Going Electric: 1500 Miles Later (Premium)

Earlier this year, I made the switch from a gasoline-powered SUV to a Tesla Model Y, and after about 1500 miles (1728 to be exact) here are a few updates and things to contemplate before dumping oil for electrons.

Before going any further, this is not a post to get you to buy a Tesla, I get accused of this every time I mention my car, but to help you understand what I have learned about driving a battery on wheels for the past three months. And while you may not want a Tesla, and I don’t blame you, there are many other electric cars coming online soon like the poorly named (but decent looking) Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Rivian R1T, VW has several ID models arriving soon too and every other manufacturing is bringing some to market if these aren't for you.

The point is that while we wait for a potential hydrogen future, I do firmly believe that electric vehicles will be the future for many, but certainly not all, drivers. I tend to think of it as for most of us, a laptop is fine but there will always be the crowd that needs the high-powered gaming (combustion engine) rigs for certain tasks. The electric future will not arrive fully for several more years or even a decade but the barrier to entry is far lower today than it was even two years ago.

The biggest challenge that anyone buying an electric vehicle needs to know is that it is fundamentally different than an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle. Meaning, you have to re-think how you drive and while range-anxiety is a real thing, it’s not nearly as prohibitive as you may think – especially if you are driving a Tesla as the SuperCharger network is becoming robust in the US.

But what I mean is that regen, braking, temperature, and many other factors influence how you drive. For example, I rarely use the brake pedal as the car uses your momentum + resistance of the electrical motors to add electrons back into the battery rather than creating heat with the brake pads to slow the vehicle. This is commonly known as ‘one-pedal driving’ and it’s fantastic once you adopt the practice and makes driving even easier.

Other habit-changing challenges include torque and transmission. It’s well known that battery-powered cars have an intoxicating amount of acceleration but what you may not realize is that there is, at least in my car, no transmission either. You do not realize how you have become accustomed to the shift points where your ICE-vehicle shifts and you lose power momentarily, before locking into a new gear. In an electric car, it’s smooth acceleration and deceleration.

The biggest challenge of all, though, is that your range is significantly impacted by temperature. If you live in a cold climate, your car will not drive as far on cold days, or regen may not be operational until the battery has warmed up, and for some, this will be an issue if you have a lengthy commute. For myself, I have a charger in my garage that, while not actively heated/cooled, ...

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