Buying that first EV- what’s it like?

One new owner's story of moving to the plug

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My buddy has been driving his Toyota 4Runner as long as I’ve known him. It has 400,000 miles on it. It was time for a new vehicle and Scott Matheson decided to buy an electric vehicle (EV). It was not an easy journey and he’s learning lessons as a new EV owner.

The Toyota 4Runner with more than 400,000 miles and Cooper taking a ride. (Credit: Scott Matheson)

Scott settled on the Ford Mustang Mach-E. He ordered it last November. He finally got it less than a month ago. Why did he decide to plunge into the all-electric vehicle world? He told me he liked the fact that the Mach-E is a crossover, “So there's a lot of storage. But it also has a fun component with the acceleration. I really just wanted to see what the EV was all about.”

LEARNING IN THE EV WORLD

Scott was told, and expected, he’d get his EV in March or April. He had to wait another four months because Ford didn’t have the parts to finish the car. You may have heard about the worldwide computer chip shortage. Matheson lived it. In fact, his car is still missing one chip for parallel parking. Whenever it arrives, he will decide whether he wants it installed for that feature.

Delivery day for the Ford Mustang Mach-E in September. The EV was ordered in November 2021. (Credit: Scott Matheson)

Once the car was delivered a new kind of education started. “I was certainly concerned as far as using it for long distances, road trips, or anything like that because I am not convinced the infrastructure is there. And… I’ve only had the car for less than a month and I've already seen that. It still can be a challenge to find the high speed chargers that are certainly the ones you want to find,” he told me.

Matheson lives about 125 miles from the airport he uses to go see business clients. When he bought the Mach-E he made sure he got the model with a battery that would allow him to make a round trip without charging. That’s not necessarily working out.

CHARGING STATIONS

“I'm not quite getting the mileage that I expected. I have talked to the dealer. He's researched for me, given me a couple of different settings I can make on the car, but the one that really surprised me is when it's cold outside. I know logically I shouldn't have been surprised, but it definitely could have a 10 to 15% impact on your range if it's 40 degrees colder, is what I am finding,” Matheson said.

My friend Scott Matheson talks about the "fun" he's having with his new EV. Full conversation here.

He will only stop at the DC fast chargers and has a home charger that can fill the battery in 2-3 hours. “ I do that maybe once a week at the most. And definitely there's been no impact to my electric bill at all. In fact my bill this period compared to last last year’s has actually been less… So that's been a nice change."

Matheson is worried about charging infrastructure as more EVs are delivered by automakers. Full conversation here.

Matheson says we are at a critical juncture with the number of EVs increasing and the availability of charging stations. “I think if we go too fast, it's going to be a problem,” he said.

“Getting the infrastructure in place is going to be critical to have the success that I know all the dealers and manufacturers are planning on as they move to EVs as opposed to internal combustion,” he added.

CHARGING COMPETITION

Scott has already seen firsthand the lines at some charging stations. He stopped at a shopping mall to charge and went inside to walk around. While he was away from the car he got a message on his phone that said, “my car had been unexpectedly unplugged. So I turn around and go back out there and it turned out someone had decided to unplug mine and plug their car in. So I thought that was quite the shock.”

The word Scott uses a lot to describe his EV is “fun.” The first time he was on the expressway at 75 mph he decided to see what the EV could do. He pushed the accelerator. It did accelerate. “In about two seconds it was going far above that, triple digits. And I was like whoa, what is this and I definitely took my foot off the pedal,” he said.

DID HE MAKE THE RIGHT PURCHASE?

So is this move to EVs going to work? “I think it will be successful. The cars have a lot of interesting, fun features. The car is a pleasure to drive. It rides nicer than any vehicle I've ever been in. The handling is fantastic,” he said, with the caveat that the installation of fast charging stations needs to be as fast as his car.

The cooler under the hood of this model of the Ford Mach-E. (Credit: Scott Matheson)

Under the hood of the Mach-6 is a container that can be used as an ice cooler, complete with drains, that can be used for your favorite beverage. Matheson says that could make you a hit at the tailgate party.

“I've really just been enjoying the car. It's a lot of fun. It was raining out yesterday, so I didn't take it out and took out my old car. I didn't want to get the new one all dirty.”

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(Cover image credit: Scott Matheson)