Man forced to ditch Ford EV truck during family road trip to Chicago: ‘biggest scam of modern times’

Status
Not open for further replies.

Lucifer Morningstar

Well-known member
Aug 30, 2022
1,247
1,899
113
Why is there this mentality that you can only go 50 miles in a day? If all I do is drive to work and back, I will be driving 140 miles. Sometimes I go to lunch so that adds to it. Other days, I drive my daughter to her after school activities. Usually I put around 160 miles on it per day.
I was just reporting what the man said to me that he only drove short distances daily. I was not trying to represent an entire mentality.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MSUDAWGFAN

mstateglfr

Well-known member
Feb 24, 2008
13,454
3,373
113
Are you concerned they will hijack the train? and take it where? to where it was going anyway?
I could understand if some are hesitant due to a lack of screening for weapons.

Not saying the hesitation is rooted in well reasoned logic that references data, but I can still understand some feeling hesitant.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChE1997

vhdawg

Well-known member
Sep 29, 2004
3,898
890
113
Having recently driven from Jackson to Minot, ND, which is basically a left turn's difference from driving to Winnipeg, this guy is a moron. It's a long way between anything in Big Sky country and you're expecting to be able to charge something? Insane.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChE1997

Hot Rock

Active member
Jan 2, 2010
1,388
367
83
As with use cases for everything, there are exceptions and outliers. You are clearly an outlier since you average 58,000 miles per year, compared the the US average of 13,500. Your situation is so far removed from what is typical/average that there is no point in comparing it. You drive more than 4x the average.
If he never drives more than 200 miles in a day or has a plan when he does, he may be the biggest winner of us all if he switched. He would make his money back quicker for the extra initial cost and start banking money sooner. Almost all the decent EV trucks and cars get over 300 miles estimated and even when cold or towing get over 200.

Depending on his current cost per mile for gas and what he choses to replace it with will change his savings. I switched from a 30mpg to a EV that gets 3.8 miles per KWH in summer and 3.4-3.6 during the winter depending on how cold. Batteries get less efficient due to cold and running heaters. It does matter how you drive. Long stretches of sustained driving at 70-80 mph will get you less mileage but when you stop and start a lot you get better mileage. Best I got ever was 4.2 miles per KWH when I stopped and started a lot one day.

Current gas prices 3.30 gallon = 3.30 / 30 = 11 cents per mile.

Current KWH prices .1084 cents / 3.8 = 2.86 cents per mile. I am averaging about 3.8 right now.

11 - 2.8 = 8.2 cents per mile saved. A lot depends on his current mileage and the vehicle choses to replace it with. The initial extra cost etc.. would have to be weighed

His 58,000 miles x .082 = $4,756.00 savings per year in fuel and that's before you begin to talk about less maintenance cost. No oil changes, hell I don't even use my brakes, my regenerative braking recharges the batteries and I rarely even touch my brakes. I know this, I would not stay in a ICE out of stubbornness. Throw in the rebate of $7,500 for buying domestic EV's and it gets more attractive.

Recharging at night at home is the key to saving the most or having a place to recharge on the road. I stay at hotels that offer recharging as a complimentary service and many new EVs come with some sort of charging package. Hyundai offers 3 years of limited free charging with Electrify America. Once I get to an interstate, El Am charging stations are enough of them to go anywhere for no cost. I can drive to Florida on one initial charge and recharge for free for 3 years. You will need to get level 2 charging 240V station at home. 32amp is fine but I installed a 50 amp wire and plug and bought a charger that plugs into it so I can use that plug for other things as well. I got a splitter to change to 120V.

Make no mistake: You do have to learn something new, the switch to EV is not seamless. You will not be happy if you switch and don't expect anything to be different because it will be but you can save money if you don't mind it. Personally, I enjoy the process of learning new interesting things.
 

MSUDAWGFAN

Active member
Apr 17, 2014
883
318
63
If he never drives more than 200 miles in a day or has a plan when he does, he may be the biggest winner of us all if he switched. He would make his money back quicker for the extra initial cost and start banking money sooner. Almost all the decent EV trucks and cars get over 300 miles estimated and even when cold or towing get over 200.

Depending on his current cost per mile for gas and what he choses to replace it with will change his savings. I switched from a 30mpg to a EV that gets 3.8 miles per KWH in summer and 3.4-3.6 during the winter depending on how cold. Batteries get less efficient due to cold and running heaters. It does matter how you drive. Long stretches of sustained driving at 70-80 mph will get you less mileage but when you stop and start a lot you get better mileage. Best I got ever was 4.2 miles per KWH when I stopped and started a lot one day.

Current gas prices 3.30 gallon = 3.30 / 30 = 11 cents per mile.

Current KWH prices .1084 cents / 3.8 = 2.86 cents per mile. I am averaging about 3.8 right now.

11 - 2.8 = 8.2 cents per mile saved. A lot depends on his current mileage and the vehicle choses to replace it with. The initial extra cost etc.. would have to be weighed

His 58,000 miles x .082 = $4,756.00 savings per year in fuel and that's before you begin to talk about less maintenance cost. No oil changes, hell I don't even use my brakes, my regenerative braking recharges the batteries and I rarely even touch my brakes. I know this, I would not stay in a ICE out of stubbornness. Throw in the rebate of $7,500 for buying domestic EV's and it gets more attractive.

Recharging at night at home is the key to saving the most or having a place to recharge on the road. I stay at hotels that offer recharging as a complimentary service and many new EVs come with some sort of charging package. Hyundai offers 3 years of limited free charging with Electrify America. Once I get to an interstate, El Am charging stations are enough of them to go anywhere for no cost. I can drive to Florida on one initial charge and recharge for free for 3 years. You will need to get level 2 charging 240V station at home. 32amp is fine but I installed a 50 amp wire and plug and bought a charger that plugs into it so I can use that plug for other things as well. I got a splitter to change to 120V.

Make no mistake: You do have to learn something new, the switch to EV is not seamless. You will not be happy if you switch and don't expect anything to be different because it will be but you can save money if you don't mind it. Personally, I enjoy the process of learning new interesting things.
So with weekends, I don't drive 58,000 in a year, but it is between 40k and 45k per year. My car is only 13 months old and has over 46k on it now.

And I replaced a 2006 Honda Accord with 438,000 miles on it. And between just operating cost (gas, oil changes, etc.) and my car payment, I'm out about $200 a month. When I first got it and gas was about $4.50 a gallon, I was really close to breaking even. My electric bill has gone up about $40 a month, which is about 1 fillup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChE1997

JackShephard

Active member
Sep 27, 2011
1,149
169
63
Dumb article. Dumb person in the article.

I don't drive an EV because it doesn't make sense for me financially or practically. I don't care how my vehicle is powered, as long as it makes sense for me.

EVs, on average, cost so much more than their ICE counterparts that you will never make an ROI by "saving" on gas. Tesla price cuts are making strides in the right direction though. Right now, their cheapest, ugliest, model may allow an ROI. I haven't run the numbers b/c I have no interest in that model. If I could get a Rivian with about double its current range at about half its current price, I would do it tomorrow.

The infrastructure - If every ICE on the road right now was suddenly an EV tomorrow, about 75% of the world's generated power would be used simply to charge POVs. Not practical or feasible. Breakthroughs are on the horizon, but not here yet. Also, charging needs to become more like filling up. You need to have several choices every 10 or 20 miles, like gas stations are now, and you need to be able to charge faster. On the way, not here yet.

The Environment - EVs are not going to help the environment. Sorry, but they're not. We still have to generate the power. There are better options than coal, but as stated above, the amount of power we need is going to go up exponentially. Nuclear is clean, except when you need to get rid of the waste or have a meltdown or containment issue (exceedingly rare, I know). China's not slowing down on carbon, neither is India and other major polluters. Batteries are not exactly clean either. We're mining minerals that are finite in quantity. That will become a problem one day too. Mining sucks for the environment, and for the people who have to actually do it. As more and more EVs come on line, this gets worse. And we're still only talking POVs. Semis are coming online. Great, more batteries, more mining, more disposal issues (recycling helps, we're moving in the right direction, still not perfect). What about ships, planes, and other heavy equipment? One round trip commercial flight from NY to LA and back emits more carbon that I do in 20 years. I would like to call my contribution to carbon emissions a drop in the bucket, but it's more like a molecule in a bucket. So airlines have to change too. They're looking into alternatives, but again, electric would overstrain our already overstrained infrastructure and cause more mining. Other alternatives could be a factor here, we'll see soon.

EVs may be the next step forward in technology, but then again they may not be. What they're not is some end all be all solution that will "fix" the environment (that may or may not even need fixing). If you buy one because you want to, great, that's your right. If you buy one because you thinks it's somehow more responsible than driving an ICE version of the same vehicle, you're just trying to give yourself way too much credit. Just be you and drive what you want. Don't turn it into some virtuous thing, because it's just not.
 

Perd Hapley

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2022
3,464
3,712
113
No. I've said a few times on here I have a BMW i4. It is an EV though.

OK. I think you’re less likely than the Lightning owner to run into trouble at your daily mileage then, although neither may be particularly likely to have issues if under 200 miles per day, provided that you are charging nightly.

I was confused as to why you thought 50 miles per day was a “mindset” and thought you were saying the Lightning is capable of much more. Which it kind of is, but nothing close to the i4, and you’re gonna spend more on charging it than the i4 obviously.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MSUDAWGFAN
Status
Not open for further replies.
Get unlimited access today.

Pick the right plan for you.

Already a member? Login