Guns & Outdoors Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha5cjW6Ar6U

If CATL is telling the truth there might finally be a realistic breakthrough for electric vehicles. It checks the box in every way except energy density, but they say they will be there in 5 years. Could be a bunch of corporate bs. Time will tell. But a battery that has a 6 million mile lifespan prior to replacement is intriguing. If they can get the density up for greater range it might finally make sense to buy electric. Afordability, range, and longjevity have always made me nope out, but this has me thinking viability might be getting close. A real 200 to 250 mile range on an affordable work truck or van will get my attention.

I don’t hate the idea of an electric truck, I just hate the inevitable horse poop that comes with any new vehicle. That’s right, I don’t like safety and convenience.
And I’m old enough to remember when a $100,000 car was SOMETHING.
Now it’s just a loaded pickup truck. Can’t see paying more for a truck than I paid for my house.
Now get off my lawn. I’m yelling at clouds.

Even the "Slate" has too much crap on it - but I'm "done" with new cars. I'll just keep my old junk running and leave the rolling iPhones to the effetes.

My starter motor is electric. What more do these silly hippies want from me???

I'm at the point where I'd consider a decent gas/electric or diesel/electric hybrid, but I have no interest in a hit to cruising range if there's still a ludicrous charging time attached to that reduced range. It should be, "stop, fuel, pee, and resume", not, "stop, start fueling, pee, refill and empty bladder twice more, then resume". And the cynic in me is still going to ask what is generating the power the charging station infrastructure is running on. I'm OK shoveling coal into my own boiler - I don't need Edison to do it for me.

But yeah. . .sounds like a great thing to charge with your household solar panels, run your lawnmowers and cordless drills on, etc...

My honda refuels in under 4 minutes and goes 500mi on a fillup. 35mpg in town and better highway a tad less in the az summer heat due to the a/c working hard and the hot summer gas. Had it since 2018 and nothing i mean nada has broken

Battery tech is poised to do a quantum leap pretty soon. There are 4-5 concepts in testing that are doing amazing things. I talking to a colleague about one that guarantees after 20 years of in-services still at 98% efficiency. Part of the problem is that as soon as some of these small companies make a breakthrough the company falls off the grid before they have a chance to go commercial which will delay deployment to the masses by a few years. I suspect that the government/military swoops in a grabs some of this tech for themselves and classifies it so the Chinese can't get their grubby hands on it. Backwards engineering a battery is relatively easy.

Japhy wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2026 4:18 am My honda refuels in under 4 minutes and goes 500mi on a fillup. 35mpg in town and better highway a tad less in the az summer heat due to the a/c working hard and the hot summer gas. Had it since 2018 and nothing i mean nada has broken

My SIL routinely drives to LA from here in his Tesla Y, it's an almost 4 hour drive and he says he could do it in one shot but it would be close on range, so he just makes a quick bathroom and snack break in the middle and he's good. He actually likes the chance to stretch his legs. Same with my son driving from Phoenix to here in his VW EV. Both cars are perfect for what they are used and around town they are flawless. The Tesla is on it's 5th year of perfect service and the VW is on year 2 of happy driving

Hybrids and EVs have their place in the ecosystem for folks that can use them to their strengths.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2026 2:18 am I don’t hate the idea of an electric truck, I just hate the inevitable horse poop that comes with any new vehicle. That’s right, I don’t like safety and convenience.
And I’m old enough to remember when a $100,000 car was SOMETHING.
Now it’s just a loaded pickup truck. Can’t see paying more for a truck than I paid for my house.
Now get off my lawn. I’m yelling at clouds.

Thanks your whole post made me laugh out loud brother, in a good way. I can actually see you on your lawn fist in the air. And I remember when a $6,000 car was an amazing machine, for its time. That was the price of my buddy's dad's Cadillac De Ville Convertible in 1970. A car that we were allowed to take out on "special occasions" as teens when I was in HS. The freaking thing required three point turns around tight corners.

There are no $100,000 houses anymore anywhere, just like you can't do your food shopping for a family of 5 for 2 weeks worth of groceries with $80 like I remember my mom doing when I was a kid. She screamed bloody hell the first time a full cart+ of food rang over $100

But the good old days are great only in our minds, especially with automobiles and trucks. I drove my buddies MINT '58 Corvette, a car that is deeply entrenched in my heart for it's beauty, and that car was AWFUL to actually drive and quite frankly a death trap if you ever got into wreck. I had this fantasy of driving around in a classic Land Rover Defender as my DD until I actually drove one. If I had to spend an hour in that car in the summer in Las Vegas, I'd murder someone. And I remember vividly how much I enjoyed when my Godfather lent me his Charger 440 Magnum to go out on dates when I was 16! And how that car would overheat and I'd have to sit by the side of the road until the temp came down EVERY time I got caught in traffic for more than a few minutes. BUT DAMN that machine was sweet!!!

So memories are great, but if one is being absolutely objective modern medicine, modern cars, modern housing, modern telecom devices, modern streaming services (vs the 3 old networks) and modern everyday life conveniences like Amazon delivering my groceries for cheaper than me going to the supermarket for a few hours with my wife to buy crap wins in ALL categories all day long.

And now, reality against the internet myth/memes that just keep folks from making smart decisions.

AI Overview:

How long does a Tesla battery lasts?

Tesla batteries are designed to last 300,000 to 500,000 miles (roughly 15 to 20+ years of typical driving). You can expect the battery to lose only 10% to 15% of its original driving range over its first 200,000 miles.

How much does it cost to replace a Tesla Battery?

Tesla battery replacements cost between $10,000 and $22,000, depending on the model and whether you purchase a new or remanufactured pack. Labor adds another $1,000 to $3,000. Most battery replacements fall under the 8-year/100,000 to 150,000-mile manufacturer warranty and are rare.

How much does it cost to maintain a Tesla Y for one year?

Yearly maintenance on a Tesla Model Y typically costs between $300 and $650. Because it is an EV with no engine, oil, or exhaust system, it runs about 50% less to maintain than a comparable gas SUV.

Edmunds: Estimates routine maintenance over 5 years to be roughly $2,521.
CarEdge: Predicts a relatively low probability (18.79%) of needing a major out-of-warranty repair within your first 10 years of ownership.

But let's just stick to energy costs and I'll go with some generic costs. A gas fill-up from empty is $40-$80 ($2-$4 Gal) for a car that takes 20 gals of gas and let's say it gives you 20 MPG. Range is about 250-400 miles depending on driving conditions etc. That is a cost of .20 mile in just gas at the high end of range.

A Tesla Y "fills up with $12 of electricity in my town on a home charger, and you get about 250+ miles on one charge. That's a cost of .05 per mile.

Without taking into consideration the extra maintenance a gas vehicle needs, the cost of energy needed to run both vehicles over 100,000 miles in 4 years of service is

Tesla: $5,000
Gasser: $20,000

And the Tesla battery is still operating at 90%+ capacity and, again, there is very little to maintain in the Tesla. The 100,000 car?

PLUS, the EV cars, especially considering what you are getting, are well priced. A Tesla Y Premium All-Wheel Drive is under $50,000 and it's a NICE car!!! And they hold their value well, Just saw a few used ones for sale with 70-80k miles on them and they are still bringing almost $30k.

Again EVs have their place and are perfect for some people and not so much for others. Life is not a meme, it's a spreadsheet, and everyone should build their own.

I appreciate this conversation. I have, for the last 15 years said,"if the operating cost of an EV is less than a gas vehicle, why haven't the EV companies been screaming it to the hill tops?" are they as stupid at marketing as Remington? Is the cost of the vehicle worth the expense? I live in a rural area and could deal with an EV as an everyday driver but...My Bronco cost me 35,000 and is easy to get in and out of. What is the cost per mile operation over the life expectancy of an EV compared to my Bronco? The Bronco get 26 around town and 34 on the highway.

If I were in a more permanent living situation, with the capability of charging at home, I would probably be driving one of the more economical EVs right now instead of the Tacoma as a DD. As it sits, once charging at home isn't in the equation, for me the math doesn't math. Flipside, however, I will say I have never driven an EV and ENJOYED it. They are the epitome of a transportation appliance, at least the ones I have driven. I am super interested in seeing how the Slate plays out. I could see myself in one of those in 5 or so years.

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2026 9:46 pm<snip> Life is not a meme, it's a spreadsheet, and everyone should build their own.

And sometimes a joke is just a F'ING JOKE

An EV truck capable of doing and comparably equipped to my current truck will cost roughly $35k more on the low end of the spectrum. I can buy a lot of fuel and oil changes for that $35K difference. To put a higher output level 2 charger on my house will ultimately cost me about $20k due to what would need done to upgrade and repair everything to complete the work. I could go with a low power level 2 to be able to charge at home, but that may or may not be enough overnight. I do a summer trip every year that would result in running out of battery between stops that have zero charging stations between them. My Colorado has so far averaged about 17.5 mpg towing the small camper. A Sierra EV is going to have a poop range even with the "410 mile" battery pack. I would be shocked if it managed much over 200 miles with the trailer. Two of my stops are right around 300 miles apart. Plenty of gas stations, but zero charging stations.

I would however consider something like a Slate for daily use as long as im working somewhat close to home. Current job location would work okay, but potential data center project would not work at all.

GrapeApe wrote: ↑Fri May 22, 2026 3:01 am

Wambli Ska wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2026 9:46 pm<snip> Life is not a meme, it's a spreadsheet, and everyone should build their own.

And sometimes a joke is just a F'ING JOKE

I guess I just don't find internet memes that fertilize ignorance with BS funny anymore. I'm sure other's laughed, it's all good

I'm just reading Wambli's post and enjoying the newfound knowledge that there's a Tesla Model "WHY?"

Obviously you didn’t read the whole post. But in any case, I would have thought in your state there’s one driving by you every 100 feet

This might be my new truck. Needs but one 12 volt battery.

What motor does it have?

Chiro1989 wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2026 1:40 am What motor does it have?

250

Nice find!

Three on the tree?

Freezer wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2026 9:59 am Three on the tree?

Yes. Which would be changed to 5 on the floor, as cool as the column shift is. I want to be able to drive it over 65 without turning a holy crap she’s gonna blow level of RPM.

But I’ve found a few other trucks I’m pondering.

A friend in high school had a '65. He would occasionally have to get out and beat the shifter linkage with a hammer.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2026 2:02 am

Chiro1989 wrote: ↑Mon May 25, 2026 1:40 am What motor does it have?

250

Nice, pretty bomb proof.