59 Months (and counting) of EV driving...

[J Alynn]

Great question. We have a little over 75,000 miles combined on the two vehicles, at least 50% of which have been road tripping where a “road trip” is, to me, a trip that requires an overnight stay away from home. I would say at least 250 miles one-way (4 hours or so one-way). I used to do 16-hour there-and-back iron butt trips, but those just aren’t worth it to me anymore—and haven’t been for much longer than I’ve owned EVs. A trip down to the Valley for work or play (~150 miles one way) isn’t in any way a concern and I sometimes don’t even bother to charge on the way back up the mountain.

Would I consider the Harvester? Or any other hybrid vehicle?

No.

Spoiler: Reasons

I have become spoiled by the following things about EVs that aren’t attainable in gas vehicles of any kind, including hybrids:

• The fuel/charge level every morning is right where I want it to be. My apps remind me to plug in if I’ve forgotten, so the vehicles are always charged up by morning to where I need them to be.
• I never have to make a special run to a fuel station to get ready for a trip.
• The amount of time spent refueling the vehicle is now only a factor for road tripping—this saves us hours and hours of time every year
• I haven’t had to do an oil change or any other sort of major maintenance on either of our main travel vehicles since 2022; this has saved thousands of dollars on maintenance costs and hours and hours of time.
• We've saved thousands of dollars on fuel costs; fast charging (road trip charging) has increased in price over the past year, but overall the prices are—for our trips—better than gas, and charging at home was 3.5 cents/kWh = $4.55 for a fill-up in the Lightning (320 miles) and $3.19 for a fill-up in the Mustang (312 miles). Now it’s “free” since we installed solar and we use the excess solar to charge the vehicles instead of selling back to the utility for next to nothing.
• We’re almost always more relaxed when we get to our road trip destination because the noise levels are much lower; the Ford Blue Cruise ADAS level 2+ relieves stress while highway driving; and the very slightly longer refueling breaks help us be more relaxed during the trip.
• The independence we’ve gained from fueling concerns is incredible; we are no longer dependent on the whims of fossil fuel companies reaching for record profits on our backs; we’re no longer dependent on the whims of administrations changing fuel policies back-and-forth; we have a much more predictable energy cost every month—on gas we’d have a different fuel bill every month because prices fluctuated so much.
• The long-term off-grid capabilities we have gained (along with solar) or are able to gain in the future mean we can be off-grid for as long as we like; at some point we may just turn off our electric service and use the vehicles to bank excess solar for our own uses. We’ll see. This is still aspirational to some extent.
• I have no concerns about power outages causing us any issues—we both work from home and need power to be reliable. With the Lightning able to provide >120 hours of backup power not counting solar or the whole-home battery, and without the noise and maintenance of a generator, we know we will always have power.
• Camping with electric is fantastic! We now leave several things at home that we used to bring with us:
  • No more propane unless we want a non-wood campfire. Instead we cook on an induction cooktop with our cast iron cookware. Coffee is ready in just a few minutes now, and could be ready even sooner if I brought a drip machine with a clock.
  • No more jerry cans of gasoline that I have to worry about spilling in the bed of the truck—now we just bring our solar panels and auxiliary battery if we think we need some extra fuel.

Things I wish were different:

• I wish there was a Tacoma-sized and -priced BEV truck available. Nothing out there is quite right for us. The Rivian R1T is close, but it’s twice the price and I don’t have that kind of capital (it would pay for itself within 5-7 years of ownership, but right now I’m low on capital).
• I want an off-road capable BEV. The Lightning isn’t it. The Mustang isn’t it. The Scout Traveler is close, but it’s too wide for my tastes and the Rivian is, again, very expensive for what I can afford (and also too wide). We’ll likely end up with either the Traveler or a used R1S, or maybe an R2, when it’s time to replace the Mustang.
• I would like more fast charging stations in the desert southwest away from the main interstates. There’s a lot of space out here and sometimes things are just a bit more out-of-range than I would like. We’ve never been “stranded” but that doesn’t mean it’s ideal.
• Towing isn’t a major concern for me as I mostly do 100-ish mile towing trips and we don’t have any interest in long-distance travel trailer towing at this time. But it’s not a zero-concern for me either. If we wanted to do a tour of the country, we’d probably want to bring a trailer and that would be possible, but not necessarily ideal. There are quite a few people in the various BEV truck forums who do regular cross-country trips with their travel trailer. But from my reading, many of them are retired or have figured out a way to work while on the road. I could do that, but I’m not sure my partner is ready to work on the road.
• I wish I’d listened to my partner and not purchased the very bright blue Mustang Mach-E. If I’d listened, we would have bought a much more subtle color. She has to deal with jerks yelling at her about it being an EV, about the Mustang name, about all that sort of things related to their opinions that she didn’t ask for. I think it would happen less often if it was a more subtle color. Very few people will approach me to give their unsolicited opinion about the vehicle. The Lightning disappears into the crowd because it’s just an F-150.

I accidentally-on-purpose put in a bid on a 1973 Mustang Mach 1 and it looks like I’m going to win it. I was in an overly-ambitious state of mind thinking I’d have time and money to convert it to electric and restore its body and interior, but now I think it’s going to be just another project hanging over my head. If I do win the auction, I’ll probably just put a few hundred dollars into it to get it running and then sell it. I do not look forward to dealing with the various fluids that need dealing with. I’ve even put off maintenance on both my tractor and my motorcycle because I just don’t want to deal with the mess and smell and time required.

As usual-your insight is fantastic. I keep debating investing in solar panels but still am not sold I get a full benefit where I am but every few months I think about it again. Listening to your situation time and time again makes me think I should consider it. Thanks again sir!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

As usual-your insight is fantastic. I keep debating investing in solar panels but still am not sold I get a full benefit where I am but every few months I think about it again. Listening to your situation time and time again makes me think I should consider it. Thanks again sir!

I rarely consider only the dollars out of my bank account when looking at benefit vs cost.

For example, my free time is much more valuable to me than my hourly take-home. A 30-minute diversion to refill the truck once a week was a huge inconvenience and I valued that time at least 3x my hourly pay.

Not having to spend mental load not worrying about future energy cost is worth at least 3x the cost of installing solar.

To me. Others have other considerations.

 

[04Ram2500Hemi]

I rarely consider only the dollars out of my bank account when looking at benefit vs cost.

For example, my free time is much more valuable to me than my hourly take-home. A 30-minute diversion to refill the truck once a week was a huge inconvenience and I valued that time at least 3x my hourly pay.

Not having to spend mental load not worrying about future energy cost is worth at least 3x the cost of installing solar.

To me. Others have other considerations.

Your reasons are the same I’m sticking to the Harvester. I drive by multiple gas stations on the way to work, so filling up is not a big inconvenience. When I’m on the road I don’t want to have to stop for 30 minutes to charge.

 

[cyure]

Your reasons are the same I’m sticking to the Harvester. I drive by multiple gas stations on the way to work, so filling up is not a big inconvenience. When I’m on the road I don’t want to have to stop for 30 minutes to charge.

This example just shows they were smart to make both. What works for one doesn’t work for someone else.