[Electric Tire Shredder]

Yes, absolutely for anyone new to the car it's best to COMPLETELY ignore the GOM distance remaining, & just look at how much the % drops per mile.

 

[Commuter]

Driving the 500e for around 66k miles will cover the purchase price vs driving a 30 mpg car.

...and that's at TODAY's gas prices. With fuel costs predicted to rise 300-400% by 2030, our EVs will likely pay for themselves much sooner than that.

 

[Phewwee]

Hello from Texas. I am currently considering purchasing a 2018 500e with about 28k miles on it. This will be my first EV as I wait to convert my F150 Lightning reservation into an order (probably take about 2 more years.) My commute is about 27 miles one way, mostly country roads with some twists, and about 6 miles of interstate. My pickup truck took about $240 worth of gas last month, and I just had solar panels installed at my home, so this would drop my fuel costs to $0. I would not be able to charge at work and may occasionally have a few extra miles added to the trip. It would be between 50 and 60 miles for a round trip. From what I’ve read here, the 500e doesn’t have much battery degradation, and my commute seems to be within its range. However, all of the video reviews that I’ve seen call it a great city car, which implies shorter commutes. I would like to hear from any owners that have put those kind of miles on their 500e on a daily basis. Would I be ok to have the 500e as a daily driver with the commute I have without abusing the battery? Also, should I install a level 2 charger at my home or will the level 1 suffice?

My commute is 50 miles round trip. Now mine is on highway. If I run at say 70 and have hear or air on I will be in the red at 10 miles of range when I get home. If I stick to say 65 and can forgo either I will have 20+.

 

[lamrith]

My commute is 50 miles round trip. Now mine is on highway. If I run at say 70 and have hear or air on I will be in the red at 10 miles of range when I get home. If I stick to say 65 and can forgo either I will have 20+.

Great info, thanks for sharing!

 

[jorge rosillo]

Like every vehicle you purchase, you certainly need to consider its suitability for the task. Much of what SP says is true. Battery life varies dependent on usage. If your daily commute is up and down 60 miles of hills at night-time, in freezing temps, and heavy traffic, then maybe you're asking a bit much from 500e. I've also done 60 miles at night in the pouring rain with the heat on, and it drained my battery from 90% to 5%. It's not a journey I'd like to make every winter night.

But it sounds, like me, you keep a truck as well. I spent $10k on a used 500e to save the fuel I was burning through 40 miles a day in a vehicle more suited to hauling. Now I use the FIAT for the commuting, and leave the truck parked ready for the heavy work. For me it was do-able, and it made reasonable economic and environmental sense.

Spending $50k+ on a brand new Tesla did not Especially when, like you, I'm hanging in there hoping to migrate to a new electric truck as well!

Horses for courses as they say...

Yes .the trip miles are ok . I do about 60 - 70 every day with no problem . I have a level 2 at home wich to me is must. then again , I'm in California .I don't use the heater that much; it will drop my rage by 10 %. I use the stering and seat heater witch do no drain from my Range.

 

[lamrith]

Yes .the trip miles are ok . I do about 60 - 70 every day with no problem . I have a level 2 at home wich to me is must. then again , I'm in California .I don't use the heater that much; it will drop my rage by 10 %. I use the stering and seat heater witch do no drain from my Range.

Steering heater? Please share, I would love that.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

My first guess is that "stering" is a typo that was meant to be "stereo". & ya, each seat heater takes even less than each headlight! (not even counting tail/marker lights)

But even doing 60-70 miles every day you can just use an L2 OUTLET, & plug the OEM cord into it for a full charge overnight from DEAD.

 

[seamus26]

...and that's at TODAY's gas prices. With fuel costs predicted to rise 300-400% by 2030, our EVs will likely pay for themselves much sooner than that.

So ... that.

My daily commute is short. If it's just to work and back it's literally about five miles. I'm 2.4 miles from work. It's never just that, though.

Back in 2013 I bought my first scooter and have a spreadsheet that calculates scooter mileage (on five different scooters (it's not a disease, I can stop any time I want)) and compares it to the mileage of our other four vehicles as well as predicting number of miles to the scooters paying for themselves based on fuel savings. So getting into the 500e I had already done all of this math.

I say that to say this. I was looking at the Vespa Elettrica as an alternative to ICE scooters. I crunched the numbers and I literally could pay for gas to ride my Aprilia 50cc 160,000 miles for the cost of the Elettrica new. So what was said abut buying simply to save money is spot on. Unless you are in a position where you are already buying another car (my 500e replaces a 1989 Volvo 240 that I've had for 13 years - it owes me nothing) you aren't going to get rich by not buying gas. Don't get me wrong, it's proven to be cost effective, but you have to save a lot to make up for the original purchase price.

But for sheer numbers sake, in the two months that I've had the 500e I have driven 818 miles. Not a lot, but we live in a city where everything is within a ten mile radius, if we want. I'm in a position where I can charge every night on 110. At our current electric cost per kWh I have saved $99.35 over the cost of purchasing gas. The savings is a comparison to an average-ish number of 20mpg between our Subaru, the Volvo and our Toyota Tundra. That's significant. It also includes a few "free" charges at the GreenLots (Shell) charger at the grocery store where we shop. The first hour is free, and that's about the length of our grocery shopping trips. The actual cost for charging on our electric bill for Jan-Feb has been $19.23/$13.95.

Mind you, these two months in Michigan have been cold. Often single digits in the morning and rarely above freezing. I'm looking forward to warmer weather to see the improvements in range.

It's also true that the more gas prices increase, and there's no doubt that they are and will probably continue, the differential between gas and electric cost goes up and you save more.

Hope this adds to the body of knowledge.

 

[Commuter]

I crunched the numbers and I literally could pay for gas to ride my Aprilia 50cc 160,000 miles for the cost of the Elettrica new. So what was said abut buying simply to save money is spot on. Unless you are in a position where you are already buying another car (my 500e replaces a 1989 Volvo 240 that I've had for 13 years - it owes me nothing) you aren't going to get rich by not buying gas. Don't get me wrong, it's proven to be cost effective, but you have to save a lot to make up for the original purchase price.

Yes, as always, one size never fits all. Much depends on what you're paying (or will be) for gas, the average kwh/km you're getting, and the cost of electricity in your area. CA based Kiesling posted earlier that they had worked out the 500e would pay for itself after 66k miles, compared to driving a 30mpg gas vehicle. It would be about the same here in BC.

Because of the variation, anyone considering buying an EV should be talking to people who run them in similar environments to their own. Perhaps we should start another thread entirely devoted to listing what people are getting with regard to average range, cost per km, and the terrain/climate they drive in.

 

[Commuter]

FYI I've posted my numbers in a new thread:

Range, costs, and suitability

Anyone buying a used 500e will naturally have questions on range and cost effectiveness. Much, however, depends on how the vehicle is driven and in what kind of environment. Local terrain, climate, and the price of electricity and fuel are some of the many variables which must be taken into...

www.fiat500owners.com

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Someone else here realized that for the few times they really need a pickup, they could pay for a rental with a tiny bit of their gas savings.

So @SpinnerDaj may not really need to keep the gas pickup, & right now used vehicle prices are very high, so it's a very good time to sell.

I always say that if I ever took a long trip by myself (instead of with my best friend in her Tesla 3) I'd just drive to the airport, or rent a gas car with a tiny portion of the thousands I've saved on gas.

 

[Don Mac]

Prices? Check out AutoTempest,com Plug in 500e within 50 miles and prepare to be plesantly surprised. (Yes, thats a comma... I don't want website display in this space)

If you really need a pickup truck, U-Haul and Home depot have one for $19 plus a bunch of charges. Use your Visa or Master Card and they cover the insurance.

 

[seamus26]

So, I am continually amazed by this little car. I've been watching the numbers closely as the weather in Michigan has been improving. I have also been watching my foot very carefully and noticed that there is sometimes ever so slight a difference between drawing 15kW and 6kW.

My driving in this car is strictly in town. I live in a fairly suburban area where my speeds are rarely over 50mph, and I often average - according to the GOM - 20mph on trips.

Based on my driving habits, this is what I'm seeing in the morning.

Now, that's the BEST I've seen, but it's not unusual for my estimated range to be just north of 100 miles.

I know, I know ... it's just a "guess", but as I've been driving I've been watching both the miles and percent and there seems to be very good correlation of 1 mile/percent battery with my current driving habits.

I've been using the trip odometers to track MPGe. Since purchase back in December, overall is 121 and for the month of April-May I've hit 146 so far.

I'm sure this falls into the "results not typical;" category, but I think I have the perfect storm of circumstances that allow me to be on this end of the curve.

Cool stuff.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Actually that is pretty typical for sub-50mph. The miles gauge is meaningless, but 1 mile/percent is about what I get too.

Most of us relate better to Mi/kWh than to MPGe, & you can change the car's display units in the menu.

146 MPGe is 4.3 mi/kWh.
121 MPGe is 3.6 mi/kWh.

 

[lamrith]

Man you guys got it good! All the hills here, combined with my right foot I don't get close to that. I can probably get 70ish at best.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Well in the rare event that there isn't pretty heavy traffic I can lead-foot mine down to 50 miles, city OR highway.

 

[LBC 500]

My wife can get close to 100 miles on a charge. I usually get around 80. The acceleration is just too much fun! And I have a hard time keeping it under 75 on the freeway. 🚙💨 It’s almost as much fun as my Griso. 😈

 

[seamus26]

It's funny, the acceleration is fantastic. To look at the specs it doesn't look like much, but it flat out outruns a lot of cars in its class.

The thing is, people will go by the official specs. THIS is a really cool website. It bills itself as a complete catalog of cars since 1945.

0-60 is not a fair analysis for a car that will never hit 90. They are incredibly quick off the line. And yes ... fun.

 

[lamrith]

Quick is the term I have always heard for cars like the 500. They are not FAST, they are quick, my tire/wheel change last month got my 500e behaving like it should for handling.
Accel wise, it has always been good. They are not 0-60 car. after a few sec of WOT you can feel it relax, my bet is thermal throttling now that I have thought about it. I can WOT and by mid 40's it is not pulling as hard. but later on I can go 30-50 in blink of an eye. Transitional speed it awesome. 20-40, 30-50, etc transition are quick. I bet if someone was to time 0-30 and then 30-60 on separate tests and added them together the 500E 0-60 would be a bit lower than a straight 0-60 test gives.

Def lot of fun. Plus I will be honest I do not drive an EV to hypermile. Bing EV alone saves me huge $ on commute and I enjoy driving too much to keep the KW under 15 like I know some do. Life is too short and cars are too fun to get outrun by a kid on a tricycle from a stopsign.

 

[Electric Tire Shredder]

Ya, the 0-30 is what I love.

Here's a prime example of how 0-60 doesn't mean much in the real world: Compared to a Spark EV, a 500e is slower 0-60, but it's enough quicker 0-30 that you can pull in front of the Spark, or most other cars.

I've used that on occasion when I'm stopped at the head of the line & then realize that shortly after the light I want to get all the way into the far lane. I've always made it so far ahead that I'm not even cutting anyone off.

I also love the 30-to-50 for the same reason: passing. Driving a gas car now scares me for few seconds when I pull out & floor it but nothing happens for a half a second so I think it's broken. Then there's a lot of noise, & then it downshifts, & then finally starts to accelerate.