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7 Posts
Hi, all. My family re-settled in New Jersey about a year ago--previously we lived in Boston and, before that my wife and I met and lived in Los Angeles. I've definitely spent a lot of time in the car. Never had too much money, but I always tried to get the best car for the money (criteria subject to change, of course), so I've owned or leased a Honda Civic, a Volkswagen Jetta, a Mazda 3, a Toyota Camry, and most recently a Prius c and a Honda CR-V EX, both of which are a few years old.
The CR-V is probably my favorite car to date. It was the first SUV I'd had, and the first to incorporate some helpful safety features, as well as CarPlay. It's not a flashy car, but the EX package basically made this as much car as I thought anyone ever needed for the money. That said, it's not the quietest ride, and even when I bought it--despite industry-leading mileage for its class--I didn't love that it was a step-down in mileage from a Camry and especially the Prius c (roughly half the mileage). But with some after-market tires and my iPhone running the head unit, I've never been happier with just about every other aspect of a vehicle, so it is the first one I've ever owned for this long, over 5 years now.
Like many people, it's hard to picture not driving an SUV anymore, so it's no surprise that the surge in EV production is riding on the SUV platform. I test-drove a Model S a few years ago and enjoyed it well enough, but the value proposition was obviously not there (and, honestly, the lack of CarPlay seemed like a bit of a non-starter after becoming so accustomed to it). I was curious about the Model X when it debuted, but it still was not for me. I couldn't see my way to spending 3x what I did on the CR-V, especially when Tesla was still establishing itself.
We recently had solar panels installed and decided to forgo the still-expensive battery backups. So, between the recent influx of EV crossovers and compact SUVs, with a handful of models that feature bidirectional charging, and the prices now beginning to dip into the $30-40k entry level range, I've been paying more attention to the EV scene.
I think I first started getting the itch to switch when I saw the first wave Mustang Mach-E publicity. The Premium trim got my attention, but ultimately I couldn't justify the cost of one of those specced the way I would want it (about $66k). If someone was going to gift me this or a Model Y, I'd go for the Mach-E Premium, even with the more limited range, but this price really isn't an improvement over the Model Y, and there wasn't enough about the car to make me consider finding a way to spend that much on a new car I didn't strictly need.
The fact is, I thought I was being extravagant buying a CR-V EX in 2017 for about $26k, so paying more than twice that when I have only about 45k miles on it and still enjoy it (again, it could be quieter, and I don't love only getting about 27.2 MPG avg.), so I need to be a lot more motivated to switch vehicles. Keeping in mind that I'd probably not be willing to buy unless the car I wanted qualified for the $7.5k tax credit (and yay to NJ for no sales tax on EVs), I decided I was willing to pull the trigger on an eSUV if I could get really excited about it and it cost no more than twice what I paid for the CR-V (before incentives, etc.).
This is around the time that the we started hearing about the Toyota/Subaru models and the Kia EV6, so I was starting to think this would be achievable within the year. I'm lukewarm on the Toyota/Subaru models at the moment, though still interested, given the pricing. And after test-driving a sleek, quiet EV6 Wind (turns out that I never realized how noisy my CR-V is relative to a car like this one), I'm open to that one, which tops out right at $54k, but not while dealers are marking that vehicle up by several thousand dollars. I remain open to this particular car, but with the stance car dealers have taken toward electric vehicles since the beginning, and with all these mark-ups, I'm kinda sour on the dealer business model anyway, and more willing to consider buying direct, even with a new brand, despite the potential drawbacks.
Enter the Fisker Ocean. At first sight, the Ocean feels special. The Ocean Ultra would be my first car with the practicality of an SUV, the performance of a sporty higher-end car, and a vegan interior (wife and I have been vegan 20 years), all at a price point that puts it within my budget. Obviously the entry level model got my attention, but it was clear that the Ultra would be a similar value proposition (relatively speaking) to the CR-V EX, providing all the most desirable features at a price that was still within the realm of reason for me. While I would absolutely love a rotating screen and think it would be nifty that have rooftop solar panels topping up my battery, I haven't found those or any other distinguishing features to justify this not-wealthy dude plonking down another $19k. So I reserved myself an Ultra and I'm hoping I don't get too envious about those missing features down the line.
I'm not a patient person, but I do want to save up and put down as much as possible on this car. I've gotten hooked on not having any car payments. So, in a way it's good that I am unlikely to be able to actually get my hands on this thing for another year. I am excited about this reservation and looking forward to actually getting a chance to spend some time with the car while I wait, to make sure I haven't made a foolish decision.
While I'm waiting, if anyone who has read this far (haha) has any leads on a legal way to pad my savings account with another $19k so I can switch my reservation to an Extreme Launch edition, I'm all ears. ;-)
The CR-V is probably my favorite car to date. It was the first SUV I'd had, and the first to incorporate some helpful safety features, as well as CarPlay. It's not a flashy car, but the EX package basically made this as much car as I thought anyone ever needed for the money. That said, it's not the quietest ride, and even when I bought it--despite industry-leading mileage for its class--I didn't love that it was a step-down in mileage from a Camry and especially the Prius c (roughly half the mileage). But with some after-market tires and my iPhone running the head unit, I've never been happier with just about every other aspect of a vehicle, so it is the first one I've ever owned for this long, over 5 years now.
Like many people, it's hard to picture not driving an SUV anymore, so it's no surprise that the surge in EV production is riding on the SUV platform. I test-drove a Model S a few years ago and enjoyed it well enough, but the value proposition was obviously not there (and, honestly, the lack of CarPlay seemed like a bit of a non-starter after becoming so accustomed to it). I was curious about the Model X when it debuted, but it still was not for me. I couldn't see my way to spending 3x what I did on the CR-V, especially when Tesla was still establishing itself.
We recently had solar panels installed and decided to forgo the still-expensive battery backups. So, between the recent influx of EV crossovers and compact SUVs, with a handful of models that feature bidirectional charging, and the prices now beginning to dip into the $30-40k entry level range, I've been paying more attention to the EV scene.
I think I first started getting the itch to switch when I saw the first wave Mustang Mach-E publicity. The Premium trim got my attention, but ultimately I couldn't justify the cost of one of those specced the way I would want it (about $66k). If someone was going to gift me this or a Model Y, I'd go for the Mach-E Premium, even with the more limited range, but this price really isn't an improvement over the Model Y, and there wasn't enough about the car to make me consider finding a way to spend that much on a new car I didn't strictly need.
The fact is, I thought I was being extravagant buying a CR-V EX in 2017 for about $26k, so paying more than twice that when I have only about 45k miles on it and still enjoy it (again, it could be quieter, and I don't love only getting about 27.2 MPG avg.), so I need to be a lot more motivated to switch vehicles. Keeping in mind that I'd probably not be willing to buy unless the car I wanted qualified for the $7.5k tax credit (and yay to NJ for no sales tax on EVs), I decided I was willing to pull the trigger on an eSUV if I could get really excited about it and it cost no more than twice what I paid for the CR-V (before incentives, etc.).
This is around the time that the we started hearing about the Toyota/Subaru models and the Kia EV6, so I was starting to think this would be achievable within the year. I'm lukewarm on the Toyota/Subaru models at the moment, though still interested, given the pricing. And after test-driving a sleek, quiet EV6 Wind (turns out that I never realized how noisy my CR-V is relative to a car like this one), I'm open to that one, which tops out right at $54k, but not while dealers are marking that vehicle up by several thousand dollars. I remain open to this particular car, but with the stance car dealers have taken toward electric vehicles since the beginning, and with all these mark-ups, I'm kinda sour on the dealer business model anyway, and more willing to consider buying direct, even with a new brand, despite the potential drawbacks.
Enter the Fisker Ocean. At first sight, the Ocean feels special. The Ocean Ultra would be my first car with the practicality of an SUV, the performance of a sporty higher-end car, and a vegan interior (wife and I have been vegan 20 years), all at a price point that puts it within my budget. Obviously the entry level model got my attention, but it was clear that the Ultra would be a similar value proposition (relatively speaking) to the CR-V EX, providing all the most desirable features at a price that was still within the realm of reason for me. While I would absolutely love a rotating screen and think it would be nifty that have rooftop solar panels topping up my battery, I haven't found those or any other distinguishing features to justify this not-wealthy dude plonking down another $19k. So I reserved myself an Ultra and I'm hoping I don't get too envious about those missing features down the line.
I'm not a patient person, but I do want to save up and put down as much as possible on this car. I've gotten hooked on not having any car payments. So, in a way it's good that I am unlikely to be able to actually get my hands on this thing for another year. I am excited about this reservation and looking forward to actually getting a chance to spend some time with the car while I wait, to make sure I haven't made a foolish decision.
While I'm waiting, if anyone who has read this far (haha) has any leads on a legal way to pad my savings account with another $19k so I can switch my reservation to an Extreme Launch edition, I'm all ears. ;-)
