We live rurally but our work commutes are relatively short and well within the range of an EV, about 30 miles per day. We do much at home to achieve some level of self sufficiency (solar PV, gardening, conservation, etc.) but transportation is challenge; we rely completely on petroleum fuel from far away sources to power our vehicles.
We'd like to buy an EV (e.g. Leaf) or Extended range EV (e.g. Volt) but our situation really requires more ground clearance and 4WD for winter. The new Toyota RAV looks great but is expensive, hard to get, and only 2WD (I think).
So, we're considering buying a used Highlander hybrid 4WD and then adding additional batteries and a charger to increase EV-only range. I've researched and kits are available and seem to work well. We may also use the added batteries for additional power backup for the house.
One drawback to this is that federal tax incentives seem no longer available for EV conversions, only EV purchase. I hope to get some input here on the overall sanity of this plan and thoughts on other alternatives or ways to do this and something else that I may not be considering.
We'd like to buy an EV (e.g. Leaf) or Extended range EV (e.g. Volt) but our situation really requires more ground clearance and 4WD for winter. The new Toyota RAV looks great but is expensive, hard to get, and only 2WD (I think).
So, we're considering buying a used Highlander hybrid 4WD and then adding additional batteries and a charger to increase EV-only range. I've researched and kits are available and seem to work well. We may also use the added batteries for additional power backup for the house.
One drawback to this is that federal tax incentives seem no longer available for EV conversions, only EV purchase. I hope to get some input here on the overall sanity of this plan and thoughts on other alternatives or ways to do this and something else that I may not be considering.