The EV transition trips over its own cord
The EV transition trips over its own cord
Batteries are too big, and our politics are too polarized.
I am a human and this is my summary: "Adoption of the new tech is following the usual S shaped curve." This summary saved many pointless ways of saying the same thing.
I'm looking forward to being able to afford one. Yes it is cheaper in the long term -- no I cannot afford the upfront costs.
Same, second hand market might as well not exist and most if not all are very expensive cars. Me and my family are still driving cars from ten years ago.
Where I live there was a subsidy for EV when getting rid of your old car. I'm getting 7k back but my old car was worth maybe 1k so that's 6k off the price of the EV making it the same price as ICE version. In many other places there are different subsidies like this, it's worth checking it out. This helps a lot with the upfront cost.
An EV would be perfect for me, I live in QC where power is super cheap, I do 6000 miles per year, most round trip are way less than 100 miles, I'd have no problem charging it cheaply and never had a problem with range.
My only problem is the price, in Canada I'd pay what? $60k+ ? no way.
It's definitely insanely expensive. To me it was worth it though. Comparing the cost to my old car, which some would say was too high of a monthly payment anyway, although I made do, it was only 300 dollars more.
And gas here on Vancouver Island is like 200 dollars a month minimum. So for me, the cost was about the same overall, and I vastly prefer having the electric car.
But I know it's a very high amount that most people don't want to pay and I don't blame anyone. But anyone who buys a new car or has an insane payment I don't understand.
We bought a used plugin hybrid (Prius prime) for 25k in total (CAD). It's not cheap but at least it's way lower than 60k. Driven everyday we only need to refill the tank once a month.
The battery range is only like 30 miles but that's good enough for daily commute and errands. We only really use gas for road trips or day trips.
EVs are the future. Get onboard once you can afford it.
I'm all for it, but I'm not jumping on board to ev until the infrastructure is at a point where charging is as quick and easy and ubiquitous as filling up gas. Or at least closer than it is now. Then again I will admit I don't have an EV so I haven't been able to personally experience what that is actually like.
I could however see getting an EV in a two car household where the primary purpose of the EV is for commuting and just getting around locally. Anything beyond that though I would still feel more comfortable with gas or a hybrid.
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What type of EV? Because people have a habit of conflating the battery powered EV with EVs in general.
I've been looking at the specs of evs and chargers around me and also taking into account their prices you have to be a bit motivated to buy one.
An EV would do well for me to commute to work. But I'm not interested in the hassle of road tripping with one, so I'd still need a good ICE vehicle for that. My garage isn't big enough unless I replace my 1995 F-150.
There are also plug in hybrid cars however your selection is more limited with those. They typically have a battery but a smaller one but the big part is they also run on gas. We own one (Prius Prime) and it can last about 30 miles on battery which is perfect for daily commute and errands like groceries. On road trips we just use gas.
A 90s f150 will outlast all the EVs, keep that for sure. Some day might even be worth good money like 70s trucks are now.
My biggest source of frustration is that a specific type of charger was never federally mandated. Manufacturers are absolute dicks when it comes to standards. Even if I had the money for an EV, I’d be leery of competing standards, and manufacturers changing standards on a whim.
I’m not crazy about manufacturers adopting Tesla’s charging system, either. Is the patent for Tesla’s charging station public? I’m guessing that it isn’t. What happens if Musk runs the company into the ground, or starts demanding excessive fees? What happens when there’s a legal dispute that gets tied up in court for ten years? Would the building of new stations be halted? Could someone even maintain existing stations without fear of legal repercussions? I don’t want to have to worry about that shit. Uncertainty is the last thing people want when making a major purchase.
With an ICE, I can fill my tank at any gas station. If a company goes out of business, another one will likely buy the station and keep it running. The system is mature, reliable, and well regulated (I’m just talking about the functionality of infrastructure, not environmental issues. That’s an entirely different topic.)
With an EV, I might need an adapter or be completely unable to use a charger. No wonder EV sales are declining. Consumers are tired of investing in a New Thing only to be fucked and abandoned.
FWIW they semi opened it in 2013 and then fully opened design spec patents for the charger last year, and are working to get it set as a public standard for North America.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/tesla-opens-charging-connector-inlet-design-standards-nacs/That is good to know. Thank you!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The news lately is full of production delays, factories postponed, models canceled, and, of course, the ever-present low-grade anxiety buzzing around a charging infrastructure that is both constantly broken and lacking in prevalence.
Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of different trend lines — price fluctuations, new incentives, the autoworkers strike, to name a few — that are colliding to make a mess of any attempt to get a solid temperature read on the EV transition.
Buying an EV isn’t just about bigger screens, faux grilles, or light bars; it’s an entirely new lifestyle, full of range considerations and charging anxieties and home equipment installations.
GM especially was guilty of this, leading with the Hummer EV truck and SUV, while letting the small, utilitarian Chevy Bolt languish for many years before being recalled and then discontinued.
And that rate of increase is expected to accelerate as more big, heavy trucks hit the market, from the Chevy Silverado EV to the Ram 1500 Rev to the Tesla Cybertruck.
For better or worse, EVs are now political, and automakers are left to grapple with the challenges that arise when a significant chunk of the population refuses to buy your product based on ideology.
The original article contains 1,469 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 86%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I dont give a rat's ass about EV's. Give me bike infrastructure. Wait, I do care about EV's: EV busses. Especially for schools. This last 5 years has radicalized me so much, I grew up thinking my first car would be self-driving. The world is chock full of lies waiting to find eager ears.
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