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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 137054
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | 1
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Alas, my PT Cruiser (2001) seems to be on its last legs—er, wheels. Poking around in search of a replacement. I am thinking electric. And my gaze has settled on a VW ID.Buzz. Looks kinda fun, and from my limited travel needs, pretty practical. Plus it conjures my College days longings for a VW bus. To the Forum, then, what are your experiences with electric vehicles?
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Trevor Smith
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 3704
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 3:20pm | IP Logged | 2
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We have a Kia Niro Hybrid. Fills are much less frequent,
so yes, we're saving on fuel. However, one thing we did
not know before buying it is that the battery slowly
discharges when left for lengthy periods of time. We
learned this when we came back from a three week vacation
to a stone-dead car.
Short version, we did some web-browsing on the spot and
discovered that there's a sort of "self boost" button -
one battery will boost the other in exactly this
scenario. It might not be an issue with the model you're
looking at, but it's worth looking into. And on top of
that, if it's going to be a daily (or every few days)
driver, it shouldn't be a problem
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 137054
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 3:36pm | IP Logged | 3
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We have a Kia Niro Hybrid. Fills are much less frequent,so yes, we're saving on fuel. However, one thing we didnot know before buying it is that the battery slowlydischarges when left for lengthy periods of time. Welearned this when we came back from a three week vacationto a stone-dead car.••• Both my conventional gasoline cars do that. The Jag is currently dead, and the Cruiser sputtered out pulling out of the garage. Both had been undriven for several weeks, with my medical adventures.
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Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 32240
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 3:40pm | IP Logged | 4
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My wife’s company car is a Toyota Prius hybrid. We both LOVE it. She gets
55 mpg and only fills up like once every two weeks or so. I wish we could
afford to get one for me.
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 418
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 3:55pm | IP Logged | 5
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I have been driving a Tesla Model 3 for the last 8 years, and drove a Chinese EV on my family trip to France this past July.
I’ve come to regret the small role I played in enriching a billionaire douchebag, but I continue to enjoy the car itself. In terms or reliability, it’s worked great and we’ve taken it on lengthy cross-country trips through the years. In terms of service needs, it’s had far fewer issues than my wife’s Honda, but times where it’s required service have been costly. Still, we’ve definitely spent more money servicing the Honda. Tires are way more expensive because the car is so much heavier.
I think the most common EV concern pertains to range. My Tesla supposedly has a range of about 300 miles, but in reality I’d say it gets closer to 240, and less in freezing temperatures. Still, I was shocked at how terrible the range was on the MG4 I drove in France. It promised around 400km or range, and delivered far, far less in reality.
But if you aren’t going on any lengthy trips, you’ll love the convenience of never needing to stop at a gas station again. The convenience of home charging is fantastic. Also fwiw my wife loves the VW ID and I wouldn’t be surprised if we buy one ourselves someday.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 137054
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | 6
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The furthest I drive is a 100 mile round trip to a friend who lives three towns over. So range is not a big consideration. (I find myself thinking of when I first moved here. After one full summer I shut the pool and haven’t had it open since. That was 2006. After my first pool-less year I received a bonus from the electric company because of all the power I had saved!)
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 418
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 4:21pm | IP Logged | 7
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JB, without knowing too much about the VW specifically, I would suspect that the biggest learning curve you might face is having to interact with a lot of touch screen stuff, which is pretty common in modern EVs. I get the feeling you're relatively tech savvy and it probably wouldn't be too difficult to train your brain.
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Jason K Fulton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 23 September 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 859
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 4:53pm | IP Logged | 8
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The Teslas appear to have an engineering flaw that locks the door during crashes, resulting in people being burned alive. That seems like a bad way to go?
That VW looks neat, I hadn't seen that model before.
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 418
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 5:19pm | IP Logged | 9
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Jason, they have a built in mechanism to open the doors manually if there’s an electrical issue.
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Steve Coates
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 November 2014
Location: Canada
Posts: 968
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 5:38pm | IP Logged | 10
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I drove a Nissan Leaf for three years starting about ten years ago. No real problems with the vehicle. Very little and very low cost maintenance. No tire changes and no brake changes. Had one bad incident in cold weather. Used for commuting and was at near extreme range. Had a charger installed at home and didn't notice a great increase in electricity usage/monthly billing. Range began to decrease as the batteries aged. No one else in the family would drive it as it requires a realignment of the drivers thinking which made it impractical as a second family vehicle. Seating was comfortable with good door clearance for my long body and short legs. I really miss the go factor. There is no revving up, no hesitation, just go, when the accelerator is engaged.
I could really do without all the electronic components which are base items in todays vehicles, electric, hybrid or internal combustion.
Edited by Steve Coates on 13 September 2026 at 5:38pm
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 418
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| Posted: 13 September 2026 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | 11
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Steve, could you elaborate more on what you mean in terms of "it requires a realignment of the drivers thinking"? As in, if you're not used to driving it, it's difficult to drive? I think that's a good point about the Model 3 as well; it's just so different to operate the controls compared to an ICE car that if you don't use it all the time, it might be hard to remember how certain things work.
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