We have bought an electric car!

[ObeWan]

[attachment=230]

Should we now be prepared for all the hate?

[king1]

is that a thing is it? I was kind of thinking I would like my next car to be electric, but stories about the cost of batteries puts me off

[ObeWan]

is that a thing is it?  I was kind of thinking I would like my next car to be electric, but stories about the cost of batteries puts me off

This comes with 8 year, 160,000km battery warranty and I don't think Hyundai would expect it to fail on the day the warranty expires.
i haven't ever owned any vehicle for 8 years so I am not overly concerned.
Quite an experience with the torque of an electric motor.
Encourage anyone to try it first.

[Olive]

Hate? Really? When we got our hybrid the only reaction we got was curiosity and mild envy. We'll certainly trade up to a full electric next time.

[yousnoozeyoulose]

Noice. Lovin' the blue.

[ObeWan]

Oh yes, it’s a thing!
We have had a few “anti” comments.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/woee2gd/

[king1]

Oh yes, it’s a thing!
We have had a few “anti” comments.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/woee2gd/

I think this writers credibility is now Zero... Last paragraph, talking about the richest man on the planet...

Okay, I’m done FOR NOW. I have other reasons. but you probably don’t want to hear them. But one final thing: I respect Elon Musk as a scientific genius, but he clearly has NO IDEA whatsoever about running a car company.

[Zurdo]

I usually don't buy any vehicles that are running or roadworthy. By the time EV's trickle down to my bottom feeding level...will I be able to fix them ? If they have a flat battery, I just buy another battery...so this could get expensive for me.

[ObeWan]

I quite liked the Tesla Model 3 but wife thought it was too low to the ground and after her recent hip surgery it was a bit too much of a risk for the future.
Pity, as it was fractionaly cheaper too.
But as the saying goes: happy wife, happy life.
Lol.

[king1]

This was one of the recent cases I saw, $22,000 for new batteries apparently

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/3004887...in-repairs

[ObeWan]

I usually don't buy any vehicles that are running or roadworthy. By the time EV's trickle down to my bottom feeding level...will I be able to fix them ? If they have a flat battery, I just buy another battery...so this could get expensive for me.

That is the crystal ball question I guess.
Not sure you would want to work on that high voltage stuff under the bonnet, but I am no expert.
I would assume prices will continue to fall as technology advances.
Especially in the second hand market as they become available.
As I say, crystal ball.

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This was one of the recent cases I saw, $22,000 for new batteries apparently

https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/3004887...in-repairs

I think there has been some social media chat about that guy.
something of a protest against Musk if I recall.
Most comments on the Tesla social media pages were calling him a nutter.
Dont quote me tho.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I came home from the hospital in a fully electric car, I loved it. My only quibble about them is they are so quiet. Traveling on the footpaths on my scoot I have had several near misses with e vehicles pulling out of driveways, I just don't hear them coming. I am now very wary...

[ObeWan]

I came home from the hospital in a fully electric car, I loved it. My only quibble about them is they are so quiet. Traveling on the footpaths on my scoot I have had several near misses with e vehicles pulling out of driveways, I just don't hear them coming. I am now very wary...

Certainly are quiet. 
A new regulation in Europe now means all new electric vehicles must emit an external noise under 12mph.
I would imagine these sorts of laws will follow here purely due to all manufacturers following them.
Currently, If they are reversing (eg: out of a driveway) the car emits a sound plus a warning to the driver if the car detects anything within a certain radius front and rear.
Drivers still need to be aware of surroundings.

[harm_less]

Congrat's on your EV purchase ObeWan. You'll now understand what the EV smile is all about as you're probably wearing one already. The Nero is a good choice. Good range and well supported in NZ.

We purchased our Leaf in mid 2014 so have now had almost 7 years driving, and fuel savings, from it. Battery is down to about 65% State of Health so range is close to becoming an issue with our rural commuting distances but EVs Enhanced have battery exchange/replacement options for around $12K that is way less than the fuel savings we've enjoyed since owning the Leaf, or will save during the life of the new battery, depending on your viewpoint.

Keep in mind too that the battery degradation issue is largely a Leaf issue as they were designed to produce cheaply in order to gain a foothold for EVs in the international market, which they've done very successfully. To minimise manufacturing costs Leaf have no active thermal management of their batteries so degradation happens more appreciably (especially if fast charged) than for other EVs, all of which have battery cooling systems in place. Tesla for example are claiming the near release of a 'million mile battery' based on their newest technology. And while we're talking about Tesla there are a lot of questions regarding the Finnish guy's highly publicised blowing up of his Tesla because of a high battery replacement cost, including whether he had removed the battery prior to the stunt. Do some Googling for yourself.

In our case we installed a PV system to our previous property in order to capitalise on being able to maximise consumption of our own generation by charging the Leaf. That worked to a point but we're now on a new property and have installed PV again complete with the latest available technology and results look promising. Keep an eye on our business's website for a blog with details on that. Suffice to say that not buying petrol is very EV smile inducing currently  

To address the naysayers we do find the range of the Leaf restrictive but we have a cranky old Holden Commodore that is put into service for out of province trips or to tow our trailer. This old oil burner has long since seen 1/4 million kilometres roll over but our intention is to nurse the old girl along until circumstances allow us to replace it with an EV that will do the same job. A Polestar 2 is nice to imagine in this regard but time and economic circumstances will dictate that. As is often said  'once you drive EV you don't go back to ICE!'  It's true!!

[ObeWan]

   

Thanks Harm Less,
Yes, it is a really new experience.
Vehicle is a Hyundai Kona 64kw.
Range surprised me somewhat.

[Zurdo]

People hated Bob Dylan when he got an electric guitar.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I came home from the hospital in a fully electric car, I loved it. My only quibble about them is they are so quiet. Traveling on the footpaths on my scoot I have had several near misses with e vehicles pulling out of driveways, I just don't hear them coming. I am now very wary...

Certainly are quiet. 
A new regulation in Europe now means all new electric vehicles must emit an external noise under 12mph.
I would imagine these sorts of laws will follow here purely due to all manufacturers following them.
Currently, If they are reversing (eg: out of a driveway) the car emits a sound plus a warning to the driver if the car detects anything within a certain radius front and rear.
Drivers still need to be aware of surroundings.

That makes me feel safer, thank you!

[harm_less]

Thanks Harm Less,
Yes, it is a really new experience.
Vehicle is a Hyundai Kona 64kw.
Range surprised me somewhat.

Great advice we received from a Tesla Model S owner was to sign up with Ecotricity, if they're available in your area. Their off-peak electricity tariffs are definitely worth taking advantage of. We charge our Leaf from midnight (using a timer) to minimise charging costs, and shift our demand away from national peak demands. (That's if we don't get the chance to charge off our PV during the day). I'm not familiar with the Nero but many EVs have functionality in their software to schedule charging times.

---

I came home from the hospital in a fully electric car, I loved it. My only quibble about them is they are so quiet. Traveling on the footpaths on my scoot I have had several near misses with e vehicles pulling out of driveways, I just don't hear them coming. I am now very wary...

Certainly are quiet. 
A new regulation in Europe now means all new electric vehicles must emit an external noise under 12mph.
I would imagine these sorts of laws will follow here purely due to all manufacturers following them.
Currently, If they are reversing (eg: out of a driveway) the car emits a sound plus a warning to the driver if the car detects anything within a certain radius front and rear.
Drivers still need to be aware of surroundings.

I'm certainly conscious of the silent aspect in situations such as supermarket car parks. Reverse has a chime/alarm but slow speed forward certainly does catch out pedestrians. People wearing earbuds/headphones are obviously at risk but that applies to all traffic for them, not just EVs.

[ObeWan]

Thanks Harm Less,
Yes, it is a really new experience.
Vehicle is a Hyundai Kona 64kw.
Range surprised me somewhat.

Great advice we received from a Tesla Model S owner was to sign up with Ecotricity, if they're available in your area. Their off-peak electricity tariffs are definitely worth taking advantage of. We charge our Leaf from midnight (using a timer) to minimise charging costs, and shift our demand away from national peak demands. (That's if we don't get the chance to charge off our PV during the day). I'm not familiar with the Nero but many EVs have functionality in their software to schedule charging times.

Yes thanks have done that.
And can schedule timed charging relatively easy.
note: Kona not Niro. But they are pretty similar.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Just a thought about batteries, replacing mine in the scooter will cost me over $500 without the labour...

Expensive blurry things!