Some of the Conserv-A-Store staff went to the EV Electric Vehicle Car show at the local community college Valencia College in Orlando today. The “event was part of the celebration of Drive Electric Week which started as National Plug In Day in 2011”
“According to Electric Drive Transportation Association data, the EV industry is on pace this year to sell about 16.7 million electric cars compared to 16.5 million sales last year and only 10.4 million in 2009”
We are in favor of EV vehicles as a secondary or depending on your automotive transportation requirements a primary vehicle. The Range Anxiety(how far the car will go without a charge) is something that every EV driver must keep in mind though. If you live more than 80 miles from your work then an EV is probably not for you as a primary car.
We will intersperse pictures of some of the cars we saw throughout this article. Most of the cars shown had the car owner present at the show so you could ask them questions about their ownership experience
Well as my grandfather would say, “Here’s the staple of cars'”
Mitsubishi MiEV
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| The Mitsubishi MiEV |
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Range: 62 mi battery-only
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MSRP: From $22,995
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Horsepower: 66 HP
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Engine: Electric
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Battery: 16 kWh 330 V lithium-ion
This car is solid and Mitsubishi has made EV’s for years. It was a bit smaller and boxlike and has no great cosmetic appeal. The car owner we spoke to said he bought the car for around $10k after an $8k trade in of another vehicle. He seemed to like the car and mentioned it has a long warranty on it’s batteries. It would be looked at as an introductory model for those who cannot afford a Tesla and will be a great start for those who want to give an EV a try
Here’s a Car and Driver review on the MiEV
Ford Focus EV
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| Ford Focus EV-see data sheet for important info-sorry a bit hazy |
The Focus EV looks like a Focus sedan but is electric.
Notice in the boiler plate features the term MPGe. This is an EV equivalent to MPG and is a must for any EV owner to know
Here’s a good video on how MPGe is derived
Here’s a Car and Driver reveiw on the Focus EV
Cadillac ELR Gas EV Hybrid
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| Cadillac ELR Hybrid Gas EV-Like the Chevy Volt |
- Gasoline-range-extended electric plug-in hybrid
- 37-mile EV range, 300-mile total range
- 4.5-hour recharge time on 240-volt charger
- More torque than Cadillac SRX V-6 crossover
We were unaware of the Cadillac EV hybrid until the show. Sadly the owner was not around so we could not visit about his experiences. Guess this model has been on the market for a few years at least. It looks like a Cadillac sedan but with different propulsion
It has a similar technology to the Chevy volt which offers an extended range by having a gas powered generator
Here’s Car and Driver on the Cadillac ELR
Tesla Model S
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| Tesla Model S |
The Model S is the best selling Tesla at this time. It is a beautiful car. The trunk space is especially impressive. There were quite a few at the event. Since we did not take a pic we have uploaded a stock photo. Tesla recently premiered it’s SUV crossover Tesla X-see the link below
Here’s Car and Driver on the Tesla S
Here’s a report on the new Tesla X SUV crossover
BMW i3
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| BMW i3 EV |
Wow this was a sporty little roadster. The owner had just bought it so was just breaking it in. But the design and lines were quite nice. As a crossover SUV it had a surprising amount of space. It seems more affordable than some of the other EV’s
Here’s Car and Drive on the BMW i3
Chevy Volt
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| 2016 Chevy Volt |
The Volt has been out a few years at least and most folks we know that own them have had a pleasant experience. The new 2016 model is supposed to have an extended range over previous models. The engine is similar to the Cadillac above and offers freedom from the range anxiety of EV only autos by having a gas powered generator that accentuates the EV only usage.
There were plenty of Volts at the event but we uploaded a stock photo in lieu of actual
Here’s Car and Driver on the new 2016 model
Nissan Leaf
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| Nissan Leaf being charged at a charging station |
The Leaf has also been out for a few years and seems to be well received by owners. We did speak to a Leaf owner at the event that wished the local Nissan staff was better versed at describing the particulars of the car. She said she had to teach herself a lot about the on board technology that did affect the car’s performance for instance the way the air conditioning is used and the way certain operating components are used when you idle can affect the range quite a bit.
Most of these EV autos have a few things in common:
-You need to keep up with brake maintenance as you would with any car
-The transmission is important but does seem to vary the most between the different manufacturers
-You don’t need to change the oil
-Their acceleration ie 0 to 60mph is fantastic
-You will need to replace batteries sometime but most of the car owners and reps spoke of this in terms of years not months. For instance believe the MiEV has a 5 year battery warranty
-You need to have charging capacity available ie you need a charging station either at your home or work.-see the next paragraph
Regards Charging an EV
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| Tesla’s Supercharger locations in 2014 |
This is really worthy of an entirely different blog post. EV charges range anywhere from 120V ie a plug in your home to 220V to 480V(one of the faster chargers available currently).
See the charger in the Nissan Leaf photo above
Some pro active employers offer EV charging. There are a few taverns in our town of Orlando that offer EV charging(guess they hope you’ll drop in for a pint and a charge). Of course you can purchase a charger for your home. Charging time of course varies on the car and the power of the charger. The 480V chargers can give en effective charge in about an hour
If you are traveling long distance you would need to get on the web and map out the charging stations you would use on your trip as in the map above
The beauty of Electric vehicles is that electricity can be gained from so many different raw materials.
Yes electricity can be generated from coal and nat gas and petroleum but it can also be generated from SolarPV, Wind, Tidal, Hydro, Geothermal, Solar Thermal, Burning Waste and of course Nuclear. That way we the users of electricity are not servants to a few owners of electricity generation and we can of course generate our own electricity at our homes.
We really suggest you go to a local dealer and test drive an EV. You’ll enjoy the quiet and the acceleration. Even if you cannot afford one now you can begin to search the pre-owned marketplace with the hopes of purchasing an EV in the next few years.
We predict in the next 20 years most of you reading this article today will own an EV as a primary or secondary car. Thankfully the end of internal combustion auto transportation is upon us. It will make the world a better place to live
Thanks to Orlando Sentinel Marco Santana for some of the quoted portions of this article
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Tom Saxton
The EDTA numbers quoted include plugless hybrid vehicles, which we don't get any energy from the electric grid. They are really just more efficient gas cars.
Electric cars, and even plugless hybrids, require less brake maintenance that regular cars because the brakes get less use and wear due to the use of regenerative braking which slows down the car by using the motor as a generator to charge the battery pack.
The iMiEV, Leaf, and Model S all have 8- year battery warranties. I think all of the other major plug-in models do as well.
Conserv-A-Store
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