Electric Vehicles: General topics

[Apple fanboy]

So before I got sick with COVID I had to drive to London. On the way back there was a bit of a queue situation at the services.
Anyway there was a guy there with an Audi etron. He’d only had it a week. No one had shown him how to pull out the additional stopper underneath the charging port to use DC charging. He had to stop 5 times. What a muppet. You’d think he might have done a bit of research.

 

[Nycturne]

I just tell mine what time I’m leaving and it defrosts it for then. Very convenient. Especially as we are having a server winter.

The downside to VW and the ID.4 is that their tech is behind a lot of the competition, especially compared to premium brands like BMW. So I can set a departure schedule in the car, but not from the app. But since my departure schedule isn’t consistent, it’s not as useful as just remembering to turn on the heat/defrost from my phone before I start gathering stuff together to leave.

Sadly, turning on defrost from the app doesn’t seem to engage the side mirror heaters. So that’s fun. But I will say, it’s a revelation to be able to defrost the front windshield in 30 seconds, rather than having to blow hot air at it.

Anyway there was a guy there with an Audi etron. He’d only had it a week. No one had shown him how to pull out the additional stopper underneath the charging port to use DC charging. He had to stop 5 times. What a muppet. You’d think he might have done a bit of research.

Dealers will be dealers. My VW/Audi dealer was a lot more hands on trying to make sure I knew what I was getting into even after I had done the research myself, but not all of them will be doing this work.

I think part of it is that it’s easy to get into the mindset of not thinking about how things work if you’ve always done it a particular way your whole life. That said, I don’t feel surprised it was an e-tron buyer.

 

[Apple fanboy]

The downside to VW and the ID.4 is that their tech is behind a lot of the competition, especially compared to premium brands like BMW. So I can set a departure schedule in the car, but not from the app. But since my departure schedule isn’t consistent, it’s not as useful as just remembering to turn on the heat/defrost from my phone before I start gathering stuff together to leave.

Sadly, turning on defrost from the app doesn’t seem to engage the side mirror heaters. So that’s fun. But I will say, it’s a revelation to be able to defrost the front windshield in 30 seconds, rather than having to blow hot air at it.



Dealers will be dealers. My VW/Audi dealer was a lot more hands on trying to make sure I knew what I was getting into even after I had done the research myself, but not all of them will be doing this work.

I think part of it is that it’s easy to get into the mindset of not thinking about how things work if you’ve always done it a particular way your whole life. That said, I don’t feel surprised it was an e-tron buyer.

I had a heated windscreen on my last Ford Focus. That was great. But you only seem to get that on certain brands.

I partly blame the dealership. But I’m also surprised how little research the guy had done. I read loads and watched plenty of videos on YT before buying an EV. It’s a big commitment and change in the way things are done.
That said I won’t be going back to an ICE car. I’m very happy with my choice.

 

[Roller]

I'll be in the market for a fully electric vehicle when the lease on my current PHEV ends (or I get out of it prematurely). Range isn't the issue it once was, and charger networks keep expanding.

I've been quite impressed with Hyundai's IONIQ 5 and 6, which are built on the same platform. (I'm less enamored of the styling on the IONIQ 7.) I know some people look down on Hyundai, but they've come a long way. Kia, Hyundai's sister company, is also interesting, though they have a smaller dealer network and sell fewer vehicles. I also like the interior of the IONIQs more than Kia's EV6.

 

[Nycturne]

I partly blame the dealership. But I’m also surprised how little research the guy had done. I read loads and watched plenty of videos on YT before buying an EV. It’s a big commitment and change in the way things are done.

Some people are like that. Makes me wonder if this person is wealthy enough to be flippant about a car that expensive.

That said I won’t be going back to an ICE car. I’m very happy with my choice.

It would be hard. If a couple more sites show up along Hwy 101 on the peninsula in Washington state, it’ll help for my needs. There’s a route where I have to stop at a specific charger and charge or the trip isn’t possible. We will see what the state transportation department does with funds earmarked for adding coverage to state routes.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Some people are like that. Makes me wonder if this person is wealthy enough to be flippant about a car that expensive.



It would be hard. If a couple more sites show up along Hwy 101 on the peninsula in Washington state, it’ll help for my needs. There’s a route where I have to stop at a specific charger and charge or the trip isn’t possible. We will see what the state transportation department does with funds earmarked for adding coverage to state routes.

Here in the UK the charging network is pretty good. Just needs more chargers at each services.

 

[Nycturne]

Got a 2” hitch receiver and trailer power socket in a few days ago for the ID.4. But didn’t have a torque wrench to properly torque down the bolts for the receiver. Local chain hardware store had the one I needed on sale for 50% off, so grabbed it and installed the receiver and power socket yesterday afternoon.

I do appreciate some of the over-engineering VW did here. Bolting the receiver to the crossmember rather than welding it, and including the wiring harness for a 7-pin socket means it only cost about 150$ for the torque wrench, the 2” receiver, and the 7-pin socket. When I had a 2” hitch added to my Outback, I took it to a place to run 4-pin wiring and do all the work, and it was a little over 800$ for parts (hitch and wiring) and labor. Not exactly apples to apples comparison, but still appreciate the ease that the receiver can be swapped, and not having to run my own wiring on the AWD model. Not to mention the receiver can be replaced on its own if it starts to rust badly while the crossmember is still in good shape.

Here in the UK the charging network is pretty good. Just needs more chargers at each services.

Yeah, the coverage there is much better for 50kW+ chargers. Helps that Tesla is using CCS2 like everyone else there. Here, Tesla has the most developed network, using their proprietary connector. Electrify America is the next one in line, but can’t even manage “one nine” level reliability, apparently. Certain core corridors are generally okay, but if you stray too far, good luck. An example of the trip I’m looking to make soon (red mark is where I need to get to):

 

[Cmaier]

So are there any evs with 300+ range and CarPlay at this point?

My Tesla being in the shop for a week so far with no progress has my wife blessing me finally replacing it - it’s a 2013 model. I’ve been looking around and am not all that excited about the cars I’m seeing. Maybe 2023 will be better.

 

[Nycturne]

So are there any evs with 300+ range and CarPlay at this point?

My Tesla being in the shop for a week so far with no progress has my wife blessing me finally replacing it - it’s a 2013 model. I’ve been looking around and am not all that excited about the cars I’m seeing. Maybe 2023 will be better.

A starting point, but the answer is not many: https://insideevs.com/news/607517/us-number-models-300miles-range-2022/

Some of these have to be specific trims, so keep an eye on that. The Ioniq 5 and the EV6 for example are EPA estimated 303mi on the RWD, and 266 on the AWD. Also keep in mind cold weather performance can be a bigger factor between models than you might think, if that’s important. Especially if your Tesla has a heat pump.

——

On a bit of a tangent: we took the ID.4 out to the peninsula for a birthday lunch. First long drive, and first time taking it on the ferry. Beat the EPA estimate in sub-50F temperatures while driving, but heater use on the ferry and while waiting for the ferry pushed us back down below the EPA estimate for the trip as a whole. Still haven’t tried using any of the DCFC stations around us yet. Haven’t quite gone far enough to need it, or for it to make sense to try it.

 

[Yoused]

I was reading that solid state batteries are close to being rady for prime time.

NASA’s Solid-State Battery Research Exceeds Initial Goals, Draws Interest - NASA

NASA researchers are making progress with developing an innovative battery pack that is lighter, safer, and performs better than batteries commonly used in

www.nasa.gov

They have like twice the energy/weight ratio in large part because they do not need cell containment (nothing to leak). The article lists a bunch of upsides, nothing in the way of downsides. There must be a catch.

 

[theorist9]

I was reading that solid state batteries are close to being rady for prime time.

NASA’s Solid-State Battery Research Exceeds Initial Goals, Draws Interest - NASA

NASA researchers are making progress with developing an innovative battery pack that is lighter, safer, and performs better than batteries commonly used in

www.nasa.gov

They have like twice the energy/weight ratio in large part because they do not need cell containment (nothing to leak). The article lists a bunch of upsides, nothing in the way of downsides. There must be a catch.

Yup. The biggest catch is they're comparing batteries in the lab to commercial tech, and the literature is full of lab prototypes that exceed the performance of commercial tech. The problem is often producing them economically and at scale. Plus they need to meet other automotive needs, e.g., they need to be safe, resist vibration, be rapidly rechargeable, have a sufficiently large temperature operating range, maintain performance over many charge/recharge cycles, and be configurable to deliver sufficient current and voltage. And in addition to meeting energy:mass requirements, they also need to meet energy: volume, power:mass, and power:volume requirements. There are of course other requirements as well.

According to this article, solid-state battery tech that can be produced economically and at scale may be a decade away: https://medium.com/predict/nasa-just-eclipsed-tesla-d9ee0c67c87f
And by that time, Li-ion might be up to 500 Wh/kg as well. In sum, while while the kind of research NASA is doing is essential, it's impossible to tell if any one battery tech is "the future" from reading press releases or puff pieces in the popular press (and, indeed, from reading the original published literature as well, since often they're not frank about the downsides).

 

[Roller]

A starting point, but the answer is not many: https://insideevs.com/news/607517/us-number-models-300miles-range-2022/

Some of these have to be specific trims, so keep an eye on that. The Ioniq 5 and the EV6 for example are EPA estimated 303mi on the RWD, and 266 on the AWD. Also keep in mind cold weather performance can be a bigger factor between models than you might think, if that’s important. Especially if your Tesla has a heat pump.

——

On a bit of a tangent: we took the ID.4 out to the peninsula for a birthday lunch. First long drive, and first time taking it on the ferry. Beat the EPA estimate in sub-50F temperatures while driving, but heater use on the ferry and while waiting for the ferry pushed us back down below the EPA estimate for the trip as a whole. Still haven’t tried using any of the DCFC stations around us yet. Haven’t quite gone far enough to need it, or for it to make sense to try it.

The Ioniq 5 also has a heat pump, and the '23 model year adds battery preconditioning and heating across all the trims. But, yeah, even with that, charging and range will suffer under cold conditions. The Ioniq 6 has a very low coefficient of drag, so it may be more efficient in real-world use. Between the two, the 5 may be more practical, though, especially because rear seat headroom is limited. Annoyingly, neither offers wireless CarPlay, and it's unclear whether Hyundai can or will provide a software update that enables it. But there are a number of adapters that apparently work well.

I may be in the market for an electrified car this summer, so will be interested to hear more about your experience with the ID.4.

 

[cloudflare420]

So are there any evs with 300+ range and CarPlay at this point?

Lucid Air. Way more than 300 miles of range

 

[Nycturne]

The Ioniq 5 also has a heat pump, and the '23 model year adds battery preconditioning and heating across all the trims. But, yeah, even with that, charging and range will suffer under cold conditions. The Ioniq 6 has a very low coefficient of drag, so it may be more efficient in real-world use. Between the two, the 5 may be more practical, though, especially because rear seat headroom is limited. Annoyingly, neither offers wireless CarPlay, and it's unclear whether Hyundai can or will provide a software update that enables it. But there are a number of adapters that apparently work well.

I may be in the market for an electrified car this summer, so will be interested to hear more about your experience with the ID.4.

Yeah, I was more pointing out that the cold weather performance seems to vary a lot right now, and to keep an eye on that. I also wasn't sure when Tesla started adding heat pumps to its lineup, so if coming from an EV with a heat pump, the loss of it could be pretty noticeable depending on where you drive (and how effective the heat pump was).

I've not been super impressed by wireless CarPlay and don't use it in the ID.4, but boy are the USB sockets in the Ioniq 5 in a poor location.

 

[Cmaier]

Lucid Air. Way more than 300 miles of range

Do they actually have CarPlay yet? I thought they promised it but hadn’t delivered yet?

I find them pretty ugly - I see them on Page Mill from time to time. After my Tesla experience, I also want to avoid any brand that doesn’t have a real service network.

 

[diamond.g]

Do they actually have CarPlay yet? I thought they promised it but hadn’t delivered yet?

I find them pretty ugly - I see them on Page Mill from time to time. After my Tesla experience, I also want to avoid any brand that doesn’t have a real service network.

as far as the lucid owners site claims, it is still coming.

 

[Eric]

Do they actually have CarPlay yet? I thought they promised it but hadn’t delivered yet?

I find them pretty ugly - I see them on Page Mill from time to time. After my Tesla experience, I also want to avoid any brand that doesn’t have a real service network.

Not sure what my next car will be yet but it will have CarPlay and their CEO won't be a narcissistic bipolar nutbag.

 

[Citysnaps]

My wife and I are still in a holding pattern due to there being little or no stock on cars that interest us or jacked up with gigantic ADM over MSRP (not going to play that negotiation game). Or both. We can wait.

 

[Cmaier]

In typical Tesla fashion, my tesla app just gave me a notification of progress on my car’s repairs - the first since it was towed in last monday. They want $1700 for the brake. Looks like they will replace both caliper assemblies. (I found that out by clicking on text that turned out to be a link, even though it does not differ in appearance from other text. Otherwise all I would know is “if you want it fixed give us $1700.”)

There was also an indication that they could not reproduce a problem with my passenger-side rear window switch, which is silly, because it happens literally every time I try it. (it either works just enough to lower the window a couple inches and then stops, or it won’t work at all). I figure if they tried it once a day for the week they’ve had the car, they’d have seen the behavior by now.

Whatever. No communication as to when the car will be done, nothing from any human being at all. Just an automated “approve this estimate” message.

In any event, Rivian, Lucid, polestar, etc. are not something I would consider simply because there are two possibilities: the company goes out of business, in which case good luck with service. Or the company gets successful, in which case good luck with service. For my next car I definitely want to stick with a company that has a real service network, where you can talk to human beings and don’t have to do everything through the app, where they have a clear loaners policy that doesn’t change every year, etc.

 

[Roller]

In typical Tesla fashion, my tesla app just gave me a notification of progress on my car’s repairs - the first since it was towed in last monday. They want $1700 for the brake. Looks like they will replace both caliper assemblies. (I found that out by clicking on text that turned out to be a link, even though it does not differ in appearance from other text. Otherwise all I would know is “if you want it fixed give us $1700.”)

There was also an indication that they could not reproduce a problem with my passenger-side rear window switch, which is silly, because it happens literally every time I try it. (it either works just enough to lower the window a couple inches and then stops, or it won’t work at all). I figure if they tried it once a day for the week they’ve had the car, they’d have seen the behavior by now.

Whatever. No communication as to when the car will be done, nothing from any human being at all. Just an automated “approve this estimate” message.

In any event, Rivian, Lucid, polestar, etc. are not something I would consider simply because there are two possibilities: the company goes out of business, in which case good luck with service. Or the company gets successful, in which case good luck with service. For my next car I definitely want to stick with a company that has a real service network, where you can talk to human beings and don’t have to do everything through the app, where they have a clear loaners policy that doesn’t change every year, etc.

I briefly considered a Tesla a couple years ago, but was put off by the lack of in-state facilities. I agree that access to responsive, competent service is a must, and I'd also be wary of a startup that may not be around for long.