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Has anyone regretted buying a fully electric car?
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this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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Make sure that the car matches your expectations.
Don't trust their range claims, most of the time they are exaggerated and only able to get that range on a perfect day doing constant 45mph without hills.
Do you have a reliable place to charge it? If you don't have a personal parking place, and cannot install a charger at said place, trusting you have the range you need gets difficult, and expensive. As you have to rely on public chargers that are not very reliable, and worse for battery longevity (level 3 chargers)
Speaking of range. What range do you actually NEED? My opinion is the minimum range should be double the normal daily commute, as most level 2 chargers can add ~18 miles/he charging (overnight charge means 144 miles charge). Double your commute gives you a buffer for the heater, or the grocery run after work. For most people this is only 80 miles.... which almost every electric only car can do without issues.
Is the cost worth the vehicle? Buying new is expensive, buying used can be risky. Do your research thoroughly and you'll be able to decide what fits what you NEED (and that answer may easily be a used ICE vehicle instead)
I've had a full electric vehicle for 5+ years now as my daily. But I have always had a personal parking place, with a level 2 charger. I consider electric only to be a commuter car at best. It's not going to be able to do a road trip. And depending on the car and the commute may even not be able to do a grocery run after work some days. If you have another car that is ICE that you can keep for those times, cool. Or if you are ok with planning, and rent a car when you want to do a road trip, great.
Personally I suggest a plug in hybrid for anyone who can only have one car, and is considering going electric. Prius prime, Chevy volt, Chrysler Pacifica are the ones that have enough range for a short commute, the rest are trying but just haven't gotten there yet.
This is where I get grumpy. I feel like that kind of range is a different category of vehicle, and it should be significantly cheaper than an ICEV, since it means I need to plan around the range.
I realize it's the size of the battery pack, so it isn't where most of the cost of the vehicle comes from, but still.
When it's time to replace my current vehicle, I'll probably go PHEV. But ideally public transit will be solved, so I won't need to. 🤣
That kind of range is a different vehicle. My 500e I bought for 7k. It's the perfect commuter.
Do you really NEED to be able to drive 300 miles every day? If so, battery isn't likely for you. And if you don't need to, why cry that it can't?
Because I need to drive 300 miles every few months and a car I own that can do that is cheaper than a car that can't and renting something that can for the few times I need it. Rental cars are expensive and most come with per mile charges on top of the daily rate.
It takes less than twenty minutes to charge enough to make that in any modern ev. Unless you’re filling up on gas before your trips anyway, you’re still gonna have to stop. The difference in time is negligible.
Gas cars fill even faster. Many EVs don't charge at high speeds, and not all chargers support high speeds even if the car can. Evs do have the advantage of being fully charged before you leave, so trips that can be done on one charge never need to stop. However longer trips have issues.
Don't forget that EV chargers are not nearly as common as gasoline. It is rare that someone needs to plan gas stops on a trip, when the gauge gets down to 1/4 you stop at the next town is the rule most people use (there is variation, those who use 1/8 as the rule sometimes run out of gas, some use 1/2). For EV trips you still have to plan your charging stops, particularly if you are getting off the well traveled path - you can still make most trips but you better how the chargers are working when you get there
Not only that, as EVS get more popular those stations will get more saturated. Even with more stations that means longer waits. Imagine a line for gas where it takes 5 total minutes to fill, if that. Now imagine that line with 20+ minute EV charging, per vehicle.
Im not against EVS but there are drawbacks. Acting like there aren't isn't doing Anyone any good.
Quite frankly I wish they'd just spend money on public transit.
One thing to keep in mind is that you don't need the infrastructure of a gas station to have an EV charging station. My wife borrowed my car the other day and topped up at an apartment block. Only one place I went to could be charitably called a gas station, the rest were car dealerships and malls. But I'm also fortunate enough to be able to use an L1 charger at home and work so I tend not to use any.
Not even 20 minutes. If you are doing 300 miles, you probably only need to sit on the charger for maybe an extra 100 miles of charge. That is maybe 5-10 minutes.
Or if you get something like the Equinox EV, you may not have to charge during that trip at all.