I’m finding the titles of these posts to be cumbersome. Plus they overlap with my high school hoops post titles. So, going forward, I’m just using this generic title.
It’s been an eventful week on the EV front. Not just for me, but also in the news. For today’s post I figured I would knock out thoughts on some of those macro issues. As this is a pretty quiet week leading into spring break, I may have another car post this week to continue to clear out some of the topics I want to hit.
New Rivians
Rivian announced three new vehicles last week. The R2, which was expected, and the R3 and R3X, which were surprises. All are designed to make the brand more accessible, with prices starting in the high $40,000s compared to the $70,000+ the R1T and R1S check in at. The event made quite the buzz in the EV scene, as the vehicles all look awesome. So many of the people I follow in the EV space put down deposits immediately. If the timing was different, I might have done the same.
The big catch is that the R2 isn’t expected to hit the market until 2026, with the R3s to follow. Given how Rivian is hemorrhaging money at the moment, there is a question of whether the company will survive long enough to release these new models.
Below is the best summary of the event I watched. I had never heard CEO RJ Scaringe speak before. Why aren’t there more tech CEOs like him? He seems very chill and normal, not the usual freak show that so many of his contemporaries are. Or at least one of them. I liked how he sat back and let Marques Browlee do most of the talking, where other CEOs would have taken control of the conversation to make sure they got all their talking points in.
Blazers
After pulling their Blazer EVs from the market because of serious software issues, Chevy re-launched the line last week. Since I’m in the market I took a look and it blew me away that they start in the $60,000 range. SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A BLAZER!!!
Checking local inventory, most seem to land in the high–40s to mid–50s, but that is after the Federal tax incentive is applied. Not sure how that’s a winning strategy to make waves in the space when the Blazers’ competitors, most of which are much better reviewed, are dipping well into the $40s currently.
Ford Charging
Ford was the first manufacturer to gain access to the Tesla Supercharger network a week ago. It will take some time for adapters to be released to current Ford owners and their models to switch to native support of the Tesla plug, but this is a big first step to leveling the landscape in the fast public charging space. Hopefully it also forces Electrify America to get their shit together so they are a legitimate competitor to Tesla charging and we have some real competition in the market.
EVs in the Cold
I’ve had several people ask me why I would get an EV after what happened in Chicago and other northern cities during February’s cold snap.
That’s a very good question.
From everything I’ve read, the charging meltdown, which left dozens of EVs stranded without power and charging stations operating at limited capacity, primarily affected EV owners who are unable to charge at home. Which is much more common in big cities, where apartments/condos and parking difficulties make it almost impossible for people to do overnight charging at home.
I will have a home charger so am not too worried about bitter cold rendering my future EV useless. And if we had to take a long trip in super wintry weather, we would just take S’s car.
EVs are very much affected by cold weather. But so are traditional gas vehicles. When there’s a gas station every five miles we don’t register how bad our mileage can get when the temps dip and the winds blow. A few years ago I was driving my Suburban in a bitter storm and checked my fuel economy for grins. When I saw I was getting seven miles per gallon, I turned that screen off so I didn’t think about how fast I was ripping through my gas tank.
Sales People
I’ve been a little surprised that the Kia dealership I visited last month hasn’t hounded me more. They are known for being super aggressive, but other than a cursory follow-up email, I hadn’t heard much.
Until last week. When I got this crazy email. I’ll share the entire text so you can take it all in.
Hello again. Several days have passed since your visit to our dealership, and I want to let you know that our interest in earning your business has only grown since your visit. I would like to ask a favor of you, present me with a challenge that I would need to overcome for you to take home a 2024 Kia EV6. It can be anything: trade in value, price, terms, or perhaps a different vehicle that you were first considering.
Allow me the chance, and I will get the job done.
Yowsa.
It seems a little desperate, doesn’t it?
I’ve never seen a sales pitch like that, but it sure fits that dealer’s reputation. S and I laughed, then brainstormed “challenges” we could throw at him.
Do 100 pushups in a minute.
Take another $10,000 off the sales price.
Give me a straight answer about the electrical issues that Kia/Hyundai seem to have in their EVs.
Let me punch him square in the jaw.
Do a shot a minute until he passes out.
Or, my favorite: shut the fuck up.
I know car sales is a tough racket. You have to deal with casual shoppers who are just browsing, or are cross-shopping against the car they really want, who you have no chance of making a sale to. You have a-holes who will spend hours working you for every last cent on a deal. And you have your sales manager breathing down your neck about why a customer walked out the door without a deal in place.
Yet I’m constantly amazed by how many sales people do such a bad job of reading their customers or do weird shit like this. The “challenge” did make me laugh. Are there actually people who read that message and think, “You know what, I like the way this guy asked me for a challenge. I think I’ll buy a car from him!”?
My Buying Process
There has been some movement in my EV journey over the past few days. I won’t go into the details yet, as the situation remains fluid and I don’t want to share something that I end up backing away from in two days.
I did test drive a new vehicle on Monday, though. And may test drive something else today.
The electrician is coming tomorrow to run the 240 volt line to our garage for a level two charger.
I’m also waiting for some information from our insurance agent, which could make-or-break this whole undertaking.