I’d like to start a catch-all thread about electric vehicles. I know you lot are pretty sharp (mostly), and some may even have experience with them. I am still some time out from purchasing one myself, but hope to make my next vehicle purchase be an electric.
The current specific question/musing I have is about one pedal driving.
So as I understand it, you have the one pedal, and depending on the position of the pedal, it either accelerates or actively decelerates the car. This brings to mind the issue of coasting. Active deceleration, even with regenerative braking, involves greater energy loss than coasting. Do any one pedal setups have a “coast range” in the middle of accelerate/decelerate? The good thing about two pedal systems is you know brake off and accelerator off = coast.
My car has two driving modes, and it is seamless to switch between them. One is more similar to what we’ve been used to, not a lot of regen when releasing pressure on accelerator, not braking, just coasting. The other mode is what I drive in 98% of the time, which has the active regen making it possible to one pedal drive.
The other reason I stay in the mode I do is that the acceleration in the other mode made me feel sick the first time I hit the accelerator like it was an ICE vehicle. It’s fun if you are expecting it , but I was not .
I generally save it for jumping ahead of people who think their big bad truck is better than my car
Do you care to share which brand/make you drive? Am I correct in understanding that your most common mode doesn’t use coasting? Does the other mode use regen braking only when brake pedal is pressed?
I have one car that has an electronic continuously variable transmission. You can really tell the difference in how it accelerates down steep hills (without using accelerator pedal) versus a traditional transmission car. Different starting speeds (starting from stopped at stoplight vs coming thru green light at speed limit) at the top of the hill in the ECV car have different results too.
I’m not sure how the other mode (D) uses regen braking. I would assume very little until you press the brake, because it does coast. My normal mode is B, and regen kicks in as soon as the accelerator is released (which can actually be a little jarring/jolting depending on speed, so I first reduce pressure on the accelerator rather than just taking my foot off it like I would to coast).
I drive my car in town, and (pre-pandemic) on the freeway to work and back. Since I mostly carpooled, and also because my state allows single occupancy EVs to use the HOV lane, my driving on the freeway was 85% in the HOV lane (the lane ends about 3 miles ahead of my exit, otherwise it would be more).
Because yay HOV, I didn’t do a ton of crawling along at 5 mph, except when something jams up the HOV lane along with the rest of the suckers (yes, this is exactly how I think of them, my brain is not kind) in the normal lanes. B mode works great for this too, but is where I am more worried about getting rear ended due to lack of brake lights during one-pedal driving. I have to be paying attention to people jumping into the HOV lane from the normal lanes, and be able to quickly slow down. I can slow down more smoothly without jolting by just reducing pressure on the accelerator. It is rare I need to use my brake, but if there is a car riding my tail, I will generally drive slower anyways because I want more time to react to people in front of me (hopefully giving the idiot behind me also more time to react).
Regarding the acceleration down steep hills, I only have one somewhat near me (it’s an up/down overpass across some railroad tracks and another intersection), and it’s in a direction I don’t generally drive, so I’ll have to pay attention the next time I go that way. I do know in the Prius, when heading to my mom’s house which is “up the mountain” but has a lot of up & down on the way there, I will either put on cruise control to control my acceleration down the steepest parts, or put on the engine brake. I don’t like feeling out of control, and I don’t like riding my brake, so I let the car do the work (although according to Google, Toyota doesn’t use a CVT, it uses a “Power Split Device”).
We have a hybrid. Two pedals.
“One-pedal driving” is a driving technique, not the physical setup for the car. EVs like those discussed might have a set-up for this, in order to gain volts while decelerating without pressing the brake. I think I’d hate that.
Like Cialis (?) above, if I put it on the Cruise, it will maintain the speed downhill by engaging the regenerating “brakes” on its own. Do my brake lights turn on? No idea. I’d like to think so, but I’m also in the far right lane, at a little above the speed limit.
Because the “fun” in driving it (versus my sportier car) is pushing the MPGs over 45 (sportier car gets about 25). That’s what I keep telling myself, but the fun never happens.
I think it will be a long time until you see a physical single pedal or joystick-type acceleration controller, where full depress is max acceleration, and full back/no depress is max deceleration. And current cars that use regen braking still have friction brakes to provide max deceleration. I am not sure if that will ever change. I have heard anecdotally that some Teslas turn on their (rear) brake lights when regen braking is triggered.
Alright, so who here has an actual recommendation? Can’t decide if I should go used or new. Not really liking the price tag of a new one, but been reading reviews/what to look for type articles about used and seems like could be a bigger headache buying a used one.
I wish someone would just say, here is the car you should buy to me. I basically just want an EV, it needs to go over 200 miles on a charge. It also needs to be able to hold 4 comfortably.
One issue i might have though is charging, what is the process for getting something installed at your house? I was looking at my electrical panel and i don’t have any open slots and i don’t have a 240V in my garage. If i’m looking to buy new would a dealer install something for free?
If you can tell, i’m just being lazy and have done like 0 research other than look at some cars and comment if they are ugly or not.
I know that Chevy has/had something like installing a L2 charger as part of the expense of a bolt, but we priced it out and it was about 1200, which doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to purchase a new car over a much cheaper used. I think we had extra space on our panel though. I also bought a car which charges fully on my normal plug overnight, doesn’t have the range for more than around town driving, but my Prius still lives at our house, so I just borrow that if needed. I eventually will buy a 200+ mile range car, but I’m waiting for there to be some more options that my spouse will like, because really it’s their car I’m going to replace, and that’s going to be a tougher sell. Give me an electric minivan!
I cannot recommend one.
I mean, you don’t have a charger and you need one. And unless there is one nearby and that you won’t mind waiting 30 minutes for it to charge, I don’t see why you’d get an EV.
For myself, I noticed that I have a 240V (220V?) plug where my gas dryer is (in case I had an electric dryer), and the laundry room is just inside the garage. It wouldn’t take too much to extend those wires to a charger in the garage. Thing is, as I noted above, I don’t really want an EV.
Now, I might need the charger for my son, whose old Prius’s catalytic converter was recently stolen for the second time in a year (other old Priuii in the area also had theirs stolen), and instead of getting the car fixed he’s going to buy another car, looking at Tesla.
Anywho, here is some research:
The Volvo looks good. VW as well. You’ll have to see if your “four comfortably” standard is met by going in person.
The “MPGe” stat from the EPA cannot possibly be absolutely accurate, though it should be relatively accurate amongst EVs, and if that’s all you’re choosing from, then it’s good enough. MPGe requires an assumption of gas prices and electricity prices, both or which can fluctuate, even hourly. (Costco gas prices went up 10 cents between Friday morning and Friday evening).
thanks. The Kia Niro or Hyundai Kona seemed like something i could probably swing new. and they both were touted as more crossovers so i figured they’d have more space. I agree on the Volvo, but i don’t think i can go quite that high, but maybe.
seems like i probably have to get the charging situation figured out first. There is a place that isn’t more than a few miles from house, but i don’t really want to have to sit there for 30 min to an hour or whatever it takes.
Kona is an EV adaptation of existing product. The new Ioniq 5/Kia EV6 (fall 2021) is a purpose-built EV, so I think there is some efficiency gain there. Kona’s batteries were subject to a recall, not sure how that is affecting current sales. Current sales (at least a little while back) were limited to certain states, so not nationwide in US.
I am unaware of any “free install” on a 240V charging system. If your fuse box/distribution panel is maxed out you should get an electrician to help understand if your primary service is enough to add more. Check with your electricity provider to see what programs they might have. I’m sure they’d love to sell you more e.
Do some research. Cold weather really saps the energy out of the battery. Expect half the miles per charge when it is below 32*F. It makes me wonder why all the car makers are in a rush to go 100% electric. If you live in a northern city, the damn things don’t want to work in the winter.
Here’s something I found quickly, but you can google the issue for more info:
So is going for a new (to us) car. They’d like an electric, but minimum requirement is a Volvo and the Volvo electric is 70k CDN. That’s right outa line with any budget, so it’ll have to wait a few years.
The cheaper chemistry Tesla battery (LiFePo), which at one point was only in Made-In-China (MIC) Teslas -not sure if it has made it to US yet-, has greater range loss due to low temp than its US battery according to some. Not sure if there is any definitive data on it.
You can save some of the range loss if you keep your car in a heated/warmer-than-outside garage.
The CR article is incorrect when saying temps don’t affect battery chemistry. They do. Part of the range reduction comes from having to heat the battery to efficient operating temp.
my friend in my building has a free parking concession with his Tesla. So basically, not only is the $375/month parking waived, he also gets free charging.
sounds like a good deal to me.
I unfortunately have a gas car, and also didn’t get free parking
Looks like a 50% drop?
My liberty gets round 12mpg in winter months and 20 the rest of the year, so I think anybody the EVs would be better efficiencies than our current winter vehicle
Prius drops from 50mpg to 35mpg during winter (when it can be driven)
Don’t conventional vehicles experience a drop in MPG in freezing temperatures?
, but I was not 
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thanks. The Kia Niro or Hyundai Kona seemed like something i could probably swing new. and they both were touted as more crossovers so i figured they’d have more space. I agree on the Volvo, but i don’t think i can go quite that high, but maybe.