WEBlue

We've been spending time in the NYC metropolitan area lately, & we've been absolutely astounded by all the charging stations all of a sudden popping up on the major commuting motorways. ALL the rest stops along the Merritt/Hutch Parkways now have many charging stations.


In fact recently we were hard pressed to find a non-electric parking spot at one highway rest stop so we could use the blurdy toilet. Seemed like at least 80% of the parking was charging slots!


Electric is obviously the way of the future here....

mrken30

This is what I meant by having front row parking. Sometimes it's much easier to find an EV only parking space. The other types of spaces are those ones where you need a special wheelchair badge. I think they cost around $250 though and it's probably not legal.

FinnDiego

Definitely tempted, if things otherwise go as planned. This wouldn't be the only car in the household, and as such would work perfectly for my commute. Plug in every night and never have to stop at a gas station again!

The catch: My current car is doing fine, has limited resale value, is a fair bit more comfortable than a Leaf, and since I drive only ~7k miles/year I don't spend much money on gas anyway. So the question becomes how much would I value not having to go to a gas station once every couple of weeks...

Used BMW i3s are also getting pretty cheap.

MsElui

my husband drives a tesla. uses it for commuting every day. we even went to disney Florida in it from Texas. Planned carefully we did the trips between superchargers and took breaks to use restrooms, stretch legs, eat etc and it really wasnt bad.

zzrmark

...and should you have found yourself stranded at the vergeside I'm sure an obliging smoke belching truck would have given you a tow, even this Clemson Tiger would have obliged, might have sniggered a bit mind.

MsElui

i think tesla have some kind of rescue network thing for stranded cars. plus the dash is giving you constant updates if you are going to go below the threshold for the amount of power you have left if its less then the distance to the next known charger. You can of course charge on a normal domestic power supply but that is super slow. we have had ours 18 months now and my husband loves it.

it also is the fastest car ive ever driven. you put your foot down and its like sh1t of a shovel! no slow wind up - its just moving straight away - gives you g-force lol.

scrubbedexpat099

What sort of connection do you need for the Battery pack, would one of these work?

ian-mstm

Took me 2.5 minutes to wipe the coffee off my monitor! LOL!

Ian

Pulaski

..... I don't even own an automatic!
I am glad you mentioned that!

Is there some reason why cars get more ugly the less petrol they use? I can't think of any exceptions, with Tesla have gone for the "bar of soap" approach, with their entire range having been styled without the slightest hint of character or distinctive details.

mrken30

I thought you had a lawn mower

scrubbedexpat099

Chainsaw.

Pulaski

I do - it's a six-speed manual.
The only gear that needs is a helmet, gloves, chaps, and boots.

Nutek

How many chaps does it take?

Havnfun

I had a 3 year lease on a Chevy Spark that I just returned to the dealer. When I got the car 3 years ago I could go 90 miles by the time I turned it in I was lucky to get 68 miles. My commute just to my office and back is 40 miles so if I had anything else to do that day I was really limited. Loved that I never had to go to the gas station and in 3 years never had to take it in for repairs/oil changes, etc like you would for a gas car.

The bonus for an electric car in California is the ability to drive in the car pool lane

dc koop

I would buy an EV for trips within a range of 50 miles from my home but for long distance road trips I'd need to have a gas burner as a second car