Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle? | Page 78 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Any GTAM'ers own an electric vehicle?

Eventually, especially if we do buy a second Volt in the spring, I will probably look for a set of steelies for the snows, and I was able to find TPMS units online for a fraction of the tire shop or dealer cost, so it *can* be done cheaper, but still....at $60 for a full swap including balancing, unless I find a set of used rims it's still gonna cost me around $400. At $120 per year to swap on and off existing rims, considering we will be going through a set of tires one every few years anyways and would have to pay for a remount and balance anyways during the payback timeline, it's harder to make the argument against just using the alloys.

Agreed. We paid around $750 for the set. I didn't want to spend that much...but tough to get anything cheaper and many wheels won't fit the Volt unfortunately.
 
Agreed. We paid around $750 for the set. I didn't want to spend that much...but tough to get anything cheaper and many wheels won't fit the Volt unfortunately.
I bought a set of rims from Costco and bought the tmps sensors from ebay for about $15 a sensor all in I already had the rubber so am under 300 for the rims and sensors it cost me 30 to get the tires mounted and balanced for the set.

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I saw a blue Bolt in Newmarket today. I think there are a couple owners of blue Bolts in this thread :)
 
Still very jealous of the Bolt owners. If I wasn’t so adverse to car payments (and depreciation) we would own one by now. ;)
 
I saw a blue Bolt in Newmarket today. I think there are a couple owners of blue Bolts in this thread :)

I'm in Mt. Albert, so I'm in Newmarket all the time.
 
Tesla is hemmoraging cash to the tune of $1Billion per quarter.

Musk may not care, but he could end up being like the knight in the Monty Python skit where he has no arms and legs but keeps yelling that everything is just fine. Eventually someone is going to care and the money is going to run out.

Who knows, He’d probably funnel personal or other business into Tesla (Is SpaceX turning a profit?) before he’d let it go bankrupt, but perhaps that’s what’s needed to have him take a little more serious look at things. It’s easy to be lacsidaisical when it’s all investor and customer money (in the form of M3 deposits) you’re burning through vs your own.

He doesn't care, because now there's enough investors who don't care now or in the next 10 years either, whether they make money or not (as long as the change has been triggered is well under way ...). There's enough money to keep them going for a long time at the rate of 1B per QT. As long as he keeps advancing the mission investors associate with, there's always more money to be burnt? What's the alternative for these sort of "energy" investors, buy Shell stock or tar sands related stocks? Not gonna happen. Tesla is not just car company, but rather renewable energy company. Complete package .... I am far from Tesla car fan (I guess I could be, but I simply not willing to spend that much on any car with screen and no real gauges and buttons; call me old school), but I simply don't understand why today people think that the normal profit/loss rules apply to them. Clearly they don't, on contrary to other legacy companies. I thought there was always room for one big new car company.
 
Still very jealous of the Bolt owners. If I wasn’t so adverse to car payments (and depreciation) we would own one by now. ;)

At this point, I will wait for the 2018 Leaf and see whether the smaller battery version could really come 10K cheaper than Bolt. If the car is decent, that's all I will need from a city car. I will not like car payments myself, but we will see how the numbers fall in place when all is said and done.

I stopped by a Nissan dealership the other day and learned one shocking news (I still wonder whether the guy was simply wrong) ... Leafs for US market are made in the Smyrna, TN while Leafs for Canadian market will come straight from Japan. My reaction was ... whaaaat? Guy was serious. Perhaps it has to do with capacity of this plant, and profitability as well. I would not be surprised if they can make more money if a car is built in Japan vs. locally (apparently that is the case with Camry made in US vs Camry made in Japan ... I guess the unions magic at work)

In case anyone is waiting for this one as well, according to the dealer, there will be some demo units available in Dec 2017. Whether to drive or just to look at, he was not sure. That is also the time, when pricing financing/leasing deals will be announced.
 
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I will admit that I've been peeking at the Leaf used market, but the range on the 2013-ish era models (which are not into the price range I'd consider) is awkward at around 100KM..and again, that's in ideal conditions. In the winter with HVAC load and reduced battery capacity that can easily end up in the sub 50KM category...which negates it's usefulness for me even more.

Yes, 100KM is plenty for 90% of my needs (and the Volt could fill the rest) but that remaining 10% is a show stopper as I don't want to be tethered to the need for a charging station at point B, especially knowing what I know now about how they are often ICE'd (have a non-EV parked in an EV charging station spot), not working (when locations are manned by people who don't even know how to reset a circuit breaker, sometimes it happens), or simply in-use.

This is why the Bolt appeals to me - so much range.

The 2018 Leafs are looking to be around ~250KM range which I will admit is certainly better, but again, in the winter, I suspect that'd fall into the 150-175KM range. Still better, but unless the price difference is *very* significant I'd still opt for a Bolt. And if the price difference is as suggested, I think you'll see Chevy adjust the price of the Bolt in response...

Could be interesting.
 
I don't see Chevy dropping the price because of Leaf .... for three reasons. Until model 3 is widely available worldwide, Chevy has enough demand at current pricing ... secondly, they lose quite bit at current pricing, so I doubt they will be OK to lose more. Thirdly, they will not compete with vehicles with smaller battery packs. It makes no sense, battery being the most expensive part in those cars. I am sure the 60kWh Leaf will cost around same money. With Bolt, to get heated everything you need to get Premier, where Leaf is decently equipped from the base ...
 
Hello, just curious: did you folks purchase or lease the EV? Wife and I are having a discussion to seriously considering an EV as a second vehicle for the commute to work (we have a minivan when we need to chauffeur our baby around). When we looked at the smartcar 3 years back when it cost about $99/month for a lease of 3-4 yrs, it was all about leasing at the time because of the battery life. Is this still the case with the current new EVs on the market?

**and thank you for all the detailed breakdown of operating costs and mileage range, really helps to see real life numbers vs. manufacturer's projections
 
My concern with the Leaf is the battery life. It seems like Nissan still hasn't put a good system in place to manage battery temps like the Volt/Bolt have. I think GM really took the lead with this specifically. Also, the leaf will almost certainly have a nicer interior but won't have the range or performance of the Bolt. After a month with the Bolt I'm finding that I don't care as much about the interior shortcomings because the car is just so nice to drive.
 
I don't see Chevy dropping the price because of Leaf .... for three reasons. Until model 3 is widely available worldwide, Chevy has enough demand at current pricing ... secondly, they lose quite bit at current pricing, so I doubt they will be OK to lose more. Thirdly, they will not compete with vehicles with smaller battery packs. It makes no sense, battery being the most expensive part in those cars. I am sure the 60kWh Leaf will cost around same money. With Bolt, to get heated everything you need to get Premier, where Leaf is decently equipped from the base ...

I agree, if they wanted to pull much money out of the Bolt, they would likely produce a "City Bolt" or something similar with a shorter range and lower price. If they can keep the factory busy with the full-price car, there is no reason to chase down the price ladder.
 
Out of interest, has anyone actually read the rules for the US EV incentive package? My understanding is that the feds chip in money for the first x number of vehicles made by each manufacturer. Isn't an easy way around this "Check out the new Edison Model 7 from a brand new company led by the people that previously created Tesla"?
 
it was all about leasing at the time because of the battery life. Is this still the case with the current new EVs on the market?

I bought and don't worry about the battery life on the Bolt because GM's record with the Volt battery is proof enough for me that I'll have healthy range for the life of the car. Nissan and VW are going without thermal management, though the "lizard" battery they're using is supposed to be better at dealing with the heat from use and charging.
 
Out of interest, has anyone actually read the rules for the US EV incentive package? My understanding is that the feds chip in money for the first x number of vehicles made by each manufacturer. Isn't an easy way around this "Check out the new Edison Model 7 from a brand new company led by the people that previously created Tesla"?

Since the US federal rebate is applied to taxes owed when a person files their income tax, not everyone gets the full amount. As a result, I don't think the US Federal tax rebate has had the same kind of response as Ontario's rebate. Consequently, it doesn't seem like the manufacturers put a huge amount of weight in the tax rebate incentive in their strategies for selling EVs.
 
My concern with the Leaf is the battery life. It seems like Nissan still hasn't put a good system in place to manage battery temps like the Volt/Bolt have. I think GM really took the lead with this specifically. Also, the leaf will almost certainly have a nicer interior but won't have the range or performance of the Bolt. After a month with the Bolt I'm finding that I don't care as much about the interior shortcomings because the car is just so nice to drive.

My understanding is that they don't active cool the battery, still. They claim that they improved the passive cooling and they definitely actively heat the battery if need be. The issue also seem to be only affecting, or should I say mainly affecting, areas with high temperatures. Southern US, Spain, Portugal ... the battery is warranted, so if you lose too many bars, I think it's 3 out of 12 you get new battery ... It's something I am aware of, but would not stop me from saving 10K over 5 years t be honest. As I said, strictly city car for me, charging at home or during lunch break for free at the airport ...

Lease vs. finance? Hard to say this moment, because I am not sure what the new lease rates will be and also, you never know what the resell market will do it x years from now. Pros and cons to each method, I guess, depends what floats your boat.
 
I agree, if they wanted to pull much money out of the Bolt, they would likely produce a "City Bolt" or something similar with a shorter range and lower price. If they can keep the factory busy with the full-price car, there is no reason to chase down the price ladder.

They could, but as long as they have supplier producing the whole drive train, they will always lose money ... regardless how much smaller the battery is. The loss will be just smaller, but still a loss. This is not like they contract Magna to assemble the whole car ... I think the way they assemble/procure the Bolt is the worst sort to make a car profitable.
 
Hello, just curious: did you folks purchase or lease the EV? Wife and I are having a discussion to seriously considering an EV as a second vehicle for the commute to work (we have a minivan when we need to chauffeur our baby around). When we looked at the smartcar 3 years back when it cost about $99/month for a lease of 3-4 yrs, it was all about leasing at the time because of the battery life. Is this still the case with the current new EVs on the market?

**and thank you for all the detailed breakdown of operating costs and mileage range, really helps to see real life numbers vs. manufacturer's projections

Smart would be too small for my needs and taste. But I can assure you there's no 99$/month on EV in Canada (that deal sounds like a guinea pig deal) ... There's been some crazy deals on the outgoing Leaf in US ... Like 45$/month etc. .... but of course nothing up here. Different world as you know ...
 
My concern from the battery degradation standpoint is not only being able to get the maximum range the vehicle is rated for, but also resale value. When I bought our volt for example, making sure the battery was healthy and actually providing at least the rated range was the top priority for me. Those in the thread at the time when I was actually trying to buy the car will remember my issues with actually getting the dealer to successfully charge it for me before the test drive.

If I went and looked at any other used EV, I would do the same, and if I discovered that 15% or 20% of the range had been lost to degradation, I most certainly would not buy it. When’s enough people get savvy enough to check these sorts of things it will inevitably drive down resale value.

Mileage aside, I am quite sure that if we sell our current Volt in 3 or 4 years to upgrade to a Bolt, the car will still have almost all (if not in excess of) its original battery capacity still there. The Volt battery is just that good.

The same cannot be said for many other manufacturers offerings. 2013 leafs for example are showing 10-15% loss already with far less miles than our Volt already has. If that’s linear and in another 4 years it’s lost 30% or its capacity and it’s out of warranty, that makes it arguably fairly valueless - a car that might go 40-50km and leaves you dead on the road.
 
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I just came back from a customer of mine who builds parts for the Bolt. They're scrambling to find ways to increase production volume. Not the worst problem to have.
 

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