That's nice, but I didn't put the cheapest, lamest, bottom shelf small block in my car. How much is a roller cam big block with fully forged internals?
No, it doesn't need a new "engine." Let's at least be honest here. My car's motor is in perfect shape--it still runs and accelerates just like new, and it is every bit as smooth, quiet, and efficient as day one, also. If anything, you could draw a parallel and say it needs a new gas tank... except, it
doesn't. Even though the battery only holds about 80% of its original charge, this doesn't mean it "needs" to be replaced. The car still travels 80% of the distance that it did when it was new, which for me is usually 75-80 miles per full charge. This car was never about long-distance interstate travel, so the effect is actually very minimal. I certainly don't lose any sleep at night over it.
My car is 7 years old and has 60k on it, and that's exactly where I am. Some Leaf batteries degrade faster, some degrade slower, depending on the climate where they are used and how often they are quick charged. Nissan's poor choice in engineering results in low resale value, which worked out in my favor so I'm not complaining.
🙂
Speaking of buying a used EV, I bought this car purely as an experiment. I intentionally chose a car which had already suffered the majority of its depreciation. My plan is to own and drive it for only one full year. If I decide EV life is for me, I will sell the car (for nearly the same amount I paid for it) and replace it with a newer (but still used) EV that has greater range. <Indeed, I wanted to buy a Bolt instead of a Leaf but they weren't coming off lease in mass yet, so their prices were higher than I wanted to pay.> OTOH, if I don't want to continue living my EV ways then I can dump the car and go back to spending hundreds more dollars on gasoline, oil changes, etc every month.
And that's fine. Clearly, you are one of the exceptional folks for whom an EV may not be entirely practical. No problem.
BTW, please don't misunderstand me. I am not here to take away your gas-powered cars, and I am not out to force anybody to switch to an EV. Some folks have already made up their mind, and no amount of facts shoved in their faces will convince them that EVs are a viable option. That's fine. But I know a number of people will read this thread who
don't know all the facts about EVs, what they are like to live with, etc. I think those folks deserve to see the other side of the argument. Since I have decided to jump in with both feet and try out the EV lifestyle, I am happy to share my experience and findings with others. From there, the fence-sitters can make up their own minds and react as they choose.
Back to the thread:
For starters, in 1900 we didn't have 80 MPH interstate highways crisscrossing the nation. We also didn't have cars with stereo systems, air conditioning, crumple zones and airbags, or any number of other things that add weight to a vehicle.
Thank you for bringing this up--I had forgotten to comment on it.
Another favorite argument of every anti-EV person is coal. "Your electricity all comes from coal, so your car is no cleaner than my gas burner!" This is incorrect, for multiple reasons. First, electric motors are simply more efficient than gasoline engines at turning energy into forward motion. Modern internal combustion engines are only 17-21% efficient. In other words, for all the energy contained in a gallon of gasoline, your car's engine turns only 17-21% of it into propulsion; the rest of that energy is lost as wasted heat, or to friction, etc. By comparison, an electric car converts about 59%–62% of the electrical energy from the grid to power at the wheels. (
source) This means an electric car is approximately three times more efficient than a comparable gasoline-powered car. That disparity suggests that even if all my Leaf's power came from a coal plant, I would be polluting less than if the car ran on gasoline.
But, that's a pointless idea to consider. Why? Because, as a nation, we are relying on coal less each year for our electricity. For the last 20 years, coal has been on a decline as a source of electricity in this country. Back in 1999, coal provided 50% of our power. In 2009, coal had dropped to providing only 44% of our electric power. At that point, the rate of decline began to fall steeply; for year 2018, coal only provided 27% of our national power. (
source) Clean sources of energy are taking over, and each year they produce more and more of our power.
So while my Leaf is already significantly clean from an emissions standpoint, it will continue to get even cleaner every year it is on the road. Meanwhile, my gas-powered cars are forever doomed to continue polluting the planet. Next year, five years from now, ten years from now--every gallon of gas they burn in the future will pollute just as much then as the gallon of gas they burn today.
Exactly. There's an old saying along the line of, the person who says something is impossible is typically interrupted by someone who is doing it. I love my gas-powered cars at least as much as anyone else on this forum. Nevertheless, the revolution
is coming. The detractors can deny it all they want; I just hope they step aside so as to not get run over when it arrives.
