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personal vehicle comment

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jlsoaz:
I am in process of trading in my 2013 Chevy Volt PHEV and taking out a loan on a 2015 Tesla Model S 70.  As with many purchases, it was not a straight financial calculation but also depended on other factors.  For me that included that I got tired of waiting for the other manufacturers to give me their absolute best effort on a great long-range BEV.   It was as though they were saying "wait just a bit longer".  No, I'm not waiting just a bit longer.

Once they sell it new into the marketplace then I have to wait 5-10 years before I can afford to buy it used.  Jaguar, Audi and Porsche have finally sold good long-range BEVs, but it will be years before the used prices come down to my level (if they ever do).  All of the other longer-range BEVs had reasons why they were not acceptable for my purposes, basically falling under "not giving me their best effort".  There were no exceptions at this time, so I had to either get a used Tesla or bite the bullet and accept the insult of a less-expensive more-compromised effort from a competitor.

In an ideal world, I would be able to network to use the Volt in some sort of strange/interesting/needed zero-carbon drop-in-replacement synthetic fuels experiment, but I can't forego the money at this time.

SparWeb:
Thanks Jlsoaz,
There are a few layers on the onion that I'd like to peel away, if you don't mind.

It seems you have tried to contact dealerships for your purchases.  Have you seen or answered listings from private owners?
Has the trade-in process proven to be your preferred method?  Would it be realistic to try selling privately yourself in order to buy privately?

I ask for purely selfish reasons.  I usually buy and sell vehicles privately.  Since I have resolved for my next vehicle to be electric or at the very least a plug-in hybrid, the field of buyers and sellers can get very small.

Whatever experience you have had with dealerships, I may be able to tell you a worse story.  Very little respect is offered to buyers who want an electric vehicle at a dealership in Calgary, Canada.

What are you talking about in your last sentence?
(Perhaps it helps to point out that I'm not an american).

dnix71:
SparWeb It gets cold in Calgary. How would you prevent batteries from freezing and deal with the loss of range in the winter?

Scruff:
Most of them have preheaters. They discharge fine sub-zero, charging is the red flag.
Makes me wonder quite a lot about this V2G viability...call me a cynic I don't think it'll work.

SparWeb:
Battery temperature in Canada is an important part of the specification. Sometimes difficult to figure out from the manufacturer's website or magazine reviews.
It narrows down the field to only BEV's that have a thermal management system (seems to eliminate the Nissan Leaf for now). 
Chevy Volt hybrid and all Teslas are OK.  Chevy Bolt, Kona and BMW i3 are not sold in Canada, and very few have been imported from the USA.
Given the low probability that they have a heavy duty battery temp management system I may not pursue the details on them since they are so rare.

When I'm actually ready to buy, I am sure that the only way to get a full picture is to go to each dealer's lot and drive the car.  Sounds simple, but I expect it will be ridiculously hard in Calgary. 
As a project in itself I can do it.  Many stories may be told about inept salesmen, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

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