Electrification

[Jims5543]

I'd like a new truck I would be reserving one of these but the tow capacity of 5000 is a little low for my needs I'm hoping they have a 2500 version coming after this. I emailed them about what happens if you tow say 10000 can it will it? does it break it? just shorten the range? I need to tow about 8,000 on a monthly or more basis but not very far. I like the fact that I could commute on pure electric but unlimited range with gas. And the truck has a 30 amp power outlet thats pretty cool.
https://workhorse.com/pickup/

I have been keeping an eye on that truck, I like it.

I want to hear real world experience with them and how they are working, nothing yet, I have not looked in a couple of months so I might take a look again this evening.

[Jims5543]

I may have mentioned this before. In downtown Stuart, which is 1 town south, there is a parking area with solar panels over it and free charging stations for Tesla and EV's.  There are 4 Tesla spots and 2 EV spots.

On many Sundays we go downtown to enjoy the free live music in the park. Last weekend there was a really good blues band playing. We purposefully run down the battery on the car (by not charging over night since Friday) then plug in downtown and get a full charge for free.

Yesterday Mrs5543 was running around a lot and the battery was really low, we were heading to a little pub last night for dinner and Marvel Trivia night.

We plugged in with 27% battery, after dinner we had 100% for FREE!!

We try to use this anytime we are downtown.



There was a volt opposite us using it too.

[MiniDave]

Have the various manufacturers gotten smart and made the plug ins and sockets universal now?

I see those carports with solar on them as win/win, you get to park your car out of the sun and top off the battery for free from the sun while being shaded!

[Jims5543]

Everyone except Tesla is the same.

Tesla has a different socket.

In the grand scheme of things, this free "tank of gas" is actually only worth about $1- $2.

Doing some quick math, we charge every night M-Thurs. Our electric bill changed $50 a month or about $2 -  $3 per charge up for us to go 80-90 miles.

[MiniDave]

Of course they do....... ::)

[Jims5543]

I might have a thread on the i3 I cannot remember.   I saw this one and will bump it instead.

We had our first problem, the 6 year old 12v accessory battery was taking a dump. The car warns you, except it also goes into a protection mode that makes life miserable. You cannot lock the car or the alarm will go off, every damn time.  We were getting a warning the battery was draining excessively while the car was sitting. 

You cannot lock and unlock it from the touch handles.  When you stop the car you can run the HVAC while it is off, that is disabled. 

I did some reading the discovered that changing the 12v battery is not very simple, the new battery needs to be registered to the cars computer so the car knows what it is dealing with. Seems the car charger trickle charges the 12v battery during every charge. I read on forums about people trying to DIY with with little success, you need to program the battery or the car will not be happy.

So I took it to the stealership and let them steal from me. The car is about to turn 70K miles we have done nothing to it other than tires. I was Ok with a stealership bill knowing that was probably the last time it will be serviced during our ownership. We plan on ditching it the moment the youngest graduates from private school.

Battery was $361
Reprogram fee  $298

Brakes had not been flushed since new and the cars computer was saying they were due in July  had them do it  - $170

as far as I know the range extender 2 cyl motorcycle engine has never had its oil changed I told them to do that too.  $116 yes another rip off.

They hit me with another $181 diagnostic charge, which I assumed would be waved since I had them do the work. Nope!!

They tried to sell me tires (it does not need them) for $800 - IIRC the corner tire store did all 4 for $500 plus or minus.

Then they tried to sell me an alignment for $200 I passed on that too no wear issues on the tires outside typical BMW inside edge wear due to stupid amounts of camber.

So after 70K (50K Mine)  miles the car cost me $1200 in stealership rip offs.  I expect that was the last service for 2 more years. I could have gotten out of there for $600.

Not great but not bad.