So I have always hated Tesla and don’t like that they’ve in a lot of way tarnished the name of electric cars. The second you say electric cars every person and their mom says OHH you’re getting a tesla! Quite annoying.
Anyways, I’d like to hear from some of you folks some models of electrics you like. I have always been a gearhead deep in the gas and oil, and I still enjoy my cars, but an electric would be fun and a cost savings for me, especially since I have a ton of roof space for solar panels if I wanted to.
It sounds superficial but a big reason I used to hate electric cars is they are for the most part, hideous. Then again, to me, most new cars are hidous, the designs are just not good. But I think i can look past that.
It would also be a huge bonus if there were any models out there with the least possible features. I prefer cars with manual locks/seats/doors and no screen, which is of course impossible with current cars (sadly). But the less digital garbage the better.
I don’t have an electric car so I don’t have any first hand knowledge/advice to give. However, the guy who runs the YouTube channel Technology Connections has a Hyundai Ioniq that he really likes and I believe it is a genuine expression. I think the biggest thing he doesn’t like deals with how the car’s internal navigation system handles recharging stops.
I’ve got a first-gen 2017 Chevy Bolt, battery upgraded by recall in the 2nd year we had it (price of being an early adopter). No complaints, no issues beyond having to tape over the chrome on the dashboard so I don’t get blinded.
The only maintenance so far has been tires; brakes last forever thanks to one-pedal driving. Eventually we’ll have to do the regular chassis stuff like bushings and struts, but at 60+k mi we’re still a little ways away from that.
Srsly the best car I’ve ever owned.
Bolts live up to their name too. Much quicker than you’d suspect.
I have a 23 Mustang Mach E. Due to where I live, I felt AWD was necessary and that limited my EV options substantially (along with all the tax incentive changes happening at the time I ordered it in 2022).
Honestly though, while it’s bigger than what I wanted and doesn’t have as many manual features as I would prefer, it is a supremely fun vehicle to drive. I wish EV charging infrastructure was better so that taking it on a road trip was more feasible.
I got a 2023 MME GT and my sentiments are almost the same. Great car. Scary fast when you put your foot all the way down. Feels huge, but I am coming from a Honda CRZ. All in, I’d say the CRZ was more fun, but the MME is a much better car overall.
I have a 24 Aryia. I’ve got 13k miles on it and so far it’s been great.
Love my kia Niro ev. Looks like any other normal car. Fun to drive.
We’ve had our Niro EV for over 6 years now and it remains an excellent vehicle. The only failure so far was in the AC. Other than that, it had required almost no maintenance.
We did a proactive reduction gear oil change and had the brakes cleaned once due to lack of use (regen and driving style mean the brakes are not used frequently).
Love that it just looks normal.
Also had our AC die, leaked and needed a piece replacement. Was fixed under warranty though so not really a problem.
We’ve got the Kia Niro Wind and I agree they’re fun to drive. Wish it’d charge faster (capped at 75kW I think?) for long trips, but it’s been more than fine for what we need
My neighbor has a Volvo EX90, and he swears by it. It replaced his older Tesla S, and he says the build quality is leagues apart.
EX90 is far from a “simple” car, though. And a lot larger than most people need.
Kia ev6 has been going strong. The only downside for me is the first gen doesn’t have wireless carplay.
We got a relatively cheap adapter that works great. It’s from Ottocast. I don’t know what the current/new model is like but ours works pretty well with two phones of the primary drivers.
I see Rivians around a lot. Not sure how good they are but they are way prettier than Tesla’s. Polestar also makes some nice vehicles. Both are still a little pricey though.
We have an Audi e-tron GT. Wife wanted a 4-door car with a trunk and I wanted a low-slung sporty drive.
Not manual by any means, but it has Apple Car Play and buttons for almost everything else - aircon, media, driving controls etc.
We charge with excess solar so driving it is basically free.
The wife and I love her Volkswagen id4. It is comfy, gets good mileage, and is cheap on the used market.
They all devalue badly.
Shop used right now to take advantage. Low mileage EV’s are crazy cheap. We saw ‘used’ vehicles with less than 30 (not thousand) miles for half off, straight from the dealer, full warranty. Much cheaper than a combustion counterpart.
At the price we paid, even if the car is worth $0 at the end of five years, we’ll have done alright.
I’m waiting for it to get the id.Buzz. I want one of them badly. Can’t wait!
Chevy Bolt EUV (sorta kinda bigger than a normal Bolt) Premier without self driving: very good.
Cheap feeling like any American car. Infotainment is trash; you can’t skip tracks on CarPlay using the steering wheel controls most of the time because it’s always indexing. A problem no other OEM or even the cheapest of aftermarket radios I’ve ever touched has had. Remote climate control (essentially what we always mean when we say remote start) is locked behind a $50/mo OnStar subscription. Spies on you to sell data.
But, it costs like $30-40 a month to drive, it’s zippy enough, I’ve got front and rear seat warmers, it’s a hatch, and most importantly, it was a steal. We got it like four days before the tax credits were eliminated. Before that I’d have said EVs were the only deals to be had in the automotive space. Now there simply are no deals. My $18k Bolt Premier was the last chopper out of 'Nam for getting anything resembling a decent deal of a car.
We like it. Charging at home is nice. We hope it doesn’t break. Hybrid is a smarter buy because of the added flexibility afforded by gas but again, you weren’t getting any 2022 fully* loaded hybrid with 60k miles for $18k. Since this isn’t our only vehicle this was the easy choice.
FYI they dropped the EUV naming. The new 2027 Bolt is just the SUV version now without the distinction.
Yeah. It’s a great looking car and all the upgrades sound great. I don’t think I could go for that model though due to the lack of CarPlay. I don’t think companies replacing existing value with enshitified subscriptions should be rewarded for those decisions. Then again I could never afford a new one anyway, haha.
Rivians are everywhere here in LA, but they seem to only be for the rich.
I’m keeping an eye on Aptera, a solar powered vehicle based in San Diego that may start delivering this year.
Aptera has been saying this since 2017.
Personally, I like the Mach E, but I have some fundamental complaints about EVs right now, specifically, they looks like ICE cars. The propulsion method has changed, but the packaging has not updated to fit the new capabilities. Electric cars now are like jets in the 1950’s, we need to move past old frames and ideas and work to make the vehicle fit the motor better. Also, EVs are too damn big, and thats because charging infrastructure is a fragmented PITA right now. We wouldn’t need 250 mile+ capable vehicles if you could count on having a fast charger at most highway exits.
I’ve been following them for a few years and they’ve been very transparent about their progress. They’re building their production-intent validation vehicles now, so unless there are any major flaws they can’t work out, shipping this year or next seems possible. The world needs a vehicle that costs nothing to operate — at least in places with a lot of sun like California.
Well, I don’t know if you saw the news, but Aptera’a first vehicle rolled off their low volume production line yesterday!
Maybe they will make deliveries this year…
I’ve had one on pre-order for 10 years at this point. Tell me about how close we are.
Buddy of mine has a Fiat 500e and it’s surprisingly non-gadgety. If you don’t need cargo, more than one passenger, or out of town range it’s probably exactly what you want.
Doesn’t have one pedal driving though. At least his doesn’t. That’s a no-brainer feature on an EV.
I only drive manual so I don’t need 1 pedal drive…I forgot fiat made the 500 electric !
I wouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I would never get an EV without 1 pedal drive. The only downside is it takes a few days to get used to, which isn’t great when test driving and coming from 2 pedal. It feels weird at first.
I think if he’s used to a manual he’ll be fine. 1 pedal just feels like aggressive engine braking.
For me the adaptation period was… 2 hours? Maybe?
Pretty much all BEVs are single speed direct drive. You should reserve judgment till you drive one.
1 pedal driving actually feels more like a manual than an automatic. The regenerative braking feels like engine braking (because it is). I vastly prefer driving a a BEV with 1 pedal driving to a manual transmission in city traffic or on hills - the two of which make up the majority of my driving. I also vastly prefer driving a manual to driving an automatic in the same situations. Automatics legitimately feel unsafe to me by comparison - they WANT to run away from you going down hills and rear end the people in front of you.
One pedal is one reason with so many Teslas have front collisions.
Same thing people said about automatic transmissions and cruise control. Non-issue.
EDIT: Don’t bother arguing. I get it, you don’t like Elon. Shit on him all you want. If you want to criticize a car, learn what you’re talking about first.
Absolutely loving my Mustang Mach-e, gets almost 400km of range, Cost’s under $40k CAD used, and just an absolute blast to drive.
I got a 2021 Chevy Bolt. Insanely cheap, has worked great. We have the highest trim model, but you can get lower ones with less features.
In the peak of used car nonsense post covid, we traded a 2012 Nissan Sentra (no trim level) with 80k miles for the 2021 Bolt with less than 3k miles. After tax incentives, I think the difference was $2,500. It didn’t make sense at the time and still doesn’t. But people were really afraid of electric cars then.
I don’t recall special EV fear at that time. I recall insanely cheap gas prices in the summer of 2020 and a drastic reduction in commute demand. Once the excess oil was depleted and production hadn’t come back up to speed by like summer of 2021, gas prices shot up. I’m deep in a sub/urban mix, so that affects my experience, I’m sure. While all cars had their market value increase at that point, used EVs and Hybrids had an additional 50%+ markup, comparatively. I was shopping for them and ended up passing on the idea due to excess price. I vaguely remember prices being about $12k for ~2010 Priuses and $5k for 1st gen Leafs with deteoriated 50-mile batteries. I don’t recall Volt/Bolt prices and was already disinterested in Teslas.
I think it was peak buyers remorse. People wanted electric but didn’t fully know the downsides. For example, our Bolt had a battery that said like 230 miles. I’m in the Midwest… Cold highway driving makes that like 140 or so, no joke. It’s just not a road trip car.
We knew that going in, so it’s a great second car. But I think some people realized that no road trip ability plus hour long charging stops were just not going to cut it.
Legit in the dead of winter it was like 60/40 driving vs charging time. Charging for an hour got you like 90 minutes of driving.
