I cant argue with someones’ nan’s facebook feed telling them outright lies, but there is a hell of alot of misinformation being peddled - and not just from anti-EV people. Some very pro-EV people also talk total shit. If you havnt considered it, why not?
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Money! I can just afford a heavily used car. I don’t have the luxury of choice.
Because I haven’t got 25 grand to spend on a new car when my old one works fine. When that finally dies, I’ll look again. Hopefully we’ll be getting some good second hand stuff by then.
Same here. We have two cars. One fully paid off, the other financed at like 3%.
They’re both practical, reliable vehicles.
The next time I’m looking for a vehicle, I do hope to buy an EV. This will be in 5+ years, hopefully. By that time, I’d expect there to be a variety of used EVs on the market. As well as improved charging infrastructure.
I’m waiting for my car to die before considering a new one.
I am also hoping to coax it along long enough so that we no longer need cars but are shuttling everywhere in autonomous EV pods.
And I can’t blame the granny on Facebook as the right wing press have a torrent of anti-EV hit-pieces (and green policies in general).
This is just from my current Google News feed:
I decided not to block that kind of nonsense and it’s been enlightening.
I straight up don’t want a new car. Between the cost, the lack of buttons, god awful design, driver assists, privacy concerns, and everything else, I don’t want one. Newest I’d get would be like a 2010 model.
EVs are newer than that, and in my experience feel like Im driving a macbook rather than a car. Sure all new cars feel like that, but evs especially.
Also battery degradation.The price to swap the battery usually outweighs the cars worth. With skateboard designs, you have to take out the entire interior. The engineers fucked up.
I also like to do road trips. Im not stopping for an hour every 300 miles, fuck that. Even my long-weekend trips are often 400 miles or more.
battery degredation is a big one I hear alot. All I can say is, you wont need to replace anything if the data continues to be far better than even two years ago. I have a now-older model EV and its a few % down after 3-4 years, I expect to be well above 80% in another six and I do alot of miles. What i’ve noticed is as i’ve got used to it, ive learned and understood how and when I need to make allowances. Even today for example I did 200 miles and in summer I can do my usual trip in one stop with a little left over - as the temperature changed as I went over a hill peak I lost 15 miles of range so I made an additional stop.
Generally the biggest thing to get my head around is the efficiency rating. Many new EVs are getting 2.5kw/mile average but because the battery is larger you dont notice it. Mine gets double that easily but the battery is smaller, less weight etc but its actually really cheap to run because its very efficient. I think the new Hyundais are getting 6-7miles per kw, which is superb, but, the bigger brands like Ford and Jag are really poor by comparison. What I mean is, the mass market is going backward and innovators are more expensive. Ive long maintained we are 5 years away from being ready, and my next EV will be hopefully far superior in 6 years time
eGMP cars (Hyundai/Kia) need 20 minutes of charging per 2-3 hours of driving. It really works — I’ve driven across Europe twice now, and often my coffee breaks take more time than the car needs to recharge.
The battery tech has advanced significantly in the last 10 years. Leaf used to be 24kWh, now it’s 40kWh for the same price. If the trend continues (and likely will thanks to economies of scale ramping up), by the time you need to replace the battery in today’s EVs, the replacements will be cheaper and better.
by the time you need to replace the battery in today’s EVs, the replacements will be cheaper and better
Unless they adopt the cell phone model and just make you trade the car in.
Someone at the end of those trades has to do the replacement, which will dictate second-hand car value.
BTW, batteries wear gradually, and a battery with 70% of capacity may be annoying for a car, but is still valuable for stationary energy storage (for solar). To me that’s another optimistic factor that can reduce actual replacement cost.
They will not pass these savings onto you.
Over 4 hours solid of driving? That tiring and a solid bladders. Just take one break after two, get a drink, snack, go for a wee. With an EV, a rapid change too. Less hard drive, and cheaper EV battery.
4 hours is not that far.
Regardless of it’s motorway, town or country roads, four straight hours is a long drive. I just don’t want to do it. I’d get the train when it’s practical to. Then sleep and read the whole journey. Driving, I’d take a break driving every two just to get a drink, snack, wee and stretch legs. Turns out two hours is about right.
“Driving for long periods: Research has found driving deteriorates after two hours of continuous driving, as you become less able to concentrate, and slower to react to hazards. The longer you drive, the more rest you need to recover driving performance. Breaks are therefore recommended every two hours.”
https://www.brake.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/mybrake/knowledge-centre/driver-fatigue
Oh I see, you’re from the UK. Yeah, no wonder you can’t drive for four hours, the government said you shouldn’t.
Dude, I just said I find driving tiring. Plus it wasn’t government link I gave you. In big empty countries, maybe you don’t need to concentrate as much. Long straight roads with no one else on them. So maybe it’s longer before a break is needed, but four hours still seams long.
Money
Three things for me. One, I have no practical way of charging one at home. Two, they’re mostly outside my price range. Three, I have doubts about maintainability of the used ones in my price range.
I’ve owned 3 cars in the last six years, two of which I still have. All have been between 9 and 26 years old and cost between $2300 and $7000. Last time I looked around my area, there were only a few electric cars in that price range mostly 2012-2014ish Leafs and electric Focuses. I know the battery packs degrade over time and suspect the range at that age from that era of EV’s would be impractical for me. Replacement packs are expensive and if I factor them into the purchase cost it’s pushing all of them over $10,000.
Maybe in a few years when my living situation has changed and better EV’s are available in that price range?
in the US i take it? We dont often talk about replacing the battery here or in the EU, not that its a problem to talk about it just that its not part of the conversation. The lifespan of batteries is well past the 80k mile warranty all manufacturers have.
Very few secondhand EVs in my price range yet, all older/cheaper models with concerns over range, street parking only so costly to charge, and difficulty establishing the cost of battery replacement/leasing.
Got an old hybrid instead. Am hoping it’ll last until private cars are no longer necessary.
Money, I need a fucken place to live. I can’t be thinkin’ about a car right now.
Right now, the vehicles my wife and I own are in good shape, and have a lot of life left in them, and they are paid for. I’m reluctant to get rid of them to buy a new car, especially since a new EV would be hideously expensive, and a used EV isn’t easy to find in my area.
I wish someone would make an electric motorcycle that wasn’t so expensive.
I bought a Subaru Outback only three years ago and I don’t plan to replace it until necessary. Being an Outback, that will probably be something like twenty years from now.
I don’t need a car
