Cheaper, I’ll give you, for sure. There’s still a hefty cost premium on them. I wouldn’t worry about safety though. There’s no substantial safety difference between EVs and ICE. Also, on the cost front, keep in mind that EVs are essentially zero maintenance. No engine oil or coolant to change, no transmission to service, and brakes last forever because of regeneration. No power steering fluid or differentials. They have zero fluids in them except for a sealed transaxle. No spark plugs, fuel injectors, hoses, etc etc to go bad. The only maintenance is tires. Sure at some point the battery will need to be replaced, and that’s likely to be expensive. However that’s a good 15 years away and by then who knows what the cost will be. Presumably a lot less. Something to think about if cost is keeping you away.
Holy shit, I totally forgot about that. We’ve decided on a Chevrolet Bolt. We will probably need to upgrade our electrical panel tho, in order to get the 240 charger.
Car salesperson was talking about how many Tesla’s had been traded in lately. I guess he thought we might go for those? Which no, no way. With what I’ve heard about the build quality (and at that price!), the rare (but still high) burning events, that damned giant screen in the middle of the dash, and the fact that the CEO is tied so tightly into the brand. Just no
Edited because I had the wrong volts
Do you have a circuit for an electric stove or dryer? If so, there’s a chance a level 2 charger could share the same circuit. I think there may even be some chargers that are smart enough to sense the load on the circuit so you wouldn’t have to worry about coordinating your charging and your clothes drying. Technology Connections did a video on this not long ago; I think it was this one:
Check for any nearby charging stations. Some businesses (example: Whole Foods) have a few charging stations, usually nearest to store entrances. Shop while you charge-up. 
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You won’t be disappointed. I adored my Bolt. I only gave it up due to moving to a rural area and needing a truck. Sadly that’s a use case for which EVs don’t quite work. Soon though, I hope.
The full regen mode on the Bolt (hand paddle plus L mode) is incredible. I hardly touched the brakes in three years. 
The upgrade for a level 2 charger at home is absolutely worth it. You won’t be disappointed with that either. I would not want to live with 110V charging. It’s super inconvenient.
I ran a dedicated 110V line for our EV. Its been temporary for the past 6 years but it does the job for as much as the missus drives.
Why 110V? There wasnt enough space in the existing conduit to run lower guage (fatter) wiring.
ETA: because pedants be pedanting
Still beats buying gas!
On that topic for @TornPaperNapkin ’s benefit or anyone else concerned about the cost of EVs: you don’t have to buy gas.
I did the math on my Leaf when I first got it, assuming a generous 30mpg for a gas car (which let’s face it, nothing gets consistently) and $2.50/gal for gas (which, let’s face it, we’ll never see again). Multiply by my monthly mileage. Then I compared that to how much my electric bill went up. I was paying 20% as much for the electricity as I used to for gas. That’s the power of efficiency. And again, that’s giving the gas car a very generous set of numbers.
That amazed me, so I did the math again on the kWH equivalent energy density of gasoline, and determined that the fully charged Leaf went 90 miles on the equivalent of 3/4s of a gallon of gas. Incredible.
Unfortunately this efficiency is also fragile. That range disappears very quickly in cold weather, high winds, at high speeds, up long hills, etc. Gas mileage drops a lot in those scenarios too, but you don’t feel it in your range because you have a lot more a buffer to play with for gasoline.
I keep seeing the headline and have to remind myself, “oh, right! They mean literally, in this case.”
Well played.
I’m curious if anything other than water would worked better (say a helicopter dumping baking soda on it), but as you describe that “magic candle” effect it seems hopeless.
Good thing they were able to pull over and jump.
Looking forward to the 007 parody where they drop the battery (or series of batteries, each with a novel excuse for having been damaged,) out in front of the bad guys and blow the gypsum or other failsafe off it.
… it’s like an explosive in slow motion?
Ummm… (Going for the pedant badge here) numerically higher gauge wiring would be thinner and capable of less current. And wire gauge isn’t what limits the voltage, that’s more a function of the insulation. Usually the existing wiring could still deal with 240 volts, so you could get twice the power with the same current (which is what wire gauge limits).
But that’s only if you could have a dedicated circuit for the charger- other devices on that circuit probably wouldn’t like that higher voltage.
That said, my spouse’s EV is likewise doing well enough with 120 volt charging at home (at 8 amps, I think). With a relatively short <35 mile roundtrip commute, we don’t even plug the car in every night.
I personally hate Musk because he is rich and I am not.
Electrical engineer here.
I know that current is what determines the wire guage, however where I live code requires that 240V circuits have a smaller guage wire (that is, a fatter wire) and I couldnt run that down the existing conduit and still meet code.
The pedant badge is not something to strive for.
So… you’re envious? Do you envy other people, and hate them too, for having what you haven’t got?
I hate Musk fans who think all the criticism of him (or any other right-wing billionaire) is due to jealousy.
I typically do not make sweeping statements about hating categories of people, but in this case I will agree with you, I hate Musk fans too.
I don’t make sweeping statements like that either without qualifying why I hold that opinion. Hence my pointing out that someone responding to criticisms of right-wing billionaires with claims of “jealousy” is usually displaying their own stupidity. One could easily substitute “Libertarians” for “Musk fans” in that regard, although of course there’s a lot of overlap between those two circles of idiocy.
That’s quite a problem you have there… The rest of us have a problem with how he’s wrecking society and hoarding resources that the rest of the world desperately needs, but you do you, I guess.
You got it. The code for BESS (battery energy storage systems) NFPA 855 specifies at least 0.3 gal per sq ft per minute for an “event”. For a 53 foot container thats about 120 gal per minute, and the event ends only when we think its under control… in 20 minutes that’s a metric ton, and the events dont really end in 20 min.
For watertight (or nearly) containers that could mean literally flooding them several feet high which then has us engineers doing calcs as to whether the container can successfully hold in a swimming pool (they can’t due to breakaway latches).
This, btw, is normal in the power industry. My old plant had fire deluge systems for 290 MVA 345kV transformers that would use dual 250 hp pumps and a 8 in main during a fire event (those transformers are about the size of a 2 car garage).
