I don’t regret buying new, but if I could go back in time I might try to do just that, get something 2 yrs old.
New VW ID.Polo looks good.
I just joined the club today. Picked up a '23 Mustang Mach-e. It was a trade-in to my local Toyota dealer that popped up in a search a couple of days ago. I jumped on it right away. It’s still at the dealer getting new tires - should pick it up tomorrow I think.
Had an electrician come out to get me a quote on installing a level 2 charger. That will hopefully happen next week.
3 Likes
Hope you enjoy it! I have been browsing used Ioniq 6’s, as they are on the high end of efficiency.
2 Likes
Interesting development. Sounds like they’re really working hard to make EVs the real deal, especially used ones. We just need charging station availability to catch up to ease range anxiety for long trips.
I came very close to buying a Mach e, it’s a pretty sweet ride. Congrats! We’ll be expecting a pic or two soon.
1 Like
Hoping to pick it up today.
1 Like
A co-worker bought one a couple of months ago and seems to like it.
1 Like
Bro-in-law has one, drove it from LA to Pismo and back. The Hotel offered a free charge at their valet parking (fancy-ass hotel, not one of those run-down joints), so no anxiety.
1 Like
We’ve had good charging station availability for at least the 3 years I’ve been driving an EV (driven from the East coast via Kansas to the West coast and back every year), so not sure what you’re talking about. North Dakota maybe?
Oh, okay, I haven’t followed along with this particular aspect of EV ownership. Is availability generally pretty good now?
Google is your friend. I believe The South is somewhat sparse.
EDIT, and added a map: South doesn’t look as bad as, say North Dakota.
But, with two cars, you won’t need to worry about range issues. You’d just take the ICE car.
https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity-locations#/find/nearest?fuel=ELEC
Drill deep on the map. Sparsely populated and nowhere close to an interstate will have few public stations. Good news is that charging stations can be found using certain apps (for your specific vehicle, mainly for EVs that cannot connect to Tesla stations), and Google Maps.
1 Like
I could dig up a link, but the gist of a recent article was utilization rates of public chargers in the US is holding pretty steady as number of chargers is growing. We seem to be in a sweet spot of growth keeping pace with EV adoption, not overbuild, not underbuild. Local conditions vary, of course.
Anecdotally, during the low-range road trips my Chevy Equinox has taken (somewhere between 10-15 since Dec 2024) less than 400 mi one way), we haven’t had to wait for a stall to open.
There’s some gaps mainly in the west but pretty much all of the lower 48 are within 50 miles of a charger and 100 miles of a fast charger. Additionally, you can charge slowly at any place with a power outlet.
If you zoom in on this map (from Chargehub) some of the gaps will be less so because some of the smaller chargers will show up.
https://chargehub.com/map/#/en/map
Cool. Yeah even my small ultra MAGA town has 2 or 3 chargers in town. Not sure how many homeowners have their own. I do see a Tesla drive by once in a while though.
Download the (free) PlugShare app, afaik it is the most reliable map of chargers and you can filter and all that. Great app.
Honestly, even in rural Kansas we are starting to get there, we have a few places where I’d like to see one for convenience but I can get anywhere and back.
1 Like
Here’s an article from last week on the current state of fast charging. Range anxiety is pretty rare unless you are traveling some distance away from the interstates or in national parks/ski areas. The big thing that is missing is level 2 access in or near apartment/condo buildings.
Yeah, that won’t happen unless required by cities or states, including “no grandfathering.” Could require it for new buildings..
Am curious, but how expensive are public chargers in the US usually vs home charging?
One of the problems in the UK is that public chargers can be over-priced, so takeup of EVs is impacted (as home charging is not available for many people who live in appt buildings)
Average home electricity cost is $0.1745/kwh
Average DC fast charger is $0.47/kwh.
Home charging can vary a lot by state ($0.11 in ND vs $0.40 in HI)
2 Likes