New car thoughts. EDIT: I ORDERED A TESLA MODEL Y.

nuke_diver said:
Depending on your timeframe you might really want to think about the F150 lightning. Range is 300 in the extended range version (est'd) and it can power your house with the right configuration. It's a big reason why I didn't ultimately go with a battery backup for our solar system since I think cars will be the battery backups of the near future. Not sure if a Tesla can do that, they don't seem to advertise it so :shrug:. But the Lightning probably realistically won't be available for a few years IMO (there will be ones but like the early days of the Model 3 all of those will be for those people who preordered)
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Not about that, but that one still does not have the suspension package I need. I need a 250/2500 level suspension and towing package for what I want to do. And that will be further down the road. So I am thinking probably a 10 year gap yet.
 
Ok, now considering this option or converting a truck I pick. They seem to have demos on both the Ford and Chevy platforms. Between the two, I guess I slightly prefer Ford than Chevy, but really, would love to be able to do it to my existing 2010 Dodge Ram 2500. But it is diesel, and they only do it to gas motors. Still wouldn’t end up being my ideal road car, but if it could work in EV mode around town, could be an option. Greenhouse gas reduction is 33% (I am presuming this number is hybrid mode) so not as good as a full EV. But they have PHEV models so maybe I could run like that most of the time. Will do more research.



EDIT. I would have to modify my camper to allow for the battery/cooling pack, but it is an old camper and could probably be done, if I reconfigure the water tank. Still not quite what I am looking for but a possible option.
 
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Tig said:
I'd like the throwback concept with the Eluminator electric crate motor kit, please. Well, not this color.
https://mashable.com/article/ford-electric-truck-pickup-vintage


All-electric-Ford-F-100-Eluminator-concept-truck_01.jpg

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Why would you do that to me? Now I'm gonna get divorced. :bigg:
 
sunvalleylaw said:
Not about that, but that one still does not have the suspension package I need. I need a 250/2500 level suspension and towing package for what I want to do. And that will be further down the road. So I am thinking probably a 10 year gap yet.
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I'm not quite up on what that means in terms of suspension but hell it's a F150 it got to be able to do most of what a current F150 can do otherwise it would be considered a failure by most. I think the towing cap is like 10,000 lbs though I have some doubts about EV's towing things (range has got to be significantly impacted I would guess). Of course the big problem with it right now is that it doesn't exist so what it can actually do and what they say it can do might not ultimately be the same
 
What's the mileage penalty of your camper on your current truck? That aerodynamic drag is going to eat into your EV range too I'd image.

C&D tested towing a trailer/boat w. an Audi e-tron and it cut the vehicles range in half.
 
Lerxst said:
What's the mileage penalty of your camper on your current truck? That aerodynamic drag is going to eat into your EV range too I'd image.

C&D tested towing a trailer/boat w. an Audi e-tron and it cut the vehicles range in half.
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Pretty substantial penalty. I get about 4 mpg more with the camper off. Towing the boat affects it way less. It is a 90’s Northstar pop up built out of wood, and is not super light like the new ones you see, nor super low like the new ones are too. And those new ones go for pretty big money. And I am sure it would impact the efficiency of that XL Fleet hybrid conversion too, at least to some extent. They were careful to say “up to” in their claims about greenhouse gas reduction numbers and fuel economy improvement numbers.

The fact of the matter is that if I wanted to try to do full e-truck I would have to start over and get some full on e-set up including a collapsible camper, etc. like they have for the cyber truck. Best I can hope for there really, especially if I want to have a slide in camper so I can also pull a boat, is get a hybrid conversion, perhaps with plug in. And I would have to sell my truck and start over for that too. Newer trucks, gas motors only, for now. The hybrid part would help with the range anxiety out in the woods.

But, the numbers would not be where I want them to be for daily driving even with hybrid. Doesn’t seem like with plug in, full electric mode really works with big trucks very well yet. And the hybrid conversion adds a box to your truck bed, so I would have to modify the camper.

Also, C&D did a similar work up on the Ford Lightning, and it looks like the range is down to about 100 miles if you are towing. And that was just a tow behind camper, not a camper in the bed with also towing a boat. So, . . . It is keep the old truck for now, or consider getting a hybrid. But, if I am not driving the truck much other than for when I want to boat or camp, might be better just to wait.

Right now, it is seeming like getting a fully electric passenger car that I can use for almost everything, and then just use the truck for real truck stuff, is the best move while more options come on line for that sort of vehicle.

And also right now, the Tesla Model Y, long range AWD seems like the best option all the way around for what I am wanting.
 
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Bob411 said:
I would think a conversion would be so expensive, it wouldn't make sense to do it to an older vehicle.
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It seemed presented by that company as a rich boy’s toy sort of thing. Maybe something better will come along.

The XL Fleet fleet truck conversions seemed way more practical and realistic.
 
I think the most practical is full electric, not hauling around a gas engine and tank of gas. It just doesn't work for me. Forget that I'm a carpet installer and my "car" is a work van and I never know how many miles I will put on it in a day, on top of the commute, my wife and I both work too far from where we live. But, I have to imagine it would work for most families that one of their cars in an electric. Not a $100,000 with a 300 mile range, something like a Nissan Leaf. Going on vacation? Take the gas or, hybrid.
 
A camper and a tow is going to be a problem for EV's for a while. There are still going to be things that gas will still be better/more practical for. We drive up to Washington and while it is possible to do it with an EV it would add ~6 hrs to the current 16 hr drive to stop to recharge. And it isn't just stopping after ~250 to charge since the mileage isn't that great going over the mountains so you have to stop before them and then after. Now if we have full on self driving cars I'd be down for the extra time because I could sleep or read all the way
 
micwalt said:
I drove my neighbor's Tesla a few weeks ago. It was fucking weird--cool but weird!
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It was an awesome drive! A bit different, but easy to get used to, and awesome!
It feels a little Star Trek Next Gen to me, especially using the voice control aspect. How the controls and dash is laid out in all of that. “Data, make it so.”

But also the quickest, fastest, best handling car I have ever driven, even with the more tame long range one with standard wheels (I want standard sizes and not big huge rims for mountain roads, and etc.) rather than the performance version of the Y. I think I would probably kill myself in the S Plaid which has ridiculous acceleration and top speed.

You can adjust even how twitchy and sporty the wheel is. Not sure how it was set for my test drive, but a was a whole lot more responsive than my truck, or even my old Passat built on that mid 00’s Audi platform.

@nuke_diver I was able to ask friends with personal experience about added time for the drive back to Wa from here. Not too bad. Especially if you just top off an extra hundred fifty or two hundred on a full charge to start, rather than drain it to the last few miles and charge to the top again.

They want you to top it all the way off only for long trips, and for normal driving, you charge it up only to maybe 90 % max, which is way more than plenty for anything I am going to do in a day other than a road trip day.
 
Bob411 said:
Congrats and thank you for doing something for the planet we all share.
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Thanks. I think it is worth it. I can’t really imagine being able to look at my young adult kids as we experience what is already going to happen when I was not doing something I can do within my budget, even if it is not the absolute cheapest choice I could make. And it is a nice ride too!
 
Here is a guy somewhere across the pond test driving my model, in my color. A good POV tour. All is relative, and to me, it feels sportier handling than anything I have owned or driven very much, but my cars are all older, or a truck.

Reminds me very much of that A4 platform in feel on the road in terms of suspension, responsiveness and agility in the curves, etc. he says agile too. Just relatively less crazy sporty as compared to the sportier models. And excited to play around with that auto pilot on long trips when I want to look for an song, or check a map, or whatever.



Here he tours the car overall.

 
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