[LandsPB]

Hi all,
Was watching Rich Rebuilds (love his channel - his wife must be a patient person and/or borderline saint ) a few days ago with his mini cooper electric project. He mentioned this forum, and so I figured I’d join. I’m wanting an electric car. I‘ll put an ad in classifieds tho. I’ve owned 95 cars and 30 motorcycles in my life, so figured its time to try an electric. Have a round trip 10 mile commute, and, 2 cents a mile speaks to me, compared to the 18 cents a mile (at current price of diesel) my F350. Also, I’m in Oregon. Pretty good clean power state with around 50% hydro and some wind too. Anyway, thanks for the welcome!

Lance

 

[LandsPB]

May have found a car... will post updates!

 

[LandsPB]

Ok, ended up with a 2014 Fiat 500e... ☺

 

[LandsPB]

First week of electric car ownership... really am loving it. No issues. Have taken it on a 50+ mile trip, charges every night. Super fun to drive. And, the bonus features - instant heat/defrost, and heated seats!

 

[LandsPB]

Newbie and his electric car first day:

The 2014 Fiat 500e story... It was listed at 6500$. Buuut, I found a guy at small dealership in Eugene (95 miles away, keep that in mind) wanted to trade for 2 motorcycles. The 2 bikes are worth about 4500$ total. Buuut, I‘ve wheeled and dealed over the last 3-4 years and really only have about 1100$ into them. On top of that, there’s a 2500$ state rebate for 0 emissions cars so I will get a 2500$ check in the mail... so that one actually cost me negative money... I’ll have a car and about 1100-1400$ cash money.

So, we get there and it’s a painless transaction at the dealership. We head home with 95 miles showing, though range super quickly drops as 65 mph down the highway eats up battery. 50 miles out we stop at Rice Hill and find a charger. Car is at maybe 20%. Have to call the 1-800 number. Evidently there’s an App to download. Takes 10 min as lady on phone has to reboot the charger. Then, 40 min to put in about 40%. It’s free tho.

Onward! Get to Roseburg, and again, down to maybe 15%. We find a charger at Fred Meyer but has a car plugged in. Head across town, and find one at Walgreens. Again, a phone call and a different app. This one we download and it charges us 2$ parking fee, lol, but free charging. Weird. Ok, we leave car and go to 5 Guys for hamburger. Eat in truck, since no in store tables. Wait 45 min., car is charged to 45%.

Decide to head home on backroads and get home no issues, with about 10% charge left. Car is now plugged into home 120v and, has a cool feature of the charge indicator on the front dash, so I can look out the window and see it’s at 3 bars right now. So def charging. Should be at 5 bars, full charge, by noon. That’s my story! Funny and weird car. Def not a highway car for any distance. Drives great, and like new tho. 46,0000 miles on it. Just, like having the gas tank always at 1/3. Should be great commuter and super cheap to use. Gotta remember, highway eats up Battery. 50 is a realistic number. 2.5 hours is realistic charge at level 2. Household charge level one is all day, up to 20 hours. When my rebate comes in, I’m buying level 2 charger, no doubt...
Her name is officially Pearl Jetson... little sister to my 2002 Boxster, Pippi Porsche, and our Kia Soul, Hamster. Driveway full of interesting cars! Loving it. a fun article on Mashable sums up my first day experience. “It’s not a car, it’s a hobby that can take me places...” quoted from a Mashable article.

updates to follow!

 

[LandsPB]

My long term goal with this car is, in the next few years, try and see about a battery pack upgrade. Build it myself if need be. If this car had 200 miles range, it would be almost as useful as my wife’s Kia Soul, with its tiny gas tank. I say almost because charging time is still a factor. Ok, 200 miles range and level 3 charging. Anyway, if anyone has interesting ideas on battery pack upgrades for Pearl Jetson, let me know!

 

[LandsPB]

Had Pearl Jetson a month. Really loving the electric experience.

 

[jillianmaki]

Welcome!

 

[LandsPB]

Welcome!

Thank you!

 

[LandsPB]

I have to say, I love getting the weekly updates and reading about the diy cars.
Pearl Jetson is doing great too!

L

 

[LandsPB]

Car is awesome. Put some graphics on the side, and, let’s see... one side marker that had a crack I replaced.

 

[LandsPB]

Pearl Jetson, the 500e Electric car is being awesome and I drive it daily. love It! wife and I are considering a Kia Soul Electric some time in our future, to replace our 2011 Kia Soul gas model. Gotta get the range up above 200 and it’s viable for our use… we shall see what the 2022 models have...