Anyone have an EV as their ONLY vehicle?

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Bill906

Bill906

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Thank you everyone. Your insights were very helpful. My fears and doubts of having an EV as my only vehicle were not enough to keep me from getting the CT before starting this thread but now those doubts are completely gone. Absolutely no fear, anxiety or second guessing.

Special thanks to Daniel (@tidmutt), I found your share especially helpful.
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happy intruder

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when we bought my wife's 2019 model 3, we had a 2015 Lexus ES350, 2016 GS-350, 2016 Toyota Tacoma and a BMW R1200gsLC motorcycle....We sold the ES-350.....I bought a 2020 Model S....kept GS-350 and Truck.....then sold the GS because only drove the Model S.....then sold the Truck 3 months later......

We now have the Model S, Model 3 and the BMW Motorcycle.....At first I was worried about charging away from home....but, there are 2 supercharges within 1.25 ,miles of home and we charge at home mostly......

I have on order the CT3.....I am completely divorced from range anxiety.....we have a total of 12546miles on the Model 3 and 11257 miles on the Model S....and love going by gas stations now that gas is over $4.759/gal.....

dont worry.......buy the EV and forget about gas and enjoy the car.....get a home charger if you can....it will be even cheaper.....good luck
 

That1Guy

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We have 2 cars one being a Tesla Model 3 LR. I will say 100% of the time we take the Tesla Model 3 over the gas car for long trips. The longest we did was a 3000+ mile trip and it was so easy with ABRP and Tesla planning our charging. If you are trying to set a speed record with getting from point A to Point B it will slow you up. But we were to the point where we needed bathroom stops more than the car needed to charge.

Plus in the mountains of Colorado it was incredible. Passing the cars in the high plains was a lot of fun. Wife was driving and had not driven it much before then and was following cars going up slight inclines that kept slowing down. She said "Why do they keep slowing down" I told her there was not enough air for their engines. I told her next time just hit the accelerator and you will have no problem passing. So she hit the accelerator and went around them I looked down as she got over and she was doing 102. I told her she might want to slow down. lol
 

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I looked down as she got over and she was doing 102. I told her she might want to slow down.
It does take getting used to!! I have the same model, and it drives like it's on rails. It's deceptive. It doesn't feel as fast as it is because of how smooth it is, especially when passing! Passing up a hill normally would require flooring it, but in that car... You'll do 60-100 in about 3 seconds.
 


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My only car is my Tesla Model 3. I've been driving it for for 3.5 years and 65k miles and I still love it. I was going to add to my stable with the Cybertruck, but now I'm pretty sure that I won't be getting Cybertruck. I really want the truck, but don't really need it.
 

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My only car is my Tesla Model 3. I've been driving it for for 3.5 years and 65k miles and I still love it. I was going to add to my stable with the Cybertruck, but now I'm pretty sure that I won't be getting Cybertruck. I really want the truck, but don't really need it.
thats too bad
 

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My "primary" vehicle is a truck. Well, except I haven't put gas in the truck since April when we got the M3. So basically, we only have one vehicle in the household now. The truck has only moved when the wife wants to go out at the same time and we're not going together. Otherwise, I'd just as soon never drive ICE ever again.
 

bradenbarlow

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Thanks all. Great feedback.
I have one scenario that gives me a little worry. I apologize ahead of time if anyone feels they've heard this story before, I have told it in a different thread. My parents driveway is 290 miles from my driveway. I make the trip multiple times a year. Depending on my mood, time of day etc. I sometimes make the trip non-stop. If I do stop it's usually 10 minutes at the most. I am getting the tri-motor. At first, 500 mile range seems more than enough for the 290 mile trip until you realize that is assuming ideal conditions. For starters, I drive above the speed limit. Half that trip will be 80 MPH or higher. I typically make at least two trips in the winter (Thanksgiving and Christmas) which will also take a hit on range. Now, for those planned trips I feel fairly confident I'll be able to make the trip if I charge to 100%. What I'm most worried about is an emergency trip. Two years ago my sister called me. Dad had a stroke (he's fine now). I threw some clothes in a duffel bag, grabbed my dog and off we went. If I had the CT and I was out running errands all day and my battery was say 60% or less when my sister called, I'd have to charge at some point to make it to my parents. That is the one scenario I think of that gives me range anxiety. Anyone have thoughts on that?

By the way, dad is excited to see the CT and said he'd install a 50A receptacle so I could charge at his house.
You have nothing to worry about as it relates to range or charging for your described usage. My first Tesla Model S P85, well that would be another matter entirely. Under ideal conditions, that car was only good for about 250 miles with a 100% charge at the start. When you did need to charge, the SC's were slower as was the car at taking the charge.

Even if you experience a 30% reduction in range due to cold conditions, you are probably going to be able to make your trip to see Dad on a single charge. And as others have pointed out, the SC network is everywhere. Plug it in, go grab a coffee, hit the potty and you will have added plenty of electrons to continue on your journey. I recently stopped to charge my 2019 Model S LR at an upgraded SC. I was at about 35% SOC and was taking charge at a rate of 142kW or 545 miles/hr on the juice. I can tell you that is triple the rate I used to get with my old car. In other words, you are going to be putting 8 miles of range into your new CT in about a minute (depending upon age of the SC). Range anxiety is a thing of the past with the new Teslas so you can confidently dump the ICE. It sounds like you will have at least another year+ to say goodbye to your Jeep since the CT is going to be a while.
 

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This weekend I went out to the end of my motorcycle's range - I had 55% left - to have dinner with a friend.

If the chargers at the mall were working, this wouldn't have left me looking for a charger later... but then I grabbed 15% more on the way home, then used the freeway home and arrived with 2% left.

Now, with even the long-range version of my bike I wouldn't have to do that, let alone a long-range car EV. And I could have stopped and charged at one of my favorite bakeries or a friend's house, so it wasn't like I was out in the cold ^-^

-Crissa

I usually don't use the freeway since it uses extra power and is just blah on a motorcycle anyhow, so this is an example of me not needing to really change how I interact with the road yet used a low-range (about 80 mile) bike.
 
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Even if you experience a 30% reduction in range due to cold conditions, you are probably going to be able to make your trip to see Dad on a single charge.
I was just reading on the new 4680 battery and from what I can understand, it should solve at least some of the issues with cold weather performance.

“https://fcpp.org/2020/12/26/the-tesla-4680-battery-six-things-to-know/“ said:
Cold Weather: The 4680 Dry-Cell doesn’t have a traditional electrolyte, that means no liquid acids or gels. Liquid acids and gels don’t like cold, the Dry-Cell eliminates that problem, especially when combined with the heat-pump Tesla developed that will become part of the automotive mainstream.
 

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Not being a liquid when being manufactured doesn't mean the electrolyte wouldn't still be affected by the cold.

The traditional lithium battery electrolyte is cured like paint.

The dry process eliminates that wait and uses less water in the adhesion process.

-Crissa
 

Ogre

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Not being a liquid when being manufactured doesn't mean the electrolyte wouldn't still be affected by the cold.

The traditional lithium battery electrolyte is cured like paint.

The dry process eliminates that wait and uses less water in the adhesion process.

-Crissa
I remember hearing something like that on battery day. I’d just seen the above article and took it at face value.
 

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We sold both of our gas cars in 2018 and haven't looked back! With two Model 3's, the truck is looking pretty lonely. The ONLY time we drive the F-150 is when we need a truck (not because it's an ICE vehicle). When the Cybertruck arrives the F-150 is gone to highest bidder like a bad dream.

It would be a VERY narrow special use scenario that would require an ICE vehicle and every year the fast DC charging network keeps growing so those special use cases are dwindling down to nothing.
 

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Thanks all. Great feedback.
I have one scenario that gives me a little worry. I apologize ahead of time if anyone feels they've heard this story before, I have told it in a different thread. My parents driveway is 290 miles from my driveway. I make the trip multiple times a year. Depending on my mood, time of day etc. I sometimes make the trip non-stop. If I do stop it's usually 10 minutes at the most. I am getting the tri-motor. At first, 500 mile range seems more than enough for the 290 mile trip until you realize that is assuming ideal conditions. For starters, I drive above the speed limit. Half that trip will be 80 MPH or higher. I typically make at least two trips in the winter (Thanksgiving and Christmas) which will also take a hit on range. Now, for those planned trips I feel fairly confident I'll be able to make the trip if I charge to 100%. What I'm most worried about is an emergency trip. Two years ago my sister called me. Dad had a stroke (he's fine now). I threw some clothes in a duffel bag, grabbed my dog and off we went. If I had the CT and I was out running errands all day and my battery was say 60% or less when my sister called, I'd have to charge at some point to make it to my parents. That is the one scenario I think of that gives me range anxiety. Anyone have thoughts on that?

By the way, dad is excited to see the CT and said he'd install a 50A receptacle so I could charge at his house.
The question I have to questions like this is: what would you do if your sister called and your ice vehicle had less than half a tank of gas? Im assuming you would have to stop to fill up. Your Tesla will let you know where to stop to fill up with Tesla juice, and they are open 24/7 and prices are not higher close to the freeway or in a small town. My 2 sons have had their model 3s for over 2 years. And I just got a Y to drive while I wait for my CT! I've been on trips with them, love even being a passenger in a Tesla!
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