228

I need a new car, and I really want to go full electric. I'm wondering if anyone regrets buying one? What are the downsides?

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Kadaj21@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

I went from an 08' VW Rabbit to a '21 VW id.4 a few months ago. Got the $4k tax rebate passed onto the dealer to bring my price down to $19k [~$21k after taxes/fees], it's the AWD Pro S, and doesn't have the Gradient Package [some silvery exterior bits and slightly larger wheels]. I love the car, my family loves the car. The only nitpick I reaaaaaally have and that most people have for the VW evs is the damn driver side window switches lol. You get 2 and have to tap a touch sensitive bit to switch it to the back. Makes no sense. The steering wheel touch inputs for cruise control and media are another controversial choice, but I've gotten used to it.

As far as an EV in general goes. Like most have said, check out the charging network you have where you are and where you plan to be. I've only done one road trip in my id.4 [from buying it in Chicagoland and bringing it home] and while the range was "OK" [about 150 highway miles per charge], since I was along a string of L3s along the turnpike, I wasn't worried about making it to a charger. My immediate area had a couple of L3s, but now there's probably about double/triple around me now that's opened in the few months I've had my car.

That being said, my circumstance have the car as mostly a commuter, so I tend to last on a charge all week, and then L1 charge it Sun-Tues morning to start all over. Any around town stuff during charging time doesn't really make a dent since it's all within a few miles of my home. I also am able to charge at work for free, though sometimes spots get filled. Initially I was thinking about getting a L2 EVSE, but between home and work, I don't really feel the need for one. I'd also need one with a good 50' cord since I park in front of my house, otherwise wife and I would have to re-arrange the cars whenever I wanted to charge.

That being said, if stuff happens and we do go up to my sisters about 40 miles away or something happens to where I do need to charge at a L3, the price per "tank" has been about $15 and taken 20-ish minutes. Most of the time I'm watching a few youtube videos, or going in for a restroom break and by the time i get back the car's about ready.

My car, and I think most EVs nowadays will have a setting limiting the charge to 80% to help with keeping the battery healthy. If I'm not using air conditioning at 80% my estimated range is about 190-200 miles, if it's hot and I'm using AC, it'll go down to 185ish. First upcoming winter, so I'll get to see how much my car is impacted. I don't usually worry about range. I did at first because I had a couple of close calls about charging stations not being available while doing some longish trips back and forth, but I think in general my immediate and surrounding areas that I might frequent have gotten more stations recently.

OH. Insurance for me wasn't much more than what I was already paying, but registration in my state tacks on another $200 dollars a year, presumably since having an EV you're not paying into the gas tax. Some states don't have EV fees, some do. So might want to check that. My co-worker just found out about that and wasn't happy lol.

[-] Qutorial@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

I've been wanting a plug-in hybrid, where you're fully electric under ~40mi of daily travel, and if you exceed it switches to gas for backup. RAV4 prime has been my dream car lately....

[-] YerbaYerba@lemm.ee 7 points 4 days ago

I have a 10 year old Chevy Volt. 95% of our households driving is on the 38 miles of battery range. Oil changes every 2 years.

[-] qx128@lemmy.world 19 points 4 days ago

I have not regretted it. Bought a second EV for my family as well. Most of my extended family have also bought EVs and all had positive experiences. I don’t know anyone who has regretted it.

[-] Clanket@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Short answer no. I now have two in my house. VW ID4 & ID3. So nice to drive, cheap to run and the maintenance costs are basically 0.

load more comments (12 replies)
[-] ShadowZone@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

No regrets. Polestar 2 MY22 long range AWD. Ride is a lot harsher than in the BMW i4 for instance (family member has one). But overall I wouldn't want to switch.

[-] HaiZhung@feddit.org 6 points 3 days ago

Have owned one for 2 years. I have made precisely one trip where I was mildly inconvenienced by having to charge one times too many. (That trip was >700km long).

All of the other times it has been amazing. Don’t overthink it too much, really. Just look at all the electric car owners out there - there’s enough of them and as far as I know no one is complaining.

Go for it.

[-] Boinkage@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago

I love mine, Chevy bolt. The biggest downside is that you need to plan road trips more carefully with them, and road trips will just take longer. Once you accept that, it's actually kind of nice to periodically take 20-30 minute breaks while on a trip.

These problems are greatly alleviated if you also have a fossil fuel car. My partner has a gas car, so if we're just going for a weekend or there aren't good charging options, we just take the gas car so we don't have to worry about charging.

[-] Magister@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago

I think EV cars are mature enough. A lot of colleague have EVs, Tesla 3, Bolt, Ioniq 5, Soul EV, etc. and no-one regret it.

Me I don't need one because I WFH and do maybe 4000 miles (6000km) per year, so buying a 60k$ EV compared to a 30k$ ICE does not make sense, for money.

If your #1 priority is to save the planet and not pollute and you have the money, so of course go for it.

[-] frickineh@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

Your second paragraph is why I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I don't WFH, but my commute is only about 10 miles round trip and most of my errands are done within that same area. My Toyota is 12 years old and only has ~80k miles on it, so it just doesn't make sense to switch at this point.

That said, I'm casually looking for a new job and my commute would go up dramatically for a lot of options in my field, so I haven't eliminated the possibility.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] zeekaran@sopuli.xyz 6 points 4 days ago

I work remotely too so a new car is an unnecessary expense. Instead a purchased a different kind of EV: an electric bike!*

*This is a lie I've bought four of them send help

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
[-] spongebue@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

The big question is if you can charge at home. Depending on the car, it's feasible to do so on a normal outlet if you drive ~30 miles or less per day. A 240 volt outlet can be a game changer on top of that though. My setup charges my car 0-100 in about 6 hours (you know, overnight, when I'm not doing anything and electricity is cheapest). But if I were in an apartment and had no access to overnight charging I'd consider other options.

(Chevy Bolt EUV)

[-] beanlink@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Yes but it all depends on your use case. If you travel a lot for work that involves some mountain passes or states with low EV adoption due to politics you are gonna have a rough time or be very limited in your options.

If your use case is less than 200 miles a day and charging infrastructure is built up in your area then you are all set.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Horsey@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I got within an extremely close distance to getting a Model Y this year during the price cuts; I secured the loan and was looking into the insurance costs which is what ultimately killed my decision.

My car is paid off and I only pay for gas (I have the Prius Aqua 2016, ~53mpg, 4.44L/100km)

When I looked into the Y, first of all they don't allow you to get an insurance quote without first putting a down payment. If I had gone through with the purchase, I'd be looking at almost 570$/month on the car loan alone with the trade-in, plus another 140/month (I currently pay 80$/month, roughly) for insurance through my current company (this is only a ballpark figure based on me pulling a VIN number online and feeding it into a quote; that number could possibly be significantly higher). That puts my excess car expenses conservatively at 650$/month just for a new car. The literal only problems I have with my current car is that it can't tow my horse trailer and that it's a "dumb" petrol car with no infotainment and a physical key. I'm probably going to put a 12" iPad in the center console for infotainment and call it a day and keep that around for another 4 years until Apple CarPlay 2 trickles down to affordable EVs.

In summation, I really don't think EVs are worth it unless you absolutely must buy a new car. There are new infotainment options on the horizon like Apple CarPlay 2 and Android Automotive with Android Auto as standard... right now is the literal worst time to buy a car. Not to mention that NACS is going to replace CCS in the USA in the 2026 model cars. Your resale value in the mid 2030s will be absolute dogshit if you don't wait for the NACS port in next year's cars.

[-] xlash123@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 days ago

Other than the fact that I overspent a bit, I don't regret it. Especially since I live in Florida and didn't have to deal with the gas shortages due to the hurricanes. As long as you have a reliable means of charging at home (or at work), you are good 95% of the time.

If you do any regular long-range driving, be sure you get one that can support that distance. Public EV chargers can still be hit-or-miss, and that's the biggest downside in my opinion. They aren't too frequent, and a lot of times they just don't work. You also generally need to get an account for each charging network, or else it can be hard to pay or you just pay more. But I can live with that, because it is very much an exceptional part of my driving habits.

[-] movies@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

I haven’t regretted it. Though if you were to do consistent long drives, and only have one car, I might suggest checking out PHEVs.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

I would get a hybrid, but I have nowhere to charge an electric car. I live in an apartment, and unless you're rich you can't afford an apartment with charging stations. I've never even seen one, personally.

[-] Leeks@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago

I’m also considering getting a full electric car, but have a little range anxiety mixed with a general feeling that the improvements over the next couple years will make current electric cars obsolete, so I am following along with this thread!

[-] oxjox@lemmy.ml 9 points 4 days ago

improvements over the next couple years will make current electric cars obsolete

This is my problem with any new car. Practically every new car (even ICEVs) is just a smart phone on wheels now. It’s not like in the ‘90s - ‘00s when you could still legit buy a car from the ‘70s and daily drive it and repair it in your own drive way for cheap (most people in the 50s - 80s were capable of basic tune ups, etc).

My concern is that at some point the parts won’t be made anymore. Or if the LCD command console gets cracked or something your car’s totaled. I mean, people used to own cars for at least ten years, twenty years wasn’t uncommon. Do you think a 2025 XYZ is going to be on the road in ten years- twenty years? What’s the resale value on that / who’s going to buy a twenty year old phone on wheels?

As much as people believe EVs are better for the environment, aren’t they increasing the rate at which a vehicle ends up in landfill? I hope recycling is part of the car’s lifecycle.

At the same time though, I have to acknowledge that, without an ICE, EVs have far fewer points of failure. There’s a potential for them to be on the road much longer. I just don’t see that happening due to consumer demand. Even if you’re able to update the software and swap out worn out parts, is that enough to keep the car on the road as long as or longer than an ICEV? What happens when technology changes and they find better batteries or charging methods? How much do you have to invest in the phone on wheels to keep it on the road?

[-] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

This is my problem with any new car. Practically every new car (even ICEVs) is just a smart phone on wheels now. It’s not like in the ‘90s - ‘00s when you could still legit buy a car from the ‘70s and daily drive it and repair it in your own drive way for cheap (most people in the 50s - 80s were capable of basic tune ups, etc).

Remember cars from the 70s and 80s were considered "clunkers" at 100k miles. Today that number is 200k miles generally.

My concern is that at some point the parts won’t be made anymore. Or if the LCD command console gets cracked or something your car’s totaled.

Thats true of all modern cars, not just EVs. That ICE car is full of computers named things like "Engine Control Module" etc. Its already happening where they are dying and a car is essentially totaled.

I mean, people used to own cars for at least ten years, twenty years wasn’t uncommon.

Twenty years wasn't uncommon? For collectors cars or sunday drivers maybe. There were extraordinarily few 20 year old Plymonth Reliants on the roads in 2001.

Do you think a 2025 XYZ is going to be on the road in ten years- twenty years? What’s the resale value on that / who’s going to buy a twenty year old phone on wheels?

Even though there were other EVs before it, the Tesla Model S was the first mainstream EV that most would consider. You don't have to wonder if they're on the road. You can do used car searches for 2013 (11 years old!) and find them for sale.

As much as people believe EVs are better for the environment, aren’t they increasing the rate at which a vehicle ends up in landfill?

No. Interestingly one of the challenges of setting up recycling facilities for EV batteries that there simply aren't enough EVs being taken off the road with their batteries junked to create enough feedstock to justify the facilities.

If anything, the cut corners and non-reparibilty of the many common ICE vehicles is generating far larger waste. Try to buy a rebuilt Hyundai Sonata ICE engine for a car built in the last 10 years. You will have a hard time because they aren't very servicable and they break often. Lack of replacement engines means many cars that look amazing are headed to the scrapper because there's no way to put them back on the road again.

At the same time though, I have to acknowledge that, without an ICE, EVs have far fewer points of failure. There’s a potential for them to be on the road much longer. I just don’t see that happening due to consumer demand.

"Electric cars accounted for around 18% of all cars sold in 2023, up from 14% in 2022 and only 2% 5 years earlier, in 2018." source

Nearly 1 in every 5 new cars sold last year were EVs.

Gasoline consumption for vehicles is down 4.4% due to those drivers now driving EVs and not buying gasoline anymore source

Demand of EVs seems to be pretty decent.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
[-] weew@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 days ago

I love mine. Hyundai Ioniq 5.

2 years so far and it's been great. Wouldn't ever go back to gas. I don't even have a charger at home, but there is charging at work. I only need to charge it like 2 shifts per week, maybe 3 if I did a lot of driving, so it's not hard to keep it topped off just from work. Every once in a while the work parking lot is so damn full every single day that I can't charge there all week... So I have to suffer the inconvenience of... Going to a gas station and using their fast charger. Ugh.

Road trips take a bit more planning but I don't go on many road trips anyway. One per year, at most.

Weekend mountain trips and camping/skiing is great, though.

[-] rusticus@lemm.ee 4 points 4 days ago

God damn this thread is depressing. We need a carbon tax yesterday.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
228 points (97.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26635 readers
2807 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS