@Zaphod - during any acceleration, engine noise is the primary factor. At cruising, road noise is the primary factor. You'll know if you're on concrete vs new asphalt vs just a crappy road. Wind noise doesn't become an issue unless 70+ or you have the radio off completely. Tires and their pressure make a huge difference. Tesla has high efficiency tires on and they like to blow it up to 42 PSI. Most forums agree that if you lower to 36-38 on the OEM tires, it makes a significant difference. I did. Even better, went to sports tires with the new pair - lost 5% efficiency but even more fun and even quieter too now.
@Lordosis - yep. That's the main drawback/advantage of EVs right now. If you have a garage and regular daily usage range is 200miles, overnight charging gives you full 100% without issue. Same concept as destination chargers. For road trips along distance stops, we've never had to wait. The hard to predict ones are when you're in a metro area and locals are using it to recharge because they have free supercharging. I, for the life of me, have no idea why most people dropping $70K+ on a car is willing to sit around to supercharge their car to save a few dollars -- like those driving 10 miles additional and sitting in 30min line for Costco gas.
I charge at home, non-issue. Go on routine trips to LA and no supercharger needed unless several days there and no destination charger. At those occasions, timed with local shopping mall shopping with family and recharged easily. Only time used superchargers significantly are large roadtrips. Didn't wait at any of those pitstops with planned meals/breaks.
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I am somewhat rural so I have a skewed view but I wonder about how available super chargers are. I know of a few in my area about 30 min away at a shopping mall and the rest are destination chargers which I understand to be slower. As EVs become more popular obviously there will be more popping up.
I honestly would not mind pulling over for 30 min every few hours on a road trip. However if there is a line and it is a 2 hour wait then what? Has this started happening yet or are they keeping up with demand?
Do the rest stops on the larger interstates have chargers?
Or just places that want to lure people off the highway. (People willing to drop a lot of $$$ on a car)Leave a comment:
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I had an EV back in the early 90s. Jeep Wrangler Power wheels. I remember it had to charge for 18 hours and barely ran for an hour. Needed to replace the battery every couple few years.
Got the new version for my kids 25 years later. Zero improvements other then a built-in radio. My son is disappointed that it does not run as long now that it is colder.
Cheap lead batteries or worse Ni-Cad.
@humbleinvestor – Yeah, the rear sits lower than usual sedan and entry is a bit awkward as well as finding how to open the door in the first place. Surprised on the road noise aspect. Usually the loudest part of a regular car experience is the engine. There’s simply no EV engine noise. You’ll have road noise no matter what. FYI comfort setting is for steering wheel and chill mode is the amount of power acceleration –again very little noise from the engine regardless and regen on the braking. Curious – what car do you both drive now?
In both ICE and EV unless some old muscle car the loudest part of driving is road noise and air resistance, which both EV and ICE are very similar with after 20ish mph. Sometimes there is a bit of engine sound, but eliminating it doesnt do much when there is just so much air/road noise at highway speed.Leave a comment:
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I had an EV back in the early 90s. Jeep Wrangler Power wheels. I remember it had to charge for 18 hours and barely ran for an hour. Needed to replace the battery every couple few years.
Got the new version for my kids 25 years later. Zero improvements other then a built-in radio. My son is disappointed that it does not run as long now that it is colder.
Cheap lead batteries or worse Ni-Cad.
@HumbleInvestor - Yeah, the rear sits lower than usual sedan and entry is a bit awkward as well as finding how to open the door in the first place. Surprised on the road noise aspect. Usually the loudest part of a regular car experience is the engine. There's simply no EV engine noise. You'll have road noise no matter what. FYI comfort setting is for steering wheel and chill mode is the amount of power acceleration --again very little noise from the engine regardless and regen on the braking. Curious - what car do you both drive now?Leave a comment:
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I had an EV back in the early 90s. Jeep Wrangler Power wheels. I remember it had to charge for 18 hours and barely ran for an hour. Needed to replace the battery every couple few years.
Got the new version for my kids 25 years later. Zero improvements other then a built-in radio. My son is disappointed that it does not run as long now that it is colder.Leave a comment:
Leave a comment: