Cars, it's electric! Do Do Do

BuzzBomber said:
I have a Bolt EUV, bought January 2024 and just passed 46,000 miles. 95% home charging with the included EVSE on 240V. My JCP&L bill went up but not horribly after getting this car. ~$50/mo IIRC. The crappy 20 year old Sentra short-term beater it replaced was only getting 25mpg average, so not exactly efficient for a "commuter car", was costing me about $150/mo for gas at 2024 prices. Fuel spending went down while car size/weight went up slightly. Even with the $250/yr it's costing me way less to feed the Bolt commuting 300 miles/week.

I have issues with the way the EV surcharge was implemented. A flat rate is not indicative at all of relative fuel use or impact on infrastructure. If replacing the lost gas tax revenue is the goal, why am I being charged the same for a 3,700# hatchback as a 6,000 Cybertruck? I won't even get started on the fact that my motorcycle registration fee was about half the cost of a car fee, $30-ish up until several years back, significantly less than a car (as it should be), now it's $65. Why?
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Do they have a weight class for EVs ?
Our Lyriq weighs as much as the Yukon!

The car should report its usage, and billed accordingly, perhaps quarterly.

Our EVSE reports power consumed and I've entered cost per kwH, so it figures total costs by session and by month.
Spent $85 in March. It does keep the battery "warm" - it would be nice to see the charge vs maintain vs condition numbers.
 
Had a :Ugh: moment with the Bolt. I forgot to check charge status Wednesday evening. Got in yesterday morning to leave for work with 67 miles estimated remaining. My round-trip commute is 60, but I needed to make two side trips - no bueno.......and the only fast charger anywhere NEAR my route is a Tesla supercharger, but I don't have the NACS adapter, plus "fast" charging on the Bolt (not the new '27 models) is kind of a joke. Thankfully the wife was WFH yesterday so I took her Mazda and she could take the daughter's car since it just sits while she's off at college.

Lesson (probably still not) learned. Only the second time in 2+ years of ownership, but still a PITA when it happens.
 
BuzzBomber said:
Had a :Ugh: moment with the Bolt. I forgot to check charge status Wednesday evening. Got in yesterday morning to leave for work with 67 miles estimated remaining. My round-trip commute is 60, but I needed to make two side trips - no bueno.......and the only fast charger anywhere NEAR my route is a Tesla supercharger, but I don't have the NACS adapter, plus "fast" charging on the Bolt (not the new '27 models) is kind of a joke. Thankfully the wife was WFH yesterday so I took her Mazda and she could take the daughter's car since it just sits while she's off at college.

Lesson (probably still not) learned. Only the second time in 2+ years of ownership, but still a PITA when it happens.
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That's why I use the GPS every time I'm in the EV. Tells me when my round trip is close to short on charge. Tesla charging is so much cheaper and more available so I have the adapter handy.
 
qclabrat said:
That's why I use the GPS every time I'm in the EV. Tells me when my round trip is close to short on charge. Tesla charging is so much cheaper and more available so I have the adapter handy.
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Do they now account for altitude gain? I know someone who was driving from the coast to Asheville and almost didn’t make it.
 
Bike N Gear said:
Do they now account for altitude gain? I know someone who was driving from the coast to Asheville and almost didn’t make it.
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That seems like a risky one-way trip and I would assume you'd want/need to charge in the middle of it. I doubt it's the 2000 feet of elevation change as much as the mileage and highway driving. Asheville is 4 hours minimum from the ocean depending on what part of the ocean.

270 miles from Asheville to Charleston which I think is the closest ocean point.
 
qclabrat said:
That's why I use the GPS every time I'm in the EV. Tells me when my round trip is close to short on charge. Tesla charging is so much cheaper and more available so I have the adapter handy.
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This was 100% just me not paying attention to the car clearly displaying estimated range remaining. I still have about $300 charging credits that came with the car left to burn up on EVgo/Electrify America/Chargepoint, so for my limited over the road charging, I can usually find one enroute if I plan ahead. Plus they have a DCFC across from town hall 5 miles from me when I need a quick boost, it's just the opposite direction from work.:thumbsdown:
 
why not charge it every night? doesn't cost more to do it that way, and maybe even get a differential rate late at night????
 
No real reason other than laziness/convenience and that old habits die hard. I usually throw it on overnight every 2nd or 3rd day depending on conditions which usually means re-charging from 30-40%. Usually I wait to charge until after 8pm when the off-peak rate kicks in. But, sometimes I forget.
 
Gas powered cars can run out of gas. Modern versions require a stupid funnel to refill from a can. Y'know, just in case any diehard petro-heads are feeling superior about the range anxiety thing...
 
Mahnken said:
The Mercedes VLE will probably be what eventually replaces my Odyssey. The minivan is just the most functional type of vehicle I've ever owned, can't imagine not having one.
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id agree - we had 8 different ones since 2002 (leased) up until recently when the wife finally got caught in some snow unexpectedly this past winter, and now loves the Honda pilot just as much. It is a little less space to haul stuff with a higher load up height, but 99% of the time shes driving around with the 3rd row folded down anyway.

I would always tell people how I could take the 2nd row out of the Odyssey and put some pretty bit items in there (i.e. replacement interior doors, plywood) and shut the doors.
 
BuzzBomber said:
No real reason other than laziness/convenience and that old habits die hard. I usually throw it on overnight every 2nd or 3rd day depending on conditions which usually means re-charging from 30-40%. Usually I wait to charge until after 8pm when the off-peak rate kicks in. But, sometimes I forget.
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the car may have charge scheduling built in?

i'm fairly sure if I walk away from the car w/o plugging in i'd never get back to it.
 
iman29 said:
id agree - we had 8 different ones since 2002 (leased) up until recently when the wife finally got caught in some snow unexpectedly this past winter, and now loves the Honda pilot just as much. It is a little less space to haul stuff with a higher load up height, but 99% of the time shes driving around with the 3rd row folded down anyway.

I would always tell people how I could take the 2nd row out of the Odyssey and put some pretty bit items in there (i.e. replacement interior doors, plywood) and shut the doors.
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I've carried full sheets of plywood a few times. Was even able to get a few 12' 2"x10"s inside with nothing sticking out. I've had 2 large mountain bikes with wheels on and still had seating for 4. Can't beat it
 
Patrick said:
Got the reg renewal for the P car - it came with an interesting announcement.

All EVs will be charged an additional $250/yr on top of registration since they are not paying road tax.
I was hoping it was a 1 time thing when we purchased the car....

The AI says NJ charges $0.675 per gallon - so $250/.675 = ~370 Gallons.
The AI also says that the average NJ gas powered passenger car get a bit over 25mpg (all those full size SUVs!)
so 370 * 25 = about 9,250 miles per year equiv - ok, not bad. We might be close to that.
Funny thing is that we are not paying for the roads out of state!

I get a feeling at some point the car will have to report, and we'll get a bill.

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Here is an interesting one, as cars get better average gas mileage, the total collected by the state goes down,
so they need to raise the gas tax to cover. You might get better MPGs, but the wallet might not get any relief.

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We still get about 13 miles per dollar - with gas around $4, we now get 52 mpgEquiv
(don't do that Empg thing - it takes the amount of energy in a gallon of gas, converts it to watts and deals with it from there)
people deal in money....
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The EV/road tax has been a talking point for years. Pretty much since Tesla cars started making a splash, but it's only since EV sales have really taken off that some states are trying to do something about it. It's a valid point. States use gas taxes to maintain the roads and that work isn't getting any cheaper.

Some states have considered a $/mile use fee, collected as part of registration. PA could somewhat easily do that because of the annual inspection process that records the odometer reading by a 3rd party.

There are no great solutions since any sort of use-tax tends to put more of a burden on those who can least afford it. A big advantage of gas taxes is the "death by 1000 cuts" approach as you are paying a bit every time you buy gas. A registration tax/fee on someone who drives a lot for work could turn into a pretty big bill they might not have budgeted for.
 
BuzzBomber said:
Had a :Ugh: moment with the Bolt. I forgot to check charge status Wednesday evening. Got in yesterday morning to leave for work with 67 miles estimated remaining. My round-trip commute is 60, but I needed to make two side trips - no bueno.......
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What if you just plugged it in for 20 minutes and then left?
 
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