EV's & Tundra's

get this...

so I got the inspection sticker yesterday.

today, I get an email from carfax asking how my experience was.

how do it know? no matter how you slice that....scary.

 

naw...they don't drive more that 200 miles a day? do they?

they would charge overnight or between shifts.

I'm showing my ignorance.

 

everyone is reporting to Carfax now; quickie lubes, bodyshops, ins companies, DMVs, dealers, KBB, Siri, Alexa, and even Elon

 

Most departments run 3 shifts; hand off of vehicles occurs during overlap; about 2/3 of most fleets are moving at any given time and the other 1/3 is rarely sitting more than a couple of hours; most guys will run 50-100 miles per shift at a busy department; can they run while sitting for extended periods (a/c, running equipment, etc...) also since the battery is running everything all the equipment is drawing off the battery (light bars, radios, gps, wi-fi computer signals, plate readers, report writing systems, PAs)... they all draw juice and a lot of it (stock alternators can't keep up w/the loads) and most HD alternators in the police packages struggle in hot climates.

I'm guessing you'd probably see 1/3 to 1/4th of the 'driven' miles per charge (maybe 1/2 in rare cases) expected out of a full charge w/the constant amp load required for all the BS those things have in them these days.

 

It's doable, it just isn't the everything is absolutely seamless and easy and less expensive transition that people would like to think... I'm just saying there are a lot of factors that most don't consider and until you put 'em through the processes and trials you really don't know.

KInda like when they threw Chevy Luminas at us years ago (better mileage, more compact, cheaper initial purchase price, etc...); one round of EVOC and we twisted the frames so bad the front doors wouldn't close... problem solved (I mean, whew, we avoided having to drive around in those sardine boxes)!!

 

I think not every cop car has to do stereotypical jobs. Memories driving through Manhattan the last few years tell me NYPD traffic division has various types of plug in EVs and hybrids to putter around in traffic giving tickets and telling people to move. Chiefs or commissioners and other brass have a car to drive or be driven in to appearances. Some Detective Divisions will leave cars parked until they need to respond to something from home or work. My buddy who was a homicide detective did not get a take home car. He was in his home or office until it was his turn to respond or he was going out to lock someone up. Otherwise the car he usually had access to was parked there and could he charging the whole time.

I am not generally an EV fan but see how it could be made to work out OK for some divisions in some departments if management are not impractical hyper-political hacks devoid of common sense.

 

That's a big IF....common sense isn't so common in 2023.

 

I specifically mentioned the red flags for that reason. It's a fast track bypass of due process.

 

I will say this, Tesla needs to poach the body work designers from Lucid. They look SO MUCH BETTER.

 

How long before idiots with lifted Teslas start bitching about losing range?

 

I do think a model Y would be an awesome rally car.

 

He beats specific built dragsters

without breaking

I hope we don’t marginalize this type of performance

 

Here come the... what's the largest tire I can fit on my M3 w/a .75" lift kit

 

I saw a cybertruck in the western suburbs of Minneapolis yesterday. Was on the highway and it came up right behind me. Couldn’t believe my eyes! Must have been a prototype or development unit. Couldn’t grab a picture unfortunately.

 

They're delivering soon. May be one that somebody with a hook was driving. Also wouldn't put it past Tesla to drive them in city areas and they're suburbs to generate buzz.

 

Have a Jeep Wagoneer for 7 days. Rented for our extended family thanksgiving trip. So far I hit the wipers when I need to back up. I missed the exit because no FSD. And this thing has as much wind noise as the MY. Seats aren’t as comfy either

 

I had, of all things, a Mitsubishi i-Miev. It was basically a street legal golf cart. I enjoyed the heck out of it, and the price of admission was LOW. A teenager turned left in front of me and took it out. With the $7k insurance money, I bought a first gen Tacoma TRD and enjoyed the heck out of that too. And hauled all kinds of stuff, joined a band and took it on tour, etc. etc.

Now I've just gotten a 3rd gen Tundra SR5 to replace that and am enjoying that too. Ev's are great, and the combination of an EV for commuting and around town and a truck should make a lot more sense to a lot more folks. Drivers who like torque in their towing rigs should dig EV torque in their around town rides too.

 

With that huge slab of glass up front I kinda want to see how much coverage the wiper has. I'm also betting it'll be a proprietary size so you can only buy the $300 Tesla Wiper.