EV 201 w/Matt: The family fleet

Short clips on my journey, the state of EVs, and where we're headed

I helped my friends Scott and Amy launch a new pod on EVs this week (Apple, Spotify, YouTube). It was a blast; we covered some good ground:

• What’s in my family fleet

• 2 core elements of vehicle design

• 5 anxieties of going electric

• Dealerships and manufacturers

• Accessibility

• How building motorcycles informs my take on EVs

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In the next few posts, I’ll share my favorite clips. Let’s start with 3 mins on what’s in my family fleet:

We have four vehicles in our four-driver fleet. There’s much more swapping and trading in this fleet than when we only had gas cars, but each car does have a default driver:

1. I have two teenagers who share my small, city car. It goes 75 miles per charge, and has a 2-gallon gas-tank feeding a tiny generator that can charge the battery for another 75 miles of range — a nice insurance policy against running out of battery.

2. My partner drives a hybrid minivan with a V6 engine and a small electric motor, each of which can work on their own. Together they give us 400 miles of range with electric covering the first 30. It charges on a standard 110V outlet overnight.

3. I drive a fully electric truck - it’s fast, it hauls lots of stuff, and it takes the longest to charge. It’ll do 330 miles of range, but it’s more stressful to roadtrip, especially here in the SE.

4. Finally, I carry a tiny 24-lb e-bike in the back of my truck. It’s always charged and ready to grab for last-mile use. It’s 20 times more efficient than the truck.

Here’s a sketch of each drivetrain:

My 2024 family fleet.

My intent here is neither to preach nor prescribe; it’s to share practical examples of how today’s vehicle designers are interpreting the 2 core elements of vehicle design:

1. How to store energy, and

2. How to convert it to motion.

Just a little nerding out on how gas and electric vehicles work has made my family’s transition to electric more fun and less stressful.

Walk with me through this 201 series, and I bet you’ll get way more comfortable with the how, if and when of moving to EVs, too.