Hi guys. A little about me. Im 49, been in IT work for over 25 years mainly supporting windows computers and now some coding (not actual coding, more like scripting installs).
I have been and am intrigued with Solar, electric vehicles, I been flying electric RC planes and helicopters for 20+ years so I really enjoy the whole genre of getting and storing energy and such.
Now with that said, I have never really looked at actually purchasing an EV until now. Here is where it gets a little twisty lol.
My wife of 29 years passed away last year. 3 years Prior to that I suffered a stroke. Totally screwed up my left side, as of now, I got maybe 30% usage of it. On top of all of that, I been working from home for several years even prior to the stroke.
Now with that back history, a little more about myself. I dont ever go anywhere. Even before the stroke I would get out a couple times a month and fly rc but dont even do that now. Sure my wife would drag me out of the house on occasion but for the most part, Im perfectly fine hanging out in the house lol. My gas usage is INSANELY low. Im talking 1 to 2 tanks a year. I get most everything delivered and only go out a couple times a month to pic up stuff for me and my daughter and even then, we are talking 10 miles round trip.
Here is the thing. I hate driving that van. Its a conversion caravan setup for my daughters wheelchair, It drives fine, its not like im scared of it at all, I just dont really like it. Im not planning on getting rid of it because would still need it to haul my daughter around but I was thinking of getting a second used car that might be small and fun to drive. Obviously with my driving history over the last several years its not that I even need a second car, in fact if my wife was alive she would be giving me an absolute no on getting an EV or frankly a second car at all. (I had a second car but after her death, my brother needed it after his broke down so I just gave it to him dropping me back down to 1 vehicle).
Ok so now that I have almost given you my life history here lol. Like I said, im starting looking for a second car to do these small errands in. It obviously would not save me any money whatsoever in terms of gas usage. In fact our state has a $100 usage tax each year for electric cars so it would actually cost me more money to own one.
This wanting a second car started before I gave mine to my brother actually. When I heard about the Chevy Bolt. That thing just intrigues the hell out of me lol. I want one so bad but its purely greed on my part but of course I dont want to be paying 40k over the next 70 months for it. I just cant justify that. I almost cant justify buying a used leaf either. I have found a couple sv's that are 2013 lease returns that are around $9k. Which I could do and finance for say 36 months. So am I crazy for wanting this lol? Of course my friends say im nuts, not because its an EV, just that I dont drive much and it would kinda be a waste.
Im pretty sure that EV designers did not have me in mind when designing these things. Only being used a couple times a month? Would I need to just leave the trickle charger connected all the time? Would I need to put a trickle charger on the 12 volt battery in the car to? I already hate doing that with my van. Winters here, can cause my vans battery to go out in just over a week of not driving. Its a bad battery anyway and usually are lows are in the teens to twenties when we get fully into winter ( I mowed my yard last week due to my grass still growing lol)
So im basically trying to justify getting another vehicle. I had kinda settled on the leaf, It seemed the biggest of the EV cars (not interested in a $70k tesla either lol) so it might not be as hard for me to get in and out of. Would you guys have some recommendations perhaps? Tell me im nuts for wanting to do it? lol. Like I said, my current looking is at used 2013 leafs and am trying to get either the sl or sv. Im kinda wanting to get the fully loaded or mostly loaded version which is another reason I was looking at these lease returns everywhere because I couldnt really justify going all out in a new car. Now while I am a fairly technical guy, my knowledge of EVs is extremely limited to just what I been researching the last few months/weeks. Lots and lots of videos, reviews, trying to find web sites to see folks experiences and such. Its kinda how I got here. If I have a goal and im not saying I do, but I thought maybe getting one of these used ones for 3 year term and would be in time to pay it off and possibly trade it in for a used chevy bolt when they start coming off lease (if they live up to the hype). Anyways, thanks for reading the big wall of text if you made it this far lol. I appreciate any thoughts you guys might have.
Edit note. Sorry i meant to put thi in the general owners forum so if a mod wants to move it, cool.
I have been and am intrigued with Solar, electric vehicles, I been flying electric RC planes and helicopters for 20+ years so I really enjoy the whole genre of getting and storing energy and such.
Now with that said, I have never really looked at actually purchasing an EV until now. Here is where it gets a little twisty lol.
My wife of 29 years passed away last year. 3 years Prior to that I suffered a stroke. Totally screwed up my left side, as of now, I got maybe 30% usage of it. On top of all of that, I been working from home for several years even prior to the stroke.
Now with that back history, a little more about myself. I dont ever go anywhere. Even before the stroke I would get out a couple times a month and fly rc but dont even do that now. Sure my wife would drag me out of the house on occasion but for the most part, Im perfectly fine hanging out in the house lol. My gas usage is INSANELY low. Im talking 1 to 2 tanks a year. I get most everything delivered and only go out a couple times a month to pic up stuff for me and my daughter and even then, we are talking 10 miles round trip.
Here is the thing. I hate driving that van. Its a conversion caravan setup for my daughters wheelchair, It drives fine, its not like im scared of it at all, I just dont really like it. Im not planning on getting rid of it because would still need it to haul my daughter around but I was thinking of getting a second used car that might be small and fun to drive. Obviously with my driving history over the last several years its not that I even need a second car, in fact if my wife was alive she would be giving me an absolute no on getting an EV or frankly a second car at all. (I had a second car but after her death, my brother needed it after his broke down so I just gave it to him dropping me back down to 1 vehicle).
Ok so now that I have almost given you my life history here lol. Like I said, im starting looking for a second car to do these small errands in. It obviously would not save me any money whatsoever in terms of gas usage. In fact our state has a $100 usage tax each year for electric cars so it would actually cost me more money to own one.
This wanting a second car started before I gave mine to my brother actually. When I heard about the Chevy Bolt. That thing just intrigues the hell out of me lol. I want one so bad but its purely greed on my part but of course I dont want to be paying 40k over the next 70 months for it. I just cant justify that. I almost cant justify buying a used leaf either. I have found a couple sv's that are 2013 lease returns that are around $9k. Which I could do and finance for say 36 months. So am I crazy for wanting this lol? Of course my friends say im nuts, not because its an EV, just that I dont drive much and it would kinda be a waste.
Im pretty sure that EV designers did not have me in mind when designing these things. Only being used a couple times a month? Would I need to just leave the trickle charger connected all the time? Would I need to put a trickle charger on the 12 volt battery in the car to? I already hate doing that with my van. Winters here, can cause my vans battery to go out in just over a week of not driving. Its a bad battery anyway and usually are lows are in the teens to twenties when we get fully into winter ( I mowed my yard last week due to my grass still growing lol)
So im basically trying to justify getting another vehicle. I had kinda settled on the leaf, It seemed the biggest of the EV cars (not interested in a $70k tesla either lol) so it might not be as hard for me to get in and out of. Would you guys have some recommendations perhaps? Tell me im nuts for wanting to do it? lol. Like I said, my current looking is at used 2013 leafs and am trying to get either the sl or sv. Im kinda wanting to get the fully loaded or mostly loaded version which is another reason I was looking at these lease returns everywhere because I couldnt really justify going all out in a new car. Now while I am a fairly technical guy, my knowledge of EVs is extremely limited to just what I been researching the last few months/weeks. Lots and lots of videos, reviews, trying to find web sites to see folks experiences and such. Its kinda how I got here. If I have a goal and im not saying I do, but I thought maybe getting one of these used ones for 3 year term and would be in time to pay it off and possibly trade it in for a used chevy bolt when they start coming off lease (if they live up to the hype). Anyways, thanks for reading the big wall of text if you made it this far lol. I appreciate any thoughts you guys might have.
Edit note. Sorry i meant to put thi in the general owners forum so if a mod wants to move it, cool.