DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

And where do you find a wheelwright these days?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I found a wheel right on my car. I humbly apologize for that.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

There should be at least two right wheels.

JBRIII

The range and where one lives are the two biggest issues for me. It takes 3 hrs and 175 miles each way for my wife's visits to a specialist. For most EV only vehicles that would really stretch out a trip where there are few chargers in the parking garage. Also, living in the east, heaters and AC can really eat into range. I noticed today that testing of auto a taxes is limited to S. Calif. and Texas. We have a Subaru with lane control, auto below and speed up in traffic, excellent cruise control, all of which shuts off in fog, heavy mist and snow. A total self driving car would just not work.
We did seriously look into a hybrid last spring, they had none available and got none in for this year?

I don't know how much time and money relative to today, it took for cars to replace horses, but I'm sure one could find plenty of similar comment: I got a perfectly good horse, eats grass anywhere, goes where ever I want, why would I want a mechanical thingy that can't feed itself....

Metal fires like lithium, sodium and potassium are hard to put out because the chemical energy involved allows the metal to extract the oxygen from things like water or CO2: X + H2O > X2O + H2, then X20 + H2O > 2 XOH and 2 H2 + O2 >
H2O. So you have a fire producing hydroxide and hydrogen gas which can escape and burn. Similar things happen with CO2 once the fire starts. You need to either bury the metal in say sand or smother it in something where oxygen and water are excluded. As I remember, lithium and potassium generate enough heat from reactions with water to ignite the broken released, sodium not quite so much. So the obvious answer is to tow a big sand filled, automated dumpster behind the car at all times.

Like many other inventions/improvements there are going to be winners and losers before things settle out for EVs. Improvements in batteries, sensors and programs will come over time.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

[quote=jerryc41]A Tesla owner said he would never buy another Tesla, but he changed his mind and saved $12,000. He took advantage of a temporary offer to get the $12,000 software for free. Yes, $12,000 for software to make the car complete.

[i]"The reason I bought it this month was to take advantage of a temporary offer to transfer my so-called Full Self Driving (FSD) software from my old Tesla to the new one without having to pay $12,000 or $200 a month for the software. I’ll save the reason for my confession till I’m done reviewing the new car and the latest version of Tesla’s FSD software."[i/]

www.mercurynews.com%2f2024%2f03%2f28%2flarry-magid-a-new-and-improved-tesla-plus-a-confession%2f&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-wednesday-morning-report-nl&utm_content=manual" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/28/larry-magid-a-new-and-improved-tesla-plus-a-confession/?utm_email=C4AA7473E5A555421564A4096A&lctg=C4AA7473E5A555421564A4096A&active=no&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mercurynews.com%2f2024%2f03%2f28%2flarry-magid-a-new-and-improved-tesla-plus-a-confession%2f&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-wednesday-morning-report-nl&utm_content=manual

I wouldn't buy an EV for the fire risk alone. EVs average only sixteen fires a year, which is much lower that the fires in gas and diesel vehicles, at 3,384 annually. Of course, the number of EVs on the road is miniscule compared with internal combustion vehicles. The difference is that EV fires are spontaneous and very difficult to extinguish. I'm satisfied with 40+MPG from my Fit.[/quote]

You hit it on the mark...the percentage of EVs exploding into a virtually untamable fire is far more than gas fueled vehicles when the total number of EVs vs. gas vehicles are compared. It's the same reason airlines prohibit those Lithium batteries from in-the-hold air travel.

One Rude Dawg Loc: Athol, ID

[quote=jerryc41]A Tesla owner said he would never buy another Tesla, but he changed his mind and saved $12,000. He took advantage of a temporary offer to get the $12,000 software for free. Yes, $12,000 for software to make the car complete.

[i]"The reason I bought it this month was to take advantage of a temporary offer to transfer my so-called Full Self Driving (FSD) software from my old Tesla to the new one without having to pay $12,000 or $200 a month for the software. I’ll save the reason for my confession till I’m done reviewing the new car and the latest version of Tesla’s FSD software."[i/]

www.mercurynews.com%2f2024%2f03%2f28%2flarry-magid-a-new-and-improved-tesla-plus-a-confession%2f&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-wednesday-morning-report-nl&utm_content=manual" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/03/28/larry-magid-a-new-and-improved-tesla-plus-a-confession/?utm_email=C4AA7473E5A555421564A4096A&lctg=C4AA7473E5A555421564A4096A&active=no&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mercurynews.com%2f2024%2f03%2f28%2flarry-magid-a-new-and-improved-tesla-plus-a-confession%2f&utm_campaign=bang-mult-nl-wednesday-morning-report-nl&utm_content=manual

I wouldn't buy an EV for the fire risk alone. EVs average only sixteen fires a year, which is much lower that the fires in gas and diesel vehicles, at 3,384 annually. Of course, the number of EVs on the road is miniscule compared with internal combustion vehicles. The difference is that EV fires are spontaneous and very difficult to extinguish. I'm satisfied with 40+MPG from my Fit.[/quote]

About as dumb as they come.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

On my cars, I want all the wheels and tires to be right. 😂

I'm going to take my snow tires off tomorrow.

There are too many English words that have different meanings. I saw an airplane investigation in which there was almost a crash because of "right" meaning both "toward the right" and also, "correct." Something like,

Pilot: "I think we turn left."
Copilot: "Right."

Sally A

Gave me a chuckle. Thanks!

wildimaginations

I bought my first EV, Tesla Model S, used in 2017. It was a 2014 model and I paid $50k for it. The only reason I bought it was the free supercharging for the life of the car. I drove that car every where. 208,000 miles later, I bought a used 2021 Tesla Model Y because I wanted to try out the Full Self Driving feature on it. It cost me $49k.

Now I got a special offer. If I bought a brand new Tesla, I can transfer Free Supercharging from my old Model S into the new car, I can transfer my Full Self Driving software from the 2021 Model Y, and they added one more perk. I can discount the cost of one option on a new inventory car in stock. All this had to be done before the end of March.

So I bought a 2024 Model X with a 7 seat option ($3,500) and the Ultra Red paint option ($2,500). Since they would only reduce the price by the cheapest option, I only got the price reduced by $2,500.

I love telling everyone I know that I haven't gone to a gas station in almost 8 years. Charging the car every night at home and waking up to a fully charged car ready to go. The only maintenance was topping off the windshield wiper fluid and changing the tires. I don't rotate tires anymore because it helps my budget to buy only two tires at a time as they wear out. The rear tires seem to wear out faster than the front one. Also, I buy my tires from Amazon.

Yes, there are some who will refuse to buy an EV for any number of reasons. I was one of those early adopters and I'm still enjoying the perks of driving an EV. Fast acceleration that never gets old. No more waiting in line at the Costco gas pumps. No more oil and filter changes. No more worries about gas prices going through the roof. Oh, I almost forgot, my old 2014 Tesla Model S with over 208k miles are still on the original brakes. Never had to change them.

So yes, a lot of my friends still have their old gas cars and will never change perhaps in their lifetime, but the newer and younger car buyers are into EV's because of the cost of owning a gas car is more costly and a nuisance to have to deal with maintenance. Plus the dealership network is a total ripoff.

I have rented a gas car when I was traveling and it was a total disappointment. No get up and go, noisy engine when accelerating(if you call that accelerating, more like a slow strain on the poor engine) and finding a gas station along the way was very frustrating because of the prices. I will never go back to gas cars again.

One more perk, I already have solar panels on my house and I will be installing 4 Tesla power walls next week. This will help offset my energy costs by a lot so driving my electric car will be free. Can't do that with a gas car.

Artcameraman Loc: Springfield NH

Sounds like you have a win win situation. Here in the northeast I understand that RV are making inroads even with dear batteries and limited recharging stations. I personally am waiting for Hydrogen to be available, with a home producing station for hydrogen powered by solar panels and several wind turbines with enough batteries to store this power. I'll fire up the hydrogen plant and make my fuel. Also I'm waiting to will the Lottery. Cheers.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

Yes, I’ve always thought fuel cell vehicles were the best option. I was afraid when EV’s came out that development of hydrogen cars might stop, but I’m happy to see a resurgence. I see EV’s as a nice intermediate step but once all the safety issues are ironed out there are a lot of serious advantages over gas or electric. I don’t think I’d ever make my own hydrogen but the fact that it’s possible is a game changer. The infrastructure needs are minimized. No need for the real estate footprint and charging times for EV’s and no need for the pipelines and trucks to supply gas stations.

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

If there are no pipelines/gas stations where will the hydrogen come from? If the plan is to electrolyze it at home, what do you do on a long trip? And electrolyzing water to make hydrogen takes more energy than the hydrogen produces (and you’d have to compress and cool it), so why not just use electricity and avoid the middleman?

Artcameraman Loc: Springfield NH

Yes, my town government (Springfield, NH USA) would have a hemorrhage if they thought I was making Hydrogen in my garage not to mention the Nuclear stuff in the basement.

BebuLamar

I do like the idea of hydrogen but making your own doesn't make sense. The battery EV makes more sense if you want to make your own energy source. Hydrogen is good because you can refill a hydrogen powered car in about the same amount of time it takes to refill a gas powered car.