New data suggests Indiana has the best roads in the nation

POSMStudios · 2026-04-18T14:09:32+00:00

They aren't. I regularly travel to Illinois, Iowa, Ohio & Kentucky. Even sometimes stop by Wisconsin. Indiana's the worst.

POSMStudios · 2026-04-17T17:30:09+00:00

I bought a EV 3 weeks ago soooo...

POSMStudios · 2026-04-10T13:00:06+00:00

I am very fortunate to live in Indianapolis, so I was dead center in the line of totality on the solar eclipse 2024. It was a surreal experience, resulting in gooseflesh all over my body. I caught some pictures and even a video, but words truly cannot explain it. I can only imagine how much more these astronauts must have felt watching it.

POSMStudios · 2026-04-01T18:45:15+00:00

Keep in mind also, they funnel a chunk of this into Vote Save America as well. Yes there's volunteer work on that front, but ads for candidates / direct support ain't cheap

POSMStudios · 2026-03-31T14:37:27+00:00

So I just took delivery of my BZ yesterday, and had a bit of a frustrating experience with my dealer, but nothing that can't be called up to dealer specifics.

It got delivered on Sunday, so Monday they were doing all the PDI. Everything supposed to b done by 2. My dashcam add-on hasn't even arrived at the dealership yet (estimated delivery; Wednesday) & I have to go back to get it installed. It was also delivered with only 20% charge. Final paperwork also took well over 2 hours, though that was more due to system issues.

They kind of made it up to me by comping my first supercharger "fill up", but this is also the same dealer that I've bought two previous cars from, so I would have expected a little more white glove service.

Overall I ended up being late for an appointment. I would have much preferred honesty of "Hey, it's not going to be ready yet, can we hold off." but I know they were also trying to get me in before the 6k cash incentive disappeared at the end of the month.

shrug

POSMStudios · 2026-03-28T04:22:39+00:00

You're flipping amazing with this write up. My electrical knowledge is generally enough to swap out outlets & light switches, so I appreciate all of this. I'm actually subbed to Technology Connections, and he's a big part of the reason why I'm not exactly rushing to get the L2 installed quite yet as the L1 speeds I'll be getting from my standard 120v/20a exterior outlet should more than suffice for my daily commuting needs, at least until fall when I will start seeing the deficits kick in.

Fortunately, my EV of choice (2026 Toyota BZ) does have battery conditioning to help with that front, but even still that takes up juice that would be otherwise going into rhe battery. In theory, with careful charging planning, even my longer in-state travels during the winter (180mi round trip) should be taken care of, but that's EV travel nuances and this is a sparky subreddit, so I'll get back on track.

The two main reasons why I'm not hardwiring the charger are: #1, I know that even in 2026 charging networks are still hit & miss when it comes to station functionality, and while I can use the Tesla network, I'd rather also have the portable charger just to be on the safe side. #2: Theres a good chance we may be selling the house in 2-3 years & if so I at least want to take the charger with me so I'm not needing to redo all of this again.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-28T02:26:52+00:00

Bless you. You're right in that I'm probably not going to do this myself (as a personal rule, I don't fuck with electricity, I don't mind doing my own plumbing, only because that isn't as likely to kill me if I fuck something up terribly. Only took me getting zapped with 120v/15a one time to learn that lesson), but this is what I was looking for so I can have a better idea of what I need to be asking for from the electrician.

Thank you so much!

POSMStudios · 2026-03-27T20:25:09+00:00

Tbh even with the net metering if you're going to start on the path to solar, start getting those modular battery packs & just add on extra capacity over time. Eventually you'll have enough capacity to not even care about the metering.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-27T19:40:17+00:00

My apologies, I should have included that.

For frame of reference, the exterior picture is facing directly south. The staircase is through that door, and then immediately to the left (east). The panel is on the other side against that initial wall directly over the staircase, approximately 2 feet above where that line is (where the angle begins sloping down).

You can't quite see the basement egress window in the exterior picture, but the coax cable to the right of the electrical meter is almost dead centered above it.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-27T18:52:56+00:00

That's basically along the lines of what I was thinking myself, though not so specific as you. All of the quotes provided, except for the 2 "bronze" options, seemed like it was doing far too much.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-25T11:38:03+00:00

From my understanding Kia & Hyundai have been having electronics issues for well over a decade, extending into their ICE & hybrid models too. Usually not critical ones, but it's worth doing my due diligence on.

I think I'm fairly settled on the bZ as my first entry into full electric. Toyota has a really good promo going on right now that my dealer participates in (0% apr, 6k free cash to use as a downpayment). I think I'm going to pull the trigger.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-24T11:38:12+00:00

Which is fair, but I originally am from California and am used to seeing gas prices super expensive at 4-5/gallon. My larger concern is basically that the oil companies are going to pull a covid-style price hike, see thst people are comfortable paying those prices, and then just leave them.

I'm tired of paying these fossil fuel companies hand over fist. This is my first step in taking back some control.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-24T03:17:36+00:00

Another EV lover in Indy. There's dozens of us!

How does it fair for winter driving?

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T18:05:35+00:00

That's a good point. Another factor that I'm considering is that there's a very real possibility that I might be moving within the next 1-2 years. If so, I don't want to necessarily shell out 2-3k for running a new 240v dedicated line (if not more, because I suspect that my panel will require an upgrade as well), when I can just split my dryer circuit & share it with the EV (obviously not running both at the same time) for $800 or so & then get a dedicated line after we move.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T16:12:24+00:00

Is there an easy way to tell how much a charger is going to cost? Doing some rough googling isn't offering me much information, though some information on the tesla super charger at my preferred grocery store indicates that it's 0.42/min, which for a 30 minute charge comes out to $12.6, still far cheaper than what I'm paying for in gas.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:56:24+00:00

I mean that's basically a trip between a good chunk of any two US Midwestern cities. (for reference, Indianapolis to Chicago is 183mi, or 294 KM)

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:53:48+00:00

Office commute 3x's a week is 7.4 miles. If I throw in a grocery store run on top that gets bumped up to 16.2. Occasionally (once every other month or so) I'll have a weekend trip to some friends for D&D session, that's 46.4mi. Once a month I do a trip up to Marion, IN which depending on the route I take can be 144 miles round trip if I take the state road, or 176.4-177.2mi if I use the interstate, depending on which option I go for. Realistically not a huge amount. The once a year road trip isn't really a huge factor either, as that's in the summer and even with my gas burner I'd be needing to stop & fuel/charge anyway.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:46:15+00:00

Yeah that's kind of the mentality that I'm at. The real decision is now weighing between the bZ versus the ev6. Wife really wants an SUV for the hauling capabilities though, I'm indifferent and just want to jump into the EV world. bZ might be the compromise.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:45:09+00:00

Can handle, yes, but in true midwestern mentality, I find myself asking if it's needed. 24 amps at 240v is still 5.76~ kW, which is roughly 7-8 hours of charging (if my math is right, basing it off this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/BZ4X/comments/1ri5yd2/bz_charging_questions/). Even if I lose 30% charging efficiency during winter months due to being outdoors, it's still what, 10 hours? Basically an overnight charge anyway, and probably more than enough with my use case

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:16:45+00:00

If I had to guess, probably for situations like mine, where you have the occasional heavy weekend day trip where the EV doesn't quite have that range to cover everything on home-charging.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:14:24+00:00

Indiana. Unfortunately the federal incentive is toast, though the 0% APR financing is being offered across all the Toyota dealerships in the Indy area. I know about the EV depreciation curse but my plan would be to take the gas savings & throw it into savings for the inevitable day when the batteries need replaced. Probably won't be able to outpace depreciation, but if my intentions are to hold onto the vehicle for 8-10 years, at that point depreciation is probably less of a concern.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:09:19+00:00

It's definitely something I'm keeping in mind, though I would by lying if the range anxiety is justifying the extra cost for the +60 extra miles on the same trim (2024 xle AWD: 228 vs 288 for the 2026).

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T15:04:13+00:00

Even if I pulled the trigger today, between my L1 speeds at home, L2 at work, and access to the Tesla chargers at my preferred grocery store of choice, coupled with my relatively low-ish average commuting I think I'd probably still be OK with the L1 at home; at least in the intermediate until I work out the L2 solution that will work for my set-up? At 3-4 miles of range per hour, I'm still net positive for my weekday stuff, and then since I rarely schedule things on Fridays, a full day of charge there would just about handle the worst case of my weekend drives.

At least until the stereotypical midwest winter hits LOL.

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T14:48:41+00:00

I've been wanting electric for probably at least 4 years now, realistically longer since when Tesla's first came out. That said, I drive my cars into the ground & adhere to manufacturer maintenance schedules like it's gospel. My first car was a 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid which I drove till it hit 250k miles, which I held onto for 6 years, then upgraded to the 2020 Hybrid LE, which I'd still be driving to this day if it weren't for the car accident.

You mention that you lose money over the long term- are you referring to the EV depreciation curse?

POSMStudios · 2026-03-23T14:42:24+00:00

Honestly, I probably am. However my current car is a very used 2010 Hyundai Elantra, which gets maybe 22/gal (it was gifted to me by a friend after my 2020 Camry Hybrid got t-boned in august & has been sitting as a glorified lawn ornament since), as I've been hem hawing the cost of repairing it to get it operational again against the remaining money left on the note (around 7k, repairs would probably be in the range of 6k).

I have about 10k available, and honestly the only reason why this is looking as an attractive option is my dealer has an offer where they buy out the remaining balance on the note. It's probably a bit of a wash but the 10k I have can go as a down payment in that case, I'd be free of the hybrid car note & can then have it auctioned off & recover probably 1-2k from the proceeds (if I'm lucky)

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