As a few of , I’ve been making an attempt to determine what to do with my 2008 Subaru Forester for some time now. With an engine that wanted to be rebuilt, a transmission that might sometimes drop down into third gear on the freeway and who is aware of what number of different gremlins hiding below the hood, it clearly wanted to get replaced. On the identical time, regardless of not feeling comfy promoting it to another person, I additionally couldn’t fairly determine what to do with it as a result of it nonetheless ran, and the gasket sealer I added did cease a lot of the oil leaking for the final 12 months.
Sadly for me, I’m not precisely swimming in money, so no matter I changed it with needed to be low-cost to purchase, function and insure. Second-generation Porsche Cayennes proved to be a tempting possibility, however as a lot as I like the concept of proudly owning an affordable Porsche, I simply couldn’t deliver myself to drag the set off, particularly with the prospect of tariffs on imported elements looming on the horizon. Particularly not when my outdated good friend the Fiat 500e was additionally sitting there, calling my identify.
At first, I thought of leasing a brand new one. That may have given me the chance to present it a correct long-term take a look at, and I might deal with the fee. It’s a a lot better automotive than its predecessor and comes with considerably extra vary, however then I noticed it. A child blue 2015 Fiat 500e with about 68,000 miles on the odometer. It was slightly costlier than I hoped for, however that’s partly as a result of outdated 500es have held their worth a lot better than you may count on. It was additionally almost 90 miles away from the place I reside, which isn’t precisely perfect when the automotive itself is just EPA-rated at 87 miles of vary.
On the identical time, it’s not like I wasn’t accustomed to the first-generation 500e. I owned one once I lived in LA and cherished just about all the pieces about it. I didn’t find it irresistible when somebody tried to steal the copper out of my charging cable and ruined it, however that wasn’t the Fiat’s fault. It was only a incredible day by day driver that price virtually nothing to maintain on the street. The one drawback is that I reside in Georgia now, which is rather more unfold out than my outdated neighborhood in Koreatown. It will probably additionally get fairly chilly right here, which is rarely good for EV vary.
Nonetheless, simply how dangerous might or not it’s? I used to be already accustomed to the automotive, the one I discovered was a Good Shade and it’s not like I drive 100 miles a day. I’d charged one off a wall outlet earlier than simply nice, and there was no purpose I couldn’t do the identical factor once more. The truth that I might write in regards to the actuality of residing with a low-range EV outdoors of a serious metropolis was additionally a bonus.
So I pulled the set off and picked up my new-to-me 2015 Fiat 500e over Thanksgiving weekend. The dealership took the Subaru off my arms, and I used to be free. Besides it was additionally about 40 levels out, and the drive residence was virtually all freeway miles, which as most of you already know is horrible for an EV’s vary. Fortunately, there have been additionally loads of chargers alongside the route, so I didn’t have to fret an excessive amount of about working out of juice. I’ve had good experiences with ChargePoint up to now, so I picked one which was about 40 miles away and set off.
Did I make it, and did the charger work? You guess. Sadly for me, that was additionally about so far as I might fairly drive with out stopping to cost. After I say chilly climate straight-up destroys the outdated 500e’s vary, I actually do imply it. And because the automotive maxes out at a cost fee of simply 6.6 kW, a full cost takes about 4 hours, and you may overlook quick charging. Nonetheless, it wasn’t dangerous. I spent my time re-familiarizing myself with the automotive and infrequently standing again simply to admire how good it appears to be like. You don’t must agree, however I actually am in love with the colour.
An hour and $2 later, I figured I’d charged lengthy sufficient and set off once more. As I handed the final charger between the place I used to be and the place I used to be going, I even felt assured sufficient to skip it. Not lengthy after I did, although, the estimated vary began to drop sooner than it had been earlier than. Perhaps I used to be driving up a delicate incline and didn’t discover, nevertheless it was clear I’d be slicing it shut. Because it turned out, “shut” meant one mile and two %. Oops.
Fortunately, I don’t drive wherever close to that far every day, and I’ve but to chop it that shut once more within the, uh, three days I’ve owned it? Truthfully, the furthest I am going is to my girlfriend’s home, and roundtrip, that’s solely 35 miles or so. However, I’m not going to fake it’s going to be worry-free till spring. We’re presently in the course of a chilly snap, and lows are within the 20s. Even with the warmth off, I in all probability solely have about half the vary you’d count on.
I’ll additionally must hire a automotive to go on a street journey, and I can’t high off my battery in 15 or 20 minutes like you may with a long-range EV. I’ll in all probability additionally must take care of some vary anxiousness till it will get slightly hotter, but when nothing about your automotive causes you anxiousness, what are you supposed to fret about whereas driving? Nothing? I’ve received my flaws, however I’m not that a lot of a psychopath.
