I've gone electric

[desura]

Man, and I think the Volt is cramped...

OP really sounds like someone who should get into bicycle commuting or carpooling.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Lol I'm 140 lbs. I've seen 200 lb guys comfortably in a smart. It's not that small inside at all and it's very well designed for the size. It's big inside, it has a high ceiling. It's roomier than a Porsche I honestly don't feel cramped at all. The smart is famous for being spacious for its size. I think the volt is known to be cramped inside yet big on the outside.

I'm not about to ride a bicycle 40 miles on dangerous streets every day and don't understand how carpooling would help?

 

[T2urtle]

I'm 200lbs and fit good in a smart car.

That's not a bad price. I don't know how stable that thing is on the highway. But that would be pushing it with my 60 mile round trip with no charing at work and 110v at home.

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[tweakmonkey]

I'm 200lbs and fit good in a smart car.

That's not a bad price. I don't know how stable that thing is on the highway. But that would be pushing it with my 60 mile round trip with no charing at work and 110v at home.

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It's plenty stable until a big vehicle passes close by to you. You can feel it try to move a bit but as long as you're an attentive driver it's fine. It drives great at 70-75 mph otherwise but it's really best for the city.

With that commute the Spark EV is probably more appropriate.

 

[T2urtle]

With that commute the Spark EV is probably more appropriate.

But it's not as cheap as ur smart. The numbers don't work for me to buy new car.

I'll just keep driving my 20mpg infiniti sedan.

Model 3 down the road might be in my picture.



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[core2slow]

But it's not as cheap as ur smart. The numbers don't work for me to buy new car.

I'll just keep driving my 20mpg infiniti sedan.

Model 3 down the road might be in my picture.



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You can get a used sparkEV for 12-14k and if you're lucky, it might comes with the DC Fast Charge which makes it the ONLY car in this segment with this technology and would essentially eliminate any range anxiety that you might have. There are people who do 1000mi road trips with the sparkEV by plotting their routes along DCFC stations, so for its price, it's really the only one of its kind to achieve this. That's the only enticing thing about the SparkEV if your daily range exceeds 70 miles.

You can make a case for either car but if your needs fall within the range and the affordability of the smart then it's a no brainer.

 

[Brovane]

Congrats on the electric car. We are enjoying our Leaf we purchased last December.

Are you just going to use 110V power for charging or install a home charger?

 

[tweakmonkey]

110 has been fine so far. I charge it at night so it's always 100% when I leave for work the next morning. We usually only drive around 100 miles all weekend at most so I haven't had the need for 220 during the day. I might buy a charger if that changes. The juice box guys are like a half mile from my house

 

[Brovane]

110 has been fine so far. I charge it at night so it's always 100% when I leave for work the next morning. We usually only drive around 100 miles all weekend at most so I haven't had the need for 220 during the day. I might buy a charger if that changes. The juice box guys are like a half mile from my house

I bought a Juice Box charger for my Leaf. It is great value for the money and it has great stats you can pull. With it I can track the number of kw's I use to charge the vehicle in a given month and then we track mileage so I can see kw/mile. I found sometimes the 220 was helpful to quickly charge the vehicle during the day depending on how much we used it. The Leaf has a on-board 6.6kw so it makes a big difference from 110 power charging, I think the Smart on-board is 3.3kw.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Post your excitement in this thread in exactly 1 year from now.

I think it's a little early but here we are...

ONE YEAR LATER

Short story: I still love this car and drive it almost every day, and the days I don't drive it, my girlfriend always takes it to work and begs me to drive my other cars some days because she likes it so much. It's fun, quiet, maneuverable, less stressful, 100% reliable, and saves me lots of time and money.

It's certainly not perfect which I'll explain throughout...

In the past year I've put 15,000 miles on it, and it's getting to the point where it needs new tires. Other than that, no significant issues at all, still goes 70+ miles each charge (zero change in range), and it's never left me stranded or had any problems except a leaking differential seal (which they will warranty but I have to schedule to get it replaced) - funny to see an EV dripping oil, luckily it's a tiny amount. I've had a few close calls where I drove right to the limit of the range, but if I take it easy in those situations it can go 80 miles on a charge. That I recall we've had two times where we HAD to drive a gas car... once we took her Fit because we had a 500 mile drive to drop our dog off with family before going on vacation, and once when we took my Westfalia on a 1000 mile camping trip. For every other weekend trip, errand run etc, we take the EV. We have packed an incredible amount of stuff into it when needed for grocery shopping etc., We even bought luggage with it for our vacation last year. We have gone to the beach a dozen (35-50 mile round trip depending on route) and brought tent/chairs/ice chest and still had room for our dog. The Smart is surprisingly roomy.

I charge it only using a 110v outlet, which takes about 8 hours to recover completely from my commute. I charge off-peak while sleeping, which gives me a discounted rate of $0.10 to $0.12 per kWH. I haven't checked for a while but before we switched to the solar/wind plan, with losses, 9 kWH on my Smartmeter drove me roughly 40 miles, or 4.4 miles per kW, so around $0.03 per mile. Our power is currently claimed 75% solar/wind (from our provider, not at our house) now, and about 25% natural gas. I hope to have solar of our own some day but still researching... Also I'd love to have a 220 charger and a timer for it, but I don't want to re-wire the house right now.

AC on full blast will cut the range by about 10%. Instead of going 70, it'll go around 60 miles. If I had my 60 mile commute that day, I would either plug it in at work or suffer a bit more discomfort for part of my commute. So yes, more range would be welcome. The heater takes more like 20%, but I haven't used it much, because being in CA, the heated seats are easily sufficient for almost every day. I also wear driving gloves when it's like ~40 outside. But if I garaged it or used pre-conditioning it would be even better. The heater also heats basically instantly, MUCH faster than a gas car, which is nice. So usually I'd turn on the heat for a couple minutes, turn on the heated seats (which have basically no impact on the range) and turn off the heater once it warmed up. But it never gets below freezing here.

The upright and high seating position, huge windows, quiet interior and one pedal driving make it a wonderful car for traffic. The RWD, low center of gravity, and lightweight make it fun toss around. Here's an instance where the narrow size helps a lot:

This happens almost daily on my 40 mile commute (which is now 60 miles two days a week when I go to school). If you are turning right at a stoplight and there's a car in front of you, only a very narrow car can squeeze by. The Smart can manage it though.

It also saves me queuing at metering lights onto freeways here, where the EV "white sticker" allows you to go in the carpool lane, then I get my half off bridge tolls ($2.50 per day), and never have to divert from my commute for gas stations. My Fiesta would've used 500+ gallons of premium gas commuting like this.

Some bad things: The wind hits it quite bad on a bridge I take, sometimes 40+ MPH gusts. You have to pay attention in those situations, but not nearly as bad as my Westy. There's a bit of tire/wind noise but it's still quieter than all our other cars. It tops out at about 80 MPH, which means you can't always lead the pack. It also chews through range a lot faster at 80 than say, 60, so you find yourself driving a bit slower. The brakes are good but the tires aren't wonderful (Kumho I think), so if you drive aggressively you might find the stopping distance less than ideal. Again, blows away my Westy

My co-workers also both have EV Smarts, and alternate/switch between Chevy Bolts, while their wives drive the other car based on needs. One has said "The Bolt is the best car I've ever had"... for the record, he's had numerous other fantastic cars, tons of Porsches, Lotuses, Hondas, Toyotas, and Jaguars. He's the one that sold me on EVs in the first place. Here's what he said about the Smart vs. the Bolt:

The smart is fantastic, but I hadn't driven the Bolt for a while, because my wife did. The Bolt is way more luxurious and way quieter. It does feel kind of wasteful as I'm driving this giant thing around. The Smart feels like it's got "all I need" and it's way more utilitarian. The Smart is GREAT for getting into gaps, merging when needed. Way easier because it's way smaller, darty and maneuverable. Slightly more regen would be nice. The Bolt has awesome regen. It's faster but the Smart is zippy at city speeds. In our world and environment (if you lived in any kind of city or bustling suburb) commuting, it's really great. If you're averaging 70+ MPH on your typical drives, the Bolt blows it away.

Keep in mind you can find these used Smarts here for $4000 now! I'm restoring an AW11 MR2 and drive it a couple days a week, and it's more fun, but for most driving I still prefer the Smart.

I'll report in next year with another update. By then I'm hoping my girlfriend dumps her Honda Fit and we get a Bolt or Tesla. But I can't imagine getting rid of this car. It's just so useful and simple to drive. It does exactly what a car should do, better than any car I've had before this.

If I didn't have a regular commute, and had some great roads without traffic to drive on often, I wouldn't drive it nearly as often. But for errands when there are other people on the road, which around here is almost every day, I take it as my first choice between my four cars (the Fit, Smart, Westy van, and MR2). The MR2 gets driven on weekends and when I can enjoy some backroads.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Cool. Congrats on the tinymobile, I guess. Not my thing, but if you like it, you like it!

 

[Scarpozzi]

I generally dislike the whole Smart Car company. I'm sorry, but the gasoline version of those things only got around 35mpg when they came out and it was only a 2 seater. I then started thinking about the name of the company and it made me even more angry (maybe angry isn't the best word).... But Smart Cars, SmartWater....the marketing appears to insult those who don't adopt whatever they're selling....or make those who do seem like suckers to the rest of us. Now that I got that off my chest, it sounds like you got a heck of a deal. $9k is a good price for a bare-bones economy 2 seater.....less than that for an electric is really good.

I just never knew what the electric cost of charging one of those cars is to come up with the gasoline gallon equivalent. These days with gas back around $2/gallon, the next couple of years, your ROI won't be so high, but you can't beat the driveway fit or the out of pocket cost...plus, if gas prices do start to soar again, it should slow its depreciation or potentially reverse it.

 

[tweakmonkey]

$9k is a good price for a bare-bones economy 2 seater.....less than that for an electric is really good.

This thing isn't bare bones. Heated leather seats, auto projected headlamps, auto wipers. Really nice sound system..

I just never knew what the electric cost of charging one of those cars is to come up with the gasoline gallon equivalent. These days with gas back around $2/gallon, the next couple of years, your ROI won't be so high, but you can't beat the driveway fit or the out of pocket cost...plus, if gas prices do start to soar again, it should slow its depreciation or potentially reverse it.

Sure you do. Just do the math. What's your current vehicle cost per mile to drive including maintenance? What's your electricity cost per kw, and are there incentives for electric car plans to reduce at off peak hours.

 

[Scarpozzi]

This thing isn't bare bones. Heated leather seats, auto projected headlamps, auto wipers. Really nice sound system..


Sure you do. Just do the math. What's your current vehicle cost per mile to drive including maintenance? What's your electricity cost per kw, and are there incentives for electric car plans to reduce at off peak hours.

I wasn't trying to suggest it was bare bones...just thinking of a Nissan Versa or some other commuter in that price range. Ok...I just googled it and see that it's maybe $3-5 per charge on the battery depending on location. I do my own auto-maintenance, but probably spend $20 a week on fuel for my 2011 4Runner....but alas...it's paid off @ 56k miles, and has room for car seats and cargo.

 

[Insomniator]

Looks like a good deal - that is super cheap. That range would leave me uneasy though... even if your commute is only half of it. I guess you get used to it quick. For 7700 bucks I'd take that smart over some crappy used civic or corolla in a heartbeat.

BTW I am also super jealous of your job.

 

[Ajay]

Thanks for this post. I saw one of these on Monday and wondered what the heck it was! Good luck.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Looks like a good deal - that is super cheap. That range would leave me uneasy though... even if your commute is only half of it. I guess you get used to it quick. For 7700 bucks I'd take that smart over some crappy used civic or corolla in a heartbeat.

Oh yeah and now I see them for $40

BTW I am also super jealous of your job.[/QUOTE]
At least here you can find them way cheaper now: like $4000! The used 500e and Leafs at 6k.. and yeah I agree, sure beats those imo.

And my job has its moments but it can be a lot of office work and boring stuff too!

 

[Zorba]

I was interesting in an EV for my last purchase, but with having to have a carseat, I didn't see a way of making it work comfortably. Based on the range I'd want/need, I think I would've had to have gotten a volt to make it work, since my company doesn't have charging stations (and if they did, they'd charge for them).

If you can charge at work, why wouldn't you? Let your company pay for your "fuel" instead of paying for it yourself? Just charge during the day at work, instead of overnight.

 

[John Connor]

Pfft, I'd rather have a natural gas driven hybrid. SMUG ALERT!

 

[Yuriman]

I don't see EVs working as an only car for many, but they make a ton of sense as a second car.

Not every vehicle you own needs to be equipped for absolutely every situation - especially if your second car can save you a ton of money.

 

[Knavish]

Good idea -- I was in the same boat: commute changing to all in-town, plus free electric car charging at work. Now I've driving an eGolf about 5000 miles, and the trip computer reports an average speed of 17 mph. I'm happy that I didn't get a GTI, and I still have fun with the instant torque (it feels pretty peppy at my usual speeds below 45 mph).

 

[tweakmonkey]

I don't see EVs working as an only car for many, but they make a ton of sense as a second car.

Not every vehicle you own needs to be equipped for absolutely every situation - especially if your second car can save you a ton of money.

Yeah, well, maybe a Bolt or something - but you'd still need a rental or backup for 250+ mile trips unless you really enjoyed stopping to charge. For me I now have 3 other gas powered cars (Fit, my Westfalia, and my '86 MR2), but you're right and either way someone drives the EV every day. If you live in a multi-vehicle household, I imagine one gas and one electric could easily take care of two drivers every day even if the EV only goes 70-80 miles, unless both people commute 60+ a day.

Pfft, I'd rather have a natural gas driven hybrid. SMUG ALERT!

cool story bro

Good idea -- I was in the same boat: commute changing to all in-town, plus free electric car charging at work. Now I've driving an eGolf about 5000 miles, and the trip computer reports an average speed of 17 mph. I'm happy that I didn't get a GTI, and I still have fun with the instant torque (it feels pretty peppy at my usual speeds below 45 mph).

Nice, my neighbor replaced his Volt with an eGolf and loves it. I still haven't driven one.

I was interesting in an EV for my last purchase, but with having to have a carseat, I didn't see a way of making it work comfortably.

What about the Rav4 electric, Bolt, or eGolf?

Based on the range I'd want/need, I think I would've had to have gotten a volt to make it work, since my company doesn't have charging stations (and if they did, they'd charge for them).

If you can charge at work, why wouldn't you? Let your company pay for your "fuel" instead of paying for it yourself? Just charge during the day at work, instead of overnight.

The charger is inside our shop, so I have to pull it into our garage door for charging. Then it's parked near our shipping area which can be a little annoying to walk around. If it was an outdoor charger I'd probably charge more often. As it is, it's just sitting on the floor running to a 220 outlet for our occasional need