As a few of you realize, 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 will often drop down into third gear on the freeway and who is aware of what number of different gremlins hiding underneath the hood, it clearly wanted to get replaced. On the identical time, regardless of not feeling snug 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 yr.
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 choice, 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 components 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 Particularly not when my outdated good friend the Fiat 500e was additionally sitting there, calling my identify.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-about leasing a brand new one. That might have given me the chance to present it a correct long-term check, and I might deal with the fee. It’s a significantly 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 It was a bit of dearer than I hoped for, however that’s partly as a result of outdated 500es have held their worth significantly better than you may anticipate. It was additionally almost 90 miles away from the place I stay, which isn’t precisely best when the automotive itself is just EPA-rated at 87 miles of vary.
On the identical time, it’s not like I wasn’t conversant in the first-generation 500e. I owned one once I lived in LA and cherished just about the whole lot 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 implausible day by day driver that value virtually nothing to maintain on the street. The one drawback is that I stay in Georgia now, which is way more unfold out than my outdated neighborhood in Koreatown. It might probably additionally get fairly chilly right here, which is rarely good for EV vary.
Nonetheless, simply how unhealthy might it’s? I used to be already conversant in 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 advantageous, and there was no motive I couldn’t do the identical factor once more. The truth that I might write in regards to the actuality of dwelling with a low-range EV exterior 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 dwelling 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 operating 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 for the reason that automotive maxes out at a cost fee of simply 6.6 kW, a full cost takes about 4 hours, and you’ll overlook quick charging. Nonetheless, it wasn’t unhealthy. I spent my time re-familiarizing myself with the automotive and infrequently standing again simply to admire how good it appears. 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 mild incline and didn’t discover, however it was clear I’d be chopping it shut. Because it turned out, “shut” meant one mile and two %. Oops.
Fortunately, I don’t drive anyplace 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? Actually, the furthest I’m going is to my girlfriend’s home, and roundtrip, that’s solely 35 miles or so. However, I’m not going to faux it’s going to be worry-free till spring. We’re at the moment in the course of a chilly snap, and lows are within the 20s. Even with the warmth off, I most likely solely have about half the vary you’ll anticipate.
I’ll additionally must lease a automotive to go on a street journey, and I can’t high off my battery in 15 or 20 minutes like you’ll be able to with a long-range EV. I’ll most likely additionally must take care of some vary anxiousness till it will get a bit of 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.
