How it all started - What turned you on to EV's?

[vbaker]

I was working a nothing assignment around 2001, basically cost plus contract and they needed a body to charge against. (I left within 2 months)

Being young in the '70's gas crisis, I had laid awake in bed as a boy thinking of a way to separate the H2 and the O in water to run a car, that would capture the water and repeat. I have always driven economy vehicles.

Fast forward to my free time at work and I started researching methods and efficiencies of hydro-static electrolysis. And somehow I ended up here: Welcome to Plasma Boy Racing, home of White Zombie, the original world's quickest street legal electric door slammer in the 1/4 mile drag.

John Wayland taking fork-truck motors and turning his Datsun into a formidable drag racing machine made me want to make my own EV.

In 2009 I bought a new Hyundai Accent 5 speed with the intent of converting it to electric when the motor gave up. I abandoned that idea when in 2011 I converted our lawn tractor to electric: Vaughn Baker on Twitter

The conversion took about 6 weeks and $3k for the first iteration using traction rated SLA. The upgrade to lithium a little more than a year later cost $2.5k. I figured converting my car with 80 miles of range would cost me $25k and all of that labor. I sold it last September still running fine with 94k on it.

So when I Uber and people ask why I bought electric, they are a bit surprised by the story. How about you?

 

[willow_hiller]

You're going to laugh, but I learned to drive on my dad's Toyota Prius. There was always something so exhilarating about how even when you were traveling at highway speeds, that electric motor was still able to pull off that extra jolt of acceleration.

Needless to say, when I test drove a Model 3 for the first time, I was hooked. Ended up buying in less than a month after giving it a try.

 

[XLR82XS]

Once I heard Tesla was releasing the Model S my interest grew. I was constantly following the company progress and years later the first Tesla I drove was a S P100D. I experienced the future and the ball rolled quickly after that.

 

[vbaker]

Once I heard Tesla was releasing the Model S my interest grew. I was constantly following the company progress and years later the first Tesla I drove was a S P100D. I experienced the future and the ball rolled quickly after that.

Now to tame that car in your profile picture!

 

[EVortex]

When I was 7 years old I had an electric Eldon slot car track and race cars. I took one of the cars and replaced the original electric motor with a larger one from another toy and then exchanged the gears so it would drive the car axle and wheels. That thing was wild and incredibly fast! That was it - I was hooked on cars and all things electric. In the early 2000s I had a gemcar and that was my first introduction to a basic EV (sort of a glorified golf cart). I also bought an electric pontoon boat for the lake next to our house. My first real EV was a 2014 Mercedes B class Electric Drive with a Tesla battery and drive motor - great little car with 92 miles of range and I used it for commuting for 65k miles. Learned a lot about the value and effective use of an EV. Finally got my Model S in 2018 - best car I have ever owned.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

I tend to be an early adopter. Great design and engineering gets my attention. Plus, who the he** wants to buy gas?

 

[TEG]

I had a somewhat passive interest in EVs in the 1990s, but when I saw the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" a light bulb went off and I had to get driving one right away and make sure I was generating power from solar.
So I went out and put solar panels on the house and picked up the only production EV I could find then which was a government fleet castoff Ford Ranger EV being sold on ebay. I drove that for many years until I got LEAF, and then finally got myself upgraded to a Model 3. Even if it wasn't for environmental reasons, the whole experience of EV transportation just feels right compared to exploding poisonous substances to move yourself around.

 

[arnolddeleon]

Since I learned about electric cars as little boy I thought they were the future. Most likely this from Popular Mechanics or Popular Science in 70s. Fast forward a couple of decades later into the 90s. I was aware of the Honda EV Plus and EV1 but they were lease only cars and seemed out of my reach. Then Toyota came out with Prius, I was one of the earliest buyers. I felt like I joined a secret club. I swore it was going to be the dirtiest car I would buy. They had the right first step. I experience electric torque! They made 2002-2004 RAV4-EV available for sale. I ordered one as soon as I could, I believe it was the first one delivered by Toyota of Palo Alto. I thought Toyota was going to own the future. I followed AC Propulsion, Corbin Motors, Tesla, Tango Motors obsessively. Searched for signs that Volvo would move forward with their concept. Roadster was out of reach. Bought a LEAF as soon as I can. Hungered for bigger batteries. Still couldn't swing a Tesla, did the next best I could bought, the 2012 RAV4-EV. Eventually replaced the LEAF with a Model 3.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

Since I learned about electric cars as little boy I thought they were the future. Most likely this from Popular Mechanics or Popular Science in 70s. Fast forward a couple of decades later into the 90s. I was aware of the Honda EV Plus and EV1 but they were lease only cars and seemed out of my reach. Then Toyota came out with Prius, I was one of the earliest buyers. I felt like I joined a secret club. I swore it was going to be the dirtiest car I would buy. They had the right first step. I experience electric torque! They made 2002-2004 RAV4-EV available for sale. I ordered one as soon as I could, I believe it was the first one delivered by Toyota of Palo Alto. I thought Toyota was going to own the future. I followed AC Propulsion, Corbin Motors, Tesla, Tango Motors obsessively. Searched for signs that Volvo would move forward with their concept. Roadster was out of reach. Bought a LEAF as soon as I can. Hungered for bigger batteries. Still couldn't swing a Tesla, did the next best I could bought, the 2012 RAV4-EV. Eventually replaced the LEAF with a Model 3.

Way to go!

 

[gavine]

I always liked cars that had smooth engines and lots of low-end torque. That's hard to find in a performance-oriented vehicle and one that is also efficient. I always thought electric was the way to go and I had always longed for the electric future. In my mind, that wouldn't happen until gas stations were converted to electric fast-charging stations.

When the Model S won Motor Trend's car of the year, it piqued my interest. I started to investigate and wondered if it would be a fit. I soon learned about the range and the fact that I could charge at home which was eye-opening. I didn't expect a house to have enough power to charge a car.

I test drove a Model S 60 in 2014 and was amazed at how smooth and powerful it was. Since then, I have owned the S60, and Model X 90d, a BMW i3 BEV and a Model 3 AWD.

I will never go-back to cars with reciprocation piston engines. They are so outdated now. One of my biggest pet-peeves with ICE is the advertised peak horsepower and torque are only achievable at high RPM. The new model of a car comes out with more horsepower and more torque than the previous one, but it feels slower because they keep raising the RPM for the power band. So disappointing. Who wants to drive around at 6,000 RPM all day just to get some decent throttle response?

 

[vbaker]

When I was 7 years old I had an electric Eldon slot car track and race cars. I took one of the cars and replaced the original electric motor with a larger one from another toy and then exchanged the gears so it would drive the car axle and wheels. That thing was wild and incredibly fast! That was it - I was hooked on cars and all things electric. In the early 2000s I had a gemcar and that was my first introduction to a basic EV (sort of a glorified golf cart). I also bought an electric pontoon boat for the lake next to our house. My first real EV was a 2014 Mercedes B class Electric Drive with a Tesla battery and drive motor - great little car with 92 miles of range and I used it for commuting for 65k miles. Learned a lot about the value and effective use of an EV. Finally got my Model S in 2018 - best car I have ever owned.

Got me beat!

 

[vbaker]

I had a somewhat passive interest in EVs in the 1990s, but when I saw the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" a light bulb went off and I had to get driving one right away and make sure I was generating power from solar.
So I went out and put solar panels on the house and picked up the only production EV I could find then which was a government fleet castoff Ford Ranger EV being sold on ebay. I drove that for many years until I got LEAF, and then finally got myself upgraded to a Model 3. Even if it wasn't for environmental reasons, the whole experience of EV transportation just feels right compared to exploding poisonous substances to move yourself around.

You can just hear the dinosaur farts when an ICE goes by...
Designed, but have not yet built, a garage addition specifically for solar thermal and electric. Might be able to pull the trigger next year.

 

[vbaker]

Since I learned about electric cars as little boy I thought they were the future. Most likely this from Popular Mechanics or Popular Science in 70s. Fast forward a couple of decades later into the 90s. I was aware of the Honda EV Plus and EV1 but they were lease only cars and seemed out of my reach. Then Toyota came out with Prius, I was one of the earliest buyers. I felt like I joined a secret club. I swore it was going to be the dirtiest car I would buy. They had the right first step. I experience electric torque! They made 2002-2004 RAV4-EV available for sale. I ordered one as soon as I could, I believe it was the first one delivered by Toyota of Palo Alto. I thought Toyota was going to own the future. I followed AC Propulsion, Corbin Motors, Tesla, Tango Motors obsessively. Searched for signs that Volvo would move forward with their concept. Roadster was out of reach. Bought a LEAF as soon as I can. Hungered for bigger batteries. Still couldn't swing a Tesla, did the next best I could bought, the 2012 RAV4-EV. Eventually replaced the LEAF with a Model 3.

Ok, I am starting to see I am just a dabbler in EV when I read these replies!

 

[vbaker]

I always liked cars that had smooth engines and lots of low-end torque. That's hard to find in a performance-oriented vehicle and one that is also efficient. I always thought electric was the way to go and I had always longed for the electric future. In my mind, that wouldn't happen until gas stations were converted to electric fast-charging stations.

When the Model S won Motor Trend's car of the year, it piqued my interest. I started to investigate and wondered if it would be a fit. I soon learned about the range and the fact that I could charge at home which was eye-opening. I didn't expect a house to have enough power to charge a car.

I test drove a Model S 60 in 2014 and was amazed at how smooth and powerful it was. Since then, I have owned the S60, and Model X 90d, a BMW i3 BEV and a Model 3 AWD.

I will never go-back to cars with reciprocation piston engines. They are so outdated now. One of my biggest pet-peeves with ICE is the advertised peak horsepower and torque are only achievable at high RPM. The new model of a car comes out with more horsepower and more torque than the previous one, but it feels slower because they keep raising the RPM for the power band. So disappointing. Who wants to drive around at 6,000 RPM all day just to get some decent throttle response?

Wife is a Disney freak, she loves your avatar.
Have you taken one to your local drag strip for "test and tune"? It's a blast.

 

[EVortex]

Got me beat!

Great thread! It’s fun to read how forum members got interested in EVs.

 

[DanCar]

I hate car exhaust and getting cancer. Started an escooter company in early 2000's.

 

[animorph]

After a few gas station line experiences during shortages I always wanted to be able to fuel at home. Looked like natural gas might fill the bill, but it never caught on. Eventually Tesla proved that electric also meant high performance, which made it very interesting. I carefully followed the Model S reviews and it seemed the performance and handling were both very good. That was going to be my next car.

My one problem was that my 2001 Porsche C4 was still going strong. That changed in December 2015, when it was totaled from the rear. A quick study of Teslas, mostly here on TMC, and I decided to wait for AP2 to be introduced. Mostly I was thinking better blindspot detection than AP1 (ultrasonics only). Low and behold AP2 was introduced and was going to be capable of Full Self Driving! Still waiting on that, but it's been fun anyway.

I also decided that a Model X would be great for hauling multiple visitors around town and would be perfect for road trips, besides just being pretty cool. So my first electric car was a Model X.

My wife liked the performance of the X and wanted a Model 3 when they were first announced. Being cheap, she wanted to go with the base version. But when the AWD came out and white seats became available she jumped on that before the tax credits dropped. She picked up the $2k performance upgrade when it became available. We should probably have bought the Performance!

While I like the environmental aspects of the cars, and the lack of smell, it was performance and home fueling that motivated us.

 

[CyberGus]

I few months ago I used Turo to rent a Model 3 Performance. The host pulled up, tossed me the keycard, and sped away in another vehicle. This left me standing in front of National Airport, horns honking, with me going "hey, umm, how does this thing work?" I guess I should have mentioned this was my first ever trip in a Tesla. Fortunately, the controls aren't too hard to figure out, other than "wtf did they do with the speedometer". Not that finding the speedometer would have helped, as I nearly rear-ended several cars while adjusting to the zero-lag and insane acceleration.

On my long drive, I mucked with the touchscreen long enough to figure out that Autopilot was enabled, and then the fun really began. I've used cars with semi-autonomous features before (lane assist, radar cruise control, etc) but watching my car make decisions and change lanes was a delight not to be underestimated, much like the first time entering my dark home and proclaiming "Alexa, turn on the lights."

It did get vaguely terrifying when the car tried to take the ramp onto the HOV lanes when the gates were down, luckily I had taken the AP warnings to heart and had my hands on the wheel. (NOTE: if you're having too much fun poking around the menus to notice the "please nudge the steering" warnings, your AP gets put in timeout. Doh.)

Looking at the ICE vehicles in traffic all around me, they all suddenly seemed so...antiquated, like the horse-and-buggy must have seemed to the first automobile drivers. I can't go back now. I just somehow must endure the 2-year wait for my Cybertruck. sigh

 

[arnolddeleon]

Ok, I am starting to see I am just a dabbler in EV when I read these replies!

What's also funny is I'm pretty much a late adopter and dabbler compared with some of the folks I've met at EAASV - Electric Auto Association

 

[TEG]

Yeah, there were EVs a hundred years ago. It took that long for batteries to get good enough to provide ICE competitive range per fill.
Tesla saw that battery tech was getting to the point of making EVs into mainstream vehicles and built a whole company around that idea.
The internal combustion industry scoffed..."we tried that before"... but didn't realize that the tipping point for EVs to displace ICE vehicles was here.
Tesla's whole premise was to accelerate the inevitable transition.
(Meanwhile they also proved that a startup can do world class safety, styling, comfort, aero, and all the other things someone might want in a vehicle.)