High-mileage electric car usage is working out almost twice as expensive as petrol

no4mk1t said:
As Paul Harvey used to say, here's the rest of the story...

Driving an EV is addictive. You get to liking that instant torque and sub 5 seconds zero to 60 acceleration.
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My Sierra hits 60 in 5.4 seconds šŸ˜Ž
My Corvette is 3.7 seconds.

Yes, both are addictive.
If I drive the Corvette like I care about the gas mileage I get as high as 32 MPG on the highway, going 80 with the cruise on.
 
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Racer88 said:
My point... People often compare the Tesla cars' 0-60 acceleration to any number of exotic sports cars. And if the only thing we pay attention to is straight-line acceleration, then yeah... the instant torque of an EV motor won't be beaten except by some real super or "hyper"-exotics. But put an EV against a Porsche 911 (or Corvette or BMW M3 or fill in the sportscar blank) on a track with twisties, and the 911 is going to run circles around the EV (assuming good drivers).

Judging performance with the singular metric of 0-60 acceleration is what people who don't know much about automotive performance focus on. :) That said... the reality is most people don't put performance cars through their paces on the track anyway. Kind of like the big off-road trucks that never leave the pavement.
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True. The thing is nobody except an elite minority in the car world give a rats ass about anything except what happens when you step on the accelerator. Does the acceleration push you back into the seat when you stomp on it? That what gives average schlub a boner. The closest Joe or Jane Average get to track driving is passing someone a two lane.

You are a track driver and know about racing. I'm sure you must have read something about this: Formula E: The world's fastest electric vehicles could spark widespread innovation

Fast forward 10 years this is going to grow. 20 years... I predict Indy and F1 will be electric.
 
Bongo Lewi said:
You are a track driver and know about racing. I'm sure you must have read something about this: Formula E: The world's fastest electric vehicles could spark widespread innovation

Fast forward 10 years this is going to grow. 20 years... I predict Indy and F1 will be electric.
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Have you watched a Formula E race? I watched part of one on TV once. Blech! Booooooorrrrrrrring! Nothing can replace the scream of an F1 (ICE) engine.

I've been to three Indy 500 races in person. The sound. The smell. The pit stops. I've stood next to an Indycar in the pit with the engine running and being revved. The FEELING... you can feel the vibrations of the engine. Amazing.

I cannot imagine the same excitement with EVs. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (snoring).
 
Bongo Lewi said:
True. The thing is nobody except an elite minority in the car world give a rats ass about anything except what happens when you step on the accelerator. Does the acceleration push you back into the seat when you stomp on it? That what gives average schlub a boner. The closest Joe or Jane Average get to track driving is passing someone a two lane.

You are a track driver and know about racing. I'm sure you must have read something about this: Formula E: The world's fastest electric vehicles could spark widespread innovation

Fast forward 10 years this is going to grow. 20 years... I predict Indy and F1 will be electric.
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F1 is already half electric and four cylinder engine.
 
Racer88 said:
Have you watched a Formula E race? I watched part of one on TV once. Blech! Booooooorrrrrrrring! Nothing can replace the scream of an F1 (ICE) engine.

I've been to three Indy 500 races in person. The sound. The smell. The pit stops. I've stood next to an Indycar in the pit with the engine running and being revved. The FEELING... you can feel the vibrations of the engine. Amazing.

I cannot imagine the same excitement with EVs. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (snoring).
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Not in person. I thought this was cool
View: https://youtu.be/ARwqfgP7VF4?feature=shared

When I was a kid drag racing was everything. I get the excitement of the sounds and smells. But in the end it's about who crosses the finish line first. Speed is fundamental. ICE engines are at or near the peak of their ability. They cannot compete with modern electric motors.

Electric motors deliver full torque from 1 rpm to whatever its designed maximum rpm may be. 3000 rpm motors are common today. There are newer motors that can do 6000 rpm. A 20 inch wheel spinning at 3000 RPM is moving at 180 mph. A 20 inch wheel spinning at 6000 rpm is going 360 mph. Imagine a car with a 6000 rpm motor on each wheel. By being able to control the speed and angle of each tire individually it could turn on a dime. Is it more fun shifting up and down and using the brakes as has been done for the past 100 years? Depends on how you look at it.
 
Bongo Lewi said:
Not in person. I thought this was cool
View: https://youtu.be/ARwqfgP7VF4?feature=shared

When I was a kid drag racing was everything. I get the excitement of the sounds and smells. But in the end it's about who crosses the finish line first. Speed is fundamental. ICE engines are at or near the peak of their ability. They cannot compete with modern electric motors.

Electric motors deliver full torque from 1 rpm to whatever its designed maximum rpm may be. 3000 rpm motors are common today. There are newer motors that can do 6000 rpm. A 20 inch wheel spinning at 3000 RPM is moving at 180 mph. A 20 inch wheel spinning at 6000 rpm is going 360 mph. Imagine a car with a 6000 rpm motor on each wheel. By being able to control the speed and angle of each tire individually it could turn on a dime. Is it more fun shifting up and down and using the brakes as has been done for the past 100 years? Depends on how you look at it.
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I made it through exactly 6 seconds of that whistling sound before I hit the pause button. I guess I'm just an old fart stuck on the visceral hair-standing sound of an ICE.

Yes, I'm familiar with the instant torque of electric motors vs the torque curve of an ICE. It does nothing for me. Yes... I like shifting gears and braking. I even prefer a traditional clutch to computer-controlled clutches with paddle shifters.

THIS is DRIVING! Using one hand to run the shifter and heel-toe rev-matching downshifts.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auXfAHHNSFo
 
Racer88 said:
I even prefer a traditional clutch to computer-controlled clutches with paddle shifters.
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The paddles on my M3 were awesome. First car I owned that had them. Seven speed, double clutch. Naturally aspirated 4 liter v8. 414 hp. It was really fast and fun to drive. The US market M3 was governed to not exceed 155 mph.
 
I am drawn to all the latest technology in just about any category. Yet sometimes I think I was born 30 years too late. Those old warbirds strike a chord with me.
 
Bongo Lewi said:
I get it. I think this (see link) is beyond cool but the technology has marched onward. That doesnt make me like it any less:


View: https://youtu.be/-yO6MwHIU-E
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I've personally flown a few of those; the P-51 Mustang once, the T-6/SNJ twice, the C-47 (DC-3) Skytrain once, the B-25 Mitchell bomber three times, plus several others not shown in that video. The two loudest aircraft by far I've ever experienced from inside the cockpit, even with better attenuating modern helmet and supplemented with foamy earplugs, were the P-51 Mustang and the B-25 Mitchell! After each of those typically 1.5 hour flights, my ears were ringing for most of the day afterwards! Their leather helmets with passive earcups provided a lot less to almost nonexistent hearing protection back then and would be considered woefully inadequate compared to what was available even 30 years ago. It's no wonder those guys who flew long combat missions in the frontline fighters and bombers of WW-II lost most of their hearing!
 
I don't care how quick or fast they might be, no electric bike could ever replace the sound and feel of 1200 CCs of well designed V-Twin. What a shame it would be to lose those sexy pipes!

"Look at that electric motor. What a work of art!" Said nobody, ever.

PXL_20240803_133815496 (1).jpg
 

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