- First Name
- John
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- Your Bronco Model
- Big Bend
That sucks and not an uncommon story. However, it does not invalidate electric cars an option, but it does prove what their case use is... as a short commuter car and/or a fun toy.I had a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and here is my sad story of despair and why I would most likely never buy an EV again.. Most def not on an off-road vehicle..
I had numerous instances of almost being stranded.. Tesla tested my batteries several times after my many range complaints. They even sent the data to the mothership a few times to appease my complaints. They continually said the battery was fine and the car was preforming as it should.
My final straw, and why I eventually traded it:
I was leaving my sons house after Christmas and driving home. Total distance about 210 miles. My Model 3 was the SR+ which had a 240 mile range.
About the mid point of the trip was a Tesla Supercharger station.. I believe from my sons house to it was something like 110 miles then another 100 miles from it to my home..
Car was charged to 100% before leaving my sons house, weather was freezing cold so I ran the heater and had the radio for music during the drive.. There were high winds and the route also has a mountain pass to contend with...
About 40 miles into the trip, the Model 3 told me to reduce speed to 60mph so I would make it to the charger.. At about 60 miles into the trip (about 50 miles from the Supercharger) it told me to reduce speed to 50mph to make the charger...
So a 240 mile ranged car can only make it 110 miles IF I reduce my speed to turtle levels.. I had little old ladies blowing past me on the freeway and I could swear a few of them flipped me off since I was going so slow...
I had to turn the heater on and off to try and preserve battery. When the cold got unbearable, I'd turn it back on to warm up a little then back off to save battery in the hopes I'd make it. I made it to the supercharger, a whopping 110 miles away, with something 2 percent battery left...
This was not the 1st time this happened to me but it was the final straw and was the main reason I decided to trade it..
During the fiasco described above, I did call Tesla and ask what I'd need to do since I didn't think I was going to make it.. They said if I ran out of juice on the trip to call them and they'd send a tow truck free of charge.. All fine and dandy but since it was freezing cold, no juice left to run heater, I assume I would have had icicles hanging off my nose when it arrived.. Luckily I made it to the charger... Barely...
Now imagine the above except I didn't make it and needed to wait for a tow. Probably an hour wait maybe longer. I was by myself but what if this happened to a family with small children. Freezing on the side of the road with no means to heat the inside of the car could have been very dangerous..
Anyways, that's my sad story of despair and why I would NOT buy another EV only vehicle.
Range anxiety is real and it should be because there are many factors that play into your range and if you'll even make the next charger.
I personally would not purchase another EV only vehicle until they reach at least a 500+ mile claimed range and fast chargers are more readily available. Gas stations are everywhere, fast chargers are not.
City ONLY driving? An EV would be fine but for anything other than that, I'd personally take a hard pass on an EV.
Off roading? Nope, nope, nope, and an absolute nope...... The range anxiety would kill the fun, the weather conditions could kill your battery range, slow crawling will kill your battery range.. Heck everything is going to kill your battery range.. Need to winch out? Good luck with that as you'll probably decrease you range significantly...
My .02
/end sad story of despair..
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