Electric car thread

[Ted Striker]

There’s no safety advantage if most everybody ends up in heavy vehicles. It’s just a shittier equilibrium.

Mutually assured destruction.

[plugboots]

What's the latest beta on winter/cold weather EV range? Still seems like the achilles of EV utility to me.

Lots and lots of statistics on this. Just first one I googled:

https://www.recurrentauto.com/resear...-ev-range-loss

[biggsie]

This thread is nuts but I see next to no mention of clearance. Is anyone using a Tesla Model X as a regular ski car in deep snow situations, a la Tahoe? The hitch mounted ski rack would suck but it has the same clearance as an Outback (8") and autopilot will make the Marin > Tahoe commute less hellish. Seems doable?

Any other high clearance EVs I'm missing? Any Lightning owners yet?

I've been following Rivian since the beginning and as much as I like the looks of the SUV, Car and Driver says it drives horribly and spending $95k on a new car is not the wisest financial move.

[Ted Striker]

I've never seen an EV in the Baker lot, but I see Priuses all the time

[J. Barron DeJong]

This thread is nuts but I see next to no mention of clearance. Is anyone using a Tesla Model X as a regular ski car in deep snow situations, a la Tahoe? The hitch mounted ski rack would suck but it has the same clearance as an Outback (8") and autopilot will make the Marin > Tahoe commute less hellish. Seems doable?

Any other high clearance EVs I'm missing? Any Lightning owners yet?

I've been following Rivian since the beginning and as much as I like the looks of the SUV, Car and Driver says it drives horribly and spending $95k on a new car is not the wisest financial move.

There’s no shortage of Tesla’s driving around Truckee, including residents.

We live in Truckee and neither of our vehicles has more than 6.5” of ground clearance, so it’s doable, though there are the odd times where it would be nice to have more.

(Autopilot seems to suck ass in the snow though: https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a4...-embarrassing/ )

[Norseman]

I've seen Teslas getting around in deep snow at Alpental. Looks sweet with a nice roof box, quietly 4x4 brawling.

[dunfree]

If you want clearance to “blast through snow” because the ads told you so no problem. If you need clearance to crawl over rocks and whatever, well, batteries are the lowest bit on many platforms.

[jackstraw]

There’s no shortage of Tesla’s driving around Truckee, including residents.

WFH transplant residents driving the locals out.

[biggsie]

Yup, I see lots of Teslas around but always on the groomers. The snowfall rate we had on NYE afternoon was next level! 4-6"/hour? Wondering if it's possible to blast through that stuff if I mounted some solid snows. Current car is a 10 yo GL450 and it was just fine. May need to rent a Model X on Turo...

[sb]

Neighbors just got rid of the Pbrick, got a gasser Camry to replace it.

[spanky]

Afeela? I’m not feelin it.

[DBdude]

friend's had a prius that lived in a snowy spot here in VT. They did not keep it because of the ground clearance and snow. They did not live in town but on top of a foot hill to the greens. all their other rigs were 4x4 or all wheel drive

[biggsie]

I just learned that you can get a lift kit for the Model Y to bring clearance in line with something like a Subaru Outback (8.5"). Apparently you can go to 10.5" if you really want to.
https://unpluggedperformance.com/pro...tesla-model-y/

Let the Tesla Overlanding jokes commence...

[gravitylover]

Afeela? I’m not feelin it.

Me either. Subscriptions for everything is bs. Keep it simple and I'll use my phone or a cheap tablet if that's what it takes.

[Ted Striker]

Afeela? I’m not feelin it.

[PB]

Gort is not amused.

[Dantheman]

Afeela? I’m not feelin it.

Heh.

[spanky]

Well done!

[plugboots]

friend's had a prius that lived in a snowy spot here in VT. They did not keep it because of the ground clearance and snow. They did not live in town but on top of a foot hill to the greens. all their other rigs were 4x4 or all wheel drive

Earlier than a late 2019 model then, as that’s when they started offering AWD. Our AWD Prius works exactly as designed, which is to say, very well, on our long curved steep icy driveway and elsewhere.

[Dromond]

Earlier than a late 2019 model then, as that’s when they started offering AWD. Our AWD Prius works exactly as designed, which is to say, very well, on our long curved steep icy driveway and elsewhere.

Wait, aren’t you some kind of auto nut? With a Prius??

But seriously a rental AWD Prius with snow tires delivered me to much pow skiing in Japan. It was fine. Why Hokkaido is seemingly the only place where rental cars have snow tires is beyond me.

[::: :::]

Back in 2010, we rented a car in Whitefish to get around. Rental place proudly brought over a Prius (we didn’t request anything beyond size class). After not being able to get up the short driveway, guy was like “how bout I park it at the bottom?” We had them switch it to an Impreza.

I imagine the awd is better but it sort of turned me off to prii

[plugboots]

I am a car guy. Sort of. We had a “valley car”, a 2005 Odyssey, until it wouldn’t start. Wanted a replacement, and for us a small AWD was going to work fine since mini-plug is gone, etc. E-cars won’t work, since we drive to Seattle regularly. Drove a Crosstrek, and JFC is that thing slow. Drove the Prius, and it was waaay better and faster. Bought one of the 3 available in the 500 mile circle around us. It gets 50 mph for Mrs. Plug, and 45 for me thrashing it.

[plugboots]

I am a car guy. Sort of. We had a “valley car”, a 2005 Odyssey, until it wouldn’t start. Wanted a replacement, and for us a small AWD was going to work fine since mini-plug is gone, etc. E-cars won’t work, since we drive to Seattle regularly. Drove a Crosstrek, and JFC is that thing slow. Drove the Prius, and it was waaay better and faster. Bought one of the 3 available in the 500 mile circle around us. It gets 50 mph for Mrs. Plug, and 45 for me thrashing it.

There’s more, (we drove other cars, including friend’s Outbacks etc,. couldn’t even see a Sienna or RAV4 Prime, researched a lot, etc.).

[Ted Striker]

I had a 2nd gen Prius, and it was actually good in snow as long as you didn't high center it. It only needs two snow tires, and since it's not a heavy or performance car, they don't have to be expensive/techy snows either. Cheap, skinny, chunky, studable does the trick. And a light foot. It had a very aggressive traction control that didn't allow any wheel spin before shutting it down. Literally the tortoise vs the hare.

[plugboots]

I had a 2nd gen Prius, and it was actually good in snow as long as you didn't high center it. It only needs two snow tires, and since it's not a heavy or performance car, they don't have to be expensive/techy snows either. Cheap, skinny, chunky, studable does the trick. And a light foot. It had a very aggressive traction control that didn't allow any wheel spin before shutting it down. Literally the tortoise vs the hare.

Not really with this 2021 version. The Odyssey’s Nannie’s kicked in so hard the car just stopped on inclines. You could turn it off, and then with all the weight in back, the front tires just spun. Really tricky combo of carry a shit ton of momentum and not fly off the road. The Prius just works. Our BMW and Golf R are really cool to watch how quickly they transfer power to the wheels w/traction. Less than a half wheel rotation.
This video helped us decide, and is exactly how the car performs.
Of course it’s a Canadian reviewer.