New tax credit to be voted on soon!

[greenne]

I will counter that with my experience road tripping our Mach-e. We have been all over NY, from Albany to Pittsburg and all the way up to Maine. Absolute fantastic road trip vehicle. Pretty much every time I needed to stop and charge, it was time for a meal or restroom break anyways (use the restroom break for shorter charge sessions and meals for longer ones). Between the non-rushed stops and Bluecruise, it is a very low stress way to drive. When I got to Pittsburgh (about 500 miles), I felt I easily could have kept going.

I have never not been able to get a charge and just us the Plug and Charge system - just plug in and go, no app required.

As for planning the trip, I have used the Ford Nav and Plugshare just to get more info about the charging location. ABRP I used to check out the route and timing before I leave, but not during the drive at all.

The cost difference is also huge. Our trip to Maine cost less than $40 in charging, which includes the cost of charging when we got home. The same trip in either of my ICE vehicles would have been almost $300 in gas. I just can't see going back to ICE for any roadtripping, at least in the Northeast.

Point taken. If you're a planner like me and tend to schedule things in advance the EV offers a compelling alternative(esp if you have the time and cost is a consideration). Personally I'd do EV unless I just had to be somewhere quick.

But we all know there is a huge majority in this country who have the attention span of a fast food commercial. They do no planning other than hopefully exit the highway when the gas light comes on. For these folks, EVs just aren't there yet.

I hope we can get there in the next 5yrs. I do think that in order to spur mass adoption of EVs as a road trip vehicle for the masses there would need to be a DCFC within say 20mi along interstate corridors and people would need to be able to plug and charge.

Just my opinion.

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[sotek2345]

Point taken. If you're a planner like me and tend to schedule things in advance the EV offers a compelling alternative(esp if you have the time and cost is a consideration). Personally I'd do EV unless I just had to be somewhere quick.

But we all know there is a huge majority in this country who have the attention span of a fast food commercial. They do no planning other than hopefully exit the highway when the gas light comes on. For these folks, EVs just aren't there yet.

I hope we can get there in the next 5yrs. I do think that in order to spur mass adoption of EVs as a road trip vehicle for the masses there would need to be a DCFC within say 20mi along interstate corridors and people would need to be able to plug and charge.

Just my opinion.

NY should be there very soon. The Thruway rest stop rebuilds they are doing all include 150kw+ DC fast charging, so you will be able to charge at every rest area (approx every 30 miles in NY).

 

[greenne]

NY should be there very soon. The Thruway rest stop rebuilds they are doing all include 150kw+ DC fast charging, so you will be able to charge at every rest area (approx every 30 miles in NY).

Can't wait.

A very simple step to fast track EV adoption would be to install DCFC at every interstate rest area. I know there is legal issues/red tape, but it makes sense and would virtually eliminate range anxiety.

With improved charge curves and "plug and charge" I could see this really take off as a way top off every stop for a stretch or to use the restroom.

10min here, 15min there it would add up.

 

[detroitlightning]

I will counter that with my experience road tripping our Mach-e. We have been all over NY, from Albany to Pittsburg and all the way up to Maine. Absolute fantastic road trip vehicle. Pretty much every time I needed to stop and charge, it was time for a meal or restroom break anyways (use the restroom break for shorter charge sessions and meals for longer ones). Between the non-rushed stops and Bluecruise, it is a very low stress way to drive. When I got to Pittsburgh (about 500 miles), I felt I easily could have kept going.

I have never not been able to get a charge and just us the Plug and Charge system - just plug in and go, no app required.

As for planning the trip, I have used the Ford Nav and Plugshare just to get more info about the charging location. ABRP I used to check out the route and timing before I leave, but not during the drive at all.

The cost difference is also huge. Our trip to Maine cost less than $40 in charging, which includes the cost of charging when we got home. The same trip in either of my ICE vehicles would have been almost $300 in gas. I just can't see going back to ICE for any roadtripping, at least in the Northeast.

I think it's probably close. From a charging speed standpoint, getting stops down from 45-60min to 10-20min will make a big difference. Cars like the EV6 & Ioniq5 seem like they're just about there.

And infrastructure just isn't there yet - it's great that you've had good experiences so far, but more broadly it's just not there yet.

So yeah, it can be done now - but it likely requires a lot of sitting in walmart parking lots. It's come a long way in the last 5-10 years, and I think EVs will more or less achieve parity with ICE cars for road tripping in the next 10. But right now, it still requires some pretty significant compromises.

 

[Theo1000]

To me it is astonishing how quickly the network has come up. I'm leaving in a couple of hours for a trip to northern Minnesota and have done no planning other than look at plugshare and ABRP for a couple of minutes to consider my options. Even 3 years ago I would have agonized over this trip, planning my hotel stay for over night charge etc. Now most major chain, Casey's, Sinclair, Kum&Go have at least a 50 kw dcfc installed or on the way. I find myself trying to pick where to stop. I will make my decisions on the road.

I think the more of us out there using the current facilities the faster it will go. Do not understand the nervousness or uncertainty. Go out there and use the chargers heavily folks. Also as mentioned it is so much cheaper all around compared to gas. I did my trip to Easter Indiana and back for the equivalent of $62. At that time it would have been ~$500 - $600 in gas.

There are casual long trips I'm making because EV is so cheap. With gas I would think twice or thrice or four...

 

[Blue Lightning]

True..but $18k-20k for a commuter car/200mi runabout is not too shabby.

After watching numerous videos I'm not sure road tripping in an EV(with present infrastructure) is worth the hassle. Use multiple apps to research your trip. Finding a DCFC. Finding one that is working. Use the App to start charger and hope it works. Hope the speed is OK. If not try--unplug and try again. Wait 30min-1hr.

vs.

Pull up to gas station. Swipe card. Fill with gas. Use Bathroom. Back on the road in 15min with minimal stress.

Don't get me wrong..it can be done in an EV and EVs are great to drive. They are also a no brainer for the daily commute. However for a long trip they have a ways to go to catch up to an ICE vehicle.

I'll admit, the only EV I've taken on a road trip is a Tesla, but it wasn't much of a hassle. We drove 2,000 miles round trip from Portland to LA and back. In the past, when I drove an ICE vehicle, the trip would take about 15 hours each way. In the Tesla it took about 17.5 hours. And the car took care of planning my charging stops. The forced stops every couple hours Left me feeling less exhausted upon arrival.

Now then, I haven't tried making this trip in a non-Tesla EV. Maybe it would be hard. I personally enjoy some of the planning stuff you mentioned. It's a little adventure for me. But I could see how the average driver may not want to deal with that.

 

[Amps]

I think the more of us out there using the current facilities the faster it will go.

That's a great mantra.:
"Use the (electrical) current facilities and they will build more (electrical) current facilities."

The better the business case, the quicker the buildout.

 

[astricklin]

I agree, but kids can give a lot of deductions that can lower that a lot, especially if married, etc.

I wish I paid less than 7500 in tax though.

Married, filing jointly with no deductions other than the standard, you need to have about $95,000 in total income to have over $7500 tax owed. Any additional deductions (kids, own a home, ect) and you will need to have earned more.

 

[Roy2001]

Manchin said he won’t vote for BBB, again. So let’s forget it.

 

[greenne]

Manchin said he won’t vote for BBB, again. So let’s forget it.

Manchin has said more than that.. he said he won't vote for anything climate related.. period.

This is not good news.

 

[sotek2345]

Manchin has said more than that.. he said he won't vote for anything climate related.. period.

This is not good news.

Long term ecological damage reduction is not as important as short term quarterly gains (paraphrased from Quark - Deep Space 9).

 

[greenne]

Long term ecological damage reduction is not as important as short term quarterly gains (paraphrased from Quark - Deep Space 9).

Americans have the attention span of a fast food commercial. Leaving the "save the planet" morality aside, this thinking will cost us more economically in the long run with natural disaster costs, environmental cleanup costs, health costs, etc.-- not to mention the continued trashing out planet for future generations.

Economically we are seeing HUGE development with new battery manufacturing, solar, new car manufacturing, etc. We haven't seen this much investment in America in a very long time. Manchin could have basically demanded almost anything and spearheaded investment in good ole WV revolving around new and clean technology. Sadly he's looking backward to fossil fuel, not forward.

Also, there are positive economic and national security results from weening ourselves off fossil fuels.

Its very frustrating.. also this isn't just about EVs..solar power is at play as well.

 

[Regular150]

Manchin has said more than that.. he said he won't vote for anything climate related.. period.

This is not good news.

Too bad we didn't do anything to stop the glaciers from retreating in North America. We could have had more places to Snow-board.

 

[broncoaz]

Call your senator to push for a new tax credit.
Call 202-318-1883 to get connected to your senator.

No thanks, I can afford my truck and don’t need to encourage congress to take on more debt. The giveaways need to end across the board, oil subsidies, foreign aid to places that hate us, EV credits, etc.

It makes it more accessible to those who can't afford it, but the current credit system doesn't work well for that. The new one should improve those efforts.

I just got a quote on a new Bolt EV from my dealer, $28,500 before taxes/fees and readily available in my region. That should be affordable enough for the average new car buyer who wants to jump in to an entry level EV, not tax credit needed.

My Pro is $46K, cheaper than any of the crew cab 4x4 work trucks I buy for the company these days. I will argue that Ford needs to pump out the Pro models for the “average Joe” to be able to afford it. Maybe the Pro is a loss leader for Ford and MSRP needs to be adjusted accordingly, but like an ICE XL or STX model they need to be available instead of unobtainable except for a lucky few.

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