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A PM EV Chat Thread

Anonymous
Not applicable

As has come up on occasion here...I have the Chevy "Bolt EV". I just call it Bolt. Chevy already weirded things up naming it similarly to their earlier hybrid - Volt. Too similar speech method. What were they thinking. It's a great name but that's just silly.

 

Anyway: I had been thinking about EV's since the Leaf but the range wasn't useful living in a more rural area at the time. I had been eyeing the Bolt since it came out for 2017. Rated for 383km. Still expensive though certainly not like a Tesla. BC had a $5K rebate. Still expensive but a little better. BC car dealers also had the scrap-it rebate for up to $6K. Well ok maybe we need to look at this more. Then May '19 the feds came out with their $5K rebate. Alrighty then. I was in the door the morning it came out and scrapped my 1992 Geo Metro for six thousand dollars.

 

Love it. Not paying for gas all the time is awesome. Everybody has "gas" at home which of course is paid in the bill with all your other usage. In BC there are plenty of free chargers. The fast type along many highway corridors and the slower type at hotels or offered by towns and cities. Then there's an expanding network of other charging fast chargers.

 

It's also a little rocket. Even with my second car (now sold) one has to think about passing something on the highway. The Metro...fuggedaboudit. This little rocket boots out and flies around. Leaving people in the dust at lights still hasn't got old. You have to start a little easy at first otherwise you'd just sit there spinning tires there's so much power being applied to them.

 

The power regen going down hills and one pedal driving are amazing. One rarely needs to touch the brake pedal. Also some regen just slowing down.

 

If I were rich then maybe I would have looked more at a Tesla. But there's still the sort of warm comfort knowing the Bolt is good ol' Chevrolet.

 

Due to some circumstances, this will be my first winter using the car. Charging speed at fast chargers takes a bit of a hit as does range. You can maintain some control of power consumption but the batteries themselves take their own power to maintain their temperature. But we're still talking upwards to 300km.

 

As for fast charging traveling somewhere, yes you need to plan a little. So when you stop to charge then that's time to eat and stretch and other activities. It's just a shift in lifestyle of driving places. It's not hard. It's so doable in BC nowadays.

 

So that's my start.

114 REPLIES 114

lol ol' z man. I can tell you love your Ebaby

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @gpixel : Really eh. 10 supercharges in Squamish and 10 at the Château. It's that bad?

And don't Tesla's have the even more range to round trip it? I dunno. I call poor planning. 🙂

@Anonymous 

I'm sure in a few more years it'll be better. Everyone just has a Tesla nowadays... and for a family on vacation, the thought of saving on gas seems to be very popular... oh man were they wrong 🤣. I'm just happy we were only there for 3 hours. the line was ridiculous afterward. 

 

insurance for EV and hybrid is more expensive in the lower mainland especially in the vancouver and surrounding areas

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @gpixel : lol I'm only vaguely aware of the price of gas just by glancing at it driving by. But I would say it's not 1.70 where I am. Fuel economy is a different factor. I was talking price of gas compared to price of electricity triggered by your through the roof comment.

Insurance is probably about the same for a full load. An older car you're not going to get everything on it.

Sea to Sky indeed. The one fast charger in Whistler. A good few in Squamish. But certainly lots of overnight chargers in Whistler. Timing strategies would be needed.

But then hey...North Van city hall to Whistler is only 119 km or thereabouts. I could do that in a round trip. In winter maybe have to stop in Squamish on the way back. This is not a big deal to me. Your friends need better strategizing. 🙂

@Anonymous 

$1.50 their lucky over there.. over here it's $1.70 so you can probably add a few more dollars to that. I'm not sure what your cost for insurance is but that's also more money added for operating cost. yes your Jeep costs that much but what about a car that's similar size? everyone's needs are different. for one who stays close to home it makes sense. personally hybrid is better for my needs

 

2 days was clearly exaggerated. but, 3 hours - a day. in my friend's car on the sea to sky... there are tons of ev drivers

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @gpixel : Define through the roof. I think I'm at about $0.13 per kwh for my residential power (although I'm in a condo without charging). The previous method of paying at BCHydro stations was $0.35 per kwh.

My old Jeep Cherokee would be around $105 with todays prices for a pretty good fill. Like near empty enough to be worrying. So 70 litres at a buck fifty per.

Say I start charging my car from pretty low and fill it. In my case maybe that would be about say 53 kwh. I would then be paying about $2 per kwh to equal that price of gas. Could you foresee when electricity might be $2? From $0.13? From even $0.35?

Unfortunately, these days, the fast chargers now charge for time which really sucks.

Where have you heard of waiting in any kind of line for 2 days? I'm sure that's exaggerating to make a point. We're actually doing pretty good here in BC for charging infrastructure. More and more fast chargers.  More and more overnight (slower) chargers at hotels. More and more slower chargers here and there.

 

These are all urban myths. It's not a thing once you're in.

I can do a slower charge 15 minutes walk from me for free on weekends for 4 hours. Then do it again the next day and I'm full in less time.

Two Chevron stations in my town have fast chargers currently for free. Petro-Can has the free charging through RBC until April. Canadian Tire has fast chargers that the network somewhat frequently offers it for free.

I only pay for power when I'm going somewhere further away where I need to charge to keep going. And even that...see above options. And of course ya gotta stop to eat and bio-break and stretch your legs. So you plug in.

it'll be interesting to see what happens when electricity goes through the roof... i was thinking about purchasing an EV. it's just not practical at the moment and I wouldn't wanna wait in line for 2 days just to charge my car

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@Anonymous 

So much for their green initiative. Maybe you should contact customer support to see if they can look into it for you?🤣🤣🤣

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Well this sucks. The BC Scrap It program has severely cut back their "rebate" deal. From $6,000 for a new car down to $500 - yes hundred - for new or used. Wow.

I don't know when exactly the change happened.

The friends and family sale is back on at sport chek if anyone is considering purchasing an e-bike. The velec A2 2020 $1799 and the 2021 is $1899 along with their higher priced citi-bike models. FF21NOV promo code nets 25% off. Rakuten is 1%+$30 referral bonus for new accounts. A Canadian Tire m/c has 0% financing over 24 months and 4% in Canadian Tire money  or your triangle card.)

 

The math for the velec A2 2020 at $1799:

 

(Rounding) $1800 - 25%($450)=$1350+5%gst(bc pst exempt $69)=$1419 - $13.50(rakuten 1%) =$1405.50 - $30( referral bonus)=$1375.50 - $52(4% cdn tire money)=$1325.50 - $10 (triangle offers/spend $50 get $10 cdn tire money)=$1315.50 almost a $500 discount after tax.

 

Check your triangle offers for a possible cdn tire money multiplier on bikes and accessories from sport chek. Yukon residents and Nova Scotia residents have provincial government rebates on e-bike check your provincial/territorial government websites for these rebate programs. For Nova Scotia the rebate is $500 for ebikes priced at $1200 or more before taxes. In some cases these are instant rebates at the time of sale at physical store only. $1315.50 - $500=$615.50!!😃

 

https://evassist.ca/rebates/

 

Edit:

24 month financing on $723.50 (price before all other rebates except NS gov't rebate)=$30.14 per month.

@Yummy and anyone else interested in an e-bike....

 

Here I was about to rave about my e-bike being on sale when rakuten sent me this gem from Rad power bikes my initial choice for an e-bike but the available models and prices at the time didn't suit my needs and I lucked out a got a great deal on my velec A2 but this commuter bike from Rad checks a lot of boxes and at $200 off and 2.5% back from rakuten +$30 referral bonus if you are not already a member brings the price down to about $1300 including tax. The price also includes free shipping....if you are in Vancouver you can take it for a free test drive.

 

https://radpowerbikes.ca/products/radmission-electric-city-bike?variant=32158622646359

 

The velec A2 at sport check is priced at $1899 - 25%(w/promocode FF21SEPT)=$1425+5% gst ($71.25)=$1496.25 -$57 cdn tire money=$1469.25 - $14.25 (1% rakuten)=$1455.00 - $30 (rakuten referral bonus)=$1425 (lol...weird all the rebates cover the tax?!!) About $71 a month with cdn tire m/c 24 month 0% financing.

 

https://www.sportchek.ca/product/velec-a2-e-bike-2021-333380026.html

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

This guy is converting a HMMWV(High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle)(a.k.a Humvee) into an Electric EV HUMVEE.  I was watching this project since early August and he got the wheels turning in today's episode. 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0vZL9uwyfOFezIOiBjkdW3TTdn0Q_AKL

Anonymous
Not applicable

@popping wrote:

2022 Chevrolet Bolt Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXRgOmVZnEU

$38k with free level 2 charger

 

I don't like the shifter which is located at the cup holder level.  Is it dangerous by taking your eyes off the road?


You don't need to touch it while moving. Even more so for the fact that it's one gear and "one-pedal" driving.

Even with a dog running around loose it's not like the car would suddenly go into reverse. The computer would simply say "uh...'scuse me...no".

@popping 

After driving the Bolt for a bit you should get used to the different set up compared to a regular vehicle. I don't drive but I don't have to look at my "shifter" when changing power levels or changing gears on my e-bike.

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

2022 Chevrolet Bolt Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXRgOmVZnEU

$38k with free level 2 charger

 

I don't like the shifter which is located at the cup holder level.  Is it dangerous by taking your eyes off the road?

stevenanto
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@Anonymous I know, I really hope more companies enter the Ev productions and phase out the gas ones. However I really like the old classic american muscle cars. 

 

@darlicious Thats a pretty good rate. At the time when we got our car we got a rate of 2.35 (March) I wonder if Tesla has lowered their rates since then. 

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @darlicious : There have been other offers from other entities that have been much more. I can't remember now as I live in a pre-requirement condo. Newer condos require chargers these days. I don't have a power outlet near me. And people can get into real snits about paying their small percentage of someone else's power use.

@Anonymous 

I can't remember if you said you can charge at home or not but this might apply for some EV owners in BC that own their residence.

 

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bc-hydro-bc-hydro-peak-rewards-program-back-receive-up-160-participating-2488186/

 

And for anyone thinking of buying an EV like @stevenanto .....

 

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/hsbc-hsbc-energy-efficiency-electric-vehicle-loan-rates-low-1-99-prime-ci-0-46-apr-2488130/

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @stevenanto : Yes they did. Far fewer per capita fires. Several other gas cars and one other EV are under recall for fires. Sucks though.

stevenanto
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@Anonymous @darlicious didnt they put out a recall for the bolt from 2017-2022?

@Anonymous 

Not far off.....thats a lot of range in such a comparatively small battery. I just got a second battery and increased my range to 180 to 200km. Camping next year is going to be awesome!

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @darlicious : The (edit: '17-'19 1/2) Bolt is rated at 383km. Nice bikes though. Wow.

@Anonymous 

Check out this new e-bike from BMW with a 300km range....thats the same range as your vehicle is it not?

 

https://electrek.co/2021/09/06/bmw-unveils-high-speed-electric-bicycle-with-300-km-of-range-plus-an-electric-motorcycle/

For anyone interested in an e-bike Rad power bikes currently has the mini folding bike on sale for $1849.... $250 off the regular price. Pretty good price for a folding e-bike. Being a fat tire bike it is on the heavy side at 67 lbs  but this thing will go anywhere and you can bring it with you to most places without the fear of locking it up outside.....every e-bike greatest fear of having it stolen!

 

48v battery with a 72km range.

 

https://radpowerbikes.ca/collections/electric-bikes/products/radmini-electric-folding-bike-1

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @darlicious : Rock n roll. The "gas" is really only used for traveling. When we're free again, I'll be sure to come down and have that bottle of red with you 🙂 and I'll charge up for free.

 

Edit: no need to add another post when I'm still last poster in the thread...

A couple days after loading the offer, did a small charge up, used the card, saw the pre-auth and charge on the account, the pre-auth dropped quite quickly, now 3-4 days later....ta da!...credit back in two transactions, net of gst and the gst.

@darlicious: thank you very much for coming across this deal on rfd and sharing it here.

@Anonymous 

Enjoy your free "gas"!

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @darlicious : The spouse finally decided to spend the 3 minutes looking at this. De-registered, re-registered, bam...offer. Load offer...done...both cards too with one being the same as I have. So I guess I need to wait for my account to be registered for offers to begin with and then try the same thing..

So yes...the call centre agent lied. wha'd'ya'know.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@darlicious wrote:

@Anonymous 

Lol....will that track how fast I can swim in my speedo?😄


Ask Penny. If you waterproof the phone - sure why not 🙂

@Anonymous 

Lol....will that track how fast I can swim in my speedo?😄

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @darlicious : No. The spouse can't be bothered. Maybe some day.

Get a speedo app on your phone and turn on location and see what it is. I do that to know the "accuracy" of just about any speedo.

Need Help? Let's chat.