2025 EV Tacoma thread.

Yup!!!! That is it!!

They said to excuse them since they are from Dearborn and don’t get out much. Worst nowadays working extra long hours for the Lightening.

 

10 years ago we had leased a Nissan Leaf (yeah, I know apples to oranges) because the transmission in our Honda Accord was letting go and wanted to see how an pure electric vehicle would be like to own. Total cost-wise it was cheaper over all (charging at home + lease payments + slightly higher insurance) than putting gas int our fully paid for V6 Accord.

The cons for me out weighed the pros so I'm back into a Taco. Not sure I want to go full electric again, but would love a PHEV Tacoma. Even 15-20 mile all electric range would be fine with me. I'd pay $10k extra for that. I'd be one of those people getting gas once every few months.

 

Electric vehicles can be easily programmed via your cell phone app to charge after midnight.
Cheaper rates are offered for electricity after midnight.

No new infrastructure is needed as no extra capacity is needed.

Most people don't cook, dry clothes or use hot water after midnight. Less heating occurs after midnight.

 

The resort looks to be a scar on the landscape up on that ridge.

 

I'm sure I could guess with the first generation leaf, but what were some of your deal breakers for going electric?

 

What happens to the worlds energy crisis when every vehicle is electric? Instead of pumping fuel into our own gas tanks they are putting that fuel into power plants. It is just moving raw fuel from one location to another. It is not eradicating it. Only now everyone pays for the electric cars in higher energy prices regardless if they have an EV or not.

I am not an engineer but I don’t see a difference. You are paying for energy (gas/electric) no matter what. And this is just a wild theory .

 

If all the cars in the world ran on the dirtiest power they could, they would still be emitting fewer emissions per mile than the gas cars. However the world's grids are independently moving to be cleaner so this transition has even more magnitude. Theres a massive difference in emissions going from coal to natural gas, and then obviously a much greater difference moving to a completely renewable power source like solar, hydro, or wind. In the next 10-20 years some massive offshore wind projects will open up and start generating massive amounts of clean power. It's not going to happen overnight, but the switch to electric vehicles is far from the status quo.

 

Just that sentence there says it all. I had the base version of the "S" model. It was a 2 year lease for $179/mo. I had it from 2013-2015. And I knew I was getting a 3rd gen Taco (which I thought would come in 2015) so it was intentionally a 2 year EV test drive. We also have an Acura MDX for road trips and I had my 1st gen taco for when I knew I may be driving far that day - so didn't feel too anxious with 84 miles range. So problems with my Leaf:

• 84 miles with a full charge. My round trip commute was about 38 miles. So, no big deal for daily use but not for weekends. I had the overnight charger that it came with and it was always sufficient for commuting. I think modern electrics with 300 miles, this is a solved problem.
  
• Charging time. Being the base model, it could only charge at 3KW, I think or something really low. I did get Blink and Chargepoint accounts for public chargers at the time. However...it wasn't practical to charge when going shopping and such. Hoping into a store for 30-45 minutes? I think it would be a few buck for charging, but I'd only get 5-7 extra miles of range. That sucks. I think new electrics (Tesla, Rivian, Mustang Mach-e) that can replenish at 100KW/hr. I think it's still inconvenient, but 30 minutes for 250 miles of range seems on the limits of being workable.
• Heater. Being the basic model, it had a 5kw resistive element for heat. Think 40F outside and the whole cabin being heated by 3 hair dryers worth of heat. It was always cold in the winter. Running the heat on my commute, would take about a third of the battery capacity.

Cons for me:

• I have a 3500 pound boat and even with modern EV's it's pretty clear the range degradation with even a moderate load is way too severe. A round trip to my favorite ramp is about 75 miles. According to some tests by youtubers, that's near the limits even with a 100KW battery pack (Tesla Model X). This is the deal breaker for me.
  
• I live in the PNW and it's cold enough for heat at least 8 months out of the year. With a gas engine, I can be nice and toasty inside. This was an unexpectedly big deal for me after 2 years of cold.

There were some upsides, some unexpected.

• Never needing to stop at a gas station. It is just as satisfying as it sounds.
  
• The 84 miles was with 100% charge. I'd usually charge to 80% which was recommended which I think about about 65 miles of range so it really was enough for 19 out of 20 days of commuting.
• There is zero maintenance. Once a year, free inspection for the battery pack. there's nothing to even check except washer fluid and tire pressure.
• The immediate power, even with what is basically an economy car with an electric motor, between 10-40mph it was really quick. It never had problems keep up with traffic at highway speeds on hills
• The quiet - when commuting and sitting in traffic, it was truly nice.
• Going out to run errands with the family and sitting in the car waiting while somebody runs in the store - pretty nice to sit there for 30 minutes with the AC or heat running without needing to run the engine.
• Speaking of AC. The AC was very strong - way stronger than any import.
• And heat. While total output wasn't enough, it comes on pretty much immediately so it could take the edge off within 10 seconds of a cold start.
• We have 3 cars and a 2 car garage. Often times there's shuffling of cars between the driveway, garage and street. With the Leaf, no need to feel bad about a cold start only to move the car 30 feet.

Nothing depreciates like a Leaf and a 1st gen Leaf could be a great extra car. Before used car prices went crazy, you could pick one up with 20k miles for $5000 if you looked hard enough.

Our next car will probably be to replace the MDX for the wife in 3 to 5 years and it'll probably be some sort of EV/PHEV. The last few cars we've had, we've kept for 15+ years and 200k miles. There are more than enough Tesla's that have racked up 200k+ miles so I think it will work for us as long as there is one ICE car in the family.

 

I find it interesting that so many Internet forum users tend to assume that their experience is universal.

Why would you assume that every utility utilizes the exact same TOU system?

 

Sadly, the 1st gen Leaf was probably one of the worst BEVs in modern BEV history. Small, air cooled battery. Poor power and thermal management. No heat pump.

Fortunately the technology has drastically improved since then.

I’d recommend you check out the Rivian R1T or R1S with a Large Pack battery. Over 300 mile range for these BEVs and they can tow. You can also pre-condition the vehicle so it’s either warm or cool before you even set foot inside.

Modern BEVs are ideal for households with multiple vehicles.

 

I was tempted to get a leaf for my commute. 9 miles each way with 8+ freeway. Neighbor has had both gens and a 3. My dad had two first gen leafs and now a 3 as well. They are good for warm climates.

Resale is terrible but as mentioned that makes for what used to be an easy purchase.

The only thing which gave me pause was I already owned a 2013 Prius. And there was just no way to swap that for a leaf. Then the pandemic kicks in and I’m so rarely even going to the office that it doesn’t matter.

We use our xtracycle edgerunner a lot. It’s fantastic for hauling kids on short trips and it holds a decent amount of cargo for the beach. I took 58 boxes to USPS with a kid to help me unload. And it doesn’t take up much space. Not cheap though.

I am noodling on the R1S. Spendy but looks very nice and family friendly. I just don’t need a 4th vehicle by any stretch of the imagination. And I’ve never spent north of 30 on anything with wheels. Pretty sure my wife will hold me back adequately. The 41k F150 seems like the slicker deal but maybe not quite as special.

We are in exciting times EV-wise. Good to sit back and watch it all shake out.

 

https://youtu.be/V1fXgsJ7wN4

 

I’m guessing that PHEVs have smaller fuel tanks? I put 1000 km a week on my Tacoma (mostly highway) for work and I work at getting good mileage. I routinely get over 700 km to a tank in the non winter tire and gas months. A PHEV Tacoma would allow me to use HOV lanes in the Toronto area which are a potentially massive time and fuel savings. But if I only got 50 km on battery and I still had to gas up just as often, or even more often that wouldn’t work. A BEV Tacoma would be the ticket and I’d be looking for better total per tank mileage than I’m getting. Tall order but it seems like it will happen. The cyber truck with the big battery has a 500 mile expected range. That would be pretty good.

I’m not an early adopter but we have a hybrid Highlander and I recognize the need to support and have people buy in and help the technology to grow. I’m looking forward to my electric Tacoma work truck.

 

Oddly enough the R1T does not have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Will be a deal breaker for a lot of interested buyers

 

Neither does Tesla. It would be nice though

 

I sold my prestine 2019 Tacoma 4X4 6spd MT Leather DCSB and made out decent on it …. Got a Tesla Model Y. Will probably never go back to a gas car or truck as a daily driver ever again.

 

I agreed
We have an x and a 3. All the ice cars I keep get little use and feel like dinasours.

 

For sure, but also ground breaking. I think starting from 2013 they had a heat pump in the more expensive versions - mine didn't have it. I didn't even have the ChaDeMo charger plug for DC fast charging for free at the dealer. But completely agree, every household with multiple vehicles should have a BEV. I'm going to be controversial and say that BEV should be the 1st gen Leaf if you live in a moderate climate and it's mostly an extra car. They are (or were before used car prices went crazy) dirt cheap as used cars. I know somebody who bought one with 30k-ish miles for $4k and uses it only to get between his house and the park&ride.

I used Teslas having 200k+ miles as an example. I have many coworkers with Teslas (mostly S and 3). I'd be interested in a 3, but the ride is way too firm for my taste. Definitely going to be looking at the R1S. And pretty happy to see the positive reviews of the R1T. In any case competition is making better products.

Oh yeah, that was also something I didn't like about the Leaf. I could pre-heat the interior at a certain time. However, it stopped charging and used the battery to heat the interior. So...it was nice that it was warm-ish, but being plugged in and not charging while heating was an unexplainable feature.

 

Tbh 40 miles EV range is enough for me at this point. I'd sell the Taco (the Rav4 Prime does 90% of what it does, tbh) but it's paid off and basically our offroad toy at this point.

I get the same MPGe as the MachE or ID.4 (for less distance, to be sure) AND on a road trip I'm not fuxed if it gets sub 0 OR 'omg the charger is broke.

Our grid mix here is mostly Hydro (no, don't put solar on your roof in the rainy pacific northwest ya retards) so the whole 'omg same amount of carbons' argument is stupid. (if you care about carbons, obv).

The tl;dr is that on the same vehicle, it's 5c / mile running cost (YMMV) on electricity vs 10c on gas. That's worth a whopping um.. 520 a year (assuming you're maxing out your electric range every workday, and only charging once.

 

Then why ya trying to go on in a taco forum?

I'm as fast as a Y, and I'm not crying if I get ICE'd at a charger.