Amped Up and Charging into the EV World
When I learned that six planets would align right around my seventieth birthday, I took it as a good sign and did what anyone would do.
I went right out and bought a new electric car.
Correction. I leased a new electric car. I’ve been following the electric car trade for awhile now. But why would I get a brand new electric car right at Christmastime, when we drive the least? When I told Catherine it was a gift to her to replace her 11-year-old gas-powered car, it didn’t yield the joyous response I expected.
The EV business is evolving so fast that the brand new 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is already out-of-date. But that was to my advantage. I think Hyundai has shiploads of these cars. In fact, they delayed rolling out the 2025 model, probably to clear out the 2024 inventory first. And with the federal tax credits possibly disappearing soon, I wasn’t going to wait to find out.
There are currently a lot of deals on electric cars for purchase or lease. That’s because, as manufacturers race to develop a stable of models, they inevitably can’t make perfect cars from the get-go. Mine doesn’t have a rear wiper but the 2025 model does. That’s important around here. One model EV I looked at didn’t include a glove box. And, like a lot of cars today, there is no spare tire. Just a “tire mobility kit” which is somehow supposed to get me to a service station.
Cutting the Risk
Because of the constant changes, I opted for a two-year lease. The discounts and short lease allow me to try out a new electric car without a lot of risk. So, it’s my practice EV and it’ll be under complete warranty the whole time I have it.
There’s none of the regular internal combustion car (ICE) maintenance like oil and filter changes. There’s just the time it takes to charge it. I’m now set up for 240-volt home charging which means it can be fully charged overnight. Where was this when I commuted 50 miles to work every day?
The main drawback with EVs right now is range anxiety. How far can I drive before I need to find an available, working charging station where I might have to sit for hours? Mine is rated at about 250 miles max between charges. But if you use the heat or A/C, the range drops a lot because they run off the same battery. So, you must monitor the remaining charge and estimated miles until empty (also known as the “guessometer”).
On a full charge, we can drive to the Twin Cities, make numerous divergent stops and still get home with some charge left. Longer trips require planning. You need to know where your next charging stop will be. You need charging adapters to accommodate different connections. You also need to know about “preconditioning” the battery before charging. There are a lot of new terms and acronyms with EVs.
So, why go through all this? To save the planet? Well, an increasing percentage of the electricity used to power my EV is from renewable sources. Think nuclear, wind, solar and hydro.
On the other hand, it’s well-known that mining some of the materials used to build these cars is harmful to the environment and in short supply. I believe that, in time, things will stabilize. The cars will be more standardized and cheaper. Battery technology will improve and charging will be much faster.
Tech is Everywhere
And it isn’t just EVs that are getting all the new bells and whistles. ICE cars, which haven’t gone away, include a lot of the same cool new features, like safety cameras everywhere. The cars just aren’t electric. A word of warning with any new car: expect to be overwhelmed by technology. If you can use a smartphone, you might be OK. Take a course like the free AARP Smart Driver Tek course.
Long-term, EVs seem inevitable. I’m also not getting any younger so want to experience new things while I still can. So, I’m all right with having to deal with some early adopter shortcomings. Already I’ve purchased the home charging system, a cable extension to reach the charge port, and two different Tesla charging adapters that allow me to charge at their stations.
But the main reason I went EV is because it’s fun! I’ve been blown away by the power and quiet smoothness of any EV I’ve ever driven or ridden in. The power brings makes it ashamedly very easy to get up to highway speed and well beyond.
This car has so many new features, I’m glad that most of them are automatic. The most annoying thing about EVs, though, is the sound they make when backing up or driving at slow speeds. It’s required because the cars are silent otherwise and are a perceived danger to pedestrians.
I remember reading predictions about cars like these in my dad’s Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines when I was a kid. I never expected to be able to drive one. It’s almost like a prophecy come true. My dad would have been thrilled if he had been able to have one.
I know I am.