Why EV's won't be taking over gas cars anytime soon in the USA.

[mojo]

I can only think of four outfits that actually advertise battery work for i3's - the guy in the Czech Republic who (without any intention to be unkind) is not a scale operation, the company in Germany (Mandrill - unproven, as far as I know), a tiny outfit in Wales that seems to specialise in replacing i3 batteries with ones from scrapped cars and the Chinese company(ies) that will sell you a big box of loose batteries (and hopefully a nicely translated Chinglish manual telling you how to put it all together).

I personally would be happy to find a company just offering a like-for-like replacement with new cells but the same total capacity. I can understand why some people would like to upgrade the car to 200Ah, but TBH I don't have any confidence that anyone will be able to do that and integrate it so that everything (e.g. charging control and range calculation) works properly.

I’d have to get and pay for a special endorsement on my car insurance policy because the car insurance will only cover what was factory.

Good to hear that someone else has a concern about insurance cover - for example I see people fitting crazy wheel configurations that stick 2 inches out from the wheel arches, and wonder how they can possibly square the modification with their insurance provider - but it seems in some areas of the world it isn't seen as a problem...

 

[unL33T]

I bought my i3 Rex in the expectation that I drive locally most of the time, and the expected 40 miles on battery (60 in the summertime) would typically be sufficient. But in the real world I find that 40 miles is often actually more like 25 if I take a run down the highway a few exits or even step on the gas pedal a bit too aggressively during my drive, and the need to fill up the gas tank is a major inconvenience when that tank only holds 2 gallons. I also find that even a slightly longer trip (such as an hour away, or two shorter trips back to back) turns into a major inconvenience, not to mention the constant anxiety over having to plan to stop for a refill practically every time I go anywhere (does this exit have a gas station? Maybe the next one does). I find myself treating the car mostly like an ICE vehicle but with a battery reserve, obviously not ideal nor I presume the purpose the designers intended. Hence my recent decision to go to a RAV4 Prime, with similar e-range but 400 miles of ICE range. I want the benefits of EVs but not the limitations. I don't think a full EV is in my future.

My experience matches this. The horrible fuel economy of the i3 when on gas has really made me question if the car is worth it, especially with all the expensive/annoying/limiting "quirks". Public charging takes too long and costs almost as much as gas in this car meaning running a more fuel efficient car could actually be cheaper. I cannot charge at home because of street parking. I can charge at work but there are limited level 2 chargers and even with a 16A (at 120V) slow charger it does not recover the power used to go to work and back home. It is currently free but within the next few months they will be charging for charging but even with free charging my long drives over the holidays have required me to use a lot of gas which combined with public charging has cost almost as much as running my X3. i3 uses 9-10L/100km while the X3 used 12L/100km despite weighing twice as much, being AWD, having 100 more HP, a roof rack, and a trailer hitch. Insurance on the i3 is also higher than the X3.

I live in the biggest city in my country. Only 40% of people live in houses. Even fewer of those houses have their own parking. So probably less than 30% of people could charge an EV at home.

The closest public charger is only a level 2 and is a 15 minute walk from my home. It costs $6/hour overnight.