Larry Magid: EV shoppers finally have plenty of choices

I spent part of last weekend at the Electrify Expo in Alameda to view electric cars, trucks, bikes, scooters, skateboards and other assorted battery-powered vehicles. There were also plenty of accessories like chargers, and EV aftermarket products. I drove there in my EV, but rather than pay to park, I parked on the street about a mile away and rode the rest of the way on an even more energy efficient vehicle — my fold-up bike that fits easily into my trunk.

I didn’t expect a large turnout partially because there is no shortage of showrooms with EVs in the Bay Area and the many articles I’ve read about disappointing EV sales. But I was pleasantly surprised by the large turnout. It seems as if a lot of people are interested in electric vehicles.

Lots of choices

As someone who’s owned a Tesla Model 3 since 2018, I was pleased to see several other car companies showing EVs. In addition to Tesla, exhibitors included Ford, BMW, Hyundai, KIA, Lexus, Lucid, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Rivian, Toyota and Volvo. There was even an exhibit from a company I hadn’t heard of. Vinfast is a Vietnamese EV manufacturer with four models that has a showroom in San Mateo and other cities.

I haven’t done enough research to describe the differences and relative advantages of the various models, but anyone shopping for an EV today has a lot of good options. Until recently, Teslas were the only EVs with access to a large network of chargers, but that’s slowly changing. Tesla has promised to open up its network of 30,000 chargers to other carmakers, but according to the New York Times, that’s not happening as quickly as expected. But even without Tesla superchargers, there are increased options from networks such as Electrify America, EVgo and Blink Charging. If you’re traveling on major highways, an EV road trip can be relatively stress free. You do need to plan some, and you will need to stop more often than if you drive a gasoline car, but my bladder needs to be emptied far sooner than my battery needs to be filled, so I’m not bothered by having to stop, especially if the chargers are near restaurants and bathrooms, which is usually the case.

Hybrids save gasoline

While most of the cars on display at the Electrify Expo were fully electric, several companies showed off their hybrid vehicles that combine an electric motor with an internal combustion engine, which results in significant fuel efficiency compared with gasoline-only vehicles. Plug-in hybrids are able to drive up to 40 or more miles on electricity before switching over to gas, which almost eliminates the need for gasoline for local trips.

Even regular hybrids can be extremely efficient. My wife drives a 2016 Prius, which gets about 54 miles per gallon. At $4 a gallon, that comes to less than 8 cents a mile. The Prius is more efficient than most hybrids, but even large hybrid SUVs are significantly more efficient than their gasoline equivalents.

My Tesla Model 3 gets 226-watt hours per mile, which is the equivalent of about 149 miles per gallon. At 20 cents per kilowatt hour, I pay about 4.5 cents a mile.  Of course, your mileage will vary as will the cost of gasoline or electricity. Regardless of what fuel you use, driving at moderate speeds, avoiding rapid acceleration and keeping your tires properly inflated will increase your miles per gallon or kilowatt hour. My cost is based on home charging. Public charging is usually (though not always) more expensive.

High school students building EVs

One of the exhibitors at the EV Expo was Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, whose mascot, coincidentally, is the “Charger.”

The school operates an automotive program run by the school’s Career Technical Education department chair Jozef Antolin. The school, which has operated since the ’60s, still teaches students to maintain and repair internal combustion vehicles but now teaches about EVs, using a teaching platform from Switch Vehicles that includes kits for students to build “road ready” electric vehicles. The school now has three of these vehicles, which according to Antolin, “have the basic systems that you will find in every EV.”  Although it would be far too ambitious to teach students to take apart and repair their parents’ EVs, they are learning about the basic components and subsystems that are in every EV, according to Antolin.

Small EV learning curve

Although driving an EV is similar to driving a gasoline car, there are some things you need to learn, including charging habits that will help extend the life of the battery, planning road trips and using whatever software is included with the vehicles. Owners of newer model Teslas may also have to re-learn how to shift and indicate turns. The company has removed the familiar stalks from the steering wheel, which has turned out to be an unpopular enhancement. I’ve also had to learn how to reboot the car’s computer and have had to re-learn things after major software updates.

Test drive

If you’re shopping for a new car, this might be a good time to test drive various EVs from nearby dealers. Prices have dropped for many models over the past few months, and many may be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax rebate, depending on the specific model and your adjusted gross income.

Still, it’s important to remember that there is an environmental cost to any new car, so if you don’t need a new car and if you don’t drive a lot, it might make both financial and environmental sense to hang on to the car you have.

Larry Magid is a tech journalist and internet safety activist. Contact him at larry@larrymagid.com.