Bought My First Electric Car *Updated with Pics*

[shabby]

-$220/month lease

How is it that the lease is so low?

 

[tweakmonkey]

They are $199/month here... Tons of them around! Fremont Fiat runs an ad regularly about them and I went and test drove it, they offered me the same price.

 

[mikegg]

Also, beautiful day in San Francisco today.

Snapped these:

 

[mikegg]

How is it that the lease is so low?

There is a law in California that all car manufacturers need to meet a certain average MPG or get fined.

Chrysler and Fiat merged. Chrysler sells a lot of low gas mileage cars like the Jeep. To make it up, they need to sell many high mileage cars like the Fiat. So they are practically giving the Fiat 500e EV away.

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-fiat-500e-ev-first-drive-review

Was there another review where they said this? Considering the SF speed limits are like 30 MPH on most those hills and the car has regenerative braking as well I'm sure it'll be fine for him. It's a different story if you're on a race track. I test drove one and thought the brakes were fine.. the only thing I didn't like about the 500e is it clearly felt a lot heavier than the Abarth.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-fiat-500e-ev-test-review

The engineers boast that they’ve mastered the often-botched transition between the electric motor’s regenerative braking and the traditional hydraulic brakes—and they largely have. It’s nearly impossible to discern when the brake calipers start to bite as you push the pedal farther. However, initial pedal response is unpredictable, often pitching car and passengers forward during what’s intended to be a gentle deceleration.

They may have gotten rid of that surprise braking with a software change.

And the test sheet:

http://media.caranddriver.com/files...st-review-car-and-driver2013-fiat-500e-ev.pdf

200 feet to stop from 70mph is not good, either.

A 4X4 Grand Cherokee does better.

I was only joking about SF, though.

 

[LTC8K6]

How is it that the lease is so low?

Subsidies, and sales games to meet mpg and electric car quotas.

 

[werepossum]

My local dealer doesn't even list the 500E.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Aw too bad you didn't get the cool orange mirrors and accents

Could plasti-dip I guess.

 

[dirtboy]

Very cool.

 

[Midwayman]

I'm just not sure I could trust an Italian electric car.....

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'm just not sure I could trust an Italian electric car.....

The worst part is having to use that funky european adapter to charge it.

 

[LTC8K6]

My local dealer doesn't even list the 500E.

California only for now.

It may become available in the other states that mandate "zero emission" vehicles.

The sole reason for introducing the 500e and other such vehicles was the state mandates.

California, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island so far, I think.

 

[Kaido]

I'm just not sure I could trust an Italian electric car.....

Better than a British electric car, amirite :awe:

 

[JulesMaximus]

:thumbsup: That's pretty cool! I would totally rock an electric car for my commute but range is an issue and I cannot recharge at work so I went with a hybrid.

Visiting gas stations every 4 days sucks ass. It sucks so much ass that I would rather ride a horse to work than a Dodge Viper. Fuck the oil companies, fuck the middle east and fuck gas powered cars.

Please keep us updated on what the ownership experience is like and what kind of range you get out of it long term. I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

 

[mikegg]

:thumbsup: That's pretty cool! I would totally rock an electric car for my commute but range is an issue and I cannot recharge at work so I went with a hybrid.

Visiting gas stations every 4 days sucks ass. It sucks so much ass that I would rather ride a horse to work than a Dodge Viper. Fuck the oil companies, fuck the middle east and fuck gas powered cars.

Please keep us updated on what the ownership experience is like and what kind of range you get out of it long term. I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

Averaging about 85 miles driving on the highway at about 70MPH with the AC turned on and about 120 miles driving inside of San Francisco.

The handling isn't as solid as my 2002 Acura RSX base. I definitely feel more confident in my Acura. However, it does have a very good turning radius. Some three point turns can be achieved with two points. Parking in SF is miserable but this car opens up a whole new set of parking spots that my old cars didn't fit in.

 

[mikegg]

The worst part is having to use that funky european adapter to charge it.

What adapter? I'm not using any adapter to charge. It has a standard plug.

 

[herm0016]

::tap,tap::

I think he was joking.

 

[Midwayman]

Better than a British electric car, amirite :awe:

Especially with the electrics provided by Lucas?

 

[tweakmonkey]

Huh, I'm surprised the turning radius is so good. The Abarth had a terrible turning radius.

EDIT: googled it and the turning radius on the standard 500 is just 30-feet, the Abarth has an awful 37 feet!

 

[dawp]

I've been interested in an abarth version of the 500, maybe in a year or 2.

we had a '63 600d growing up, neat little car. was a dark blue.

 

[werepossum]

California only for now.

It may become available in the other states that mandate "zero emission" vehicles.

The sole reason for introducing the 500e and other such vehicles was the state mandates.

California, New York, Massachusetts, Oregon, Vermont, Maryland, Connecticut and Rhode Island so far, I think.

Oh. Makes sense, but sucks for me.

Averaging about 85 miles driving on the highway at about 70MPH with the AC turned on and about 120 miles driving inside of San Francisco.

The handling isn't as solid as my 2002 Acura RSX base. I definitely feel more confident in my Acura. However, it does have a very good turning radius. Some three point turns can be achieved with two points. Parking in SF is miserable but this car opens up a whole new set of parking spots that my old cars didn't fit in.

I could live with that range by keeping my Tracker; if I needed to drive farther or needed the 4WD, I'd just drive that or come home and swap.

I was thinking about building an electric bike conversion, maybe find a decent Ninja with a blown engine. The price of the electric motor killed it though. I figured 30 HP would be the minimum and a suitable 30 HP motor was e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e. By the time I added controller, battery and miscellaneous, I'd be up with my 650 Ninja, and since I use that almost exclusively for commuting I'd be riding a $5k electric bike while my $5k 48 mpg gas bike sat in the garage. At $3.50/gallon I'd need to ride almost 70,000 miles to break even, not counting insurance, assuming maintenance was similar and discounting the cost of electricity. (Or assuming the cheaper maintenance offset the cost of electricity.) A silent bike would rock though.

Anyway, cool little car. I actually need something bigger, an adult car with four doors that seats at least five, and I dislike leases, but if I could get that deal I could not turn it down.

 

[werepossum]

Especially with the electrics provided by Lucas?

Plus you'd have the speedometer incremented in furlongs per fortnight.

Besides, how are they going to make an electric car leak oil?