The summer is upon us, and I have the keys to the most perfect BMW i3 on earth — the Holy Grail, a Galvanic Gold, Giga World-interior’d marvel from Leipzig. I also have the keys to my old 144,000 miles 2014 BMW i3 workhorse. But both of those keys are being hung up for much of this summer, because I want to enjoy my gas cars. Here’s why.
Gas prices in California are hovering around $5 a gallon, which is a lot, but sort of manageable. I remember in 2008 when the dollar was worth way more and gas prices were in the $4 range; things aren’t quite that bad in California, but they’re getting close. Look around the streets, even in nicer parts of town like Santa Monica where residents can afford a new EV, and you’ll see that most vehicles are still gasoline-powered.
In fact, if you look at year-to-date sales of new vehicles in California, you’ll see that not quite 25 percent of cars sold in 2024 are zero-emissions vehicles (which includes EVs, PHEVs, and fuel-cell vehicles). You can see in this plot from the California Energy Commission that the Tesla Model Y has played a huge roll in cranking those figures up:
Still, a quarter of all new sales doesn’t mean a quarter of cars on the road — in fact, based on a cursory web search, it seems like just around 5 percent of registered vehicles in California are electric. Yes, 19 out of 20 light-duty vehicles on the road in California burn some sort of fossil fuel.
So the EV era has begun, but it’s not yet in full swing, and while I’ve been obsessing over BMW i3s for the past year or so (see above), I’ve come to the realization that I should enjoy my gas cars while I can. I’ve been driving all sorts of EVs for the past year or so — the new Cybertruck, the Lexus RZ, the Fisker Ocean, the Lotus Eletre — they’re awesome machines. Objectively superior to gasoline counterparts in so many ways. But there’s a similarity in the way they all behave — almost like driving a bunch of gas cars with the exact same engines. The torque curves and the sound feel exactly the same. And there are chassis similarities, too, with all EVs having their considerable heft between the axles, and all featuring fully independent suspension.
There’s something exciting about hopping behind the wheel of a car like a front-engine, front-wheel drive, high-revving four cylinder car like a Honda Civic Type R and realizing: My god, this is so different than, say, a rear-drive flat-four Subaru BRZ or a rear-engine, flat-six Porsche 911 or a V8 E90 BMW M3. The engines — the way they sound, the way they make torque, their location (and thus weight distribution). The variety is awesome.
I realize I’m probably preaching to the choir here, and that my “DT’s random Saturday thoughts” blog here is hardly profound, but it’s recently dawned on me: Why rush to driving EVs? I’ve got the rest of my life to drive those.
And while, sure, I don’t own a Civic Type R or a Porsche 911, I do own a 1966 Ford Mustang with a honkin’ V8 engine. I have a 1991 Jeep Wrangler with a torquey inline-six. I have an old truck with a straight six and a four-speed-on-the-floor. I’ve got a ZJ I’m working on — one with two coil-sprung solid axles that offer off-road articulation like no EV suspension ever has.
My point is that, there’s going to come a time when driving gas cars isn’t easy. That much is inevitable. When 100% of residents in certain neighborhoods drive EVs, they’ll begin to see gas cars driving through their neighborhoods as threats to their children’s health, and what argument can one make against that? You can’t. Gas cars will be banned from certain neighborhoods, and it’s inevitable.
View this post on Instagram
What’s more, on a more macro scale, I could see gas prices climbing, especially here in California, and more and more restrictions placed on these vehicles. In 30 years, it’s possible that driving gas cars in LA won’t be allowed. We’ve seen similar things in certain cities in Europe — it’s only a matter of time before our beloved ICE steeds are shunned by the masses, and our ability to enjoy them on public streets becomes throttled.
It’s not going to happen anytime soon, but I’m 32 years old. It’s possible I won’t be able to drive my Jeep J10 freely and easily on public roads by the time I hit my twilight years. And here in California, it’s possible I’ll have a hard time piloting that old truck by the time I hit the big Five-Oh. So I’m going to enjoy these gas cars while I can. Gas stations are plentiful, fuel pricing is expensive but not insane yet, and because gas cars are in the majority, folks aren’t sneering at my fuel-burning machine, plotting for ways to keep it out of their neighborhood.
I’m gonna listen to the burble of that Ford 289 V8; feel those crisp shifts just “snick” into place as I row through my J10 and Wrangler YJ’s manual transmissions; marvel at my ZJ’s incredibly well-spoken suspension (that’s a terrible play on the word “articulate”). These vehicles offer experiences that EVs just can’t, and while I think my BMW i3s are, objectively, my best cars, there’s really nothing “objective” about joy. And, while I still can, I’m going to wring every drop of that from my gas cars.
2024 is my summer of stick shifts, smooth straight-six torque, and V8 grunt.
And in the distance you will hear the silence of the Golden Eagle’s seized engine as it fails to spin
And in the distance you will hear the silence of the Golden Eagle’s seized engine as it fails to spin
Glad to see you coming to your senses. 🙂 I was afraid all the gasoline in your blood was being replaced by electrons and making you not quite right.
My apologies if this sounds mean. Reading it again an hour later, it is not funny like it was in my head. If I could edit or delete I would.
It read fine to me. Don’t fret it.
He works with Adrian Clarke, you’re fine.
Glad to see you coming to your senses. 🙂 I was afraid all the gasoline in your blood was being replaced by electrons and making you not quite right.
My apologies if this sounds mean. Reading it again an hour later, it is not funny like it was in my head. If I could edit or delete I would.
It read fine to me. Don’t fret it.
He works with Adrian Clarke, you’re fine.
I was mowing the lawn earlier and somebody riding a hog went by, running a little rich, and I was instantly transported to the track side at Road Atlanta. It goes so much deeper than it might seem at first!
Did they say this?
“I can get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog!”
Given that I was wearing earplugs, I at least can’t deny the possibility.
Whenever I hear the sound of someone riding a hog nearby, I’m always instantly transported to the parking lot of a suburban Westin during the Mid-Atlantic Association of Dentists convention.
When it’s 30 to 50 hogs – feral or otherwise – that’s something else entirely.
I was mowing the lawn earlier and somebody riding a hog went by, running a little rich, and I was instantly transported to the track side at Road Atlanta. It goes so much deeper than it might seem at first!
Did they say this?
“I can get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog!”
Given that I was wearing earplugs, I at least can’t deny the possibility.
Whenever I hear the sound of someone riding a hog nearby, I’m always instantly transported to the parking lot of a suburban Westin during the Mid-Atlantic Association of Dentists convention.
When it’s 30 to 50 hogs – feral or otherwise – that’s something else entirely.
Your Mustang is a lot like me. It’s old, it needs food, fluids, and air. It expels waste and bits are falling off here and there. It’s a living, breathing thing with a soul. I just don’t believe an electric appliance can match that. You’ll like it, but you’ll never love it. The future is electric and I sincerely wish good luck to you that can’t avoid it.
Your Mustang is a lot like me. It’s old, it needs food, fluids, and air. It expels waste and bits are falling off here and there. It’s a living, breathing thing with a soul. I just don’t believe an electric appliance can match that. You’ll like it, but you’ll never love it. The future is electric and I sincerely wish good luck to you that can’t avoid it.
I know my Mustang is a dumb car, I know it’s awful ergonomically, I know it’s expensive on gas, I know it’s irritated more than a few neighbors BUT to stand by it or sit in it idling, hear and feel the lope of the motor and smell the slight whiff of gasoline is an experience an EV just will never be able to match. EVs have a place in the world, just not in my driveway!
If you have a driveway you can have an EV as a DD AND a stupid Mustang weekend toy.
Maybe he keeps his EV in the garage where the charger is.
Maybe but if (insert preferred pronoun here) is like a lot of Americans that garage is too full of junk, er treasures to park a bicycle, much less a car.
I know my Mustang is a dumb car, I know it’s awful ergonomically, I know it’s expensive on gas, I know it’s irritated more than a few neighbors BUT to stand by it or sit in it idling, hear and feel the lope of the motor and smell the slight whiff of gasoline is an experience an EV just will never be able to match. EVs have a place in the world, just not in my driveway!
If you have a driveway you can have an EV as a DD AND a stupid Mustang weekend toy.
Maybe he keeps his EV in the garage where the charger is.
Maybe but if (insert preferred pronoun here) is like a lot of Americans that garage is too full of junk, er treasures to park a bicycle, much less a car.
As a Southern California gearhead I’ve come to the same conclusion, and have endeavored to wrench on my cars less and drive them more while it’s relatively easy to do so. Even though that still means $100 to fill up my ’85 LTD or ’04 Sequoia. I’m thankful I can afford it.
As a Southern California gearhead I’ve come to the same conclusion, and have endeavored to wrench on my cars less and drive them more while it’s relatively easy to do so. Even though that still means $100 to fill up my ’85 LTD or ’04 Sequoia. I’m thankful I can afford it.
Sounds lil’ like selling the Golden Eagle has kept you up at night.
I definitely think it’s a great idea, you’ve got a great collection of cars and you went through the effort to drag them all to LA with you, it’s gotta feel good to get out and remind yourself why.
I’m never going to be in a rush to own an EV, heck, I don’t even think I’ve driven one yet, but the time will come when it’s the sensible choice to make, but I’m going to be burning through a lot more tanks of fuel before that day comes, especially once the VK hits the streets.
Sounds lil’ like selling the Golden Eagle has kept you up at night.
I definitely think it’s a great idea, you’ve got a great collection of cars and you went through the effort to drag them all to LA with you, it’s gotta feel good to get out and remind yourself why.
I’m never going to be in a rush to own an EV, heck, I don’t even think I’ve driven one yet, but the time will come when it’s the sensible choice to make, but I’m going to be burning through a lot more tanks of fuel before that day comes, especially once the VK hits the streets.
I don’t need soap operas anymore; I get all the drama and excitement I need from the i3 saga.
I don’t need soap operas anymore; I get all the drama and excitement I need from the i3 saga.
At least you’re not sucking in tetraethyl lead, I say go for it.
Experience it while you can the, California of legends, in a fossil fueled automobile.
In the future have something to tell your grandkids or some random stranger at a Nevada coastal bar.
“That guy says he was the head of an automotive publication before the Motor Law.”
“Let me tell you about my uncle.”
Does he have a country place that no one knows about?
He does. He says it used to be a farm.
After the sun goes down and the scent of children’s sunscreen wafts away, you’re guaranteed to meet someone interesting to talk to in the bars of Playa de Winnemucca.
At least you’re not sucking in tetraethyl lead, I say go for it.
Experience it while you can the, California of legends, in a fossil fueled automobile.
In the future have something to tell your grandkids or some random stranger at a Nevada coastal bar.
“That guy says he was the head of an automotive publication before the Motor Law.”
“Let me tell you about my uncle.”
Does he have a country place that no one knows about?
He does. He says it used to be a farm.
After the sun goes down and the scent of children’s sunscreen wafts away, you’re guaranteed to meet someone interesting to talk to in the bars of Playa de Winnemucca.
in 2008 I leased a 535ix wagon. had had a 325xi for a long time prior to that. great car, except for the thing I can’t talk about. gas was so expensive there was no traffic, almost worth it. I’m still waiting for the horseless carriage review.
in 2008 I leased a 535ix wagon. had had a 325xi for a long time prior to that. great car, except for the thing I can’t talk about. gas was so expensive there was no traffic, almost worth it. I’m still waiting for the horseless carriage review.
Good on you David, you have some classics to enjoy, and that’s where gas cars should really stick around is in the personal enjoyment area, like horses did when cars took over, except without all the inhumane “let’s juice them up to a win a race with a tiny dude whipping them” way…, but I digest.
One of my bucket list items is to take a nice sporty car or converitble up the PCH, the Mustang would probably fit that bill nicely, grab some in’n’out burger on the way, take in some northern beaches or get some rice-a-roni in San Francisco.
Good on you David, you have some classics to enjoy, and that’s where gas cars should really stick around is in the personal enjoyment area, like horses did when cars took over, except without all the inhumane “let’s juice them up to a win a race with a tiny dude whipping them” way…, but I digest.
One of my bucket list items is to take a nice sporty car or converitble up the PCH, the Mustang would probably fit that bill nicely, grab some in’n’out burger on the way, take in some northern beaches or get some rice-a-roni in San Francisco.
I’m gonna keep driving my old gas-powered BMW’s for as long as I can. I have enough spare parts to keep em going, so as long as gas is available I’ll keep listening to my straight-6 as I bang it off limiter, what a glorious sound.
I’m gonna keep driving my old gas-powered BMW’s for as long as I can. I have enough spare parts to keep em going, so as long as gas is available I’ll keep listening to my straight-6 as I bang it off limiter, what a glorious sound.
Project idea: BMW i3 platform and interior wearing the bodywork of a 1950s-60s economy car. Body swaps have been done before plenty of times, but I’ve never seen it tried with a hybrid/range-extended EV. Surely there’s a salvage title i3 out there somewhere that could make a good inexpensive donor, and then perhaps a Nash Metropolitan with trashed mechanicals to provide the new bodywork… The commuter car you want combined with the commuter car you used to think you wanted!
The i3 would probably work better as a full drivetrain/tech/interior swap than a body swap. The main structure and crash cell of the i3 is built out of carbon fiber. Not super easy to impose another body over.
Don’t get me wrong, I fully support swaps. My main project is a 1971 Travelall on a 2003 Tahoe. I have a couple others I want to build in the future as well. But the CF body makes it pretty hard.
I guess you’d have to find a way to cut it down to a carbon fiber tub and then figure out how to bolt the body on top of that, but yeah, probably much easier to just transplant all the mechanicals from the i3 to the other car.