NFR EV's?

[SurfnFish]

Honestly, I think vans (passenger and utility) are very underappreciated as a very good option for a lot of people. They're just overlooked because they don't look sexy. My brain only really processes "practical vs impractical," and vans have always had appeal for me. I still have thoughts about swapping my F250 for a Super Duty 4x4 van.

had a conversion van in the fleet for as long as I had kids still at home. Living in Half Moon Bay, working 10 mins from the beach in SF, always had my surfboards in the back for an afternoon session somewhere on the way back home.
Great for short camping trips - back sofa bed laid flat with futon over it. Last van was a Sienna, whereas it was a comparitive squeeze to to sleep in, great utility and a fave to drive.

 

[SurfnFish]

e pocka-pocka-pocka sound of a big single getting underway. A real symphony to my old ears.

than you must love the sound of a BSA Victor 441. And torque for days...

 

[krusty]

Yeah, I’m fond of her…

View attachment 52305

I love those little bikes, but at 6'2" 225 lbs of solid rippling fat I truly look like Krusty the circus clown riding one...and riding two-up just plain doesn't work.

 

[Dustin Chromers]

I think Harley is doing it by necessity since they have almost zero following in the younger generations. With their youngest real demographic being boomers, they have to make some drastic changes or they're going to run out of customers very soon. I think it's a smart move for a lot of reasons.

The fact Harley still has a following is astounding to me. They are effectively a Chinese made bike manufactured under the name of a clothing and accessory company that used to make bikes. I'm honestly interested when I see Harley guys. Are they buying a bike? Are they buying an image? What is it? I have buddies that love them. I just don't get it. To each their own. I don't really judge as my tastes don't always make logical sense to others either but still. I just don't see it.

 

[Flymph]

Have a 2005 Prius that still gets close to 50MPG on a good day. Hot weather is the killer of battery cells. That said, some of the cells in our LI battery were gone or starting to go and causing MPG to suffer according to Prius forum members and a cell check. About 5 years ago a guy from Portland made the trip to replace the battery from an outfit named "Green Bean", I think, can't remember for sure. $1200 and a "good to go" Prius, hopefully for another 10+ years.

1995 GMC Sierra 2500 has been a loyal rig but must give way to an EV pick-up. Can't decide on Ford, Chevy, GMC, EVs.

Question that I can't seem to solve on internet travels is do any of these EV Pick-ups come with long beds and crew cabs?

 

[Dustin Chromers]

Have a 2005 Prius that still gets close to 50MPG on a good day. Hot weather is the killer of battery cells. That said, some of the cells in our LI battery were gone or starting to go and causing MPG to suffer according to Prius forum members and a cell check. About 5 years ago a guy from Portland made the trip to replace the battery from an outfit named "Green Bean", I think, can't remember for sure. $1200 and a "good to go" Prius, hopefully for another 10+ years.

1995 GMC Sierra 2500 has been a loyal rig but must give way to an EV pick-up. Can't decide on Ford, Chevy, GMC, EVs.

Question that I can't seem to solve on internet travels is do any of these EV Pick-ups come with long beds and crew cabs?

I know the hybrid f150 comes in all the configurations based on what I've seen driving around.

 

[Evan B]

The fact Harley still has a following is astounding to me. They are effectively a Chinese made bike manufactured under the name of a clothing and accessory company that used to make bikes. I'm honestly interested when I see Harley guys. Are they buying a bike? Are they buying an image? What is it? I have buddies that love them. I just don't get it. To each their own. I don't really judge as my tastes don't always make logical sense to others either but still. I just don't see it.

Yeah not to totally de-rail the thread, but I was in to cruiser bikes back when I lived in Florida and had a V-Star 1100 as my "daily driver." Every Harley I rode just felt cheap and uncomfortable, and my friends that had them had nothing but problems.

Nowadays, the only people I know who are "in to" the Harley brand are people like my mom, who has never had or ridden a motorcycle, but just likes to buy Harley-branded apparel and knickknacks.

 

[Dustin Chromers]

Yeah not to totally de-rail the thread, but I was in to cruiser bikes back when I lived in Florida and had a V-Star 1100 as my "daily driver." Every Harley I rode just felt cheap and uncomfortable, and my friends that had them had nothing but problems.

Nowadays, the only people I know who are "in to" the Harley brand are people like my mom, who has never had or ridden a motorcycle, but just likes to buy Harley-branded apparel and knickknacks.

Nobody can touch Japanese bikes for reliability and thorough design before coming to market. As a lover of European bikes I envy the lack of maintainance and reliability.

 

[Zak]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have some questions of my own.

For folks with kids, do you actually need a big car? When I was growing up, all we had was a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Hyundai Excel. My wife wants a 7 seater "because we have a family now". My thinking is that will be a pain in the ass to drive day-to-day and we will rarely need that many seats. Would it be a stupid idea to just get another small-to-medium sized car and just drive two cars, when we need extra capacity?

Our last hybrid was free, so we never had to do the math before. I'm struggling to justify the extra expense of a hybrid, PHEV or EV. Is there some kind of calculator that can help figure out if you'll ever recoup the cost?

IMHO, you need a safe car, not a big car. I'd go for 5-star safety ratings from the NTSB especially for side impacts, side curtain airbags, antilock brakes, and maybe AWD.

I swear that antilock brakes saved my life once. I was driving a Subaru (a Crosstrek, which I didn't like much and sold when we moved West) on Highway 91 on my way to Boston on a dark, very rainy night. The car maybe 50 yards in front of me lurched all over the road and spun into the median. Just as I was registering that, a huge (like car sized) dark "thing" loomed in front of me on the road. I was driving about 70mph. I put the brake pedal to the floor and was able to steer around the object without letting up on the brakes.

 

[krusty]

The fact Harley still has a following is astounding to me. They are effectively a Chinese made bike manufactured under the name of a clothing and accessory company that used to make bikes. I'm honestly interested when I see Harley guys. Are they buying a bike? Are they buying an image? What is it? I have buddies that love them. I just don't get it. To each their own. I don't really judge as my tastes don't always make logical sense to others either but still. I just don't see it.

It is indeed a smart move by HD (who will be doing so very slowly, so they retain their former demographic as us codgers drift off into the boneyard).

Having ridden for many years (both HD and metric) there are certain advantages to HD, particularly for long distance touring. I have, at some point, broken down on every bike I've ever owned (again, both HD and metric). The very worst were Yamaha. There were years when I was putting 15-20 thousand miles a year on bikes.

While you can often get a bike hauled to a service center, it's much easier to get repairs done by HD...the mechanics know every model's weakness, have access to parts (many of which span many models and years), and they will work hard to get you back on the road asap. Metric dealers...not so much. In fact, if you want to keep a big bike operating for decades you'd best go HD or BMW, because the rest of the brands basically abandon models and parts supplies with great regularity.

And, if you're putting in a 500 mile day (particularly two-up) it's hard to beat the comfort of a big old hog of a Harley....unless you're on a Goldwing (again, inevitable abandonment by a metric dealer).

 

[wanderingrichard]

My PHEV, as I've mentioned before is a Fusion Energi. 62 mpg combined as a daily driver with my fat ass in it. Let the system management computer do all the work.
Winter always sucks for this car. Overnight charge on 110 wall socket usually gets me to 19-20 miles battery range during warm months. Winter? been creeping downwards. Last year was 11 miles overnight, this winter 9. Car is 9 years old. Using the prewarm function helps, though.

 

[Salmo_g]

For folks with kids, do you actually need a big car?

Can't compete with Charles' coverage of this topic but wanted to add some perspective. First, it depends on how many kids and their ages. Second, it depends on your and their lifestyles. When I had toddler aged kids (2 of 'em), we could just stick 'em in the back seat of a VW beetle and all the accessories in the "way back" or the front trunk. A few years later, the 2 daughters were musicians and athletes, so we were constantly on the go with lots of gear. Enter the Dodge Grand Caravan. 7 passenger plus room for music instruments or sports gear plus a golden retriever. Vans like that really are the real deal for soccer moms and dads. I hauled so many kids so many places I couldn't remember all their names or all the places. Plus the van was great for weekend camping/fishing trips and summer family vacations. It was crazy, chaotic, and the best time in my life. That Caravan got 26 mpg, basically the same mileage as my Subaru Outbacks have since then. I have no regrets about having that van at that time.

 

[krusty]

Can't compete with Charles' coverage of this topic but wanted to add some perspective. First, it depends on how many kids and their ages. Second, it depends on your and their lifestyles. When I had toddler aged kids (2 of 'em), we could just stick 'em in the back seat of a VW beetle and all the accessories in the "way back" or the front trunk. A few years later, the 2 daughters were musicians and athletes, so we were constantly on the go with lots of gear. Enter the Dodge Grand Caravan. 7 passenger plus room for music instruments or sports gear plus a golden retriever. Vans like that really are the real deal for soccer moms and dads. I hauled so many kids so many places I couldn't remember all their names or all the places. Plus the van was great for weekend camping/fishing trips and summer family vacations. It was crazy, chaotic, and the best time in my life. That Caravan got 26 mpg, basically the same mileage as my Subaru Outbacks have since then. I have no regrets about having that van at that time.

We had a Plymouth Voyager that worked quite well hauling kids, their friends, and all sorts of stuff. Great for camping. Rack on top for a canoe or a bunch of bikes. Great machine for making wonderful memories. Definitely wasn't 'cool' but when life gets complicated who gives a shit about 'cool'?

 

[Mossback]

Vans are good for a lot of things, they may not be cool, but are practical...

 

[TicTokCroc]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I have some questions of my own.

For folks with kids, do you actually need a big car? When I was growing up, all we had was a Mitsubishi Lancer and a Hyundai Excel. My wife wants a 7 seater "because we have a family now". My thinking is that will be a pain in the ass to drive day-to-day and we will rarely need that many seats. Would it be a stupid idea to just get another small-to-medium sized car and just drive two cars, when we need extra capacity?

Our last hybrid was free, so we never had to do the math before. I'm struggling to justify the extra expense of a hybrid, PHEV or EV. Is there some kind of calculator that can help figure out if you'll ever recoup the cost?

We're maxed out with 2 kids/1dog in an F150 crew cab, wish we had more inside room. Trips to visit the in laws in Idaho basically fills the bed with crap my wife takes, then the trip back the crap miraculously doubles. A hard canopy would help. I have to negotiate for space for 1 tote of Fly gear. Wish we had bought something in the expedition/suburban class or a mommy missle.

 

[SurfnFish]

It was crazy, chaotic, and the best time in my life.

x2..took me several years to recover once the kids moved off to college and getting on with their lives. Raising them = best years of my life.

 

[Shad]

IMHO, you need a safe car, not a big car. I'd go for 5-star safety ratings from the NTSB especially for side impacts, side curtain airbags, antilock brakes, and maybe AWD.

I swear that antilock brakes saved my life once. I was driving a Subaru (a Crosstrek, which I didn't like much and sold when we moved West) on Highway 91 on my way to Boston on a dark, very rainy night. The car maybe 50 yards in front of me lurched all over the road and spun into the median. Just as I was registering that, a huge (like car sized) dark "thing" loomed in front of me on the road. I was driving about 70mph. I put the brake pedal to the floor and was able to steer around the object without letting up on the brakes.

For sure, safety is key.

What has created the need for larger family vehicles in the past 20 or so years is the requirement to use child seats for kids under a certain age/size. You can still get away with two rows of seats when you have two kids, but when a third comes, a third row becomes absolutely necessary. I learned that one the hard way. A minivan is a great vehicle. The seating configurations are very flexible, and if you put the back seats down, it's big enough to hold a queen size mattress. Covered camping without the trailer. A hybrid would be a big plus here, as they only get about 18 mi. Per gallon tops....

 

[SurfnFish]

whatever I buy, will be keeping this one, cash bought with low miles, now only has 108K on it and runs perfect. Yea, the mileage sucks, but it hauls everything, and is not offended by muddy waders in the drivers seat.

 

[krusty]

We're maxed out with 2 kids/1dog in an F150 crew cab, wish we had more inside room. Trips to visit the in laws in Idaho basically fills the bed with crap my wife takes, then the trip back the crap miraculously doubles. A hard canopy would help. I have to negotiate for space for 1 tote of Fly gear. Wish we had bought something in the expedition/suburban class or a mommy missle.

I think the PC term for a 'mommy missile' is a MUV....a Maternal Utility Vehicle.

 

[SurfnFish]

VW s selling this in Europe, seems to be some discussion on it showing up here or not. If it does, I'm in.