US VW van reveal.

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by fitness1

I think I read 265 or so somewhere....

Thanks, not a vehicle to take across country then, unless you have a lot of reading and yoga to do.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Anyone know the range?

There is speculation same as with the just announced Tacoma. Both sharing no one knowing what they will cost, crash ratings, and when you can be driving yours.

275 range is a common and good aim for the makers. I know how that works with Teslas, fast charging, and winter so will have that in mind.

Originally Posted by AX17609

The original microbus was a party room on wheels, cost nothing and could be fixed with a 10mm wrench. The eVersion has none of those characteristics. I'll pass.

No vehicles are simple now nor have been for a while. We have some reservations for getting an EV. The relative simplicity less maintenance is seen as a benefit. It's still hard to get appointments and parts for the 3 brands of gasoline vehicles we have.

Nothing is certain or settled here. A few vehicles and already one reservation are in the spreadsheet of life. Prices of new vehicles bother us so that's a factor too.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Thanks, not a vehicle to take across country then, unless you have a lot of reading and yoga to do.

Indeed.

I drive from Southern Illinois to Lake Charles, Louisiana quite often in one day in my Ram.

750 miles in about 11 hours.

I'd go nuts having to sit around waiting for several recharges per day on a long trip out west and stuff. Especially in the dead of winter.

[buddyhu]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Indeed.

I drive from Southern Illinois to Lake Charles, Louisiana quite often in one day in my Ram.

750 miles in about 11 hours.

I'd go nuts having to sit around waiting for several recharges per day on a long trip out west and stuff. Especially in the dead of winter.

When we do long trips, we usually take a break every 3 hours or so: someone in the car (my wife, my dog, or me) will either need to move around a bit (aging bodies don’t much like a long day of sitting), or need to pee, or want to get a snack or a beverage. With my Tesla, the super charging stations are almost always near a minimart or a mall, and an average supercharger can add a lot of capacity in 20 minutes (say 10% charge to 75% charge), and the fastest super chargers can add 20 miles per minute of charging. So, for us, stopping to charge two or three times on a long drive is really ideal (my Tesla has a range of more than 300 miles). Very little actual waiting, or added time to the drive.

The VW ID Buzz is VERY appealing to me. I doubt we will buy one, but I will look longingly at them if I see them in the road. And I might change my mind…

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

Indeed.

I drive from Southern Illinois to Lake Charles, Louisiana quite often in one day in my Ram.

750 miles in about 11 hours.

I'd go nuts having to sit around waiting for several recharges per day on a long trip out west and stuff. Especially in the dead of winter.

I don't get the frequent inappropriate comparisons with EVs rarely brought up with other vehicles. This van has not been marketed as a long distance traveler though my experience with other EVs with either side of 300 mi range and level 3 chargers keeps me interested.

Over the years my family, friends and work associates with EVs the most of the time leaving and getting home without going to gas stations stood and stands out as a really attractive aspect.

If time is your concern you might find the detailed comparison my pal's done for the about 5 years he got a Model 3 and his wife a loaded Honda sedan. Beyond the far superior time management and lower cost there is time and money spent with maintenance. Their Tesla has only needed tires and windshield wipers opposed to the Honda having several oil changes, brakes, and a more expensive higher milage service. The occasional 25 - 35 minutes with a level 3 charger is almost nothing against all that.

If we get an EV we'll still have a gasoline powered vehicle.

Also, I don't know interior length of this van. The van we have now has more carry capacity than the popular 4 door pickups with 5-6 ft shorter beds.

[Rolph]

I had a '66 Van in college. I showed this to one of my daughters, telling her I wanted one, (had the same car since 1996), she said "Why? It's really ugly!"
I'm looking forward to test driving one. The price worries me. My '66 needed a team of college students to push it up a hill, it was so slow and underpowered.

If I have to plan my trip based on re-charge availability, it defeats the purpose of the vehicle.

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by fitness1

I'd be interested in one but they are starting at 45k apparently - just can't do that for a vehicle.

I wish some maker would come out with a smaller (this one is XL only) hybrid or EV van that is just stripped inside except for the two front seats.

I'd like to have something like for that for taking off across the country by myself.

Originally Posted by buddyhu

When we do long trips, we usually take a break every 3 hours or so: someone in the car (my wife, my dog, or me) will either need to move around a bit (aging bodies don’t much like a long day of sitting), or need to pee, or want to get a snack or a beverage. With my Tesla, the super charging stations are almost always near a minimart or a mall, and an average supercharger can add a lot of capacity in 20 minutes (say 10% charge to 75% charge), and the fastest super chargers can add 20 miles per minute of charging. So, for us, stopping to charge two or three times on a long drive is really ideal (my Tesla has a range of more than 300 miles). Very little actual waiting, or added time to the drive.

The VW ID Buzz is VERY appealing to me. I doubt we will buy one, but I will look longingly at them if I see them in the road. And I might change my mind…

That is truly great, I am glad it works so well for you. We have always had trouble finding charging stations that A) work and B) someone is not already using and usually they are in working and just leave their car plugged in all day!

Originally Posted by imwjl

I don't get the frequent inappropriate comparisons with EVs rarely brought up with other vehicles. This van has not been marketed as a long distance traveler though my experience with other EVs with either side of 300 mi range and level 3 chargers keeps me interested.

Over the years my family, friends and work associates with EVs the most of the time leaving and getting home without going to gas stations stood and stands out as a really attractive aspect.

If time is your concern you might find the detailed comparison my pal's done for the about 5 years he got a Model 3 and his wife a loaded Honda sedan. Beyond the far superior time management and lower cost there is time and money spent with maintenance. Their Tesla has only needed tires and windshield wipers opposed to the Honda having several oil changes, brakes, and a more expensive higher milage service. The occasional 25 - 35 minutes with a level 3 charger is almost nothing against all that.

If we get an EV we'll still have a gasoline powered vehicle.

Also, I don't know interior length of this van. The van we have now has more carry capacity than the popular 4 door pickups with 5-6 ft shorter beds.

I brought up the cross country trip because Fitness was thinking of something just to take off in.

I have watched so many videos of folks trying to do long trips and charge along the way, it is comical. I think the one guy in Canada I watched probably gained 40 pounds because the charging stations he was using were all at convenience-type stores so he would go in and get a snack while waiting, ie. donuts, burgers, pizza LOL. He also found that most of the fast speed chargers NEVER put out what they said they would and they varied from one to the next one. He would try them all and they were completely inconsistent even though they were right in a line with each other.

BTW, we have an all EV Hyundai Kona and had a BMW i5 before that so at least I am not giving my opinion without some experience. The Kona is rated for 254 miles, but due to a recall, we got a new battery pack and it now charges to 304. My wife drives it to work and we only charge at home on 110. It is slow and would take 3 days to charge to 100%, but since we are just topping it off each day when she gets home it works for us. It is not a something we could live with as our only car for sure. Now, it we never went anywhere beyond a hundred miles from home, it probably would be OK.

[steelvibe]

The benefits of low maintenance on EV cars is a very real and attractive thing. My wife and I bought a brand new Leaf in 2014, release year. Other than tire changes, wiper changes, and a repack of bearings at 50K service, there have been ZERO additional costs.

It has been mostly trickle charged the entire time we’ve owned it on a 110. It has super charge capability but we never use it. My biggest complaints as others have said, is that the infrastructure is weak; charging away from home has been mostly giant miss/fail. Also, what was a 110-118 range is now reduced to about 78 mi with the original battery, keeping in mind that I’m in Colorado and winters are hard on EVs.

I’m enjoying the discussion.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

That is truly great, I am glad it works so well for you. We have always had trouble finding charging stations that A) work and B) someone is not already using and usually they are in working and just leave their car plugged in all day!



I brought up the cross country trip because Fitness was thinking of something just to take off in.

I have watched so many videos of folks trying to do long trips and charge along the way, it is comical. I think the one guy in Canada I watched probably gained 40 pounds because the charging stations he was using were all at convenience-type stores so he would go in and get a snack while waiting, ie. donuts, burgers, pizza LOL. He also found that most of the fast speed chargers NEVER put out what they said they would and they varied from one to the next one. He would try them all and they were completely inconsistent even though they were right in a line with each other.

BTW, we have an all EV Hyundai Kona and had a BMW i5 before that so at least I am not giving my opinion without some experience. The Kona is rated for 254 miles, but due to a recall, we got a new battery pack and it now charges to 304. My wife drives it to work and we only charge at home on 110. It is slow and would take 3 days to charge to 100%, but since we are just topping it off each day when she gets home it works for us. It is not a something we could live with as our only car for sure. Now, it we never went anywhere beyond a hundred miles from home, it probably would be OK.

That's really highlighting a for now Tesla advantage. We are several months or more away from Ford shipping Tesla compatible vehicles and Tesla's opening up their network in US. Ford does have other EV names trademarked but aren't even making enough of popular gasoline and hybrid in their lineup.

When this stuff gets discussed it is also important to consider where folks live and not just periodic trips, plus owning 1 or more vehicles in a family. In our case we're near good charge infrastructure, would only need our garage to charge most of the time, and have a gasoline powered car still under warranty.

No matter what it is rather thrilling to have this period of innovation and competition. It's been generations.