How high do you think gas prices will go?

[soccerdad72]

It really is one of those things you have to experience rather than read about.

I had many of the same worries as you two years ago.

Range anxiety is the biggest hurdle to adoption of EVs.

In modern EVs with 200+ mile ranges it is really not something you worry about even with winter loss which is more in the 20% range for cars without a heat pump and 5-10% for those with a heat pump.

I am so happy paying so much less per mile.
827 miles for $15 = 1.8 cents a mile
827 miles for $83 = 10 cents a mile

Drive 12000 miles a year and you save almost $1000 by driving electric when compared to a 30 mpg car and gas at $3. Raise the price of gas or lower the mpg and the savings are even more dramatic.

Plus the maintenance savings. In 19000 miles my maintenance expenses are $9. I had to buy a cabin air filter at 15000 miles.

The 200+ mile range of todays electric cars coupled with home charging is amazing.

How much was the home charging unit (plus installation cost)?

 

[kdonnel]

I get it for some people. But as you can see, there is a HUGE portion of the state with no place to charge. With kids in the car and traveling for wrestling matches and football, it's not a chance I'm willing to take until there are lots of areas that look like KC and STL. Once you get away from interstate 70, options are few and far between. We've had wrestling tournaments in Palmyra and we are in the central part of the state so there is nothing between us and there. Like I said, rurally, we are a long way from being ready for EV's. And until they make them in giant 4 wheel drive trucks that can get me down a gravel road in a foot of snow, it's not an option lol

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I have used a public charger once in two years. All my charging is at home.

Home charging coupled with a 200+ mile range means little need for DC fast charging in normal day to day driving.

Sure there will be times where 300 mile days are needed but for the vast majority of people, those days are rare. How many days a month do you drive more than 200 miles round trip from your home?

As for 4x4, the Rivian R1T is extremely off road capable. With a motor on each wheel it can do off road things no ICE off road vehicle can do.

 

[kdonnel]

How much was the home charging unit (plus installation cost)?

I paid $200 for a 14-50 outlet and $499 for a ChargePoint EVSE.

30% was refunded to me on my taxes the following year.

I really only needed the outlet as the EVSE provided by Chevrolet works on 110 or 220 but I wanted an EVSE that reported lots of statistics and generated pretty reports.

Here is the past 30 days of charging. I generally remember to plug in each night.

 

[tvguy]

eh, insurance isn't bad. And it's got a diesel engine so it gets great gas mileage compared to the gas engines in them. I got a yukon xl. On our trip to Branson it got 29 mpg, which is a ton better than my honda odyssey got and it's much larger. And my odyseey was a 2018 and had 78k miles on it when I sold it, for a really great price I might add. Thats the price I pay for living in the middle of nowhere and mostly it's 100% worth it. As I previously mentioned, I used to drive around 80 miles a day for work. Now it's about 18. Its all the other driving for sports and groceries and stuff that adds up. We just finshed football season. One kid played at the school which is about 10 miles one way from our house, and had practice 3 nights a week. so theres 60. plus where ever games were. Other kid played for parks and rec which was 15 miles the opposite direction and had practice 2 nights and 1 game a week. So sometimes I was driving home, then to the school and dropping one off, back to town to the other's practice, then back to the school and then home. We are in a totally different season of life than you lol. But also if I recall you live in a big city right? So things aren't very far from you anyway.

29 mpg is amazing. My 3,000 mile per year vehicle that I traded in in 2018 was a Suburban. 9 mpg in town, 9 mpg on the freeway....9 mpg uphill.....9 mpg downhill.....9 mpg towing a horse trailer. I live in a suburb of Sacramento, so no, not a big city. My commute before we retired was 13 miles, my wife had a 10 mile commute. But yes, in the suburbs we have a couple of major grocery store chains within a mile, Walmart within 3 miles.

 

[dez1978]

I have used a public charger once in two years. All my charging is at home.

Home charging coupled with a 200+ mile range means little need for DC fast charging in normal day to day driving.

Sure there will be times where 300 mile days are needed but for the vast majority of people, those days are rare. How many days a month do you drive more than 200 miles round trip from your home?

As for 4x4, the Rivian R1T is extremely off road capable. With a motor on each wheel it can do off road things no ICE off road vehicle can do.

2-3 times a month. Sometimes more depending on sports. Again, I think it all depends on where you live and what stage of life your family is in.

Oh my that thing is ugly lol. But I am watching to see the future GMC trucks.

 

[sam_gordon]

How many days a month do you drive more than 200 miles round trip from your home?

This month I'll be doing at least three in my car and one in our van. In fact, I just did one today. As @dez1978 says, it depends on where you are in life, and where you are in the US. I'm still taking kids to sporting events (weekend trips) and going to look at colleges. It's great that it works for you. And I'm jealous of your savings in GAS. But how much more did you pay for your car than I did? I mean, great, you saved $1k a year on gas. Assuming that keeps up, if you spent $15k-$20k more to purchase your vehicle than I did, is it really a "savings"?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This month I'll be doing at least three in my car and one in our van. In fact, I just did one today. As @dez1978 says, it depends on where you are in life, and where you are in the US. I'm still taking kids to sporting events (weekend trips) and going to look at colleges. It's great that it works for you. And I'm jealous of your savings in GAS. But how much more did you pay for your car than I did? I mean, great, you saved $1k a year on gas. Assuming that keeps up, if you spent $15k-$20k more to purchase your vehicle than I did, is it really a "savings"?

I was going to comment earlier because I totally understand where dez is coming from. It's only been in recent years that KC got a lot more charging stations. It was a desert for a while and it's not like there's on on every corner but it's getting easier to find it. Rural is going to be harder and that's going to play a role in how much you feel it's worth it especially if you're primarily relying on your home because when you're out and about there's less or no stations to come by.

On the purchase price there is still an up to $7,500 tax credit depending on the vehicle. I know that was one of the reasons we were considering the Ford Lightning because that would help reduce the cost (even though it's a tax credit) IF it qualified for it (it hasn't yet gotten full IRS approval yet) though my husband did put the $100 refundable deposit down for it back in May.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So "Gas prices" is level 23 of Jumanji, almost to the day we were herded from "awareness" of inventory of stuff to gas, alrightee then news cycle.

 

[kdonnel]

This month I'll be doing at least three in my car and one in our van. In fact, I just did one today. As @dez1978 says, it depends on where you are in life, and where you are in the US. I'm still taking kids to sporting events (weekend trips) and going to look at colleges. It's great that it works for you. And I'm jealous of your savings in GAS. But how much more did you pay for your car than I did? I mean, great, you saved $1k a year on gas. Assuming that keeps up, if you spent $15k-$20k more to purchase your vehicle than I did, is it really a "savings"?

I paid $24000 for my 2020 Chevy Bolt LT out the door including tax, title, fees, etc.

Plus I got $1875 back as a tax credit.

If the new spending plan is ever approved/voted on, the Chevrolet Bolt will qualify for $12,500 tax credit. Could bring the final price of a Bolt down to just over $12000.

 

[sam_gordon]

I paid $24000 for my 2020 Chevy Bolt LT out the door including tax, title, fees, etc.

Plus I got $1875 back as a tax credit.

If the new spending plan is ever approved/voted on, the Chevrolet Bolt will qualify for $12,500 tax credit. Could bring the final price of a Bolt down to just over $12000.

I'd say you got a pretty good deal then.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'd say you got a pretty good deal then.

Depending when you bought a car, you could have gotten an unbelievably good price in 2020...or a not so good one.

I bought my brand new 2020 Kia Optima for a song last May 2020. And we were literally the only ones in person at the dealership when we bought, and the dealer was willing to sell for almost any price...and then things changed a LOT by summer with the 1st openings...

 

[tink89]

gas in my area is at $5.01 at Chevron this past weekend. It was $5.15 at an Arco just 3 blocks down. I did see $5.49 at a Shell n the city right next to us which is about 5-10 min from the Chevron.

 

[tvguy]

Solar panels aren't free. It takes a long time to recoup the cost of installation.

It depends. Mine were free. If you have a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) you pay nothing for the panels. That is what I have. I just have to agree to buy all the power the panels produce, even if you don't use it. The rate is lower than my utility charges. Any excess power I sell to my utility, and a lower rate than I pay. I'm saving about $30 a month. My contract runs for 20 years. I had the option of buying the panels outright for $36,000 outright before tax credits which were about 33%. And now that they have been in place 5 years, I could buy them at the current appraised value. The entire system is guaranteed for 20 years, and they guarantee the roof under them won't leak for 20 years. At the end of 20 years I can have the panels removed for free, or keep them and use the power for free, but any repairs would be at my cost after 20 years. I have a 36 panel system, rated at 9.36 kW.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I have used a public charger once in two years. All my charging is at home.

Home charging coupled with a 200+ mile range means little need for DC fast charging in normal day to day driving.

Sure there will be times where 300 mile days are needed but for the vast majority of people, those days are rare. How many days a month do you drive more than 200 miles round trip from your home?

As for 4x4, the Rivian R1T is extremely off road capable. With a motor on each wheel it can do off road things no ICE off road vehicle can do.

This is us too.....we always charge at home. We get a 340 mile range on the Tesla Y and never charge it to that level...only take it to about 250 miles.. I use it for work and am driving around in a 10 mile range in all directions. I've still never used a public charger. I know that everyone around my area who has an EV has a home with their own charger.

The other huge bonus with the EV....no maintenance. No tune-ups, oil changes....none of that. Just change the air filter every couple of years. Are there things that can do wrong...yes, but so far, a bit less than a year in...and no problems at all.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I paid $24000 for my 2020 Chevy Bolt LT out the door including tax, title, fees, etc.

Plus I got $1875 back as a tax credit.

If the new spending plan is ever approved/voted on, the Chevrolet Bolt will qualify for $12,500 tax credit. Could bring the final price of a Bolt down to just over $12000.

That's a sweet deal, and I hope a lot of people jump on it. We jumped into the EV thing without ever even driving one. We still had a back up ICE car when we got the Tesla, but after awhile we sold that one too and went down to one car. It took me a couple of days to get used to driving it, but it's pretty intuitive. It's just such a game changer for us.

I do wonder about the Hertz deal with Tesla for 100K cars. I'm not sure I'd feel super comfortable renting one right out of the gate before driving it....takes a little getting used to.

 

[tvguy]

This is us too.....we always charge at home. We get a 340 mile range on the Tesla Y and never charge it to that level...only take it to about 250 miles.. I use it for work and am driving around in a 10 mile range in all directions. I've still never used a public charger. I know that everyone around my area who has an EV has a home with their own charger.

The other huge bonus with the EV....no maintenance. No tune-ups, oil changes....none of that. Just change the air filter every couple of years. Are there things that can do wrong...yes, but so far, a bit less than a year in...and no problems at all.

As they say, your mileage may vary. My Financial Advisor has a Tesla and loves it, and gets great range.
My son, and daughter in law however, is just wrapping up a lemon law buy back of his Hyundai Kona electric. It was supposed to have a range of 258 miles. There were a number of recalls because people weren't getting anywhere near that range. The first recall was a software upgrade which dropped range to about 150 miles. Then there was a battery replacement recall. Now, in Hyundai's defense, once my son got in contact with Hyundai directly they were very helpful. The dealer is a mess. The car sat in their service department for 60 days waiting for the replacement battery. In California under the lemon, a repair that takes more than a combined 30 days is grounds for a buy back. So when Hyundai corporate got involved they immediately offered him a buy back. The process isn't quick, but is finally wrapping up. Hyundai is none too happy with their dealer because the dealer isn't cooperating and can't explain why the car sat for so long.
This was their second electric car. The first was a Fiat 500e. That car only had a 70 mile range, but my DIL only had a commute of 5 miles and her employer offered free charging. But that car did demonstrate one thing to know about electric cars. The depreciation on many is obscene. Yes, there are tax incentives, but only if you buy new. They bought this car used, 2 years old with 25,000 miles on it for $7,000. It sold for $34,000 new before tax credits.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I paid $24000 for my 2020 Chevy Bolt LT out the door including tax, title, fees, etc.

Plus I got $1875 back as a tax credit.

If the new spending plan is ever approved/voted on, the Chevrolet Bolt will qualify for $12,500 tax credit. Could bring the final price of a Bolt down to just over $12000.

Are you sure the Bolt would be included? I believe they've met their quota and have not been qualifying for any tax credit since the end of March this year. Biden's adjustment I wasn't aware would change that factor, I thought if approved it would only raise the tax credit not bring one back that was no longer available due to enough electric vehicles sold of a particular model.

 

[kdonnel]

Are you sure the Bolt would be included? I believe they've met their quota and have not been qualifying for any tax credit since the end of March this year. Biden's adjustment I wasn't aware would change that factor, I thought if approved it would only raise the tax credit not bring one back that was no longer available due to enough electric vehicles sold of a particular model.

The new credits start the counters over and or have entirely new phase outs.

GM is most definitely back in the game when/if the new tax credits pass.

Tesla will also be back in the tax credit game but will only qualify for $7500 under either option.

There are two versions floating around but all auto makers start over in both plans.

Edited to add:
I found a chart that summarizes things as they stand now.

In both versions the credit starts at $7500 and then there are options for increases depending on where the car was made, who made it, and how much domestic content.

Both versions max out at $12,500 if all conditions are met. I believe only the Chevy Bolt and Ford F-150 will qualify for $12,500. The GMC Hummer has an MSRP above either cap. The Chevy Bolt will be an amazing value if either version passes as is. An amazing value!

As for the sunset period, one version stays in effect for 10 years no matter how many cars are sold and the other ends when 50% of all annual U.S. passenger vehicle sales are EVs.

I have been paying somewhat close attention as I am looking at replacing my second car. I have ordered both a Ford Mach e and a Tesla Model Y. I will buy whichever one is produced first early next year as both should qualify for $7500. I am rooting for the Ford Mach e to be ready first.

 

[a1tinkfans]

How hi OP? VERY high like the rest of the costs across the board.

 

[adkkev]

While I like the idea of an EV, having one to drive to Alaska as we are planning to do, wouldn’t be practical. From Ft. Saint John to Whitehorse is over 800 miles with no charging stations in between. After Whitehorse it’s a short jump to Haines Junction, the last charging station until Fairbanks, nearly 500 miles away. An EV just couldn’t do it.
When we’ve gone to a mall near us (45 miles away) we’ve seen the five Tesla charging stations there. Each time every one of those were being used. So suppose I need a charge and there aren’t many charging opportunities, then it would appear that I might have to wait a while to get a free charging port. So when I’m traveling I might not have many choices for a charge and a possibility of a long stop to wait my turn. And since we typically travel “off the beaten path” and not on interstate highways, that too limits charging opportunities.

i like the Rivian pickup truck and the reviews so far seem very positive. But it’s going to be a couple years before Rivian is able to catch up their production to their orders. Or even the Ford F-150 EV. And if supply is low and demand is high then I am doubtful that I could even afford one given the extra dollars being tacked on by dealers now for just “regular” vehicles.