When to go electric for a tow vehicle

[jcl]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

The most expensive maintenance or repair on our EV to date: oh right, none. $0. Nada. Nothing. Thanks for playing, y'all.

Zero for me. I did purchase four winter tires, on wheels, since the performance summer tires the vehicle came with are hard at -20 and not suitable. I change the wheels myself at home.

I expect to buy two wiper blades next year.

[primepower]

I'm a very early adapter of tech. I have two robot lawn mowers, multiple robot vacuums, smart home, smart watch, drone, etc. Many will adopt when it makes since. For me with my current lifestyle EV's do not. Even when they do I expect I'll also own an ICE vehicle. Just like I still own a regular vacuum and lawn mower. I'll own at least one diesel as long as they let me. Currently I have two.

[jcl]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

Goalpost change from towing back to non-towing noted. It's not too difficult to sell to a niche market of guilty souls attempting to make amends over a false issue especially when you're handing out north of 10-15% of the vehicle cost and not charging any use tax. Those are all temporary drivers. That's not going to work with general sales.

You didn't say towing. You moved the goalposts, to use your phrase. I responded to your post.

Your guilt is showing. Don't worry, road use charges will come. I was part of a stakeholder group recommending the implementation of road use fees to replace the rapidly declining fuel tax income. Government here has indicated a willingness to implement it (municipally for now).

But back on the thread topic, when to go electric, one has to be pretty committed to go electric for a tow vehicle at this point. It is possible. But it is implied that it will be in the future. And the best indicator of BEV performance is to review current BEV vehicles. That isn't moving the goalposts, it is learning from the very rapid development that is taking place. Without looking at current product offerings, and tracking the progress, one would be simply spinning a roulette wheel to opine on when to change over. Or one would need to fall back on political ideology. That is apparently an option as well.

[jcl]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

How usable is a tow vehicle that must stop every 150-200 miles (2-3 hours) for another one hour?

Please check the title of the thread. It isn't "Everyone should buy a BEV tow vehicle now" which would be the theoretical statement that you appear to be responding to with your strawman.

[LNBright]

Originally Posted by jcl

You didn't say towing. You moved the goalposts, to use your phrase. I responded to your post.

Your guilt is showing. Don't worry, road use charges will come. I was part of a stakeholder group recommending the implementation of road use fees to replace the rapidly declining fuel tax income. Government here has indicated a willingness to implement it (municipally for now).

For Canada. In the US, that might fly in Canada, but for for more rural states, I don't think that'll get far, not for a long time...

[BayouBiker]

Originally Posted by jcl

You didn't say towing. You moved the goalposts, to use your phrase. I responded to your post.

Actually if you review the post in question, I did and in the same sentence that you changed the context.

But back on the thread topic, when to go electric, one has to be pretty committed to go electric for a tow vehicle at this point. It is possible. But it is implied that it will be in the future. And the best indicator of BEV performance is to review current BEV vehicles. That isn't moving the goalposts, it is learning from the very rapid development that is taking place. Without looking at current product offerings, and tracking the progress, one would be simply spinning a roulette wheel to opine on when to change over. Or one would need to fall back on political ideology. That is apparently an option as well.

If you were to frame those product offerings in a way they apply to towing I might agree.

[truckasaurus]

From the OPs post.

At what point will you buy an all electric, or possibly a hybrid tow vehicle? The Cybertruck BEV as soon as I can (I reserved pretty fast).

What performance points would you like it to have? Low COG to work with my long trailer, huge torque, decent acceleration, 160 miles towing to 80%, 110v 20A outlet to power trailer AC, quiet, and extremely safe.

What downsides could you live with? ( for example, charging times are getting less but electric infrastructure in parks could be a problem).[I]Having to cut dead any conversations with curmudgeons. I'm hoping charge stations evolve in a different direction than gas stations but as I won't plan on using them that much I think I can deal. Lastly I guess it might eat tires when not towing unless I'm careful.

What price point increase would you accept to go electric? $10k no real reason other than personal affordability and I think I'd make that up reasonably quickly.

What possible downsides could an electric tow vehicle exhibit? Acting as a trigger for aforementioned curmudgeons, access to service techs initially.

I'm also looking forward to EV only camp areas where there's no ICE.

[BayouBiker]

Originally Posted by DewTheDew

Just to comment that EVs have their own advantages that people like aside from any CO2 issues. It's like when I had a diesel Audi A6 and people always pointed out that for the way I drove and the length of time I had my car a diesel wasn't economically a good choice. But neither are leather seats or an upgraded stereo. These are things I like because I liked stopping less frequently to fuel, loved the torque, and in the end I loved my payment from the big scandal :-) To claim the only reason that anyone would drive them is due to concerns for global warming does a disservice to the other advantages of EVs.

The claim was the global warming scare was the driver to design, develop and market Evs at this time before they can compete without subsidies. I don't claim to know all that motivates consumers to buy electric vehicles, but the subsidies, and the fear global warming are certainly near the top of the list.

But as Rocinante said, the objective is not to convince people that they have to do this. It is to keep up with potential improvements and learn from those who have gone down this pathway already. If you don't want to drive an EV, BayouBiker, then don't. If you cannot imagine a future where people want to buy EVs to tow then that is your issue; others can easily imagine such a future and understand the pathway to make it happen.

A scan of the internet and many a speech from politicians will confirm a top objective very much is to convince people they have to do this. I agree, I can easily imagine and understand the pathway through mandates and dictates. They are already in progress in many a country including the US.

[jcl]

Originally Posted by LNBright

For Canada. In the US, that might fly in Canada, but for for more rural states, I don't think that'll get far, not for a long time...

Agreed. Canada could certainly lead the US, but I think the more correct comparison is that urban areas will lead rural areas, whatever country. Eventually, all those roads will have to be maintained, wherever they are. There could be a lot of roads in poor repair by that time.

[jcl]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

I get 18,000 miles on my truck with no maintenance.... Not a very fascinating story...

Cute. You don't get no maintenance, you get no point in time outlays over a cherry picked time interval. Real analysis considers life cycle costing. You were using fluids and filters the whole time, you just hadn't paid for it yet.

Or, you could decide to do no maintenance at all on your vehicle, and see how that works for you in the long run....