Ready To Buy Your First Electric Car? The Cheapest Tesla Model 3 And The Top 3 Alternatives: 2020 Chevy Bolt, Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV

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Ready To Buy Your First Electric Car? The Cheapest Tesla Model 3 And The Top 3 Alternatives: 2020 Chevy Bolt, Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV.

Ready To Buy Your First Electric Car? The Cheapest Tesla Model 3 And The Top 3 Alternatives: 2020 Chevy Bolt, Hyundai Kona EV, Kia Niro EV

Ready To Buy Your First Electric Car?

www.forbes.com

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Richard

 

[RX8]

And if you can wait a few more months the Ford Mach-E is worth adding to your list of options to consider.

 

[turkel]

Ford stands for Found On Road Dead. That’s a never again for me. 20 yo DD says she wants a Tesla. Do they still make you sign a non disclosure agreement? Tesla also doesn’t allow a secondary market for parts and repairs not sure always having to pay dealer pricing is economical.

 

[Glenn2]

Once I am ready to trade in my Chevy Volt, I will buy a Bolt since a new Volt is no longer an option. I am already driving about 90% of the time on electric as it is. It won't be much of an adjustment to go full electric.

 

[DrQ]

We bought a 2019 Chevy Bolt in Sept. In our area, the BMW, Tesla, Chevy Bolt and the Nissan LEAF are the only EV's available. The BMW was WAY too expensive, and the LEAF Plus had just come out.

We really love the Bolt for an around town car.

 

[pedro47]

What do you do if their is a hurricane or winter power outage for more than 24 hours? How do you charge the battery?

 

[Passepartout]

There will be lots of choices coming up. I read that shortly ALL Cadillacs will be electric as will ALL Lincolns. We are still 'bridging the gap' time-wise with the Honda Plug-in Hybrid Clarity. Around town we drive it as a full electric. It has roughly 50 miles of range full electric, plus the 1.6 liter gas engine for highway use. The car works just fine. I expect it will last us until a full electric becomes a viable alternative for our usage.

I have my eye on a Rivian pickup (Idaho is pickup truck country), but so far, production is still a future thing.

Public charging stations ae popping up all over, so living in the boonies is becoming easier, while living with electric transport in almost any urban area near either coast is in many ways easier than having a gas-fueled car. Especially if you can charge at home or where you work it's just a non-issue. And remember- there's virtually no regular maintenance. No oil to change, nothing to lubricate.

Jim

 

[Glenn2]

What do you do if their is a hurricane or winter power outage for more than 24 hours? How do you charge the battery?

Without power I can't charge the car, but a hurricane comes with lots of warning to charge up and gas up. A gas and electric combined 250 mile range.

 

[DrQ]

What do you do if their is a hurricane or winter power outage for more than 24 hours? How do you charge the battery?

You could have solar or a back-up generator hooked up to natural gas.

But with a wide power outage, gas stations can't PUMP gas either.

 

[DrQ]

Without power I can't charge the car, but a hurricane comes with lots of warning to charge up and gas up. A gas and electric combined 250 mile range.

Fully charged, I have ~220 mile range, depending on weather. With an EV, stop and go driving is the way we get the most range. If I'm stopped, only headlights and environmental is consuming power.

Winter driving is the biggest draw on the battery for resistance heating for the interior. At some point they are going to build an automotive heat pump for EV's which would make wintertime operation more efficient.

 

[SMHarman]

Fully charged, I have ~220 mile range, depending on weather. With an EV, stop and go driving is the way we get the most range. If I'm stopped, only headlights and environmental is consuming power.

Winter driving is the biggest draw on the battery for resistance heating for the interior. At some point they are going to build an automotive heat pump for EV's which would make wintertime operation more efficient.

Tje Model Y is using this tech. I'm sure retrofit to the 3 will come soon.

 

[PigsDad]

I just purchased a new car in December (a bit of a mid-life crisis car: a Porsche Macan ), and I tend to drive my cars 8-10 years. I feel my next car will most likely be an EV, as I think the shortcomings of an EV and the support system needed will have been mostly overcome by then.

Kurt

 

[e.bram]

i am waiting to replace my FORD Expeditions with electric ones.

 

[DrQ]

Tje Model Y is using this tech. I'm sure retrofit to the 3 will come soon.

At the time the Bolt was designed, they were trying to keep the cost down. With more EV's, parts manufactures will come up with a mobile heat pump design which multiple OEM's will use in their vehicles. I would not want to be one of the first. Heat pumps have a lot of components and when you put them in a moving chassis, I think it will take a while to fully harden the design. The cost of refrigerant could make early adopters possibly regret their choice.

The biggest downside of the Bolt is that Chevrolet was very conservative for the DC 'fast' charging options. If you plan to travel long distances, you will spend much longer charging than you would with a Tesla and a Supercharger. I did not buy the Bolt for that as we have a 2015 Genesis which is a great road car for traveling. I bought the Bolt as commuter and around town car. I can charge at home and at work (I really don't need to charge at work, but it offsets my commuting energy cost).

What I didn't expect, but really enjoy the more upright seat position. I don't 'fall' into the car nor have to 'climb' to get out. A lot of trucks and SUV's have the opposite issue, you have to climb in and be careful not to fall out. As Goldilocks said: "It's just right."

 

[Pathways]

There will be lots of choices coming up. I read that shortly ALL Cadillacs will be electric as will ALL Lincolns. We are still 'bridging the gap' time-wise with the Honda Plug-in Hybrid Clarity. Around town we drive it as a full electric. It has roughly 50 miles of range full electric, plus the 1.6 liter gas engine for highway use. The car works just fine. I expect it will last us until a full electric becomes a viable alternative for our usage.

I have my eye on a Rivian pickup (Idaho is pickup truck country), but so far, production is still a future thing.

Public charging stations ae popping up all over, so living in the boonies is becoming easier, while living with electric transport in almost any urban area near either coast is in many ways easier than having a gas-fueled car. Especially if you can charge at home or where you work it's just a non-issue. And remember- there's virtually no regular maintenance. No oil to change, nothing to lubricate.

Jim

I have been very happy with my plug-ins, and am shopping for a possible trade with my 2018 Kia Niro.

Jim - I wanted to at least look at the Clarity plug-in. Where are they available?

 

[Passepartout]

I have been very happy with my plug-ins, and am shopping for a possible trade with my 2018 Kia Niro.

Jim - I wanted to at least look at the Clarity plug-in. Where are they available?

Sadly, they are not offered for sale. They are lease only and then just in Oregon and California. We got ours by special order almost exactly 2 years ago when they were offered for sale everywhere. I don't know what happened or what Honda's plan is for alternate fuel vehicles. Here's a blurb on it: https://www.thecarconnection.com/overview/honda_fcx-clarity_2020
An aside. 2 years ago we paid full sticker price, $20,000 less than shown on this 2020. Somehow I'm suspicious.

 

[easyrider]

I doubt we buy an EV but I am looking for a couple of EB's.

Bill

 

[kanerf]

I leased a Kia Niro PHEV several years ago and I love it. I live in the boonies, so no chargers nearby, which is why I went with the hybrid. I can charge it from household current (comes with a charging cable) in about 6 hours from dead. It works great with a full-charge and drives well in hybrid mod as well. I do wish there were more chargers around though. I spend a good deal of time in the D.C. area and there are plenty of chargers there, though still not enough. Some are free and some you have to pay per hour or KWH that you charge.

During my 4 months as a monk during the shutdown, I charged the beast every couple of days depending on what little driving I was doing around my little town. I started with half a tank of gas in March and still had just under a half a tank in July when I drove into D.C. for a few weeks. I put no gas in it during that period.

 

[emeryjre]

And none of the current models being discussed are taking into account the newer battery technology that is starting to be ramped up. More storage capacity, quicker charging, lower cost, and longer useable battery life are the major features coming in the next several months. Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is scheduled to start production in September of these latest technology batteries. Depending on how quickly and smoothly the ramp up goes, the EV industry will have greater range, lower recharge times, lower initial costs, and longer battery pack life sometime in 2021.

Unfortunately, GM and Ford are doing their "Detroit" thing and are so far off the curve it makes me ill.

 

[Passepartout]

I doubt we buy an EV but I am looking for a couple of EB's.

OK, I'll bite. What's an EB?

 

[Passepartout]

And none of the current models being discussed are taking into account the newer battery technology that is starting to be ramped up. More storage capacity, quicker charging, lower cost, and longer useable battery life are the major features coming in the next several months. Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is scheduled to start production in September of these latest technology batteries. Depending on how quickly and smoothly the ramp up goes, the EV industry will have greater range, lower recharge times, lower initial costs, and longer battery pack life sometime in 2021.

Unfortunately, GM and Ford are doing their "Detroit" thing and are so far off the curve it makes me ill.

My personal feeling is you're living in the 'fantasyland' when it's right, I'll buy in. OK, but there is ALWAYS some new technology 'just over the horizon'. Just wait a little longer and your dream will come true. Well, maybe. But buying into TODAY's bleeding edge technology, while not perfect is an improvement. So take the plunge. Don't let the 'perfect' get in the way of 'very good'.

Jim

 

[emeryjre]

I believe EB stands for Electric Bicycle

 

[Pathways]

OK, I'll bite. What's an EB?

My guess is a bike,,,,as in motorcycle

 

[Pathways]

Sadly, they are not offered for sale

It appears the dealers have them for sale in the LA area - two versions, 34.5k or 37.5k. With the 7500 credit, I wanted to take a look, but probably will stick with another Kia. Not worth driving to CA to pick one up. And then there's the servicing issue here in the midwest if the mechanics don't see them much.

The fuel cell version is available in CA for lease only

 

[bizaro86]

At the time the Bolt was designed, they were trying to keep the cost down. With more EV's, parts manufactures will come up with a mobile heat pump design which multiple OEM's will use in their vehicles. I would not want to be one of the first. Heat pumps have a lot of components and when you put them in a moving chassis, I think it will take a while to fully harden the design. The cost of refrigerant could make early adopters possibly regret their choice.

The biggest downside of the Bolt is that Chevrolet was very conservative for the DC 'fast' charging options. If you plan to travel long distances, you will spend much longer charging than you would with a Tesla and a Supercharger. I did not buy the Bolt for that as we have a 2015 Genesis which is a great road car for traveling. I bought the Bolt as commuter and around town car. I can charge at home and at work (I really don't need to charge at work, but it offsets my commuting energy cost).

What I didn't expect, but really enjoy the more upright seat position. I don't 'fall' into the car nor have to 'climb' to get out. A lot of trucks and SUV's have the opposite issue, you have to climb in and be careful not to fall out. As Goldilocks said: "It's just right."

A heat pump is essentially an air conditioner installed backwards. An air conditioner moves heat from inside the car to outside, a heat pump moves heat from outside the car to inside. The thermodynamic process and parts are the same.

Given that air conditioners have been installed in cars literally for decades, I dont see why this would be especially difficult to manufacture reliably. I agree you probably don't want the very first one, but given how similar this is to existing automotive technology I'd expect the learning curve to be short.