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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We have 2 EV’s, both teslas. We drive a lot because we live in a mountain town next to a larger city, so everything is spread out. We have solar on our house. From April - October, about 90% of charging is done by solar for both cars. From Nov - March, it is much less, like 20-30%, but even so, it’s cheaper than gas. During those months, we rely more on charging on the free chargers at our workplace, which run on renewables or has a carbon offset (part of vail epic 100% renewable promise).

It feels great to have close to zero emissions from solar/ev combo for part of the year and for the rest of the year, we try our best. I can sit in a toasty parked car in the winter and blast the air conditioning in a parked car in the summer. I can preheat and precool the car. I can leave our dog in the car with the temp at 68 degrees in the middle of summer. The acceleration is awesome. I haven’t been to a gas station in 6 months. The only maintenance is tires, wipers, and air filters. No oil changes, brake pads, brake fluid, transmissions, transmission fluid, jumper cables, radiators, catalytic converters, coolant, spark plugs, fuel pump, water pump, fan belt, ignition, etc.

In April, I drove 1500 miles on my ev. Average gas cost for ice vehicle is 11.29 per 100 miles, so this would have cost me $170 in gas. Instead, I paid $9. Over the course of the year, I would have paid $2000+ in gas and instead I pay about $500 in electricity. [/quote]

Thanks for writing this up. Very informative. The significant reduced maintenance makes sense, but--and here I show my ignorance--was surprised that brake pads and fluids were on your list. What makes the process of braking different on EVs vs. Gas?[/quote]

Sorry I got carried away  - there are brake pads and fluid on EV’s, but they wear down really slowly and they could last forever. They are there as back up to the regenerative braking which you most often use. When you press the accelerator, the motor drives the wheels. When you release the accelerator, the electric motor disengages from the wheels, and instead of the battery powering the motor, the kinetic energy of the spinning wheels powers the battery, if that makes sense. The car brakes because the wheels are encountering the natural resistance of the motor not running.

So yes, there are brakes and pads, but they are not used as often. When I stop at a stoplight or a stop sign, I just release the accelerator and come to a stop. It actually stops faster than I think, so often I have to “ride” the accelerator to get to the correct stopping place. [/quote]

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