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EV experience so far

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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: EV experience so far
    Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 9:52pm
The reason for eliminating spare tires is to reduce weight. When a heavy battery is being carried, something has to give to keep the weight down. Beside that, the space the battery takes also impacts what can be carried.
StephenH
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ouR escaPOD mods
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Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Tars Tarkas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 9:35pm
It really seems counter-intuitive to not have a spare.  It may be an old-timer attitude though.  I have a 4WD FJ Cruiser, over 12 years old now and I've mounted the spare once.  I wouldn't want to be without a spare -- a full sized spare is important for 4WD.  My road conditions are worse than yours, I can just about guarantee you, but if I had a 2WD "little" EV car, it would be hard for me to get used to, but I think run-flats would be the way to go.  For reasons I don't understand, people hardly ever have flats anymore, and when they do, run-flats will get you home probably over 90% of the time.  That would be good for a hundred years for me in my FJ at the rate I've been going.

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furpod View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote furpod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 9:05pm
MANY new cars are speced with run flats.. and so.. no spare. Some do include a can of fix a flat type stuff..
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote StephenH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 3:16pm
Did you check to see if the tires on your Bolt has run-flat capability? I don't know, but I saw something that indicated that they were self-sealing. Before spending money on a spare and jack, check out the capability of the tires first.


Edit:  Post #5 in this topic has the instructions for patching the self-sealing tires.
StephenH
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 11:26am
Ok, so now I do have a bone to pick with GM.

It's a damp day and I can't work on the Chinook so I'm looking over the Bolt in the garage. Looked under the rear storage area, no spare tire, not even a silly donut spare!

I didn't bother to check into that before purchase but sure enough, no spare comes with the car. I gather that thats pretty common now in the compact car segment.

What are they thinking!?
That might be fine in suburbia land but that dog don't hunt out here in the boonies. Dirt roads, had 2 flats in 2 different vehicles in the past 6 months. And no cell signal lots of places, so you can forget calling AAA. I think it might not be a good thing in some urban locales I can think of either...

So now I gotta find a donut spare off a wrecked Chevy Cruze or some other vehicle with the same weird bolt pattern, plus a Harbor Freight scissors jack and lug wrench, and figure out how to fit it all in the little hole back there without it sliding around. Grrrr.

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote offgrid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jan 2023 at 6:41am
Well, I just picked up my brand new Chevy Bolt EV Friday.

So far so good, other than if feels like I'm driving around in a computer, but I guess that's true of every new car these days.

It turns out I'm going to get the full $7500 tax credit on my Bolt. Chevy had run through it's credit allotment under the old program. New legislation reinstated it beginning Jan 1 but its only going to be half because the battery components are sourced from China (which is true for all EVs right now). It will take a couple of years to get that stuff into compliance. But the feds haven't posted the final detailed rules yet so they are allowing a two month extension. So, I hit the right window. Whoo hoo! After tax credit, VA tax and tags the Bolt came in right around $25k, and that's with a nice mid trim level. Not bad at all.

I'm also impressed by GMs build quality so far. Weve been a Toyota family for going on 35 years, like many Americans we got away from considering cars built by the US manufacturers back then because of a couple bad quality experiences. The Bolt now has very nice fit and finish, panels are aligned nicely, nicely stiched fabrics, paint isn't orange peeled, etc. Up to or close to Toyota standards are far as I can tell. No complaints so far.

Vehicle has great ride and handling, very quiet, plenty of power at 150kw/200hp. Seems planted because of the low C of G. So far everything I've tried on the car works but it will probably take weeks to months to learn all the features, if I ever do.

I really like the one pedal driving option, which is the preferred way to drive an EV. Basically, you never use your friction brakes except on a very steep hill or in an emergency, all your normal braking is done by lifting your right foot, the motor turns into a generator and the energy goes back into your battery.

Re charging, I purchased the $250 dual 240V/120V charge cable. GM will either pay you up to $1000 towards the 240V "level 2" charger installation or you can opt for a $500 credit at public chargers. Since I already have a 240V receptacle for my welder I'm opting for the $500. Just have to change the receptacle itself which is a NEMA 15-50 and get an adapter for the welder, which uses a NEMA 6-50. So my cost for home charging infrastructure is going to be all of $35. That will charge the car from empty overnight. In the meantime I'm using the 120V, 12A option which is ridiculously slow. I'm hoping the $500 credit is good indefinetely because it will be a very long time before we can use that up.

Anyhow I've taken the next step toward a fossil fuel free future, Next comes the RV solar upgrade I'm in the middle of (the drive system will remain an ICE) . Then the electric tractor conversion project and home solar install next summer.

Last will be my work/tow vehicle, maybe a used F150 lightning in a couple of years? The plane isn't going to get electrified in the foreseeable future, so I'll have to wait till I'm too old to fly and RV anymore to be fully fossil fuel free. That's ok, those vehicles are recreational. I'll have cut my fuel use by about 80% without them.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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