Buying an electric car (or EV) is on the increase
For a lot of people though there's a nagging question in the back of everyone’s mind -
When is the right time to make the switch to an Electric Vehicle - & which is the best EV?
Over decades, and even more so over the last few years, the purchase prices of EV's continue to drop, government incentives to choose an electric car have increased, the ranges of electric cars continue to increase and there are more charging stations available every day. We've even heard recently that electric pickup trucks are soon to be "a thing" - allowing those of us who rely on transporting or hauling "stuff" around to make the choice of driving an electric vehicle - which is exciting stuff.
但是，现在是否适合你购买电动车(以及选择哪种车型)取决于很多因素，其中大部分取决于你的生活方式和位置。所以，没有适用于所有人的唯一正确答案，但我们可以给你一些可以帮助你做出决定的变量。
Do you live in a city, or out in the Boonies?
Where you live will determine what you pay for fuel (regional electricity rates), your access to local EV charging stations, and how cold the winters are or indeed how hot the summers (which negatively impacts battery performance and EV range).
If you live close to your workplace and don’t do a lot of road trips you can probably get by with one that has a shorter range. And using it less means it will be easier to avoid charging it during peak hours (if your regional utility company has variable rates).
As the battery is the most expensive part of the car, to get a greater range means a bigger battery, and consequently a higher price. And you also need to consider your home charging station - to discoverwhich is the Best Home EV Charger, read The Definitive Guide to EVSE's here.
Electric vehicles in cold weather & hot:
Extreme cold will affect EV range for a few reasons – the batteries themselves don’t perform as well when they are cold, and also, consumption will go up when you consider defrosting windows and keeping passengers warm. Very hot weather will also reduce range as running the A/C will use power, and opening the windows will create drag and reduce efficiency.
Choosing an EV in tune with your Lifestyle:
如果你经常长途旅行，现在可能还不是换车的时候，但如果你是一个拥有两辆车的家庭，也许你现在最好的选择是两辆车各有一辆，或者选择混合动力电动车。
If you drive very seldom, don’t travel with a big payload and generally don’t go too far from home, an EV makes a lot of sense. Choosing a suitable vehicle has always meant considering your typical use patterns, but there are more variables when changing your fuel source from gas to electricity. Currently, there are fewer refueling stations and it can take considerably longer to charge a battery than fill a tank. So, if you can do most of your charging at home, an EV can be very affordable and more convenient.
If you're a contractor, have a large family, or if you're simply one of the 30+ million North American households who drive a pickup truck, you're going to have to wait a while - but not that much longer - as every major US car manufacturer is racing to get a full production Electric Pickup Truck into their showrooms before Tesla & Rivian announce retail sales of their new vehicles.
The Best Electric Vehicle, food for thought
Switching from a gas-powered car to an EV可能会感觉是一个相当大的飞跃，它将需要一些调整和通勤计划。To get a better idea of the benefits and drawbacks, we spoke withChris Tapp, the owner ofTapp Auto in Ottawa, Ontario. Chris has commuted for years in electric vehicles, he also built a custom EV using a Subaru kit car and parts he pulled out of wrecked Telsa and Chevy EVs. So we figured he was the guy we should speak with to learn the general pros and cons of EVs over gas-powered cars.
谢谢你接受我们的采访，克里斯。我想从一个普遍的价值问题开始——当你考虑购买价格、维护要求和寿命时——总的来说，你会说你是选择电动汽车还是汽油驱动的汽车?
CHRIS TAPP:That’s still a bit hard to say at the moment, mostly because there really aren’t any ‘long term’ stats yet for an accurate comparison. And a lot would depend on your patterns of use, like how often you drive and the distance you travel. So I would say it's comparable overall, but strictly speaking from a maintenance point of view, there is almost none required for electric cars.
You say there is virtually no maintenance required with EVs, can you explain that more?
CT- With electric cars you don’t have mufflers to replace, you don’t need to do oil changes or tune ups, and even your brakes pads pretty much last forever because you don’t really need brakes. When you remove your foot from the accelerator, it automatically begins to slow down, and it uses that momentum to recharge the battery in the process.
住在电费便宜的魁北克对你来说是一个优势吗?
CT-这里的电力更便宜，但如果你住在安大略省，你可以在非高峰时间给你的电动汽车充电。大多数汽车都会有这样的内置设置，即使没有，也很容易做到。你可能会发现，你已经养成了回家就给车充电的习惯，就像给手机充电一样。所以，无需进行任何长期旅行，大多数人几乎每天早上醒来都是充满电的。而且充电和驾驶的成本如此之低，以至于无论你住在哪里，你可能都不会考虑充电成本，因为它是如此微不足道。
How well do EVs do in cold weather? Does cold affect the range?
CT- They do perform worse in cold weather, but so do gas powered vehicles as well. There are a few things you can do to improve the cold weather performance of an EV, like warming up the battery while it is still plugged in, that way it will already be at it’s efficient operating temperature when you unplug it. Starting out with a cold battery will cut into your range since energy will be consumed to warm it up.
Heating the cabin of an electric vehicle will also consume a bit more power as well, but again, it shouldn’t have a major impact on convenience for regular commuting since for the most part you’ll have all the power you need. But to answer your original question, yes; keeping occupants warm and windows defrosted on a long-distance road trip could mean needing to stop and recharge a bit sooner.
我可以说，至少在特斯拉上，你可以用手机轻轻一碰就能预热电池。我这样做是为了电池，但我从不费心预热舱室，因为热量的传递是即时的，一旦你进入。它不像汽油动力汽车，你需要让它运行一段时间，然后它将热量传递到机舱。
And that’s what I meant about why people who make a lot of short trips will lose a bit on range in cold weather; each time the car cools down you’ll need to expend energy just to get it back up to its efficient operating temperature.
Does an EV ever ‘not start’ due to cold weather?
我想起了我小时候我们家开的那些旧垃圾箱，在零下20多摄氏度的一个早晨，车能不能启动，有没有加热块，真是个大问题。在零下30度的时候，连尝试都没有意义了，你要步行。对于电动汽车来说，感冒是一个问题吗?
不，低温不是真正的问题，他们总是开始。
Does accelerating quickly affect ‘fuel consumption’ in the same way it does with gas powered car?
CT- Very little, and certainly not as much as with gas. It’s another one of those things you just don’t need to think about with an EV.
Are there any concerns with EV traction or braking in winter or slippery conditions?
CT- Not at all, in fact electric cars are better than gas-powered cars in terms of traction and control because if one wheel is slipping, the car’s computer can adjust torque at a millisecond rate. Humans simply can’t react that fast when they try to do things like feathering the accelerator to improve traction.
So when comparing 2-wheel drive to 2-wheel drive cars, in my opinion an EV will have better traction every time. My house is at the bottom of steep hill, and granted I currently have a dual-motor all-wheel drive Tesla, but even when our road isn't plowed I have no problem getting up the hill.
Do EVs have universal chargers?
CT- A typical electric car comes with a cable and adapters that will plug into normal 110 outlets or 220 dryer plugs, but that may vary by manufacturer so that’s best asked on a case by case basis at the time of purchase.
在家里安装电动汽车充电器贵还是难?
CT- No, not really, and I say that because very few people would ever need a high-speed charger.
当然，充电时间会因制造商和型号的不同而有所不同，但一个好办法是用“公里每小时”来考虑，这意味着当你插上电源时，每小时可以行驶多少距离。
The charge rate of a standard 110 volt outlet would give you about 7 km per hour; even that may be enough for some people. A 220 volt dryer plug would give you about 35-40 km per hour, the next big step-up would charge at a rate of about 80 km per hour.
That’s why I think a dryer plug is probably adequate for almost everyone. It shouldn’t cost much to have an electrician come install one on the outside of your house or in your garage. That would equate to getting about 350 to 400 km of range by leaving it plugged in for 10 hours, which should be more than sufficient for most people’s daily use.
对于自驾游的电动汽车来说，附近有很多充电站吗?有多快?
CT- Long distance travel is for sure where you’ll need to do some planning ahead, no matter what kind of EV you drive. Currently Tesla offers the best access to charging stations (not to mention the best range batteries), because their highway charge stations can power up at about 600 km per hour. I live in Quebec, just outside of Ottawa, and I drove to Toronto with no problem. Just by stopping for a half hour for lunch, you can pick up another 300 km of range.
How do I find EV charging stations?
CT- I can't really speak to the availability of charging stations of other brands, but the Tesla ones I know of ‘locally’ are Ottawa, Kingston, Cornwall, Oshawa, Peterborough and there’s a few in Toronto. There is even one in Mont Tremblant, Quebec where we charged up on a ski trip. Finding them isn’t hard because your car tells you where they are and it knows your range, so it’s kind of idiot proofed.
充电站拥挤吗?如果有一组呢?
CT-大多数车似乎至少有8个左右的停车位，只有几次我在那里看到了第二辆车，所以这完全不是问题。我想，特斯拉在建设充电站方面走在了前面，因为它期待着增长。
I’m not trying to sound too much like a Tesla commercial, but it really is the only viable option I see at the moment for long distance travel when you consider their greater range, and the fact that other manufacturers haven’t set up a network of dedicated stations yet.
Other EV makes aren’t compatible with the Tesla high speed chargers, but there are universal charging stations available; they just aren’t nearly as fast. So rather than stopping for lunch, you may need to stop overnight at a hotel. Charging a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt during a quick lunch isn’t going to get you very far.
慢速充电真的比快速充电更能延长电池寿命吗?
CT-不，一点也不。电池太智能了，不会发生这种情况。而且更快的充电实际上效率更高。110的线路损耗更大，所以它实际上会比220或高速充电器消耗更多的能量，以填补任何电池的容量。
至于电池寿命，现在进行长期预测还为时过早，但实际上它们的表现比最初的行业预期要好。我可以说，特斯拉的电池至少有8年的保修期，所以我不会花太多时间担心它们。
And purely for fun we’re going to include the video of you drag-racing against a Porsche with your homemade EV. I know you keep tweaking it; is it even faster now? And how does it stack up against other EVs for speed?
CT- It’s a little faster now since it has dual motors and it’s all-wheel drive. I haven’t had it to the track yet this year but last year it a ran 9.5 second quarter mile. There are some dedicated race cars that are faster, but to my knowledge this is probably the fastest ‘functional’ EV in the world that can be used for everyday road use.
What did you make it out of and how does it fare in terms of range and efficiency?
CT -I started with a lightweight kit car designed for a Subaru powertrain, and built it with used parts from wrecked cars. So it has 2 Tesla motors (front and back) and 2 Chevy Volt batteries. It’s only about 2,700 lbs, which is about half the weight of my Tesla, so it’s also a particularly efficient one as well. And the range is about 200km.
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