Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
Battery degradation so far appears not to be a big concern in certain models such as the Bolt or Tesla. After an initial bit of degradation the first couple years, it seems to slow to something like 1% per year. I think even the gen II Leaf is doing much better.
Another consideration is that Bolt owners are likely to receive new battery packs. When used car prices return to normal, the Bolt might be a good value. Severe CO weather might reduce the 250 mile range to only 150. Don't know if that would be acceptable or not in your situation.
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I hope that's the case. I'm any event, technology seems to get better with time, and we still have a long time before they start closing gas stations. So hopefully by the time it's an EV or nothing there will be plenty of suitable options.
As far as I'm concerned, having 100 miles of range in the worst weather would be doable if and when there's enough charging infrastructure. The less infrastructure the farther the car needs to be able to go. I don't want to have to stick to certain predetermined routes to follow a path of charging stations while avoiding other routes, scenic or otherwise, just because I couldn't afford the +500 mile range EV.
Right now, a lot of routes I take when going out of town do not pass near any DC quick charging of any kind. And some still don't even have level 2 charging along them.
Take, for an example, when I go to El Paso. Along US Hwy 285 there's no quick charging, and the Level 2 charging is very sparse. Once I get to Santa Fe I could take I-25 where there's more, and going to be more DCQC stations. But I prefer going to US HWY 54 and taking that instead, which doesn't have hardly any level 2 and no DCQC. Now if the EV has a 400-500 mile range I could hit a DCQC in Santa Fe and be ok. By comparison I fill up my Avalon here and never stop for fuel on the whole ~575 mile trip.
Another thing too too keep in mind about range is that 250 miles of range isn't going to take you 250 miles without hypermiling and/or arriving with near 0%. In my Avalon I arrive with more than 60 miles of range left.