Does anyone on the L1 Team have plans on getting an electric car in the near future?

Since Kreestuh, Ryan, and Wendell are all into tech, I was wondering if any of you three have plans on getting an electric car in the near future?

AFAIK, the only car that has been shown off/discussed in the show has been Ryan’s “Prius” (Corvette).

Just a random thought that came to mind while watching the Q&A.

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Last time I was looking to buy, I did look at hybrid cars. I would love to have something that’s a little more eco friendly. But unfortunately most that I saw at the time were far more expensive than what I was looking to pay. I’m pretty happy with my current car but next time I need to update I might reconsider hybrid/electric.

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Would you even be able to go with an electric car, based off of where you bought your house? Are you even grid-tied?

Yeah, electrics get expensive fast. All that lithium…


Another thing to consider is the charging infrastructure in your area. I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but san diego’s infrastructure is not particularly good.


I think hybrids are a wildly nice middle ground, despite not being “cool” because they really shine in the stop n go stuff that just murders fuel economy.

I specifically remember one time I was trying to see how bad of fuel economy I could get with a company prius. Wound up with 40mpg, which is better than I’ve ever done in one of my cars.

With my daily, I can get it down to 12 if I’m really hooning it.

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Not one of the tagged people, but the Wife and I agreed no more ICE engines for us. The mower we just got is electric, and once our cars die we will replace with electric.

We rarely drive over 300 miles from our house and renting a car or van is not an issue for a trip longer than that.

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I’m not ready to completely get rid of ICE, but for daily stuff, I think they’re more or less where they need to be.

ICE isn’t going away for a long time (more then a decade at the very least), but I’m surprised that more people simply don’t get hybrid vehicles. They have massive fuel cost savings and are marginally more expensive brand-new, with few (none?) downsides. The hybrids which people like to complain about (ex. the prius, for being “slow”) are intentionally made that way to further increase fuel savings.

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if I could get a plugin hybrid mini-van that could go 100m on a charge I would in a heartbeat (made by Honda or Toyota, Chrysler does not count) Either that or a Volt like power train where its all electric but uses a ICE generator to extend range.

most of the driving we do as a family is under 100 miles and I would love having a full tank every time I get in the van every morning. There is nothing better than when my wife borrows the van, and then at 6:30am when I am trying to get kids to school tells me she left it on empty last night because she was tired after her errands and did not want to get gas.

So I drove the kia nero and hyundai kona evs today. I’ll be giving a more in-depth review of them later tonight. I’ve got a couple more things to do before I get back to the desk.

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Considering we all live in kentucky, probably not

No charging stations

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Na i will continue to burn fuell for a while.
Because current EV’s are kinda garbage and wayyy too expensive.

Hybrid and plugins are a middle solution for all the downsides in regards to EV’s.
But in reality it isn’t really a very economical solution.
Because the E range is so low that it doesn’t really make much sense at all.
And that makes the concept of hybrid and plugsins less economical i guess.
Because of the additional weight of the drive train.

The only real solution is H2o i guess… :slight_smile:

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What don’t you like from them, aside from the common negatives like them being more expensive compared to ICE, slower “refilling”, and lack of charging stations in some locals?

I don’t mind to be rude, but the point of hybrid vehicles having the battery is not to actually drive a far distance on the battery, but instead uses the electric motor during situations when it is least efficient to use the ICE; at stop/starts (stop signs, red lights, etc.). For people who mostly commute by highway, there’ll be minimal change in fuel economy but that change is still existant and will likely pay off over the life of the car.

It took me quite a few years to understand how having a small battery + motor in a hybrid car is beneficial, because it isn’t always inherently obvious.

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Idk what part of kentucky your in but the charging infrastructure is surprisingly good in the south we have the Nissan plant just south of Nashville so lots of EVs from that and the Volkswagen plant in Eastern Tennessee which also will be making EVs eventually.

I know we’re a little spoiled in Nashville because we have major highways intersecting between us but they’re charging stations everywhere even places you wouldn’t expect it like grocery stores and cracker barrel.

RV parks are often an acceptable substitute. 3KW-10KW charging from RV power outlets.

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Gonna retrofit and old 2005 Citroen C3 with old 3 phase, mechanical speed controller and whatever else I can find to store power. Thinking maybe Edison batteries, car/marine battery or Li-Ion.
Long term project…

Wait, am I in the L1 Team too? Can I or should I even answer this post?

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@GigaBusterEXE https://www.wkrn.com/news/general-motors-expected-to-announce-new-spring-hill-electric-battery-plant-on-friday/

I know its not directly related, but again as EV tech grows in the region the infrastructure will follow.

So, “tonight” has turned into “at some point this weekend” due to life challenges. I’ve got a phone full of notes, I just have to put them into logical sense.

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There are a few around bigger cities, like Lexington, but yeah, that is a pain. Part of the reason I was more interested in hybrids at the time, at least I could use gas as a backup.

I’d be interested in seeing the effects of solar panels on a hybrid providing the top 500w of power on gas mileage