Does anyone here on C.P. own an electric car.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Does anyone here on C.P. own an electric car.

dualquadpete · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

As of Nov. 1st. Ontario Hydro rates going up "AGAIN" so you'll have to wait a bit to see how much the cost of running one of these is truly going to be ??? Guess I shouldn't be "shocked" that Energy Board passed the Ontario Power Generation's request for increase, right in Pandemic, people losing their jobs or working from home & using more power? Bending over the barrel again & hopefully they supply some "lube" this time!!!!!

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

George there is a Tesla club in Ontario. Perhaps you could contact them. I'm sure a member would be happy to answer your questions and maybe even let you take one for a drive
https://ontario.teslaownersclub.ca/

Edit: Looks like they have a "Co Pilot" program to help new owners learn about these cars:

https://ontario.teslaownersclub.ca/co-pilot-program/

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

dualquadpete wrote:
As of Nov. 1st. Ontario Hydro rates going up "AGAIN" so you'll have to wait a bit to see how much the cost of running one of these is truly going to be ??? Guess I shouldn't be "shocked" that Energy Board passed the Ontario Power Generation's request for increase, right in Pandemic, people losing their jobs or working from home & using more power? Bending over the barrel again & hopefully they supply some "lube" this time!!!!!

Pete, I am with you my brother and I get it. I have always been skeptical about the whole thing as well.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Canadian Poncho wrote:
George there is a Tesla club in Ontario. Perhaps you could contact them. I'm sure a member would be happy to answer your questions and maybe even let you take one for a drive
https://ontario.teslaownersclub.ca/

Edit: Looks like they have a "Co Pilot" program to help new owners learn about these cars:
https://ontario.teslaownersclub.ca/co-pilot-program/

Todd, I appreciate the information. I am going to look into it. Thank you.

jmont64 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

George, I thought some one had hacked your account when I saw this thread! Seriously my son in laws uncle in Quebec whom I know well has the little chev volt or bolt or something like that, the one that is completely electric. Uses it for his compute from Montreal to Mont Tremblant to the cabin and just loves it. Charging is very inexpensive and his maintenance is basically nothing. They've had it about 3 years and really only have to worry about brakes and tires. When they purchased it there were some government incentives as well. Not sure what is available now.

Prefectca · Poncho Master!

My cousin has a Tesla model X. He bought it new three years ago and loves it. He lives in Markham and charges it at night on a timer to get the best price for electricity. When he bought it it came with free charging for life at the Tesla fast chargers and he makes good use of them. That isnt offered now. He has driven from Markham to New Brunswick several times and not had any trouble but did mention that its a lot easier now that there are more charging stations. The first time he went there werent any fast charging stations west of Quebec City so charging was time consuming.

Paul

hawkeye5766 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

jmont64 wrote:
George, I thought some one had hacked your account when I saw this thread!

Same here!!.....going to plug in that 57??

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Talked to a guy in a parking lot driving a Tesla 3, he really liked it. Range was about 400 kms in summer, one third less in winter. He commuted from Halifax to our area, about 100 kms one way. Our winter weather is about say -10c to say 0c, I assume the colder the weather, the shorter the range.

Many electrics use electricity for heat, plus the cold affects the battery. New models/brands are starting to use a heat pump for heat and ac, plus they are keeping batteries heated. That should increase range and is also proven technolog.

I think electric will take over vehicles in the next 10-20 years. With the complex systems on gas and diesel powered vehicles, simple electric drive trains are a good thing. We had electricity before we had cars so we know a lot about it and its simple. Its a natural evolution of the automobile, like when people tried jet engines or a wankel rotary. They didnt work out but electric is working out. Range of 1000 kms (like my diesel) and fast charging are coming quickly, Id say 5 years max.

dualquadpete · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Hydrogen was looked into & had good prospects but seemed to go by the wayside ??? Only had water out the tail pipe, easier to get fuel, no waiting for charge up!! Don't know why interest was lost???

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

I watched a program about alternative energy and the majority of Hydrogen produced today comes from Natural Gas. It's called "Blue Hydrogen". Apparently we are a few years away from producing cost effective "Green Hydrogen" (which means produced from wind or solar etc) .

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

as these cars evolve I see them like electronics, new and improved every year. this in my eyes would make your car in a short time a dinosaur. You buy one and its gona cost you tons to upgraded or run it into the ground. that said my old neighbor bought a 3 and loves it. think it cost him over $70k

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

hawkeye5766 wrote:
jmont64 wrote:
George, I thought some one had hacked your account when I saw this thread!
Same here!!.....going to plug in that 57??

The interest is being driven more by Mary than it is me and we are both real sick of high gasoline costs. There is not one day that goes by that I do not see many Tesla's on the road, so they must be a good vehicle. We do not want to spend anything more than about $50,000. Jim and Jerel, I can see why you guys are mystified by my thread here. I am a bit mystified myself but I mostly have Mary to blame. smile

Prefectca · Poncho Master!

My nephew on my wifes side also has a Tesla, a model 3. He likes it, but I dont see him enough to get any real feedback. He did mention that in the winter he would lose about 10% battery charge when it was parked all day at his work. Apparently the power is used to keep the batteries warm in cold weather, he doesnt plug it in at work. He regularly drives it back and forth from the east end of Ottawa to Kingston.

Paul

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

long stroke wrote:
hawkeye5766 wrote:
jmont64 wrote:
George, I thought some one had hacked your account when I saw this thread!
Same here!!.....going to plug in that 57??
The interest is being driven more by Mary than it is me and we are both real sick of high gasoline costs. There is not one day that goes by that I do not see many Tesla's on the road, so they must be a good vehicle. We do not want to spend anything more than about $50,000. Jim and Jerel, I can see why you guys are mystified by my thread here. I am a bit mystified myself but I mostly have Mary to blame.

I don't see the logic here. If you are only concerned about the cost of gas I don't see any cost savings considering the premium you will pay for a car like the Tesla. Considering that you can buy a nice petrol-powered sedan in the $30,000 range, I don't see how you can make up the $20,000 difference over the life of the car in gas alone. Maybe if you include maintenance costs, etc., but one would also have to consider cost of replacing battery packs once it's out of warranty.

There must be more to it than just cost alone, like a desire to be more environmentally conscious, for example.

Don't get me wrong, I think that electrified vehicles are what we will have in the future, but I've never been an early adopter of new technology. I want to give it some years until they are mainstream, so all the bugs will be worked out and I won't be buying something that will be inferior in 5 years time. Still waiting for that big battery technology breakthrough... wink

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

MC wrote:
long stroke wrote:
hawkeye5766 wrote:
jmont64 wrote:
George, I thought some one had hacked your account when I saw this thread!
Same here!!.....going to plug in that 57??
The interest is being driven more by Mary than it is me and we are both real sick of high gasoline costs. There is not one day that goes by that I do not see many Tesla's on the road, so they must be a good vehicle. We do not want to spend anything more than about $50,000. Jim and Jerel, I can see why you guys are mystified by my thread here. I am a bit mystified myself but I mostly have Mary to blame.
I don't see the logic here. If you are only concerned about the cost of gas I don't see any cost savings considering the premium you will pay for a car like the Tesla. Considering that you can buy a nice petrol-powered sedan in the $30,000 range, I don't see how you can make up the $20,000 difference over the life of the car in gas alone. Maybe if you include maintenance costs, etc., but one would also have to consider cost of replacing battery packs once it's out of warranty.
There must be more to it than just cost alone, like a desire to be more environmentally conscious, for example.
Don't get me wrong, I think that electrified vehicles are what we will have in the future, but I've never been an early adopter of new technology. I want to give it some years until they are mainstream, so all the bugs will be worked out and I won't be buying something that will be inferior in 5 years time. Still waiting for that big battery technology breakthrough...

Mark, you have made a lot of very solid points here. It is mostly my partner (Mary) that is interested in an electric car, me not so much. Mary travels to Belleville, Ontario every week to see much of her family and there is a lot of mileage there and back all the time. It would mostly be her car and she is a bit of a "tree hugger" any way as far as saving the planet and all of that kind of stuff. Right now this is in the learning stages for both of us and if we do this, it will be this spring coming that we take the plunge. Cheers.

Prefectca · Poncho Master!

I was talking to a guy that I used to work with and his employer had a 2010 Silverado hybrid. Last June the hybrid part was acting up and the check light was on. The dealer diagnosed a defective battery pack and quoted $9000 to replace the battery. Thats a big expense for a ten year old truck!

Paul

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Prefectca wrote:
I was talking to a guy that I used to work with and his employer had a 2010 Silverado hybrid. Last June the hybrid part was acting up and the check light was on. The dealer diagnosed a defective battery pack and quoted $9000 to replace the battery. Thats a big expense for a ten year old truck!

Paul

Yes, just based on that................ keep burning fossil fuel. cry

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

My friend has a 2014 Silverado 3500 diesel, fuel pump blew up , $14,000. It took out the injectors, turbo, urea system. Pick your poison?

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

George,

I personally would never buy a battery run electric (EV),but I would consider a hydrogen electric(FCV).

The hydrogen electric (FCV) at the moment just doesn't have enough infrastructure for refueling depots but I think it

will happen. I think the government should be helping FCV infrastructure along, just as they are helping EV's.

I think they are a perfect fit for a country as big as Canada.

Toyota is putting a lot of design and interest in the FCV powered cars and not in the EV battery electric. Wonder why?

https://driving.ca/toyota/mirai/auto-news/news/hydrogen-vs-electric-which-is-actually-more-efficient?cid=SEARCH%7CGOOGLE%7CCALGARY-DYN%7CPPC&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8rT8BRCbARIsALWiOvTRp-0xZefS9VH8WNZnezBheNAtjltEG_7kFXDR6AurL8T2mnhj2UEaAlItEALw_wcB

"What's confusing is that an FCV is, in fact, an electric vehicle.

It has an electric motor, its controllers are similar and it emits the same amount of greenhouse gases (none) as an electric car.

The difference is that, while an EV is powered by a chemical battery, the FCV uses a replenishable fuel cell as its source of electrons.

So, while the battery of a Tesla P85 Model S weighs close to 400 kilograms and needs about 10 hours of charging at home to cover 400 kilometres,

the hydrogen fuel tank in Toyota's new Mirai weighs just 88 kilograms and refuels in about the same three minutes it takes to gas up a conventional car."

-G

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Time will tell if hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will gain traction in the market, but it doesn't look like it will happen anytime soon. Meanwhile, many common automakers are selling battery electric vehicles to the public, now.

Infrastructure required for hydrogen vehicles: hydrogen generation plants and a distribution network.

Infrastructure required for battery electric vehicles: an electrical grid (existing) and a charging station (available to install at your home for under $1000).

Maybe FCVs will catch up eventually, but just like BEVs, I'll wait for them to go mainstream and let the early adopters help the companies work out the bugs on them (which is not possible currently, as you can't even buy one in Canada).

I do question whether the cost and complexity of FCVs will ever be competitive with BEVs. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, gas is still cheap here...

-- Edited by MC on Monday 19th of October 2020 11:25:51 PM

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

When I was purchasing Toyota Prius's (Hybrid) for the government when they first came out, I was told that it would take 7 years+ of average mileage gas savings to make up for the extra price of the car. If gas savings are your jam, just get a car with better fuel economy.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Pontiacanada wrote:
When I was purchasing Toyota Prius's (Hybrid) for the government when they first came out, I was told that it would take 7 years+ of average mileage gas savings to make up for the extra price of the car. If gas savings are your jam, just get a car with better fuel economy.

Darryl, good points. Both Mary and I have Toyota Corolla SE's, hers is a 2017 and mine is a 2004. Both in excellent shape with reasonable mileage and I keep both cars in perfect running condition. But the gas mileage I find not really that great. You have to drive a micro car to get excellent gas mileage but in those cars it looks like instant death in a collision.