Posted on 07/28/2023 9:25:24 AM PDT by CFW
Won't work. The batteries on a small EV truck would be too heavy, especially combined with carrying a load, and the suspension would break.
My wife's brother has a Ford Ranger, which we used to haul debris and junk while remodeling their mother's home. The Ranger couldn't handle the loads and the suspension broke costing him thousands of dollars in repairs.
Now add EV batteries to the small truck and it'll barely carry anything.
The Car Wizard has a YT video out now in which he discusses auto technology to avoid. One of them is buying a used EV, because most EVs do not indicate the health of the battery, and you could be stuck with an EV that has only a few years’ worth of life in it, and with a range that’s cut in half or worse.
He also mentioned that a used battery for a Tesla is going for $19.3K.
In order to sell a used EV you have to depend upon maintaining ignorance in the market, and hoping the word doesn’t get out after 2 or 3 generations of EVs are junked (not sure where, because junk yards won’t take them). Assuming most people will figure out their purchasing mistake after owning their first used EV through its short lifecycle, how long can even the new market continue?
“Some European ferries have banned EVs from their services due to the EV fires. “
—————Correction-—————
ONE SHIPPING company has banned EV’s.
CEOs need to get out of their bubble and look around at the real world. They’re a buncha copy-cats who get caught up in the latest fad.
So true. A friend of mine got a Ford F-150 4x4 fully decked out, despite the fact that he can't do things on his own. I asked him if he intended to go off-road. He said "No, but I could if I wanted.". Of course he mostly drove in the city and brief highway trips. He couldn't get it in his garage and damaged the garage header and truck roof, that he had to get repaired. Totally useless purchase.
There are 3 senior neighbors that bought large pickups on my block. Only one will haul stuff in his F-150, mainly bicycles. Another has handicap plates on it. Another says he always wanted a truck, but it only sits in his driveway.
I have a medium-size pickup, and make numerous trips hauling concrete, rocks, lumber, and trips to the dumps. A huge truck is not necessary, especially if not used, and is just for bragging rights and a status symbol for some idiots.
“The Car Wizard has a YT video out now in which he discusses auto technology to avoid. One of them is buying a used EV, because most EVs do not indicate the health of the battery, and you could be stuck with an EV that has only a few years’ worth of life in it, and with a range that’s cut in half or worse.”
The used battery is worthless!
“He also mentioned that a used battery for a Tesla is going for $19.3K.”
The used battery is NOT worthless!
For the record, the few of us FReepers who own EV's are 100% with you on hating govt stimulus or other influence on car markets. We just happen to like EV's for our particular needs and wants (our use cases). It's nice to have options.
For me, the main thing having both an EV car and an ICE pickup bring to the table is that it gives our family some diversification on energy dependence. Basically, the Dims have to make both power and gasoline hard to come by or too expensive to use to mess up our transportation. If they mess up just power or just gas, we have a car that uses the other energy source. And in our case since we live in an area that's good for decentralized solar, we can drive the EV for local driving even if the Dims mess up both gas and the grid.
Auto execs today are a buncha pansies who think the Prius is a sports car. All the crap on the road all look alike.
Really? Tell that to the Mom who will be unemployed.
I plan to fully retire in a few years and still be in my late 50's. So I wouldn't be surprised if I wind up volunteering myself for a lot of large family and church projects and one day require a full size pickup for at least the early portion of my retirement years when I'm still young enough to do things like that. I'll wait till that day comes, though, to make that decision. If that day comes I'd probably want a plug-in hybrid full-size pickup (they don't make those yet). It'd be nice to get 50 or so miles on the battery alone for local trips that would be free with our home solar like they are with our EV car, but still have the power of an ICE engine for when it's time to either use it like a pickup or go on long trips in regions that don't have good chargers.
Some guys out in Colorado did a range comparison between a GMC Denali with the 6.2 gasser and a Ford Lightning. They went down to the local RV dealer and got 2 identical 26 foot travel trailers and off they went down I 70. Well the Ford was sucking wind in less than 100 miles while the Denali still had enough range to get back to where they started. Left the poor schmuck driving the Ford waiting on a 45 minute charge.
EV pickups are essentially very expensive virtue signaling novelties. I suspect there’s a finite customer base for them.
Is it the economy (everybody is worried about their jobs, food prices and investments), or because they are the kind of liberals who expect somebody else to do the heavy lifting? Probably a little of both.
Next time I see these people, I will ask a new question; "Do you know anybody who has an EV?" Just to see what the answer is.
At the same time, history tells us that each change in technology and culture brings a new group of industry leaders. That's why the sailing ship people did not become the leaders in steamships; why the horse and buggy people did not become the new GM's and Fords; why Sears Roebuck did not become Amazon, and so on. Tesla is a start-up without the old tech baggage that Ford, GM, etc. carry with them. If/when EV's actually become the new normal, Ford and GM will be nostalgic memories.
One more factor; we will see California style mandates on EV's actually happen about the same time that the high-speed train in California starts running a regular route with heavy passenger and freight traffic. You might recall that was supposed to be running already, but so far all they have accomplished is shortening the route, pushing out the delivery date, and spending more money. (Twice or 3 times the original budget?)
Correct. Another factor that degrades battery life, is heat. Fast charging will introduce heat into the battery pack. So it is recommended not to fast charge beyond 80 percent. Keep the charge between 20 percent and 80 percent.
Then there is heat due to the weather. An EV sitting or driving in 110 degree heat will degrade the battery pack. Let it cool down before fast charging.
Best way to prolong battery life is to trickle charge on 110v or better yet on 220v, and again limit to 80 or 90 percent unless a long trip is planned then go for 100 percent and use soon after for the long trip.
Do your homework on prolonging battery life before buying an EV.
Toyota Ramps Up Commitment to Electrification with U.S. BEV Production and Additional Battery Plant Investment, pressroom.Toyota.com, May, 2023"Advancing its commitment to vehicle electrification and building where it sells, Toyota will assemble an all-new, three-row, battery electric SUV at Toyota Kentucky starting in 2025. The company’s first U.S.-assembled BEV will be powered by batteries from Toyota North Carolina. The new battery plant, which is currently under construction, will receive an additional $2.1 billion investment to support the company’s drive toward carbon neutrality.
Today’s announcement confirms that Toyota Kentucky will lead the company’s vehicle carbon reduction efforts with its first U.S.–assembled BEV, a 3-row SUV."
I can count the number of the MachE mustangs. I’ve seen out of one hand, probably twice.
Remember, reading someone taking one on a test trip, towing some sort of camper in the found it had nowhere near the advertised range and spent a huge portion of the trip waiting for the damn thing to charge.
The only advantage to the hybrid variant is, it has the large battery pack, which essentially can power at a job site to you will need without running the engine. Have to do the math if using a traditional generator versus the increased price makes sense based on your use.
Go for it! I retired in my mid-50's, and have been retired for almost 20 years, but I'm very busy. Don't let a job wear you down, retire early and prolong your life.
My pickup comes in very handy for multiple projects, as well as helping my adult kids. I've made multiple trips for them helping them move from one place to another, hauling their stuff. Could only haul so much and rented a large box truck for helping a daughter move homes last year, but my pickup still came in handy. I still believe that an ICE truck is necessary.
We have an EV that is handy for daily urban use, and grocery runs. Costs very little to use. Best of both worlds is having both vehicles.
One thing most people do that you didn't mention is schedule charging to charge the EV only right before needing it. Say you usually leave home at 7 AM, you might set it to finish the charge to 80% at 6:30 AM. The idea being that the longer time the battery holds the charge the more it degrades the battery. So holding the charge less hours every day extends the life of the battery, at least in theory.
I almost always charge mine at 5.6kW (the lowest it'll allow on the 240V circuit). That's different from other EV owners who charge theirs the fastest their Level 2 charger will allow. The idea being that faster charge = more efficient conversion from AC to DC = less power pulled from the grid. But for me, since almost all of my charging comes when I have good solar anyway (read: free power), I'd rather charge slower to extend the life of the battery (as you mentioned) and to reduce the # of times my overall house load exceeds the 18kW continuous AC power my inverters can provide. The less frequently I exceed my inverter capacity, the less power my inverters have to pull from the grid.
By charging the EV usually on the 240V outlet that's intermittently powered (when my home solar batteries are charged at least 60% -- configurable), I'm charging the EV only when I have enough free power already stored in my home batteries to power the home through the night. So if we come home in the EV with more than enough range left for the next day, we plug it into the intermittent NEMA 14-50 outlet and may or may not get charge to handle 2 or 3 days worth of driving beyond tomorrow. If we come home with a low range we'll plug it into the constantly powered NEMA 14-50 outlet (which may or may not be free power, depending on the weather and other factors) which will definitely charge the car for tomorrow. That simple charging technique makes the EV and solar system work together better than the sum of their parts. Thinking of charging the EV as the most power hungry "appliance" in my house (we charged it for about 23K miles at home of the total 26K miles we drove it the first year), by usually being able to charge it 3 or 4 days ahead of time with free power it winds up being one of the least grid-demanding appliances in the house.
Not to worry, they’ll increase the price of gas vehicles to make up the difference.
I had thought Ford was smarter than the other Auto companies when they didn’t take the Gov’t cash years ago, but I stand corrected.
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