Aptera Reboot - Improved

[oil pan 4]

Hybrid car engine oils tend to get loaded up with unburned gasoline due to the engine always turning off not reaching temperature. I change the oil in our hybrid at about 3,500 miles in the winter because of fuel getting in the oil.

[Rcnesneg]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

[*]You have those that want a toy. This could compete with the Mazda Miata. It has two seats and zips around. People in this segment may want the solar and camping kind of stuff because that may be on their lists of things to do with the car, even if not at all practical.
[*]Then you have those who want a commuter. You may get some who have enough money for several cars in the family and want something just to go to work in.

#3 - People who want to road trip and need RANGE. Lots of range. Like 600 miles for $38k. Can't get that anywhere else for any price anywhere near reasonable.

Great commuter, sure, Solar charging, sure. But it's all about efficiency and that gives you range for a low price.

[sheepdog 44]

I really want to know what they are doing about thermal insulation. Seeing as the roof is black and it has a very large and horizontal glass hatch. The more efficient you are, the greater percentage of energy is used to cool the vehicle. Though since it's electric I don't expect it to rob horsepower from the engine like the Insight does.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Rcnesneg

#3 - People who want to road trip and need RANGE. Lots of range. Like 600 miles for $38k. Can't get that anywhere else for any price anywhere near reasonable.

Great commuter, sure, Solar charging, sure. But it's all about efficiency and that gives you range for a low price.

This is something I've been preaching too.

The current way of thinking is just add more batteries. But that's the most expensive part of an EV. And having owned an EV myself I know what range anxiety is. There still aren't enough places to charge and EV ranges that are long enough to go over normal highways that I am accustomed to drive. I don't want to spend upwards of $40,000 on a car, even if it costs about a third to fuel than other cars, just to not quite get enough range still.

I would only get an EV again if either it's a beater for driving around town, at which point even 10 miles range could be ok if the car were cheap enough. Or I want enough range to be able to take the car anywhere a gasoline or diesel car could go without major inconveniences, which last I checked I personally would need at least a 600 mile EV range unless more quickcharge stations pop up. Or it needs to be a plug-in hybrid.

Right now I'm a bit short on money to get the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX with it's 600 mile range.

[oil pan 4]

The easy answer is don't use an EV for going on road trips.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

The easy answer is don't use an EV for going on road trips.

I always say, if you don't want car problems don't own a car...

Anywho, that is an easy answer, but doesn't solve the problem. EVs have advantages and so do ICEVs.

• If you own two new cars, one can be an EV and the other an ICEV. Then yes, just take the ICEV on road trips.
• But what if you own just one car? You either lose the benefits of one or the other. EVs don't go as far or cost more to build. ICEV's cost more to fuel. PHEVs can cost more to build and to fuel. Pick one.
• And even if you own two cars, what if you can only afford one good car? Will it be the EV or the ICEV?. That was my situation. For commuting I was taking the nice newer EV. For taking my wife to see her parents, we took the old beater. See the problem?

[redpoint5]

There shall ever be the conundrum of those with fewer means having fewer options. That is the definition of fewer means.

That's neither a dismissal of circumstance or praise.

[oil pan 4]

I use my leaf as a pickup/suv, but I don't go very far with it.
And my wife has the hybrid.

[Rcnesneg]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

The easy answer is don't use an EV for going on road trips.

I'd rather road trip BY FAR with a 300 mile range EV than a fossil fuel vehicle. But I wouldn't try that with your old leaf.

600 mile range EV is the dream!

[redpoint5]

It's not the dream, because paying for, and lugging around a constantly degrading expensive item for the capability of accomplishing the 0.2% trips where that range could be handy is an absurd waste of resources and ruins all other properties of the vehicle for those times where that range isn't required, which is the other 99.8% of the time.

A 600 mile range EV is dumb when there's already 600 mile range ICE vehicles. There's 3 people in the world that would actually pay money for the thing, which isn't a big enough market to justify such a vehicle.