the 22% rate but beyond that, its much better than that due to married deductible, credits for a million things, running business as an Scorp and the advantages that brings... all and all take home and etc... after everything we're taxed about 30% absolute max, between everything... Its about how you position things... and we live in massachusetts ofc

 

[El Dobro]

Back to the Teslapop incident. The Supercharger was a V2 meaning 2 cables shared the same 150 kW supply. If both are in use each car draws 75 kW under optimal conditions. This slowed die charging. Then many cars were base model Tesla 3’s driven by rideshare drivers like Uber. Base model 3’s use LFP batteries which are particularly vulnerable to cold. With slow charging vehicles, vehicles in line either ran out of juice trying not to freeze or their batteries cooled off slowing charging when or if they got a chance.

Plus, real Tesla owners know that you turn on the preconditioning before you go to the charging stations, so the battery is warmed to accept the charge.

 

[turbobrick240]

Good news for anyone considering buying a new ID4 with the SK On (not LG) battery pack:

VW says 'most' 2023, 2024 ID.4s will get full $7,500 EV tax credit

"Most" 2023 and 2024 VW ID.4s will qualify for the full US EV tax credit in 2024 – here's the lowdown on eligibility.

electrek.co

 

[gulfcoastguy]

Plus, real Tesla owners know that you turn on the preconditioning before you go to the charging stations, so the battery is warmed to accept the charge.

Unless it cools back down while they are waiting.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

"Real Tesla owners" That's funny. But I guess we're all "real TDI owners."

 

[oilhammer]

Yes, the best selling car in the world last year was made by a fake car maker, lol. You can make the best ICEV in the world, but if the idiot owner runs it out of fuel...

Well heck, they sell them at fake dealers, so....

 

[Zak99b5]

When you hit E on a gas or diesel car, you know you have to get fuel. In the back of your mind, you remember that there's actually a small bit of fuel after that (Reserve--remember the old air-cooled VW gas gauges?), but you know you need to fill up toot sweet.

In an EV, it's telling you that you have 1/4 of the battery's power left. But you'd better recharge or you'll wind up stuck in the cold with a dead car.
The SOC percent is lying to you. If 20% SOC means CHARGE NOW, it should read to the driver as 0%.

 

[oilhammer]

This is exactly why the local medical courier here ditched the Focus EVs they had a few years ago. Because the range indicator was so inaccurate, especially in the cold, that they couldn't rely on them and had to have a gasoline Focus on standby at all times. And really, they needed TWO of the electric versions anyway because they had to spend as much or eventually more time plugged in than they did actually in service. I guess the "improved technology" hasn't improved all that much.

Curious to see how Amazon's Rivian vans are doing. They have a whole giant fleet of them locally, but they still have bunches of gasoline and diesel powered ones, too. I'd imagine a lot of them will get crashed out of service before the batteries die, but I didn't pay any attention to them operating in the single digits.

 

[Daemon64]

This is exactly why the local medical courier here ditched the Focus EVs they had a few years ago. Because the range indicator was so inaccurate, especially in the cold, that they couldn't rely on them and had to have a gasoline Focus on standby at all times. And really, they needed TWO of the electric versions anyway because they had to spend as much or eventually more time plugged in than they did actually in service. I guess the "improved technology" hasn't improved all that much.

Curious to see how Amazon's Rivian vans are doing. They have a whole giant fleet of them locally, but they still have bunches of gasoline and diesel powered ones, too. I'd imagine a lot of them will get crashed out of service before the batteries die, but I didn't pay any attention to them operating in the single digits.

The vans have more than enough capacity. Fleet design IMHO is an absolutely perfect scenario if the logistics are done right. You have route thats less than the total range. Amazon says that the vans are capable of 120 miles fully loaded, and that their routes do not exceed 50 total miles. So you drive it 50 miles thats around 42% of the battery used, even if that doubled at 84% for some reason their is still 16% to get you back. The vehicles are 201 mile range vehicles( EPA ) with decent efficiency for a box, so I'd believe amazon when talking about the "range". Thing is these vehicles are driven out on their routes, and returned to a lot or warehouse where they are plugged into lvl2 charges that charge so when the next use is needed... full battery and off again. So fleet logistics with mostly static routes are a good use for something like this, like an electric bus.

I've seen a bunch around here when it was 10-20 degrees out and they seemed fine.

 

[TomJD]

The Amazon Rivian vans were running around by my house when it was hovering around 0 degrees F last week.

I should have asked the guy what his range was.

Like all Amazon vans it was beat up. One recently hit my neighbors tree. We live in the city! You have to go out of your way to do something like that. The local body shop typically has 4 or 5 sitting in the lot (all ICE, no Rivians).

 

[oilhammer]

Yes, I agree they should be a good match for what they need to do. And the way the Promasters and Sprinters tear through brakes on them, any regen braking should also help with that. They probably chew up tires just as fast though.

We were servicing some Amazon vans for one of their subcontractors, and it was shocking just how beat up and tore up they were. I've never seen any company tear up service vehicles like they do. Most are devoid of a single straight panel (including the damn ROOF!) before they hit 30k miles. Door hinges mangled from flopping the doors open hard and breaking the checks, or worse, the door/body. Seats that look like an angry pack of puppies tore into them. Steering wheels worn down to the steel inner support. The Sprinters will have had both axles' brakes replaced before 20k miles (probably why the Transits are not used as much... they tear through rear brakes usually at 15-20k intervals on normal driving situations, these Amazon goons probably wipe them out before 10k!).

I know they don't keep their vehicles in service for very long. Curious how the Rivians will be, because there might be a glut of them available used before too long. Most of the ones I see around here have body side trim panels torn off of them.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

EV vans would work for Amazon if Amazon actually knew how to do logistics. Despite their reputed excellence in the field, they're failing badly- Built a several hundred thousand square foot warehouse in Sioux Falls and they're using less than 20% of it, and I just heard that in the Chicago area they've got 5 vacant warehouses with parking lots big enough to host an autocross. That's top management's mistakes, when it gets down to the level of warm bodies with a license they can put behind the wheel, will they even look at the "fuel" gauge? And oil hammer, from back when I helped keep some semblance of order in a 50+ door Postal Service loading dock, the courier companies had the worst drivers and the same beat vans with not a single virgin panel. We even had one scrunch up an Econoline on both sides by trying to fit it between a concrete building pillar and a Postal Service truck stopped less than an Econoline's width apart!

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I've been watching the dents accumulate in the Amazon EV vans near me. We joke about how, if UPS drivers are the best trained and monitored, Amazon drivers are absolutely the worst. They always struggle to make a delivery at my house without driving on the lawn.

 

[oilhammer]

UPS for sure, FOR SURE, is more selective on their hiring process. They have badges of honor for how long they go without incident, and many make it all the way to retirement without a single blemish.

Oh, I forgot to mention how badly the Amazon vans smell like weed. No joke.

 

[Lightflyer1]

UPS for sure, FOR SURE, is more selective on their hiring process. They have badges of honor for how long they go without incident, and many make it all the way to retirement without a single blemish.

Oh, I forgot to mention how badly the Amazon vans smell like weed. No joke.

When I started with UPS there were over 100 that tried for the driver job. 15 or so of those were picked for testing. Of those only 3 started driving on a probationary period. Of those I was the only one to make it. Lots of people wanted that job. Any ticket or infraction for the most part and you aren't even considered for the most part. Too many with no history. I did 9 years there without an accident or issue until a garbage truck out in the country crashed into me and broke my back after 9.5 years. If you have any kind of an accident it is almost job lost for the most part.

Now I design computer chips instead.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

Drove Feeders (tractor trailers) during 5 peak seasons, was tough to get hired and easy to get fired. UPS is fussy about everything- Their Pre Trip Inspection is tougher than DOT requires and while most companies just hook two trailers together and call it good, UPS doubles have a transverse spring on the converter dolly and a longer wheelbase for stability. And even though I was only there for a couple months a year, UPS gave me several days of retraining and I had to pass the check rides and driving tests every year.

 

[turbobrick240]

Move over Toyota.

Report: Tesla Model Y Was the World's Best-Selling Vehicle in 2023

Tesla was recently overtaken by Chinese automaker BYD as the world’s largest EV builder, but the American company had the world’s best-selling vehicle overall last year. According to a new report from data company JATO Dynamics, the Model Y sold 1.23 million vehicles, making it the global...

www.thetruthaboutcars.com

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Move over Toyota.

Report: Tesla Model Y Was the World's Best-Selling Vehicle in 2023

Tesla was recently overtaken by Chinese automaker BYD as the world’s largest EV builder, but the American company had the world’s best-selling vehicle overall last year. According to a new report from data company JATO Dynamics, the Model Y sold 1.23 million vehicles, making it the global...

www.thetruthaboutcars.com

Well, not really. Toyota sold over 10m Toyota and Lexus vehicles in 2023.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Talking to a (Tesla owing) colleague today, he said that the charge station in Chicago that failed and got lots of coverage was one of their new, modular stations. The power cords (or whatever you call them) have anti-freeze in them, and the mix of anti-freeze in the lines at that station wasn't specified properly. It was for a warmer climate. So the lines froze up and the chargers wouldn't work. A one-off problem, it appears.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

That's the kind of problems you get when you try to move a couple hundred KW through plug in cords in an outdoor environment... No thanks, I'll stick with diesel.

 

[turbobrick240]

They'll be running a megawatt through cables to charge electric semi trucks in a year or two.

Sometimes you just gotta double bag it.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

I they can find a supplier that can spare a megawatt or three...

 

[MrCypherr]

My favourite ones are the Tesla owners going to gas stations to try and fill up. Now, I'm sure some of these are just on purpose but I feel like I've seen a couple where people legit thought lol.

 

[bigsexyTDI]

They probably chew up tires just as fast though.

Boy do they... I am a Field Engineer for a Tire Company and I would say about 10k average on a set and 15k if you are lucky