I adjusted to the Bolt’s regenerative braking fairly quickly. The problem now is that when I switch to the ICE car, the first time I need to stop and I lift my foot from the accelerator and it doesn’t stop is always a bit of a shock. So far I’ve found the brake in time.
We just bought a new hybrid SUV, a Toyota RAV4. We had a hybrid car (Prius) a little over ten years ago and I hated that car. It was like driving a soda can around. Our new hybrid is great. It’s exactly like the gas guzzler version and gets fantastic gas milage. The hybrid system is much smoother, too. I can barely tell when it switches from gas to electric. I am often seeing fully electric cars on fire on the side of the road near where I live, so I want to give those a little more time before I buy one. I like reliability. The hybrid is a nice compromise but doesn’t feel like a compromise, which I like.
Today we saw an Ionic5 and the Toyota whatever it’s called electric that looks almost exactly the same parked side by side at the Toyota dealership. The Ionic had 1700 miles on it. The Toyota was new. Both were about $52,000.
I’m convinced the prices will come down as more of these types of cars come on the market. And luckily I’m in no rush to buy…anything.
Gas vs. Electric Car Fires [2023 Findings] | AutoinsuranceEZ.com indicates that the fire rate has hybrid > gasoline > electric. However, electric vehicle battery fires can be more difficult to put out.
That’s not really what I’m seeing IRL where I live. It could be the driving conditions here.
I bought the ID.4 Pro S a couple of months ago. Absolutely love it! Drives the same and is more comfortable than the BMW X3 which I had for my previous cars. I drive a lot for work as a Home Health PT. So far I am not charging at home as we are waiting on solar panel installation. It has not been a problem to charge through Electrify America stations. 30 minutes lasts 2-3 days. And the ID.4 comes with 3 years of free charging. I’m in So Cal, so not burdened by cold weather and we have a solid network of community chargers.
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Often seeing EV car fires? Where is this? The only place I’ve seen that is on some national news report. Our late local traffic reporter used to call them car-b-cues or auto flambe’.
My DS is looking at the polestar and the ioniq 5. No decision yet.
DH is enjoying his new ‘23 Prius LTD. We went in it with friends to the mountains yesterday. It was a nice day, but when the 4 of us went to dinner, we happened to park behind a car that was the exact car (though different color) that DH had that was totaled 2 months ago when some careless driver ran him off the road and kept going. He really misses that car (and they don’t make it any more). He likes the Prius, but he loved that other car.
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The tag above was meant for supportive mom, not ucb. Sorry.
I don’t really want to out where I live, but it’s a difficult place to drive anything. Harsh weather, extreme heat and cold, terrible traffic. Experiences may vary, as with any product.
Often? Like once a week? Once a month? Wow, you must have a lot of EVs where you live. 
And plenty of very dumb people who seem to keep buying cars not suitable for your area… sorry, your story just doesn’t sound plausible. 
Every 20th car here in our area north-East of Seattle is an EV, and I have yet to see one on fire. Haven’t seen a car fire in ages, to think of it, hybrid, ICE, or EV.
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I’m definitely not in Seattle. Very different weather. EVs are extremely popular here and have been for years, even before the pandemic. The infrastructure for them can’t keep up with demand. The most car fires I see are in old cars, one type of EV is second, but I see multiple car fires a week driving around.
You actually shared your location in another thread, @anon87843660. Its just difficult to imagine seeing multiple car fires a week, of any kind. I live in a very highly trafficked urban/suburban area, and while we only rarely get winter conditions, I can’t remember the last time I saw a “car-b-que”.
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I can’t recall ever seeing any car fires. I guess things are different in different areas.
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That must be one hellhole of a place! Oh my. Although I can’t think of any major metro area that has extreme cold and heat and has a gazillion of older EVs zipping around.
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Catching up to this late, but Tesla has been much harder to catch up to than these competitors imagined, despite their extensive manufacturing expertise.
It turns out that Tesla can innovate in manufacturing as well, in everything ranging from higher density batteries (made with a partnership with Panasonic) to making battery packs a structural member which makes their cars lighter and cheaper to manufacture (but more expensive to insure). It is the lowest cost producer of EVs, and can successfully wage price wars against other manufacturers.
There’s a piece in today’s Boston Globe about the wild west world of charging EV’s. Unless you have a Tesla charging can be problematic here in MA. Wide spectrum in terms of charging costs, and good luck finding lots of charging stations outside of the Rt. 95 corridor.
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My wife has had a hybrid since 2011. I also got a hybrid in 2021. When it’s time to get a new car for her, we might go for a commuter electric car, no need for a 300 mile range.
That’s interesting. I have never had trouble finding a place in MA to charge my (non-Tesla) EV, and many of the places I have charged here have been free. Maybe I am just lucky that the places I go (outside the 95 corridor) happen to have lots of charging opportunities.
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I’m another who really doubts you’re seeing what you think you’re seeing - even after a Google search trying to find anywhere with a large number of EV fires (FL, after people had been driving flooded ones, was the only anomaly I found).
Otherwise, from the study @ucbalumnus posted, you’re now driving the riskiest type of vehicle as far as fires are concerned.
Hybrid-powered cars were involved in about 3,475 fires per every 100,000 sold. Gasoline-powered cars, about 1,530. Electric vehicles (EVs) saw just 25 fires per 100,000 sold.
It reminds me a bit of airplane crashes - they make the news, so some people are afraid to fly, but it’s the safest form of transportation out there.
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We just test drove the Kia Sportage PHEV and Hybrid, the Toyota Rav-4 Prime, the Hybrid CR-V, and the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid. Our first choice was/is the Kia Sportage PHEV, however dealer markup (“market adjustment”) of $5000 was too much. Loved the interior–comfortable seats, great technology, spacious back seats that recline far.
It looks like we’re going to get the hybrid CR-V since that’s the only one that isn’t being marked up. The RAV-4 is what we wanted to like the most, but was actually our least favorite. It’s like Toyota is stick in time and didn’t seem like a leap forward in terms of technology or interior finishes.
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