We actually have a chain of stations that expects you to park at the pump and come in. But the have lots of pumps at each location. And clean bathrooms!
Buc-ees.com
Electric Vehicles
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We actually have a chain of stations that expects you to park at the pump and come in. But the have lots of pumps at each location. And clean bathrooms!
Buc-ees.com
The bathrooms really are that good. Actually good enough that the neighboring stations will up their game to compete. I rarely go to Buc-ees because of traffic issues. But you should stop in at least once to feel the hype. And buy some pajamas.
ETA: I’m surprised they don’t have charging stations. But my wife pointed out that while they serve tons of food options they have no tables. They don’t want you to loiter too much. Just long enough to buy a barbecue pit.
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The following video reminded that while EVs generally require less maintenance than ICE vehicles, they do tend to go through tires quicker:
There's a lot of discussion of tires wearing too quickly in the online EV groups I follow. I think some of it might be due to the odd size tires my car uses, but it's mostly because of the more aggressive acceleration the car offers. I don't intentionally accelerate quickly from stops, but still find myself leaving most cars well behind.
There's a lot of discussion of tires wearing too quickly in the online EV groups I follow. I think some of it might be due to the odd size tires my car uses, but it's mostly because of the more aggressive acceleration the car offers. I don't intentionally accelerate quickly from stops, but still find myself leaving most cars well behind.
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The Chevy Bolt will be the first production car with those new airless tires which can be retreaded multiple times.
ZirconBlue
Sole Survivor of L-Town
One of those just opened up about 1/2 hour south of where I live. It's an odd location, there are literally no other businesses at that Interstate exit. I used to use that exit when I briefly worked in the area. I wish Buc-ees had been there then.
bruto
Penultimate Amazing
I imagine it also doesn't help that they are generally a good bit heavier than other cars of their size.
Yes, that makes sense. I did think of it a while after I posted. The extra weight and lower center of gravity probably help the electric motor's torque make it to the road. Jay Leno says something like that in the video, I think.
That's the expected behaviour in the UK. Partly, there isn't usually anywhere else to park, and partly someone driving away from the pump without paying is likely to cause an alert for possible theft.
Regarding buying an EV, this seems to be a bad time to buy (not terribly surprisingly). Lead times on new EVs is in the order of months (this might be normal for cars in general, but I've never contemplated buying a new one before), and second hand cars are selling for more than new ones! (What I'd ideally like is a Kia e-Niro 4, but second hand ones are selling before they even get to the dealer. The new model is being announced at the end of the month, and the dealers don't have old stock, and don't know the details of the new ones, but think there will be around a 6 month wait. Meanwhile, my diesel is losing value rapidly.)
I think the key difference is that at Buc-ees you're expected to park at a pump even if you're not buying fuel.
Filippo Lippi
Philosopher
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You just cain't drive it if your feet's too big
(UK 12 for reference)
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(UK 12 for reference)
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And a complete change in scale:
https://www.compositesworld.com/new...-flight-with-ultralight-liquid-hydrogen-tanks
This is claiming a better range for a liquified H2 aeroplane with a fuel cell than for the equivalent conventional aircraft. Which is very surprising to me.
Even without their special tank, where they claim a 10-fold increase in the storage to weight ratio
https://www.compositesworld.com/new...-flight-with-ultralight-liquid-hydrogen-tanks
This is claiming a better range for a liquified H2 aeroplane with a fuel cell than for the equivalent conventional aircraft. Which is very surprising to me.
Even without their special tank, where they claim a 10-fold increase in the storage to weight ratio
The main problem I have with EV's apart from heaps of extension cords all over the road for people who don't have a garage or driveway for old people to trip over, is even the cheapest Nissan Leaf costs about 6 thousand NZD to replace the batteries and they only last 7 years under warranty.
With 6k I could buy 2 second hand petrol cars, that if they break I can normally fix myself, rather than having to pay some garage to hook it up to a diagnostic machine for hundreds of dollars.
It is hardly cost saving in the long run.
With 6k I could buy 2 second hand petrol cars, that if they break I can normally fix myself, rather than having to pay some garage to hook it up to a diagnostic machine for hundreds of dollars.
It is hardly cost saving in the long run.
Our Tesla Model 3 came with class W tires that can handle speeds of 168 mph. They were designed for performance rather than long life.
How old are those second-hand cars? My six-year-old diesel required two (expensive) visits to the main dealer in the last fortnight to find out what's wrong with it (failing sensors, in both cases). The local garage I normally use did not have the full diagnostic set-up needed.
bruto
Penultimate Amazing
Alas, I almost never get to go 168 around here. I'd rather not have to spend every other weekend at the tire store.
While I think it likely that Tesla is making a good business decision making expensive luxury performance cars for people who can afford that kind of thing, I think electric cars for the masses will be slow catching on until they're not only cheaper to own in reality, but in perception.
My cheap little Hyundai gets close to 40 mpg throughout the year, and rough estimates put its annual fuel cost at about twice that of a comparable electric. About the only ICE-specific expense otherwise is around $30 every 7500 miles for oil changes. So let's say roughly that I spend about 1600 bucks a year on ICE-specific things.
Another rough calculation suggests I'd pay about half that for Electric power for a similar distance. That puts the electric at about a 700-800 per year advantage, but if tire life is halved, that gets dropped pretty fast at $400 or so a set, and brake life is also an issue, as is suspension, both in life and initial cost for heavier-duty parts. The current car is very easy on brakes, owing to its ridiculously light weight, and its suspension is cheap, light and durable. The rear drum brakes are good for pretty much the life of the car, and the fronts for 80 thousand miles or so. I had to replace a leaking rear shock at about 100 thousand miles, but the front struts are still fine. It's a cheap car to own, light and simple.
The estimated fuel cost could be deceptive, since this is Vermont, where many months are cold, requiring not only the heater but reducing battery efficiency. It's a gray area. The ICE engine also has reduced economy, but it goes from something around 41 mpg down to 38. Not enormous even at high gas prices.
We''re left with a likely saving in overall running cost for the electric vehicle, but not an enormous one, and that saving is hard to justify if the vehicle itself is much more expensive in electric form.
I have little doubt that as economies of scale keep changing, the balance will also change, but so far it's not quite compelling enough.
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Mr Clingford
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There is an assumption here that because the battery is out of warranty it therefore needs replacing. Batteries (with one or two exceptions) are holding up well.
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