EV cars - worth the price or stick with hybird

[captainspoke]

...
A more van-like vehicle that works for daily usage makes more sense, but it won't have much in the way of bells and whistles.

Have you looked at a Hi Ace? Maybe with some additions in the back?

[northSaver]

The problem for me is that campers with a kitchen/bed/toilet/shower need a decent size engine, which in turn means higher annual taxes (not to mention shaken). Hard to justify if you only use it a few weeks a year.

There are a couple good-sized ones in my neighborhood that stay parked 11 months a year.

A more van-like vehicle that works for daily usage makes more sense, but it won't have much in the way of bells and whistles.

Yes, I was thinking more of a converted van, like a HiAce (as captainspoke mentioned). I don't think they sell a fully electric HiAce yet, but they do sell a fully electric NV200, which is similar to a HiAce.
Don't really need a toilet and shower to be honest. There are onsens and public toilets everywhere. A campervan big enough to host those means that it probably isn't suitable to be used as a daily runaround, which means - as you said - it will probably stay parked most of the year. And higher tax and shaken. No thanks! A sink, burner, fridge, decent bed and some headroom (using a foldable roof) would be perfect for us.

As for fully electric... I think some careful planning would be required to make sure we don't run out of juice in the middle of nowhere. All part of the fun I suppose.

[TJKansai]

Yes, I was thinking more of a converted van, like a HiAce (as captainspoke mentioned). I don't think they sell a fully electric HiAce yet, but they do sell a fully electric NV200, which is similar to a HiAce.

As for fully electric... I think some careful planning would be required to make sure we don't run out of juice in the middle of nowhere. All part of the fun I suppose.

I didn't know about that one.
Looks pretty cool: https://news.kakaku.com/prdnews/cd=kuru ... =k_prdnews

Seems they started in 2014 and ended in 2019.
Prices used are not that high...so I wondered what the catch was.
My guess is the van itself had a limited range of 300km with 40kWh. Plus now the battery may be out of warranty.

2018年4月19日
日本で一部改良（仕様向上）が発表された（12月発売予定）[11]。
バッテリーが改良され、容量を40kWhに大容量化（以前は24kWh[12]）、容量の低下抑制や耐久性の向上などで高寿命化されたことで、保証を従来の5年10万kmから8年16万kmへ延長された。
2019年10月
日本仕様向けの生産・販売を終了。

[sytyue]

I rented/test drove the Hyundai Ioniq5 for 12 hours a couple weeks ago (available via Anyca). Wow. The performance, ride quality, etc. was unbelievable. I was convinced, electric is definitely the future. The fact I'm currently spending over 10,000yen per tank of gas really made me think hard about the TCO (total cost of ownership) as well.

That all being said, I'm frugal by nature and can't justify a. buying a brand new car due to steep depreciation, and b. paying a lot of money (for me, anything more than 100man) on a car when we live in perhaps the best value used-car market in the world.

Lucky you!
I took a Tesla S for a spin, but just 15 minutes. Too high end for me.
I am waiting for Nissan to tell me when an Ariya is available to test drive.

I asked at my local VW, and they were slow to acknowledge VW EVs exist, even though they have an EV charger in the parking lot. Probably because they don't have any EV catalogs yet.

Yeah, I have been waiting on news of the ID series for a while now. The Japanese articles that I have seen all seem to say that it will debut sometime in 2022 in Japan but the more recent headlines seems to indicate that only the ID4 is coming? I am not interested in the ID3 for pricing reasons

I managed to get Subaru to print out a catalog of the their up coming EV but since it's a collaboration with Toyota, I will probably hate the look of it before I even get into the driver seat.

I am tempted to go test drive the Nissan Leaf with it's minor changes this summer though. It will be my third time test driving the Leaf though so I am not sure how different it will actually feel. Plus, still no liquid cooling so that's a big minus point.

[TJKansai]

I am tempted to go test drive the Nissan Leaf with it's minor changes this summer though. It will be my third time test driving the Leaf though so I am not sure how different it will actually feel. Plus, still no liquid cooling so that's a big minus point.

Have you tried out any of those e-power Nissans? I thought it was a dumb idea at first, burning gasoline to make an EV go, but apparently it is very efficient. They are supposed to drive more like an EV, less like a hybrid.

And unless you have a solar array on your house, most likely your electricity is coming from fossil fuels anyway.

[captainspoke]

...I thought it was a dumb idea at first, burning gasoline to make an EV go, but apparently it is very efficient. ...

Isn't this also the honda system (at least on the Fit)?

Not sure how they drive.

[sytyue]

...I thought it was a dumb idea at first, burning gasoline to make an EV go, but apparently it is very efficient. ...

Isn't this also the honda system (at least on the Fit)?

Not sure how they drive.

Yup that's how it goes with my Honda Fit now which is why I wouldn't want to get any of the Nissan e-powers since it's the same thing. I get 25km/l with my Fit which is not bad at all. So the next step is either full electric, or continue driving my Honda until it breaks. It's almost 10 years old and with over 100,000km on it, it won't be worth much to sell it now or 2 years down the road.

[TJKansai]

So I took the Nissan Ariya for a short spin yesterday.

Pros: Spacious cabin and back seat. Decent materials. Lots of high tech, safety stuff. Good ground clearance. Seat is okay, but is probably designed for someone up to 80kg, 175cm person. It drove pretty smoothly.

One fun thing was the auto-pilot (only on highway). My first time with hands/feet free. I could see that being pretty useful on long roadtrips. I only got to drive 5km on the highway though and due to traffic (and the salesman next to me) only maxed out at 80km. Unlike during my Teslsa test drive, when the guy encouraged me to hit 120km briefly (took like 2-3 seconds).

Cons: Trunk isn't all that big, no frunk either. Rearview mirror is actually a camera that screwed with my vision. Didn't like it at all. Fancy-dancy self-parking feature took 10 minutes due to the salesman not understanding how it operates. Cool once he got it to work though.

Price for the 61kWh model is 6 million, but the government will rebate ¥900,000 (for now at least).

I am more interested in the 91kWh due to longer range and higher speed, but that is only sold online and is ¥7.9 million. Rebate also ¥900,000 I believe.

Conclusion: find a 3-5 year old hybrid SUV like a RAV4 or CR-V that I can use on family roadtrips (camping, skiing etc) and not worry about scratches and the like. I'll wait for more EVs to come to market and hopefully decreasing battery prices will make them a real option for me in 5 years or so.

[AreTheyTheLemmings?]

I want a Nobe.

[sytyue]

So I took the Nissan Ariya for a short spin yesterday.

Pros: Spacious cabin and back seat. Decent materials. Lots of high tech, safety stuff. Good ground clearance. Seat is okay, but is probably designed for someone up to 80kg, 175cm person. It drove pretty smoothly.

One fun thing was the auto-pilot (only on highway). My first time with hands/feet free. I could see that being pretty useful on long roadtrips. I only got to drive 5km on the highway though and due to traffic (and the salesman next to me) only maxed out at 80km. Unlike during my Teslsa test drive, when the guy encouraged me to hit 120km briefly (took like 2-3 seconds).

Cons: Trunk isn't all that big, no frunk either. Rearview mirror is actually a camera that screwed with my vision. Didn't like it at all. Fancy-dancy self-parking feature took 10 minutes due to the salesman not understanding how it operates. Cool once he got it to work though.

Price for the 61kWh model is 6 million, but the government will rebate ¥900,000 (for now at least).

I am more interested in the 91kWh due to longer range and higher speed, but that is only sold online and is ¥7.9 million. Rebate also ¥900,000 I believe.

Conclusion: find a 3-5 year old hybrid SUV like a RAV4 or CR-V that I can use on family roadtrips (camping, skiing etc) and not worry about scratches and the like. I'll wait for more EVs to come to market and hopefully decreasing battery prices will make them a real option for me in 5 years or so.

Nice! I want to test drive the Ariya but there isn't a dealer that has it around me in Nagano! But it is def out of my price range. Nissan Sakura came out just a few days ago and the price is on point but the range isn't enough for me living in the mountains with a rather long commute. 40kwh leaf is worth looking at this summer with the government subsidy happening esp if you have solar panels at home. I heard though that the installation of home chargers have gone up due to lack of supplies.