u/dreaminginteal

I live on a rock in the middle of the ocean. We're literally 2500 miles away from any large land mass. Almost anything manufactured has to be shipped in.

I recently got solar power added to my house. I figured it would be a good time to get a vehicle that would run off of my home's solar/battery setup. Should be straightforward, right?

Nope.

My island is quite rural. There are just a few large towns, the one I'm in and the one two hours away (over a road that I'm not thrilled about driving). There are quite a number of car dealerships that we simply don't have. No VW Group (VW, Audi, Porsche), no M-B. The local Chevy dealer closed a few years ago, so now the closest one is on the other side of the island two hours away!

Selection is not great, in other words. To add to that, the local Toyota, Subaru, and Kia dealers do not even get EVs in. They apparently go to another island locally, but not here. So I need to take a commuter flight just to try out a vehicle so they can order it??? ARGH!

There's a smaller used-car dealer here that has several EVs. Most of them are ID.4s. They seem like reasonably solid cars--but there is no dealer support here. I don't mind going to an independent shop, but I talked to the main one around here that we use for my wife's car and they DO NOT LIKE EVs at all. They're petrolheads through and through. Though they also do have a point that it is almost impossible to get any flavor of lithium battery shipped here... Difficult for almost any part, often enough, but lithium batteries with their reputation? (Justified or not, it's their current rep.)

Oh, there's a place that has a nice used 1st-generation Leaf for sale... I wonder if the battery is at half capacity yet?

I'm starting to think I should just give up on the EV idea and get a Prius PHEV. At least it has some electric range, and it is actually available...

Sorry, I'm just venting. I've been looking for a while and have gotten pretty frustrated about the choices. I may do some more looking when I'm back on the mainland and see if the local places can order something for me if I find something I really like.

If I have interpreted what I have read correctly, it looks like there are a few ways that different EVs handle battery temperature management. Specifically I am interested in battery cooling, though some people in more normal climates probably are interested in the heating as well.

I haven't seen info on how specific cars handle this, though. Dealer websites are very short on detailed tech info like that.

Are there any that just use air cooling for it? Are there any that use a heat pump or a compressor-based system (like air conditioning uses)? Do some just pump coolant through the packs and run it to a liquid/air heat exchanger (like a radiator)?

Presumably, batteries that are kept in their optimal temperature range will hold up better in the long run than those that get too hot and/or too cold. And obviously batteries that are too cold don't charge as quickly as we'd like.

I looked in the helpful spreadsheet, but there isn't any info in there.

We know there are a number of cars that have problem areas. Things like Hyundai/Kia engines, Nissan CVTs, the "Ecoboom" motors...

Are there similar known common issues with the various EVs out there? I don't recall seeing much at all here about EVs. I know they don't have some of the more complex systems (like engines!!) but they do have their own systems. Are any of them frequently bad?

Thinking about possibly getting an EV as the next car...

https://preview.redd.it/2tjspdqwqt4h1.jpg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea4c2195e5fba8cb0cc007193fe18fdc226e4ee3

Happened in flight. Pilot safely landed with no prop!

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/571035