Who will be the first to take the Plunge?

[MiniDave]

As some of us have gotten older, we just don't do the miles we used to.....my wife in particular and I'm pretty sure some of your "SO"s have also eased up on their driving miles.

I know my wife is down to about 2K a year now - I'm still a road warrior, driving to Phoenix to see my son and West Carolina to see the daughter and grands.....

Don's wife has the second Countryman ever sold in the KC area (2011 model bought at Xmas of 2010) and it's been a mixed bag - she loves the car and has had it 15 years now but they have had their travails, including a new engine installed under warranty. But now it may have run it's course, the transmission is in limp mode and Don said it's been shifting really hard out of first into 2nd for a while now. It has just over 100K on it now......

So barring some miracle inexpensive cure he's going to replace it with.........an ELECTRIC CAR!!!

His still has his Pup and '06 JCW so he's not leaving the Mini/MINI family just yet. He's been looking at Volvo and Hyundai Ionics. He's decided they'll lease whatever they wind up with and has been pretty impressed with both offerings. Tesla is not in consideration due to Musk's antics.

Waiting for the final decision on the Countryguy, but I think there will be one in his family within a month or two.

I think an electric would be perfect for my wife's errands, she doesn't do any long distance trips anymore and not having to fuss with gas or any maintenance might be exactly what she needs.

Anyone else looking at Electrics for their city runabout?

[MPlayle]

Being an appartment dweller that works from home, they are kind of a no-go for me as I have nowhere to keep one charged.

[BruceK]

I kind of fantasize about owning an electric car because I think the tech and the simplicity is very interesting.

But... on a whim, I recently did some research to find out if you could own a Tesla and not be connected back to the mothership. Short answer: no. Turns out there's an awful lot of communication going back-and-forth between your car and the car manufacturer, whether you wanted to happen or not. And of course it's not just Tesla, it's other electric cars, too like Kia, Ford, Rivian  etc. doing that too.

This really rubs me the wrong way. It's seems to me that having to maintain an endless and intrusive relationship with them is not ideal. I want to own a car and not have to depend on having to deal with the dealer or manufacturer.

I think the tide is turning though. By that I mean the incredible rush to electrify all automobiles and trucks seems to have driven in the ditch. Sure, some people want it, but it's definitely a small minority.  Many manufacturers, including those who had planned to go all electric by 2030, have put the brakes on and are realizing the buying public is not out there for that. Ford is dropping the slow selling F150 electric pickup.  Toyota, which was always resisting electric vehicles, looks like they made the right move by focusing on hybrids and not putting all their eggs in the electric basket.

[Dan Moffet]

I was at Canadian Tire the other day, where they have a bunch of Tesla charge stations. There was a rollback tow truck backed into one of them, with something "dead" on the flatbed.

[BruceK]

I was at Canadian Tire the other day, where they have a bunch of Tesla charge stations. There was a rollback tow truck backed into one of them, with something "dead" on the flatbed.

I've watched a lot of content on YouTube over the years about people buying "bricked" or non-running older electric cars and trying to get them on the road again. Sometimes it's just the smallest thing, and sometimes the manufacturer will provide no assistance or spare parts at all.