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sportier

Any kind of charger could be broken or occupied too long ...

Yeah, sure, but gas pumps today are pretty reliable.  As EVs become more common, we'll obviously need a lot more charging stations that are reliable.

I'm curious as to how much better EVs will be in say five years.  There certainly will be a lot more of them, types, brands, etc.  My GUESS is range is going to top out around 300 miles (plus a bit).  Charging speeds may improve further, and it would be nice to have charging stations that are universal.  Then there is the price question, Tesla and Ford have cut prices recently, GM cut prices on their EUV Bolt as well, and you have the tax credit (that is limited).  

I think there is a lot to be had with delivery vehicles, FedEx etc. and maybe city buses.

When would you personally think seriously about an EV for your next purchase?  I'd guess something like five years hence it would be a candidate.

When would you personally think seriously about an EV for your next purchase?  I'd guess something like five years hence it would be a candidate.

One issue for me is that I've learned not to trust the media. They strongly resist reporting facts that are counter to the narrative being pushed by the establishment. 

In this case, I want to know the impact of temperature and towing on EV range. It is 12° where I am right now and projected to drop into the single digits tonight. With an ICE the heat is basically "free" because it is a byproduct of the combustion in the cylinders. The only thing necessary to heat the vehicle is to transmit and distribute the existing heat. With an EV there is no "free" heat so you'd necessarily have to use electricity to create it and I know from home wiring that making heat takes a lot of juice. How much does that impact range?

If I bought a PHEV how much would my range from at 30°, how much at 20°, how much at 10° or even lower?

When would you personally think seriously about an EV for your next purchase?  I'd guess something like five years hence it would be a candidate.

It will be a serious contender for my next purchase. 

When I bought the Flex in 2017, it was with the understanding that I needed a vehicle for me + my wife + my three kids + eventually a dog. So I needed something with plenty of room. At the time, the only remotely acceptable EV on the market was the Tesla Model X, and IMHO it was not only out of my price range, but the EV infrastructure was still too new and underdeveloped to do it. 

I will keep the Flex at least until my eldest leaves for college in 3 1/2 years. So realistically I'll be looking for another vehicle roundabout 2026-27. Possibly longer if I keep the Flex a little while beyond that, as my annual driving mileage isn't as high as it was pre-pandemic. I just crossed 80K miles but probably won't be much past 100K by then. I'm sure i could keep it even longer, maybe 125K. 

So when I'm ready to buy, I think the EV market will be MUCH more developed than it was in 2017, and with all of the new EVs coming out over the next 3-4 years, much more developed than it is in 2023. 

At that point it'll probably come down to:

• Difference in acquisition price of BEV vs ICEV in the class and style of vehicle I want. 
• Whether there is a robust used market for quality BEVs such that I don't have to buy new off the lot. 
• Assuming that I'm a homeowner (as opposed to currently renting) and can put in a charger in the garage.
• If the acquisition cost of BEV is significantly higher, the question of how much I'm driving will really matter. Buying and charging at home is generally cheaper than buying gas, but if I'm only driving say 5-6K/year, does it pencil out? 

So I haven't made up my mind on the vehicle choice at that time, but that's when I'll seriously consider BEV. 

Good point about driving "miles per year".  Our five year old GTI is just under 30,000 miles.  It does pretty well on mpg, I get upper 30s on the road and maybe 28 mpg around town.  So, we're using about 200 gal per year, or $700 or so (for premium at Costco).  Even if charging was free, that isn't that much to worry about (for me).

Yeah, and I've also got the Jeep that can split mileage when the weather is nice. Which, quite frankly, is most of the year here. 

So whether it'll make financial sense to go BEV or not will be decided when we get there. 

CA will be interesting because gas is expensive here, but so is electricity. Where those two fit relative to each other 4 years from now, and which way they're trending, will also be a bit part of it. If CA starts having more and more EVs such that the grid demand goes up, and the price of electricity rises relative to gas, it might actually flip the "dollars per mile" calculation the other way.