Took ownership today of my Mach E

[timbop]

That’s awesome .. I am still being cautious and the hardest part really is just hearing all the negative comments from people who are against EV

Unfortunately BEV's and clean energy have become a political football - which is a shame. The oil companies have done a great job of disinformation to stoke tribalism and FUD. That's why when I talk to people about my car I emphasize how much cheaper it is to run (both on fuel and maintenance) and how much fun it is to drive. If they push back with "BEV's are dirtier than ICE" then I will dispell that myth.

The first question people ask is "what's it's range" which is straightforward, but the next 2 questions are "how much does it cost to charge" and "where do you charge it". I love answering the cost question because with my solar panels it costs 3 cents a mile to drive. The panels also wipe out their first objection of electricity "being as dirty as gasoline". Even without solar, in almost every state the efficiency of BEV's and mix of some cleaner sources to fuel the grid means BEV's are still cleaner - and getting more so every year. Next they try to assert that the grid can't handle BEVs, to which my solar panels are again the comeback. I work from home so charge during the day, putting zero strain on the grid. The oil companies have also been getting a lot of traction with the assertion that building BEV's produces more green house gases, which is true. However, given the lower emissions from running the car the break-even point is less than 20,000 miles of driving (and much lower than that if fueled by renewables).

The charts below come from here :

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[StillWaitingForMachE]

That’s awesome .. I am still being cautious and the hardest part really is just hearing all the negative comments from people who are against EV

Interesting. I've never had any negative comments directed toward me or my car. A lot of people who were curious how/how well charging it worked out, but even the fairly far right leaning people I work with thought it was really cool and were more curious than negative.

 

[Maquis]

Interesting. I've never had any negative comments directed toward me or my car. A lot of people who were curious how/how well charging it worked out, but even the fairly far right leaning people I work with thought it was really cool and were more curious than negative.

Same here.

 

[timbop]

Interesting. I've never had any negative comments directed toward me or my car. A lot of people who were curious how/how well charging it worked out, but even the fairly far right leaning people I work with thought it was really cool and were more curious than negative.

Same here.

To my face I generally only get positive comments, although I've also had polite skeptics discuss it with me in person. Online is a very different story; I avoid twitface and tikgram but my wife constantly gets cowards who will try to bully her online about the car and solar panels with propaganda they find in their echo chambers.

 

[THXDIAL]

The EV detractors I've met are all for progress, they just don't like change!!
Significant factor to me the EV is here to stay is the fact that big oil is investing billion$ into alternative energy.

 

[RockwallRick]

Henry Ford's infamous quote "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses".

It’s ironic to me that Henry Ford’s Wife drove an electric car! She was way ahead of her time!! Lol

 

[HuntingPudel]

Congrats on your new MME! Have fun with it.

 

[vinnyz]

Took ownership today and the dealership was super helpful .. rates on finance are definitely higher than my last purchase 4 years ago.. but I got good trade in for my 2019 fusion and honestly the car is spectacular.. it’s most expensive car I’ve ever had but I also know that if I hadn’t had on order I’d be way more out of pocket .. they do have to install the part for the inspection/recall but was safe to drive and I took home today ..

awesome, enjoy
I traded my 2021 select awd for a 2022 GT, lovin it nothing negative with either one

 

[phil]

Henry Ford's infamous quote "If I asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses".

The quotation is apocryphal; Ford never said it. And it's not accurate, either - people would not have said they wanted faster horses.

But it is a nice line.

 

[EELinneman]

The quotation is apocryphal; Ford never said it. And it's not accurate, either - people would not have said they wanted faster horses.

But it is a nice line.

Remember that famous Abraham Lincoln quote "Never believe everything you read on the internet"

 

[Triggerhappy007]

That’s awesome .. I am still being cautious and the hardest part really is just hearing all the negative comments from people who are against EV

Was this in front of you or on Facebook?

 

[a dubb]

awesome, enjoy
I traded my 2021 select awd for a 2022 GT, lovin it nothing negative with either one

It’s kinda funny how so much anxiety and irritation and then you get it and it’s like wow
Zen - ish
Almost like waiting for child .. lol .. mine took as long as a pregnancy or longer maybe .. I love the color and I got a basic select standard range .. I mean I know I’ll find glitches but I don’t drive much so all the hubbaloo about charging isn’t freaking me out at the present moment .. I am using the slow standard charger until I know what really is needed

I think the key is not having to finance the whole cost because that would have killed it for me .. got solid trade value which helped a lot ..

Pretty happy a lot to learn for sure tho

 

[Reign of Ravens]

I don't discourage the negative comments, because often they are correct. BEVs are not ready for the general public, IMO.

The most common comments I get are regarding charging and range, which are problems unless you can always charge at home. And that is what I tell people: if you only charge at home, it is awesome. If you have to find a charger on a trip, it could be a big challenge. It takes planning, and now charger congestion is becoming a real issue so you can't even plan on a 30 minute stop. It could be an hour or more.

BEVs are still best for early adopters, like most of us in this forum. We are willing to deal with a little DCFC pain because the car is so great. I took it on vacation and it was awesome except for one DCFC stop, which was enough to make my wife say she doesn't want to take it on long trips.

And she is right. Who wants to wait an hour for a charge? Not many people. Not me either, unless we can time that around a meal.

I have mixed feelings about this one.

On one hand, if you live in an apartment and don't work at a place where you have chargers, then yes, it can be a problem. I had my Leaf for a few months before I had my house and lived that life, hunting for a public level 2 charger each weekend and then making a small event out of it while waiting for my car to charge. I'd see other people sitting in their cars, working on laptops and the like. That took dedication and is not something I could see most people doing. It was a bit stressful if I couldn't find a spot. But then I started working at a place that had chargers for us to use for free, and it just made so much sense to charge at work.

Long distance driving would have been a nightmare in the Leaf. It would potentially be stressful with the Mach-E. There was a time in my life where I'd make a 640-mile round trip drive every other weekend, and an electric vehicle might have been an issue for me then. But now, how often am I making drives like that? Barely ever. If I had to, I'd probably rent a gas-powered car. The big question is, how often are most people doing it?

An analogy is to wonder if a commuter vehicle is fine for most people, instead of a pick-up truck. After all, what if you need to haul something huge, or move large loads? And sure, there are some people who really are using the flatbed of their truck weekly, if not daily. They need that truck. But for most everybody else, you rent a U-Haul van or truck for what you need, and that's it. I don't need to buy a van or truck for those once-every-few-years events.

As chargers become more prevalent, and perhaps as the electrical systems improve (Ford's system is decent, but you look at Kia's and Porsche's platforms for what is class-leading... and a number of proposed battery technologies are poised to cut times down even further in the future) it'll become a non-issue. In that regard I agree that we're all early adopters right now. I'm just not sure that EVs aren't ready for mainstream as they are, right now.

Unfortunately BEV's and clean energy have become a political football - which is a shame. The oil companies have done a great job of disinformation to stoke tribalism and FUD. That's why when I talk to people about my car I emphasize how much cheaper it is to run (both on fuel and maintenance) and how much fun it is to drive. If they push back with "BEV's are dirtier than ICE" then I will dispell that myth.

The political nature of it is really unfortunate. When people push back with the idea that BEV is worse, environmentally, than ICE - especially when it's out of the blue - then you know they're just looking to be downers about it and are parroting talking points. Most people never talked about the environmental impact of ICE-driven vehicles before. Emissions as a whole, yes, but I don't recall hearing people talking about specific vehicles, or even classes of vehicles (petrol vs diesel), with such fervor.

In our time of divisive politics, I get that it's just another thing to divide people on. But I do sometimes wonder if ICE drivers have given thought to what the expansion of BEVs on the road really means. Because there is a threat there: fewer ICE vehicles means less money going to gas stations. Once the gas stations start to close down, ICE drivers will begin to suffer range anxiety issues. But their range anxiety will likely be worse, because unlike BEVs, they won't have the recourse of being able to refuel at home, or any place where there's an electrical outlet. The next 5-10 years are going to be really interesting.

 

[kennethjk]

as someone who has had the car for 9 months, I can say that a lot of the range anxiety is a bit overrated. People are curious about the car and the biggest complaints or negative comments about EV’s are from those that have no idea how they actually work. After explaining, I have had 2 friends say, they are going to start looking into EV’s. They know it’s the future.

how many long trips does someone really take in the course of a month. I have taken numerous trips of over 120 miles each way and so far, have always found fast chargers available without an issue. Of course it all depends on where you live. There is only one set of chargers in NJ that have people complained about being busy all the time and I believe those chargers work. It is true that many places have chargers that do not work and that is a real issue. Just need to use PlugShare and plan ahead and have a plan B

there is a but, I spend a fair amount of time pre planning, charging in advance when I need to, just in case, being retired time is not as important to me and I leave more time than I need, just in case, a plan B

I was planning to drive to Florida and a friend of mine said I was crazy after all the reports of broken chargers. I explained to him that his ignorance has no bounds.

yes there are challenges for sure but you just have to read about all the people who have taken long trips. Some have problems but more seem to do it without a real nightmare.

I won’t be driving to Florida as I am more concerned with the HVBJB issue and doing stuck 500 miles from home Than I am about chargers.

have fun with the car and if you drive on a long trip, just plan ahead.

 

[ripperAZ]

BEVs are not ready for the general public, IMO.

That’s one of the best post I’ve ever read about the utility of electric cars and the failure of the charging net works It’s a perfect daily runner if you can charge it home for your use, but after bricking two of them before ever being on this forum, including 15 hours in Dateland, I don’t consider it a vehicle for a multiple day multiple charging stops per day the charging locations are unreliable often creepy mostly Walmarts and lots of sketchy Carnies about.

Best daily local commuter car i ever owned

Jes sayin. Well said. EV’s may result in bigger waistlines for users due to the meal stops, however. lol.

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