I'm getting my first new car today

[MissB]

(Yes, I understand the immediate depreciation)

I’ve always bought slightly used cars, generally about three years old with some warranty left. Many of them I’ve driven for far more than 100k miles, with the exception of the last one.

I’m going all electric! No used cars available for this one- a Volvo. With the amount I sold my car for, and taking into account the federal and state incentives (tax credits), the car will cost me the equivalent of a new Honda Accord. I’m even financing that amount because they’re offering 0.99%.

Anyway, really excited to be getting my first new car ever and to be ditching gas stations, oil changes, etc.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Good for you!

[Phoenix61]

2. Make sure you get the total payoff feature on

your car insurance policy. Just incase something happens you won’t be stuck paying for something that’s already been turned into a can of green beans. As a car dealer friend told me, depreciation only matters if you are going to sell it. And lastly,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!’

[dawg day]

3. That's great!

I'm thinking of a hybrid next... not quite ready to cut the gas cord as I travel a lot to remote areas with gas stations but not chargers yet.

But I keep cars for a long time like you do, so probably by the time I'm ready for a new car, there will be a charging station at every interchange!

[MissB]

12. Home chargers are a thing.

And it seems like the dealers sometimes subsidize as I explained in another reply on this thread! It’ll still cost us a few bucks to have it installed but the home charger is free and our utility kicks back $500 in a rebate for the installation cost.

If you needed a bigger panel then that would be an added cost.

[dawg day]

4. Also.... what COLOR??

I'm channeling Click and Clack-- the NPR car guys. When someone would call with an insoluble car problem, they'd always cogitate and say, "Well, first we need to know... what color?"

[MissB]

9. Ha!

Glacial silver? It’s a light silver.

[MLAA]

5. Yippee! Congrats!

I keep cars for a long, long time. It’s about time to think of a new replacement and I’m thinking of an all electric one. I will check out Volvo.

Have fun!

[MissB]

14. Thanks!

After taking it for a test drive, I was all in. The one pedal drive mode option will take some getting used to!

[Eliot Rosewater]

6. We hesitated all electric

We hesitated all electric and got a hybrid because I didn’t know what would be involved in getting the charging station installed in my garage.

When you get that all set up I would love to hear what you did how you did it what it cost etc. and what the charges are to charge it though that will depend greatly on the state you’re in.

Please feel free to PM me here if this information isn’t available for a while I’d love to hear about it regardless of how

[MissB]

10. Our utility provides a rebate of $500

For installation. Current offer from Volvo includes a free home charging station from ChargePoint, which is about $700 if you were to buy it on your own.

We updated our panel a number of year back to a 200 amp service so we have plenty of “space” left to have 50 amp set aside (I think the max is 48 amp charging at home, which is enough to charge it to the suggested level in less than 8 hours).

We are in Oregon so electricity isn’t terribly expensive (rivers, hydroelectric dams, etc).

Alternatively we could choose to get a $500 credit for one of the charging companies, but we are more likely to use a home charger for the most part.

I’ll pm you details after we get things installed and figure out the charges. Our electric usage details usually lag a few days so I’m guessing it’ll be a month or more before I have any data, if I’m lucky. The charger company is back ordered for 3 weeks and then there is the task of hiring the electrician.

[Eliot Rosewater]

15. Thank you kindly. The cost to install the chraging station will be valuable info also, unless

you are capable of doing that yourself. I am not.

Then SPACE is crucial for me, we have a two car garage but not lots of spare room when both are in there.

what does this charging station look like, do you have a link I can look at it please?

[csziggy]

22. It seems to be just a big outlet from the images on the website

Volvo uses ChargePoint - here is a link to the page for one of their chargers:
https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home/chargepoint-home-flex/

[Eliot Rosewater]

23. Thanks

[hurl]

16. My experience

I was lucky that there was already a 220 outlet in the garage for a welder. I was able to find a charger with a compatible plug, and it was about $750 for the 40-amp version. You want as many amps as your electrical system can support because this impacts charging time. I was able to mount it on the wall and just plug it in myself. Recently (2 years later), the plug stopped working and was actually starting to melt. The electrician said that wall plug wasn't really made for 40 amps, as it was a 3-prong adapter. He said the 4-prong adapter is better. Luckily the electrical panel is in the garage, so it was very easy for him to bypass the plug and just hard-wire a more sturdy setup.

New chargers come with various plug options as well as hard-wire kits. If you go with a plug, the cord from plug to charger can't by regulation be longer than 12", so mounting options can be limited.

With 40-amp 220V, the car will charge from nearly dead to full overnight, 8 hours or so. But I almost never run it out, keeping to mostly local trips and just plug in whenever I get back. It usually adds about 22 miles of charge per hour.

I don't really have a good sense of how much it added to my monthly bill because I had replaced an old AC system with a heat pump around the same time.

Some utilities have programs that help defray installation costs, and there might be state programs also.

[Eliot Rosewater]

18. Thanks

What is physical dimensions of charging unit?

[hurl]

19. Not the sleekest

About 19.5 H, 5.5 W, 6.5 D. Mine is Clipper Creek, but there are other brands with a smaller footprint if space is an issue.

[Eliot Rosewater]

20. Thanks, so 6.5 inches deep probably requires an overall spacing of 16 inches or less.

[Initech]

7. Very nice!

I wanted a Model 3 for my current car but no way could I afford one, but my next car for sure I'm cutting the gas cord!

[MissB]

13. I looked at those but couldn't quite pull the trigger

As a previous Volvo owner, I appreciate Volvo’s first effort into electric.

One thing to keep in mind is that the federal tax credit is only good for the first 200,000 cars from a manufacturer so if one buys a Tesla then the tax credit is no longer available. (Plus you have to have at least $7500 in a tax liability the year you buy one.)

Volvo is just rolling them off the boats so they aren’t close to the 200,000 vehicle limit yet.

Our state is looking at instituting a separate tax for electric vehicles but are planning on applying it to 2025 and newer cars only.

[Initech]

17. Yeah it's good to see more manufacturers producing electric vehicles!

And I hope that as they become more affordable they will get better with each generation. I really wanted a plug in hybrid like the Honda Clarity but was convinced that for how much I drive it wasn't practical.

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. Is that the new Volvo from the ads?

I want one.

Congratulations!

[MissB]

11. Yeah it's their XC40 Recharge

It’s a smaller SUV, built on the same platform as their gas powered model. I’ve previously had their V70 series (always an R...), and this electric model is as zippy if not more zippy than the R that I previously owned. It has 402 hp so definitely a speedy car if needed. Blows my perception of an electric out of the water.

[Cracklin Charlie]

21. I'm driving my second Volvo sedan.

I need to think about trading, but I kinda love my current model. That new one is good lookin’!