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PostSep 17, 2022#126

moorlander wrote:
Sep 15, 2022
Why aren’t plug in hybrids getting more love? EV for commuting and a gas engine for longer treks. This seems to me to be the natural transition vehicle.
Last year when we were purchasing a second car we put a lot of thought into it. At the end of the day I was convinced by multiple current owners of plug-in hybrids not to go down that route. ICE vehicles and EVs have their own types of issues and specific maintenance. A plug-in hybrid combines both types of maintenance. 

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PostSep 17, 2022#127

kipfilet wrote:
Sep 17, 2022
moorlander wrote:
Sep 15, 2022
Why aren’t plug in hybrids getting more love? EV for commuting and a gas engine for longer treks. This seems to me to be the natural transition vehicle.
Last year when we were purchasing a second car we put a lot of thought into it. At the end of the day I was convinced by multiple current owners of plug-in hybrids not to go down that route. ICE vehicles and EVs have their own types of issues and specific maintenance. A plug-in hybrid combines both types of maintenance. 
Yeah that's kind of my feeling as well. Unfortunately there aren't that many EV options, but hybrid sounds like a wasted opportunity. Cross my fingers there's an EV minivan in ten years.

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PostSep 18, 2022#128

Perhaps if you have to take a trip where the only option is to use a conventional combustion engine vehicle, you could just rent one.

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PostSep 18, 2022#129

^That's not a terrible thought. Renting is always an option. Heck, rental cars can be kind of fun. It's even a good way to research a category of car you find intriguing. Might be worth renting an EV, even, if such is possible.

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PostSep 18, 2022#130

"Yeah, you better give me the insurance, 'cause I'm gonna beat the hell out of this car".

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PostSep 19, 2022#131

^They do sell that. When I was teaching myself to drive on the wrong side of the road a few years ago I paid for all the insurance. And that was probably cheaper than the two tires and maybe a wheel. (I figure Enterprise probably did fine anyway, seeing as a two week rental slowly turned into three months. Long story.)

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PostSep 19, 2022#132

Ebsy wrote:
Sep 18, 2022
Perhaps if you have to take a trip where the only option is to use a conventional combustion engine vehicle, you could just rent one.
That's what multiple EV owners I know do.

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PostSep 19, 2022#133

https://fox2now.com/news/contact-2/elec ... -bi-state/

I see a few Tesla's parked in my neighborhood. Very striking look with the "I can't be bothered with a front license plate" panache.

I don't know how anyone could sleep knowing they are street parking their Tesla in south city though, seriously.

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PostSep 20, 2022#134

^Along with expired tags/stickers.

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PostSep 26, 2022#135

Converting old cars to electric. They don't mention anything about range. I'm not keen on them being faster.

CBSNews - Ford's Eluminator kit turns gas-powered cars electric


PostSep 26, 2022#136

The Eluminator is just the motor, so the battery is a separate matter to choose.

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PostOct 17, 2022#137

I see an awful lot of Teslas around town. Are they selling that many cars in general, or is STL a particularly strong market for them?

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PostOct 17, 2022#138

framer wrote:
Oct 17, 2022
I see an awful lot of Teslas around town. Are they selling that many cars in general, or is STL a particularly strong market for them?
I don't think you see more than in other major metros. You definitely see more in the NYC area; not sure if that is a coastal effect. Fact is that they have about 70% market share in the EV segment. EV adoption in the STL metro is significantly lower than in coastal metros:


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PostOct 17, 2022#139

framer wrote:
Oct 17, 2022
I see an awful lot of Teslas around town. Are they selling that many cars in general, or is STL a particularly strong market for them?
The one thing I noticed is they frequently have out-of-state plates. 

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PostOct 17, 2022#140

This site has St. Louis at 34 amongst the top 100 metros for adoption - Infrastructure needs to catch up - but we stack up pretty good with our peers - 

https://www.storagecafe.com/blog/best-u ... tric-cars/

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PostOct 17, 2022#141

framer wrote:
Oct 17, 2022
I see an awful lot of Teslas around town. Are they selling that many cars in general, or is STL a particularly strong market for them?
I used to see them all the time because I worked near a hospital. I assume because surgeons can afford them.

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PostOct 18, 2022#142

^2023 Chevy Bolt starts at $26, 600

Also from Stltoday.com:

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has plans to open a massive warehouse south of Interstate 270 in the Metro East.

The company signed a lease for nearly 667,000 square feet of space at Gateway TradePort, a planned industrial park in Pontoon Beach, according to a market report from commercial real estate firm CBRE.


Tesla to open massive warehouse in Metro East

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PostOct 21, 2022#143

Bought my first Tesla Model S in Feb. 2013 and drove it for 131,000 miles with few problems (mostly tires and a few windshields). Just picked up my 2nd Model S on Sept 22nd and they told me that 400 were going to be moved out of the Chesterfield Valley location in September. 

The 2022 Model S is an amzing car and quite the upgrade from 2013.

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PostOct 21, 2022#144

Techstl wrote:
Oct 21, 2022
Bought my first Tesla Model S in Feb. 2013 and drove it for 131,000 miles with few problems (mostly tires and a few windshields). Just picked up my 2nd Model S on Sept 22nd and they told me that 400 were going to be moved out of the Chesterfield Valley location in September. 

The 2022 Model S is an amzing car and quite the upgrade from 2013.
If you don't mind me asking, what was the finished price in 2013 and what was finished price 2022? I'm really sorry for asking but people need to know.

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PostOct 21, 2022#145

^ model S started at about $70,000 in 2013 (pre $7000 Fed credit) and it starts around 97,000 for 2022

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PostFeb 26, 2023#146

Yikes, this is pathetic.  St. Louis ranks dead last in number of EV charging stations per capita out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas, and we rank pretty sh*tty in other EV categories too:

Most and Least EV-Friendly Places to Live in America
https://www.iseecars.com/ev-chargers-study

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PostFeb 26, 2023#147

^ Not surprising  about STL I guess if you look in context of the state it is located in but the fact that you only have to go across the state to find the KC as 6th friendliest and not too far off from Denver is more of a surprise maybe.    

I'm curious what might be driving the difference between STL and MO..   Could it be in part that KC might be next to more tech friendly & renewable energy states.  Both Kansas and Oklahoma have offered big time subsidies to land everything from data centers to two huge battery plants or even the fact that Kansas has developed a significant amount of its wind renewable resource where rural MO is fighting hard against a power line to transfer that clean power to Midwest population centers or anything renewable? or just KC leadership has been more actively pursuing the investment needed for charging stations and the ever increasing EV presence?

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PostFeb 26, 2023#148

Like most internet lists it’s kind of pointless. One from October…also posted in this thread…had us in the middle of the pack and competing relatively well with our immediate peers.

Like most rankings lists on the internet, it’s best to just ignore them. None of them actually paint an accurate picture of anything.

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PostFeb 26, 2023#149

sc4mayor wrote:
Feb 26, 2023
Like most internet lists it’s kind of pointless.  One from October…also posted in this thread…had us in the middle of the pack and competing relatively well with our immediate peers.

Like most rankings lists on the internet, it’s best to just ignore them.  None of them actually paint an accurate picture of anything.
I agree with you, but it’s making the rounds on Skyscraperpage.com and I was shocked to see St. Louis ranked dead last. As if we needed another statistic to remind other cities that St. Louis, more often than not, is a model for everything a progressive, prosperous city should not be.

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PostFeb 26, 2023#150

^Personally, I'm rather weary of the electric car hype anyway. They're fine, but they're not the magic bullet that saves us from anything. They're just more cars, which will always be relatively expensive, dangerous, inefficient, and classist compared to other modes, no matter how you carve that turkey. Mind you, I'm not suggesting we should ban them. They're fine. I halfway drive one. But we shouldn't be putting public money in them. Put that into something more broadly beneficial, like transit.

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