Electric Cars Are Contagious
Long-time readers may recognize this story, as the issue is similar to the one I wrote about when I wrote about a common “disease” amongst Chevy Volt owners. Again, like with that article, the thing that triggered this article was a post on the Chevy-Volt.com forum.
The title of the new post is, “Now the wife wants one….” Just a couple of weeks after the forum member got his Chevy Volt, his wife decided it was also time to toss her gasmobile out of the garage. Good news, and certainly better than the “disease” scenario in which the wife* simply takes the Volt and forces the husband to fend for himself at the gas station. And whether there’s a disease involved or not, Chevy Volts are contagious.
On a more serious note, the point is clear: electric vehicles (and, actually, in both of the stories I’m referencing, Chevy Volts) are so much nicer to own and drive that it is hard not to end up dissatisfied with gasmobiles after getting a taste of electricity. Perhaps it is because of the nature of our site and audience (and the forums that I follow), but I have never heard of someone wanting to go back to a gasmobile, while I have heard many EV owners say that they can’t enjoy gasmobiles any more, and that their family is switching or has fully switched to electric vehicles — LEAF + Volt families, LEAF + Model S families, Model S + Volt families, Volt + Volt families, etc.
Back to the Volt thread that triggered this piece, for a lot more comments about similar situations or about how common this situation is, head on over here.
Related:
True Cost Of Owning A Chevy Volt Might Surprise You
Chevy Volt Owner Review After 1 Year
Chevy Volt vs Toyota Prius (VIDEO)
*Yes, it could be reversed and the husband could steal the wife’s EV, but I’m yet to hear of that scenario.
Image: Chevy Volt in Chicago, via Yaromir / Shutterstock.com
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Not this scenario?husband encourages wife out of aging prius into volt.unrelated prius is totaled.enticed by state rebate husband encourages wife to lease Leaf so he could possibly switch third newer prius for the volt so he can practically drive entirely electric.wife having trouble adjusting to range of Leaf.Leaf and Volt staying with wife at moment.Husband looking to spring so he can bike commute.
What? Put spaces before you start a new sentence and I might be able to make sense of what you’re saying. Might.
Really. Say *what*?! My brain hurts after trying to read that, and I wish I hadn’t!
Put down that bottle! Do a one step!
WTF are you talking about? This is unintelligible.
I wish I could bike commute. :/
That’s true – reminds me of the story of the celebrity illusionist with his own show in Las Vegas on the TMC forum. His wife appropriated his P85+ when she got a taste of what driving electric felt like.
The poor man was forced to get a new P85D for himself.
Struggling to feel sympathetic…
Once you go electric you don’t go back.
Couldn’t have said it better!
I’m in this boat. Our Prius feels wholly unsatisfactory after buying my Volt (which replaced a Camry Hybrid). We are starting to contemplate buying a used Cmax Energi to replace the Prius. All gas powered vehicles feel like tractors now.
Quote from somewhere, ” I’ll give you my EV when you take it from my cold, dead hands!”
It Was, from the gun boys, “you can have my PHEV when you pry my cold dead fingers off he steering wheel. hahahaha
well put, Pat
LOL I cant see Charlton heston saying that!
Why would anyone want to drive a gas mobile? They are, for lack of a better term, made of suck.
Thas right. Come on dummies, get a clue.
Gasmobiles are filled with explosions.
You are apparently hearing this for the first time. I leased a Leaf for three years and am now back to my old (2001) Prius. I still believe that electric cars are better and will replace ICEs, but not until they deliver a 200 mile range. A 65 mile range, forget the higher claims, is good enough most of the time but that is like saying that you can live on hamburger and potatoes every day. For most of us there are times when we want to get out of town. It is also a nuisance to drive at speeds less than prevailing traffic to preserve energy. Naturally, like almost everybody else, I would buy a Tesla today if I could afford one.
“electric cars are better and will replace ICEs, but not until they deliver a 200 mile range.”
I think plug in hybrids will be more popular than pure EVs even when EVs have a 200 mile range until fast charging stations are as ubiquitous as gas stations. Have yet to hear a Volt owner who didn’t love his car.
Why didn’t you just drive your Prius when you wanted to go on a trip? That’ what you’re doing now?
Nope. My Volt allows me to bypass gas stations so often my wife calls me to ask what kind of gas we are to put in it.
I’ve been driving a Volt since 2012. I love it so much so I got another Volt for my wife. Recently I swap out my Volt for an ELR…even more amazing!
So we located one of the couple hundred buyers of the ELR! (just kidding, not really, lol)
Actually about 1300 ELRs sold! Not a bad deal for me after 25k discount before incentives.
I have to agree. I’ve had several people ride in my Leaf and they want one, but invariably it’s when the price comes down and/or the range increases. If OEM’s get serious and do both AND advertise, it’s really going to open some floodgates.
Off topic the topic of electric cars but on the topic of epidemiology, rooftop solar is also pretty contagious. There are places in Australia – Victor Harbour, Hervey Bay, Caloundra, etc. where rooftop solar has really taken off. While the bulk of Australia has a long way to go before suburbs start exporting electricity, these places might be managing it already. Basically these were areas that had a lot of old people, but not so rich old people, who were looking for a way to save money. And while old people can be pretty hesitant to try new things, enough of them got rooftop solar installed they were able to show their neighbours that it was not a problem and it caught on and snowballed. Or since it’s a bit hot for snow in Australia maybe I should say it mudballed.
well my dad had a leaf for less than a year and due to limited range but even more due to an issue with the Battery, he went back to gas. i loved that car, but when the nissan garage told him he would have to pay several thousand euros to replace the battery, well i understood his decision…sad but real…
My dad bought a new Leaf last year and he’s found the range is less than 100km…even driving in Eco with the climate off. He complained to the dealer as they said it would go 150+km. They checked with Nissan who said they don’t make any guarantee about the range of the Leaf! The battery ‘health meter’ still reads 12 bars (100%) so they won’t replace the battery.
No way will I buy a new EV from a dealer…better to get a late model 2nd hand one and test the range before buying…dealers won’t let you do that with a new one!
You just use the trip meter and see how far it will go on one bar of the ‘fuel gauge’. A Leaf should go 13km (13 x 12 bars = 156km total) and an i-MiEV 7km (7 x 16 bars = 112km total)
Driving style has a lot to do with range. On days when I drive more aggressively I get significantly less range. I have one of the original Leaf models and even after losing a capacity bar I can still easily get 60 miles on a single charge just by driving reasonably. I would be willing to bet that driving style has a greater impact on range than the climate control.
He bought a car without a warranty?
Something fishy there. Battery should be under warranty for another 7 years…
I’m curious what you mean by “the new-car market will probably be dead within 10 years.”?