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Does anyone else still prefer to drive their gas cars?
- Thread starter itzkirb
- Start date
fcastrillo86
Member
I still drive my 2011 Mazdaspeed3 every week and a half or so. I do it mostly to keep the battery up. While I don't really miss driving gas cars much, it still has some sentimental value to me, so I haven't brought myself to the point of selling it.
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
Why not use a battery tender instead? Seems wasteful to drive around, just to charge the 12V battery.
While our 2015 85D was in for repair, my husband rented an ICE car. I refused to drive it, and felt faintly embarrassed to be seen in it.
fcastrillo86
Member
I actually hadn't heard of Battery Tender until now. I might have to look into that lol. But the MS3 is fun to drive too. I'm just never in the twisties much nowadays, which is where I thought it really shined.
During the pandemic we've had both of our ICE cars on battery tenders. Just not driving them nearly enough. Emissions-wise, this is a good thing I guess. Phantom battery drain would be big enough to cause problems within a month or so.
That doesn't help with condensation messing with the oil though. We take them out periodically to boil off any water that's collecting in places we don't want it.
If the Audi doesn't enable the engine start/stop function on a warm day, I know the battery is down. The Z4 gets cranky if the battery is down, strangely so. I understand that's a BMW thing on this series (alternator is fine).
That doesn't help with condensation messing with the oil though. We take them out periodically to boil off any water that's collecting in places we don't want it.
If the Audi doesn't enable the engine start/stop function on a warm day, I know the battery is down. The Z4 gets cranky if the battery is down, strangely so. I understand that's a BMW thing on this series (alternator is fine).
Dolemite
is my name
BrianBigNFun
Giver of snark
I drove my wife's Subaru Forester the other day and when I took my foot off the gas pedal, all the car did was coast- it was, like, super weird
mspohr
Well-Known Member
I have a 20 year old Land Rover which I use for hauling stuff. Drive it once a week to the dump. Hope it doesn't die before I can get my Cybertruck. At 200,000 miles. It's noisy, polluting, slow.
I would not mind an ICE car as a toy of some sort, such as a Miata or a Boxster. But as a daily driver, I have zero interest in going back to a gas powered car. I would not miss the sea of bland ICE Powered cars on the road today (i.e CRV's, Equinox's, Explorers, etc.) To me, an EV powerplant would do wonders to improve the usability of these appliances through greater powertrain performance, less maintenance, lower cost of operation, etc.
Gas or diesel power will live on for a while, especially for certain use cases. Towing, for example, as in our case, where we tow a small travel trailer behind our Q5 TDI. There is not now, nor will there be in the near-term future, an EV that even approaches the convenience we have with towing in that car, and our towing needs are pretty mild by comparison with what other folks are doing. The energy demands are pretty high, especially through the mountains.
Towing a 7x10x20' box behind you has a way of killing your aerodynamics at highway speeds. The Q5 gets about 20mpg towing through the Rockies, for comparison, which gives us about a 400 mile range between fill-ups. We'll need a 3-4x increase in energy density both by weight and volume, with a proportional increase in charging capability, in order to make that happen.
It will happen, just not that soon. You can color me skeptical on over-the-road semis too. Short-haul, in-town? Sure. Long-haul, over-the-road? Not so much. I'll be interested to see how the semi pans out. Watching that with interest.
Likewise, the "toy car" example - like our Z4 stick. It offers an experience that is different from any sport EV.
Otherwise, it's more about the charging network now. Lots of decent, highly competent, perfectly practical EVs available nowadays. Just the longer, over-the-road use cases that get tricky, from a trip planning standpoint if nothing else. Our little Leaf+ is a highly competent second car/urban corridor runabout, with some ability to go over-the-road if you're willing to work at it a bit and take your time. (I might add, we're not really. We use the Q5 for longer trips, rather than futzt around planning multiple charging stops.)
Towing a 7x10x20' box behind you has a way of killing your aerodynamics at highway speeds. The Q5 gets about 20mpg towing through the Rockies, for comparison, which gives us about a 400 mile range between fill-ups. We'll need a 3-4x increase in energy density both by weight and volume, with a proportional increase in charging capability, in order to make that happen.
It will happen, just not that soon. You can color me skeptical on over-the-road semis too. Short-haul, in-town? Sure. Long-haul, over-the-road? Not so much. I'll be interested to see how the semi pans out. Watching that with interest.
Likewise, the "toy car" example - like our Z4 stick. It offers an experience that is different from any sport EV.
Otherwise, it's more about the charging network now. Lots of decent, highly competent, perfectly practical EVs available nowadays. Just the longer, over-the-road use cases that get tricky, from a trip planning standpoint if nothing else. Our little Leaf+ is a highly competent second car/urban corridor runabout, with some ability to go over-the-road if you're willing to work at it a bit and take your time. (I might add, we're not really. We use the Q5 for longer trips, rather than futzt around planning multiple charging stops.)
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airborne spoon
Active Member
it depends on where i am driving to. like on my monthly 400 mile each way trip i take the tesla because i take my dog with me. if i didn't have the dog i would take the Harley unless the weather is *sugar*.
When i take trips down the hill to the LA basin unless i am getting something too big to strap to the Harley, (if you ride for long enough you learn you can strap some pretty big ass stuff to the bike if you got enough bungee cords
) i will take the bike because it is more convenient than driving the tesla (lane splitting, and finding parking spots mostly).
If i still had a gas car then no i don't see the point in driving it over the tesla, i sold my mustang (2006 modified to hell with 455hp at the wheel) to help with my down payment on the tesla
When i take trips down the hill to the LA basin unless i am getting something too big to strap to the Harley, (if you ride for long enough you learn you can strap some pretty big ass stuff to the bike if you got enough bungee cords
) i will take the bike because it is more convenient than driving the tesla (lane splitting, and finding parking spots mostly).If i still had a gas car then no i don't see the point in driving it over the tesla, i sold my mustang (2006 modified to hell with 455hp at the wheel) to help with my down payment on the tesla
it depends on where i am driving to. like on my monthly 400 mile each way trip i take the tesla because i take my dog with me. if i didn't have the dog i would take the Harley unless the weather is *sugar*.
When i take trips down the hill to the LA basin unless i am getting something too big to strap to the Harley, (if you ride for long enough you learn you can strap some pretty big ass stuff to the bike if you got enough bungee cords
If i still had a gas car then no i don't see the point in driving it over the tesla, i sold my mustang (2006 modified to hell with 455hp at the wheel) to help with my down payment on the tesla
I heard there is a dog mode where your dog can drive part of the way... is that true?
Edit:
/s
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airborne spoon
Active Member
i would like to hope you're joking but without the /s on that sentence, in todays society you could actually be seriousI heard there is a dog mode where tour dog can drive part of the way... is that true?
I drive a lot of rental cars, everything from your basic Toyota Camry to Range Rover. They all feel like they are 10 years old cars even though some are brand new with 8 miles on them.
nick010101
Member
My Model y is great for transport. I drive my E90 M3 six speed manual for fun.
jbuenavides
Member
My family and friends still drive a car powered by gas. I don't have anything against it since we all have different preferences.
I think the only thing I will miss, and I still miss it now since most cars are automatic is the old school gear shift. That's completely the way of the dinosaur with an EV. It was just...sorta fun BITD. Made you feel connected to the vehicle. But once I get the Tesla, hell no. I'll never miss all the oil changes, tune ups, exhaust checks at inspection stations. The maintenance of an ICE can buzz straight off.
nick010101
Member
My manual ICE car is much more fun to drive than my Model Y. However, Y is better for transport.
