"f86sabre" (f86sabre)
03/28/2015 at 19:28 • Filed to: Electric cars, tesla, i3, Leaf
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"f86sabre" (f86sabre)
03/28/2015 at 19:28 • Filed to: Electric cars, tesla, i3, Leaf | 3
| 5 |
The unrestrained, gleeful, laughter of an 8 year old sends a clear message. Something very good was happening. I heard it twice today. Both times were while I was launching a Tesla Model S P85D in "Insane Mode". 650+ pound-feet of torque makes young boys and 40 year old men laugh uncontrollably. My son, strapped into the back seat, made it perfectly clear what he thought of the car. My family has been considering an electric car for a local runabout. My wife, who has been hauling the kids around in my 2003 Evo VIII, was out of town with my daughter, so today seemed like a good day to visit Tesla, BMW and Nissan to see what they had to offer. Lucky enough for me Decatur, GA has a street with all three dealerships sitting side by side.
The P85D was as bonkers as everyone makes it out to be. Just glorious. I imagine driving it's a lot like sitting in Sulu's chair on the bridge of the Enterprise. Raw power and handling at your fingertips. It felt like what a $100k car is supposed to feel like. This is coming from someone who has only driven one $100k car and it was today. The car was comfortable, the giant screen was intuitive, the rear seating area was nice and the trunk was surprisingly huge. Th folks at the dealership were great. Super friendly, they actually knew what they were talking about, and they asked me if I wanted to take a drive. Not the other way around. If one has the means, I would highly recommend picking up a P85D. Sadly, I don't have the means.
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and wanted to check out the i3. The BMW dealership experience was pleasant, but "traditional". After talking payments and tax implications we finally got to the drive. The i3 is suprisingly nice on the road. Good power, not P85D levels, but adequate, and it handled quite well. The fact that all the weight is down low is very evident even though the driver sits relatively high. I liked the interior. It is not conventional, parts look like the bag side of a composite part and there is a pretty wood shelf. It felt like driving a nice car. The fact hat it was purpose built as an electric car showed through in a good way. One thing that suprised me was that for as big as the car was, and the fact that it had rear suicide doors, that the rear seating area was pretty small. There wasn't much room for my son's legs. The car was priced out at $47K. The dealer mentioned that the end of the month was the end of BMW's fiscal year and there were incentives. So they knocked off $5k. BMW offers some odd accusation programs. If you lease then you don't get the $7.5k federal tax credits, but here in Georgia you can still get the $5k state credit. If you buy it you get all the credits. If you use BMWs Flex program you get 66% of the federal and all of the state. When we ran the numbers they were still too rich for my blood.
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Next up was the humble Leaf. The Leaf retails for $31k. Over three times less than the P85D and a good bit less than the i3. It is a Versa with an electric motor. It drove fine. It was adequately comfortable. There was good space in the back. It's not much to look at and it doesn't challenge you and it doesn't poke the world in the chest and scream that it is an electric car. It is just a car. The price is damn hard to beat. My company has an agreement with Nissan and we get a discount. $229 a month on a lease. I didn't hate it and for what we would like a car for it would work.
On the whole I was impressed by all three. These were real cars and not novelties. Electric cars have come a long way since the kit car VW Bug mods of the 80s and 90s. Our family has a few things to think about. The Federal incentive expires on July 1, so who knows? Either way, it was a fun way to spend the day.
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> f86sabre
03/28/2015 at 20:56 |
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That's pretty cool. I think I've only seen a regular Tesla in person on the road twice, and it wasn't even a P85D.
I really do like the idea of an electric car, and I think BMW has done it right - building from the ground up (unlike the Spark EV, Focus EV, Soul EV, Fit EV, etc.). When done correctly, the advantages are pretty cool - a low center of gravity, trunk space on both ends, and good low-end torque.
I'm quite interested in getting something electric, but unfortunately I can't justify spending a ton on a new vehicle when we haven't yet bought a house. I'm currently looking at used Volts. Although not a pure EV, it'd still take care of 80+% of our driving on electricity.
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f86sabre
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/28/2015 at 21:10 |
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it's funny how the Spark, Focus and afit don't even register. Leafs are everywhere here in Atlanta. Tesla are plentiful in the well to do areas. I think the tech is maturing quite well. Understanding how we use cars, and looking at it objectively, leads to a better understanding of what we need. That and the fact that we still have a small fleet of gas powered cars that we will keep along with the EV make it a possibility.
philippelemieux1
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/28/2015 at 21:38 |
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A used Volt is a great deal and a super efficient car.
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BaconSandwich is tasty.
> philippelemieux1
03/28/2015 at 21:54 |
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I take it you've had some experience with one?
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BaconSandwich is tasty.
> f86sabre
03/28/2015 at 21:56 |
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Yeah, when I think of electric cars, the converted ones aren't exactly my first thought either. Taking a regular car and converting it to an EV just doesn't work as well. Battery packs are larger than a regular gas tank. You run into one of two problems then: 1. not enough battery (e.g.: short range) or 2. taking up interior space (e.g.: Ford C-Max Energi and Fusion Energi models). Unless you are planning from the ground up, there are going to be compromises.