Just was looking at possible Honda Fit replacements for the wife if the Kona N doesn’t pan out. New Leaf and Ionic seem like interesting options.
Electric cars use on average 200Wh/km (about 310Wh/mile), so it’s not really worth it unless you live in a really sunny area and leave your car parked out in direct sunlight. However then comes downsides of your cars interior being BAKING hot inside because of the solar panels on the roof.
It isn’t too practical with our current solar tech sadly.
This guy’s been doing work on making his Nissan Leaf run off solar:
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Once that $1k hybrid battery starts wearing out after a few years however, the car ends up working harder both moving the sub-par lawn mower engine up a hill while trying to charge the dying battery with zero electrical assist. Hybrids + hills = sad. Experienced it first hand kon a Honda civic hybrid 2009
I’ve got a friend with an 06 Prius (who beats the ever-living hell out of it) and her battery is at 90% capacity. This idea that batteries wear out in “a few years” is a myth that comes from cell phones and laptops with poor battery management and design. Cars are much more well-engineered.
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One thing I think is really neat is the BMW range extender motor that they’ve got on the i3. I don’t know if I’d want it, but it’s a cool idea. Converting the chemical energy in fuel into electricity, with a purpose built engine (read extremely efficient) is one of those things that I think could make small-battery electric cars viable, at least until battery chemistry changes to not require rare elements like Lithium.
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You talk to that electric miata shop?
I’ve decided that if I’m going electric, it’s going to be either a car worthy of salvation (Porsche 930 or so, which EV West does tesla swaps for) or a new shitbox commuter (like the Nero or Kona, both of which, I found to be surprisingly good)
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Hmm. I bought the car used, and the battery was decently new. I’m not pulling my information from usage of my smartphone battery. I actually owned a full fledged '09 civic hybrid. They’re not as cool as they’re made out to be when you encounter mountain ranges or urban hilled communities.
Laughs in Foothills of San Diego
That prius gets her 65MPG in the hills out here and she still does 120 down the freeway like nobody’s watching.
I suspect that Honda didn’t have their battery design down. Probably still doesn’t, which might be why they don’t have a purely electric offering yet.
Oh, to further reinforce my assertion: https://www.autoblog.com/2020/04/02/honda-gm-electric-cars-2024-north-america/
Not to say GM has their shit together.
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I’ve considered a Tesla many times
I like the idea of hybridizing a gas truck
But overall I am still sticking with v8 power in a truck. Its just proven and reliable and before say anyone says its not eco friendly. When I look at eco friendly I consider lifecycle friendliness over bare emissions
If I keep a truck for 10, 20 or 30 years (dads truck is that old)… I’ve spared buying several new vehicles and in my mind that’s offsetting emissions a good bit
That said when electric gets to the point of 700 miles on a charge for a truck I’d switch over in a heartbeat
Wheezes in utah
Yeah that just reinforces the point I made about reliability and utility
My $.02
I’ve had a 2008 Prius since I bought it in 2012. When I was commuting 1 hour/day, mostly highway miles, I got about 50-52mpg on average. Now that I am very close to work and driving shorter distances I’m getting about 45mpg on average. This is much better than I could get with anything else.
I live in the boonies North of Charlotte NC. There are no charging stations within 30 miles of me. There are plenty like me who don’t live near cities that are in similar situations.
Can confirm these things are dogs, but I respect Honda for making the only manual hybrids.
A buddy of mine threw a turbo on his Honda Insight.
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Well the slow recharge times, price for charging at fast net stations etc.
And the unrealistic ranges that manufacturers advertise with,
but in reality they are like at least 25% if not more off depending on the weather.
Of course fuell powered cars also suffer from that.
But at least refilling takes me like 5 minutes.
And in regards to recharging at charging stations isn’t really,
that much cheaper compared to just fuell.
It’s only really much cheaper when you have the ability to charge at home or at work.
But then it takes like 8+ hours on a regular socket.
And how green is it actually?
Certain EV’s are kinda nice.
But there are also plenty with pretty poor build quality.
And some don’t even get close to reach their advertised range.
But everything will get better over time also the amount of charging stations etc.
Yes i understand that in regards to mild hybrids and regular hybrids.
But plugin hybrids it kinda is a little bit different given those having a bigger battery pack,
and are able drive fully electric.
but like i said given the additional weight the electric drive train adds to it.
I’m not really sure if it trully is all that efficient in the end.
Of course it´s a cool technology.
But it also really depends on how people actually use it.
Still many new cars come with some kind a hybrid system,
being it mild hybrid, hybrid or plugin.
So in the end it’s either some form or hybrid of fully electric.
I would personally go with a hybrid if i had to choose right now.
I mean the new Volvo S60 T8 hybrid with 400HP + is very nice. 
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Something about the leaf just rubs me the wrong way. I just think it’s too ugly probably. That and it’s got a nissan interior.
look very similar to the fit my wife has already cant be very far off that
Well, I never said anything about the fit being a good looking car.
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its not its a mini van in .6 scale
Okay, see you in 2035.
You’ll probably still be driving that focus too xD
Well when the entire world decides to switch to EV’s,
where does all that power needed has to be generated from?
I mean the world is totally not ready for that yet.
You simply can’t generate it all with windmills and solar panels.
So in the end it can never be 100% green.
EV’s are not the solution to save the planet.