EV or hybrid vehicles

[MarkT]

I subscribed to XM/Sirius for my ZUMO after they added the weather and traffic functions.  Don't use the latter much but having weather radar regardless of cell tower access is handy in the mountains - and especially on the bikes.  The price is too high IMHO but when on trips the radar is very useful - though MyRadar on the phone is much better graphically.  I sometimes listen to the radio, Howard or the news but have 2000 MP3's on the ZUMO and can just plug in a different SD card for another set.  Not to mention, the bike also supports playing a much bigger library of 70,000 tunes via the phone with a 1Tb SD (into the mixer & amp), or via Pandora if cell towers available.  Not hurting for audio sources.

[f6john]

Knowing there is interest in some fuel mizer transportation, I came across this little gem.





It’s on Facebook marketplace if you want to make an offer.

[cookiedough]

those seats look comfy at least, but that is about it...   

[RP#62]

I wonder how many clowns will fit in it.


-RP

[valkmc]

I priced the Ford Maverick Hybrid, not the base model but close. Added trailer hitch, upgrade on wheels and different color combo on interior. $27,400 It gets 42 in the city and 34 on the highway. 191 HP and 155 torque.  I thought about it but I like 395HP Hemi in my ram. So I'll pass for now. There are a few around Ocala so I will see what people say after a year.

[cookiedough]

I priced the Ford Maverick Hybrid, not the base model but close. Added trailer hitch, upgrade on wheels and different color combo on interior. $27,400 It gets 42 in the city and 34 on the highway. 191 HP and 155 torque.  I thought about it but I like 395HP Hemi in my ram. So I'll pass for now. There are a few around Ocala so I will see what people say after a year.

yah,  I wish ANY mfg. would make something like a Ford Maverick truck that can tow 6000lbs. (over 5000lbs. preferred) and still seat 4 people comfy and 6ft bed.  It does NOT exist but should, if can get under 30K I would buy in a heartbeat.  All these new so-called trucks like the maverick and hyundai santa cruz are o.k. interior wise, but lack the 'real world' towing and more so important to me having a way too short of 4-5 ft useless bed length. 

I like the honda ridgeline even though only 5000lbs. towing, but the wider than normal bed is under 5ft or so and too short for my needs needs to be 6ft or more like preferred 6.5ft bed length.  Biggest drawback to the honda ridgeline for me is near 40K msrp is insanely too expensive.

[Robert]

Prius batteries are repairable, you can take out the tray that the battery is in and send the whole thing out. The battery is made of individual single cells all connected together. They test the individual cells replace the ones that are bad, test it and send it back to you or actually it may be a local thing.

Most of the Prius will have high miles on them since they are the first cars out there that really do well and people use them in commuter situations. They are also expensive in most cases because they last.

[hueco]

I have a 2023 Maverick XL Hybrid ordered for the wife. Supposed to be built the week of December 19th. She just going to use it to commute to work and grocery getter. Going to replace her 2002 GMC Envoy with 240,00 miles on it.

[cookiedough]

I have a 2023 Maverick XL Hybrid ordered for the wife. Supposed to be built the week of December 19th. She just going to use it to commute to work and grocery getter. Going to replace her 2002 GMC Envoy with 240,00 miles on it.

Let us know how it goes with the new Maverick.  HIghly doubt it will last another 240K miles though...  It actually looks like a REAL truck, just wish it had a 6ft bed length.  Gas mileage very high would be nice to have though in the Maverick.

My ideal truck, which for me did not exist in a Toyota tundra 2021 and prior, is a crewmax 6.5ft bed length.  Now that the all new 2022 tundra is not reliable having a 6.5ft bed length crewmax finally,  and costing 50K on up now,  is not worth buying. 

[carolinarider09]

Prius batteries are repairable, you can take out the tray that the battery is in and send the whole thing out. The battery is made of individual single cells all connected together. They test the individual cells replace the ones that are bad, test it and send it back to you or actually it may be a local thing.

Most of the Prius will have high miles on them since they are the first cars out there that really do well and people use them in commuter situations. They are also expensive in most cases because they last.

While I find the above interesting and one way of doing it, I wonder how many of you have, as I do, a device the uses eight ( 8 ) AA batteries.   The batteries are in a tray.  When the voltage drops would you take each battery and check it to identify the bad battery or....... replace all eight ( 8 ) figuring the following.

1.  In general the batteries from a given "batch" are probably all constructed the same with the same materials.

2.  If a single battery fails (let's say the life is supposed to be 10 years and it fails at one year), would you assume that the other batteries will be ok since they are separate?

3.  If a single battery fails and the above is true, you will continually be replacing batteries.   What is/will be the cost for an individual battery vs. the "whole battery pack". 

Yes, it sounds cool and sounds sort of efficient but.......  It points out the lack of reliability for said battery powered vehicle.   

And just for the record, the other day I had an issue with one of my Trail Cams.  So, I took out the battery pack and checked the voltage.  It was (if I remember) 11.6 volts (eight AA cells means 12.0 volts DC is nominal).  I deiced to see if there was one single battery that had failed and was causing the issue.

My digital voltmeter said all were basically the same voltage (yes it was an unloaded voltage which is different also).  Each cell read about the same on the voltmeter.  So, I replaced them all and the new grouping registered 12.6 volts DC when measured. 

Just my two cents.   

[scooperhsd]

Replace all of them. Easier than worrying about individual batteries....

[carolinarider09]

Replace all of them. Easier than worrying about individual batteries....

 

Or ......

[hueco]

Our Maverick came in today. Gonna  pick it up tomorrow .  Our first new vehicle since our 2002 Envoy. The wife is very excited. Since it is going to hers.

[cookiedough]

Our Maverick came in today. Gonna  pick it up tomorrow .  Our first new vehicle since our 2002 Envoy. The wife is very excited. Since it is going to hers.

happy wife, happy life...

update us in a month or so on how the maverick is doing, good and bad.  Am sure almost all good. 

sure wish more mfgs. would make something similar to the maverick costing UNDER 30K with a 6.5ft bed length that seats 4 comfy inside.  Only fancy feature I desire besides the basics of AC/cruise/tilt wheel, power drivers seat, windows, power locks, is a rear backup camera is all.  Towing say 6K lbs. vs. only 5K lbs. would be nice since my trailer loaded down is around 4600lbs. and would be struggling with the maverick able to supposedly tow 5K lbs., but I would doubt I would trust it to go anything over 3500lbs. safely, at least for me.    I can feel my 1/2 ton V8 truck not struggling but noticing for sure a 4600lb. trailer on back when towing it a few times per year.

[Patrick]

I own an auto repair shop and I can tell you from experience that all it takes is one out-of-warranty electrical powertrain repair to wipe out all and more of your savings in fuel.  Most repairs on EV's still need to go to a dealership.

 

[hueco]

So. It would be wise to purchase an extended warranty when the factory warranty expires.?

[hubcapsc]

So. It would be wise to purchase an extended warranty when the factory warranty expires.?

Tesla batteries generally last 300,000+ miles. If you started freaking out, you could just
sell the whole car and get another one. Jay Leno just sold his $140,000 Model S that he
bought in 2015 for $95,000. I've kept my car since 2005 and pay the maintenance myself.
If I got a Tesla I'd just bet on the battery never being an issue. I only have 220,000 miles
on the Mini so far. I hope it makes it to 300,000 miles.

-Mike "and me too...  "

[hueco]

I was just going by Grandpot said. I just bought the thing. Has 50 miles on it. The Ford hybrid has been around for 10 years or more. Just trying to humor. I think it will be good for a few miles.

[vanavyman]

I hear they're coming out with electric motorcycles next.  That the big jap manufacturers are even stopping production on some gassers to convert to electric.  I hope it's a dirty rotten lie, but it seems like everyone's scared of global warming and think digging batteries out of china, and producing electricity in oil and coal generating stations to power the batteries is somehow better for the environment than just burning the fuel in your engine.   I personally don't believe any of it, but the world does, so we're moving in that direction whether I like it or think it's stupid or not.   anywho...  that means one day your motorcycle choices will be which electric bike do you want.

I have nothing but questions.....

will Harley's still sound like the engine is fighting itself when the engine is electric?

Will I still be able to throw a tent on the back and campout overnight at some unknown, un-predetermined place, then get back on the road, or will I have to plan to stop somewhere with a charging station?

will I still get back home smelling like gas and oil, or am I going to have to live without that too?

Am I safe in the rain, or is the dang thing going to catch on fire?

CAn they please design is so that it pretends not to want to start on cold days so I have to pull a fake choke lever for a minute until I force it to start and warm up?   I'm always proud of myself for that, and I don't want to give that up.

If I think I might run out of gas, I carry a 2 liter bottle in my saddle bag and that gives me another 15-20 miles(ish).  Can I instead carry an extra battery?  how does that work if I run out of electricity on the highway.   Call AAA and say "I need a charge." ?

I don't know.  I don't like it.  

I sound like a grumpy old man, even to myself.    ha!

My neighbor is a big Harley guy.  He has a little over 100,000 on his big tour bike.  He went looking for a new bike and thought the Electric might be nice.  Took one for a ride and scarred him good.  Just too fast.  He ended up with a new Harley Pan American Adventure bike and loves it.  Some of these electrics are really fast.  My son's Tesla car with a double motor goes 0-60 in under 3 seconds.  Just too fast for me.

[cookiedough]

yah, those electric motorcycles out now are faster than even say a new Vmax and most other crotch rockets like the busa and ninja and scary SILENT.  But if you look at the seats look very uncomfy to me.  Plus as known, the range sucks if going much over 100 miles per day and darn sure gotta plug the darn things in overnight to 'hopefully' have enough juice to go 2 days of riding in a row the 2nd day. 

Like said,  I would consider a hybrid though only costing say 5K or so more than a NON hybrid base gas engine similar model vehicle.  Keep waiting for the prices to go down but doubt they ever will.

[..]

Wyoming is set to BAN sales of new electric vehicles by 2035 https://mol.im/a/11640855 via https://dailym.ai/android

[3fan4life]

When I bought my new CRV in 2021 I was going to buy a hybrid for the increased fuel mileage.

I was signing the paperwork when I asked about the cost of putting a hitch on it.

The answer was that if I put a hitch on it the warranty would be voided.

About gave the salesman a heart attack when I told him I wasn't going to purchase the hybrid.


He got over it when I told him to find me a gas model with the same features.

[hubcapsc]

When I bought my new CRV in 2021 I was going to buy a hybrid for the increased fuel mileage.

I was signing the paperwork when I asked about the cost of putting a hitch on it.

The answer was that if I put a hitch on it the warranty would be voided.

About gave the salesman a heart attack when I told him I wasn't going to purchase the hybrid.


He got over it when I told him to find me a gas model with the same features.

I was driving somewhere the other day, daydreaming about having a Tesla
with a receiver hitch and a cargo carrier where I could carry my propane generator
for when I don't make it all the way to West Virginia... 

Similarly, I wondered if you could even put a hitch on one...

-Mike

[Serk]

Similarly, I wondered if you could even put a hitch on one...

Yes, Tesla sells and installs hitches for their vehicles (I specifically checked the Model Y and Model 3)

[cookiedough]

When I bought my new CRV in 2021 I was going to buy a hybrid for the increased fuel mileage.

I was signing the paperwork when I asked about the cost of putting a hitch on it.

The answer was that if I put a hitch on it the warranty would be voided.

About gave the salesman a heart attack when I told him I wasn't going to purchase the hybrid.


He got over it when I told him to find me a gas model with the same features.

No way putting a hitch on a honda CRV would void the warranty.  If aftermarket hitches are available for a mid to small SUV like the honda crv,  then is fine will not void the warranty.  The salesman was not very knowledgeable. 

[3fan4life]

When I bought my new CRV in 2021 I was going to buy a hybrid for the increased fuel mileage.

I was signing the paperwork when I asked about the cost of putting a hitch on it.

The answer was that if I put a hitch on it the warranty would be voided.

About gave the salesman a heart attack when I told him I wasn't going to purchase the hybrid.


He got over it when I told him to find me a gas model with the same features.

No way putting a hitch on a honda CRV would void the warranty.  If aftermarket hitches are available for a mid to small SUV like the honda crv,  then is fine will not void the warranty.  The salesman was not very knowledgeable. 

He didn't know the answer.

The answer that it would void the warranty came from the Service manager.

One of the reasons that I asked the question was that I couldn't find any aftermarket hitches for the Hybrid CRV.

I thought that maybe the battery pack was located in a place that made mounting the hitch hard to do.

I also thought that maybe Mother Honda had a hitch for it.

I was thinking that I might have to bite the bullet and purchase a factory hitch.

I wasn't expecting the answer that I got.

I also wasn't going to buy an SUV that I couldn't at least tow a small trailer with a motorcycle on it.

[Serk]

It seems Honda noticed this was a problem; genuine Honda hitch available for 2020-2021 CRV Hybrid it looks like:

https://www.hondapartsnow.com/accessories/honda-cr_v_hybrid-trailer_hitch.html

Edit to add - Or the service manager didn't wanna deal with it and was blowing smoke up your butt...

[3fan4life]

It seems Honda noticed this was a problem; genuine Honda hitch available for 2020-2021 CRV Hybrid it looks like:

https://www.hondapartsnow.com/accessories/honda-cr_v_hybrid-trailer_hitch.html

Edit to add - Or the service manager didn't wanna deal with it and was blowing smoke up your butt...

They're even the same part number.

He probably was blowing smoke.

That would've backfired on him big time if I had completely walked away from the deal.


This is the one that I installed on my Non Hybrid model:

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Honda/CR-V/2021/76128.html?VehicleID=202155430

Their page still says that it won't fit a hybrid model:

Tech Tip

Product not intended for Hybrid models.

Sometimes things just make you go, HUH?

[..]

https://www.thedrive.com/car-reviews/2023-mclaren-artura-review-price-features-info

[cookiedough]

https://www.thedrive.com/car-reviews/2023-mclaren-artura-review-price-features-info

why buy the mclaren when a new Corvette or similar muscle cars can do near same specs, well almost, at 1/3rd the cost?  Plus,  I doubt I can fit into a Mclaren, probably not a vette either.  LOL  I once when around 210lbs. got into a 1990's vette, but found getting out of the passenger seat to be VERY difficult sat so LOW to the ground.   Sat few years ago in a Polaris Slingshot 3 wheeler, same thing.  Plus. was too skinny of a seat my legs were rubbing together WAY uncomfy too tight fitting no way I could use the clutch pedal and gas pedal effectively too close together.

speaking of hybrid,  I just read that certain evaluating companies of new vehicles, like Edmunds and others,  gave the all new 2023 Kia Sportage HYBRID the nod for vehicle of the year.  Checked it out on line and not too bad of a price and decent MPG as well.  Very similar in size (maybe tad bigger which be nice) than our 2019 hyundai tucson which I find tad bit too small for me, but the wife likes it her vehicle.  Maybe worth considering as my next vehicle once my 2014 hyundai sonata gives out, but hopefully in 4-6 more years from now.  By then, I hope the market is more flooded with good used vehicles vs. now and at a more reasonable price unlike now with more good used hybrids as well for sale used.   With Biden in charge, I highly doubt it so once he out maybe things will get better.