Electrogenic is now offering a "drop-in" EV conversion

[Bitsyncmaster]

I would own a second car being EV for driving around town. But paying for it and insurance just to have an EV then makes no sense. My Toyota Camry can get 700 miles on a tank of highway driving if I really top off the tank. In the summer I get around 40 MPG driving around town. On a trip it gets over 45 MPG. It's the 8 speed transmission that lets it get that good MPG.

[dn010]

At least 3 of my 6 vehicles can go over 400, my Altima, xterra and my F150 with the 10 speed (as long as I run 89 and not E85) can do it. Former police officer so sitting in a car for over 6 hours was no problem, used to drive straight through from NY to FL.

None of that matters now because I'm ready to step on a plane for anything over a two hour drive. I have no hate for EVs, but as stated before they just aren't practical for me here in Florida. Some of the people I know who dumped their EV but liked the "idea" went to hybrids which I could possibly consider in the future. We will see what happens though, technology only gets better.

[Chris4099]

I'm going on a 740 mile road trip next week to Montana in a single day (with a 4 year old). Once I get there, I'll report back and be 100% honest with you in what I experience. If I experience a line or down chargers, I'll let you know.

Per above, I just finished a road trip to rural Montana. The car navigation said I could do the 719 miles in three charging stops that would add 1.5 hours to the 11.5 hour trip. However, I ignored that and instead did it with 5 charging stops. This reduced my charging time to 1.25 hours. This was because the more frequent stops allowed me to reduce the amount of charge required and by keeping that low, I was able to leverage the charging curve better (batteries with lower states of charge can accept more power). While 15 minute stops may seem like a long time, it's not. You would be surprised how long it actually takes to use the bathroom and grab a snack or eat a meal. We probably waited a grand total of 10-15 minutes just sitting in the car waiting for it to have enough to reach the next stop. So if we took a gas car for this trip, we would have arrived more tired (due to higher noise and vibration levels from a gas engine) without much time saved.

As for the charging itself, very uneventful. Busiest station was in Spokane, WA which had 8 chargers with 5 being in use. Even then, when I plugged in I still got the full 250kW power as expected. The other 4 stops had between 0 and 2 other cars charging when we arrived. Granted this was on a Wednesday, but I'll see how bad it is when return next Sunday. Total cost including the initial charge at home was just over $50 or 7 cents per mile.

[dmcman73]

Per above, I just finished a road trip to rural Montana. The car navigation said I could do the 719 miles in three charging stops that would add 1.5 hours to the 11.5 hour trip. However, I ignored that and instead did it with 5 charging stops. This reduced my charging time to 1.25 hours. This was because the more frequent stops allowed me to reduce the amount of charge required and by keeping that low, I was able to leverage the charging curve better (batteries with lower states of charge can accept more power). While 15 minute stops may seem like a long time, it's not. You would be surprised how long it actually takes to use the bathroom and grab a snack or eat a meal. We probably waited a grand total of 10-15 minutes just sitting in the car waiting for it to have enough to reach the next stop. So if we took a gas car for this trip, we would have arrived more tired (due to higher noise and vibration levels from a gas engine) without much time saved.

As for the charging itself, very uneventful. Busiest station was in Spokane, WA which had 8 chargers with 5 being in use. Even then, when I plugged in I still got the full 250kW power as expected. The other 4 stops had between 0 and 2 other cars charging when we arrived. Granted this was on a Wednesday, but I'll see how bad it is when return next Sunday. Total cost including the initial charge at home was just over $50 or 7 cents per mile.

Sorry, but you would be more tired due to higher noise and vibration levels from the gas engine? What did you use to drive, a diesel engine car with rotted motor mounts? I barely hear or feel the engine in my car and I take it on extremely long road trips. With the DeLorean, that's noisy and I can feel the engine, but not once has it made me tired of uncomfortable driving that long distances.

I think you're reaching here to make your case why you love your EV so much.

[Chris4099]

Sorry, but you would be more tired due to higher noise and vibration levels from the gas engine? What did you use to drive, a diesel engine car with rotted motor mounts? I barely hear or feel the engine in my car and I take it on extremely long road trips. With the DeLorean, that's noisy and I can feel the engine, but not once has it made me tired of uncomfortable driving that long distances.

I think you're reaching here to make your case why you love your EV so much.

Every EV owner I've ever talked to both in person and online has also said that driving their EV is just less tiring. If you were to actually drive an EV, you would feel this as well. There's just something about the lack of engine noise/vibration that makes it less fatiquing. Some also say it's the extra charging stops, but I'm not so sure about that. For example, I frequently drive up to Seattle for a day. That's just under 200 miles or 3.5 hours each way. I'm flat out exhausted after doing that in my D. This is with taking a pit stop in each direction (for gas and bathroom break). But when I do this in an EV, I don't feel like I've been driving all day. This is with the same single pit stop in each direction.

[Timeless]

No EV I have driven/owned compares to a 1500+ mile road trip in my 7-series or an S-Class with massaging seats + the works. Ive driven Detroit-Vegas-Colorado-Detroit in a 2006 E500 and it was a joy. Maybe someone can chime in who owns a EQS450 and share their experience.

[David T]

No EV I have driven/owned compares to a 1500+ mile road trip in my 7-series or an S-Class with massaging seats + the works. Ive driven Detroit-Vegas-Colorado-Detroit in a 2006 E500 and it was a joy. Maybe someone can chime in who owns a EQS450 and share their experience.

I just did a 1300 mile trip in an Escalade with adaptive cruse control and supercruise. I doubt you could have done it with an EV pulling a car trailer. It will be a while before you can say internal combustion cars are obsolete. I will admit I used a LOT of gas! I only got about 8 MPG. An EV would probably have taken twice as long to do the trip because of all of the charging necessary and that is assuming you could find charging stations along the way. Without charging stations, using an ordinary outlet takes even longer to recharge the batteries. Driving an EV takes a lot more planning especially doing interstate driving. As for not using all of that "Fossil Fuel", just how do you think most of the electric in the world is made? Only a small fraction of the electric produced is made by renewable sources or Nuclear. So EV's still use carbon producing fuels, just not locally.

[Chris4099]

I just did a 1300 mile trip in an Escalade with adaptive cruse control and supercruise. I doubt you could have done it with an EV pulling a car trailer. It will be a while before you can say internal combustion cars are obsolete. I will admit I used a LOT of gas! I only got about 8 MPG. An EV would probably have taken twice as long to do the trip because of all of the charging necessary and that is assuming you could find charging stations along the way. Without charging stations, using an ordinary outlet takes even longer to recharge the batteries. Driving an EV takes a lot more planning especially doing interstate driving. As for not using all of that "Fossil Fuel", just how do you think most of the electric in the world is made? Only a small fraction of the electric produced is made by renewable sources or Nuclear. So EV's still use carbon producing fuels, just not locally.

David,
I don't think you read my posts above. As already mentioned, almost no planning is required. The car tells you where to stop. There are also plenty of 3rd party sites/apps that can do the planning for you. No different then using GPS in any other car. If you do it enough, you don't even have to think about it. I just know where I'm going to stop as I've stopped there before. Can you provide a point A to point B trip in the US not sufficiently covered by DC charging stations? I can't! Fun Fact: If I wanted to, I could return from my current Montana vacation using a completely different set of charging stations then what I used to get here, using the exact same roads.

As for towing, while not as easy as using gas, it can and has been done plenty of times. Here's part 1 of a YouTube channel that hauled a car 1,300 miles from Seattle to Denver. And they did it using the EA network which doesn't have the best reputation these days. The F150 Lightning now has access to the Tesla Supercharger network which would have made that trip even easier. Very impressive how much we've come even in the last 5 years.
https://youtu.be/aGCokwJnntQ?si=ng09PyW54dJ9wijw

As for your very last statement, when did 40% become a "small fraction"? And with renewables now more cheaper then coal, this will only grow.
https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

As for the whole comfort thing further up, I would like to point out these cars are luxury cars with massive amounts of dampening to isolate and comfort the driver from the engine. Dampening that's not required for EV (kind of proves my point). I was talking more along the lines of a standard 4 door sedan/CUV compared to a similarly equipped EV. I shouldn't have brought up the D as that's really not far comparing such an old car.

[dn010]

massive amounts of dampening

Massive amounts? The 1989 Volvo 780 Bertone with the B280F engine was one of the smoothest running cars I've ever driven. It had one, maybe two dampening pistons (I can't remember which) on the engine in addition to the two engine mounts. Same engine installed in the DeLorean does not produce much vibrating at all. A well balanced engine doesn't need much.

[David T]

EV's are still an emerging technology competing against a much older but more mature technology. I agree at some point EV's will surpass internal combustion technology, we just disagree on when. Even when that happens there will still be a place for I/C technology. EV's need better batteries, faster charging times, and more charging stations. Incremental change takes time but it will happen. The free market also plays a role in how fast it happens. Too fast and you get massive economic disruptions. As for now, I/C cars are still the better choice for most people just considering economics. For many people who live in cities and have to park on the street, they can't charge their vehicles conveniently. As for converting a Delorean, it makes no sense unless you are using it as a daily driver and money doesn't matter. Renewables are only low cost right now because of massive government subsidies and renewables and Nuclear are less than 25% of all electric produced globally. In some areas that percentage may be higher but it also varies by season and weather.