Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/05/07/fender-benders-now-result-in-vastly-expensive-repairs.html
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Are they? I thought lower maintenance costs are significant for EVs. Maybe I’m misinformed.
AAA’s data gives us a solid basis for comparison, and all the subject cars are treated equally. As expected, without oil changes or other engine maintenance, the EVs are cheaper to maintain. (Car & Driver, Oct 28, 2022)
Analysis of real-world maintenance and repair cost data from thousands of CR members shows that BEV and PHEV owners are paying half as much as ICE owners are paying to repair and maintain their vehicles. (Consumer Reports, Oct. 2020)
HLDI research into EV collision repair costs — “dollars spent to close or resolve insurance claims” — does not find EVs to be excessively more expensive to repair than gas vehicles. (cars.com, December 5, 2023)
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I once saw a friends Tesla delicately autopark itself so it was just touching a wall, pause, then madly floor the accelerator in an apparent attempt to phase through it.
This was, reportedly, caused by a ‘misaligned sensor’.
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When my 2011 Forester finally gives up the the ghost, I’m absolutely dreading the dearth of affordable and technogically reasonable newer cars that aren’t outfitted with ridiculous doodads. You can’t even buy a car in the US with manual windows anymore, and the in-dash bullshit is out of control. I’ve not seen a single new car in the last decade that I’d be happy to own.
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Apples to oranges. Standard maintenance is less expensive. Repair is more expensive, and a Tesla that’s over 5 years old is basically totaled, as the batteries have degraded to the point they have less than half their original range and cost almost as much as a new model to replace.
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I believe the maintenance costs are lower for EVs. But not collision repair costs. Hertz made the costly mistake of buying 100,000 Teslas for its fleet. Then they were screwed because Tesla lowered prices on new models, dinging the resale value of those cars. Hertz also cited repair costs as a reason to back out of leasing Teslas. Not only were they costly to repair, they were more frequently in accidents because drivers were unfamiliar with the vehicles and unused to how they handled, e.g. their rapid acceleration.
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Same. We bought a certified pre-owned 2019 Forester a few years ago to replace our '05 Jetta (still sad to see it go, but it was on its last leg). I asked the sales guy what mileage they could still accept for their pre-owned program and plan to trade up before then because I absolutely do not want to deal with this thing aging or repairs out of warranty. When I was a kid my rich uncle would swap out cars every few years. I thought it was so luxurious to always have a newish car, but now it seems like it may be the only way to game the system. For the same reason, I’m hanging on to our 2009 Forester that has zero smart features and a recently rebuilt head gasket.
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The maintenance costs are indeed lower. But from my anecdotal experiences with my EV, they are either really low or catastrophic . Not sure how that averages out over thousands of the same model.
I drive a 7 year old BMW i3 BEV. It has plastic panels (like the old Saturn) that literally just clip on. The actual shell of the car is of carbon-fiber construction that was designed to be repaired. But you need to be Certified in the repair process.
Germany has Dealers that are Certified to repair these. No one in the USA wanted to bother with it, so now ANY accident that compromises the carbon-fiber shell in any way will total the car.
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My truck is 20 years old with manual windows, manual doorlocks, and manual transmission. I plan to keep it for another 20 years (it’s a Toyota so it probably will last that long).
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A lot of these sensors are now require at least in EU for “safety” reasons. The net effect is making car more expensive. Having lane assist or adaptive cruise control, on a BMW or Mercedes SUV, or even a Tesla, isn’t a big price increase compared to the base cost, but if you are looking at a small car like a Fiat Panda, a Renault Twingo, or a Toyota Aygo, it means a big price increase, and it’s making these cars more expensive. Actually Toyota sells only the Aygo X model that is bigger and more SUV looking. Not to mention the disappearance of the Suzuki Jimny.
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It would have been nice if the article had mentioned the history of FMVSS 215, which was the Federal rule that was in place between 1973 and 1982 requiring that bumpers could withstand 5mph impacts with zero damage. A government study conducted by the NHTSA in 1987 confirmed that the updated rules that got rid of that requirement resulted in higher repair costs.
Of course, the fact that there’s no standard height for bumpers has always been a problem too, moreso now than ever, since ginormous trucks and SUVs are so popular and they won’t even come into contact with the bumpers on reasonably-sized sedans when they plow into them.
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citation needed.
I have not met anyone with a tesla who complains about battery degredation. And my 2013 Fiat EV still goes the same distance as it used to.
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Safety, not “safety”.
There is a reason that pedestrian fatalities are getting rarer and fender design imposed by EU rules has a lot to do with it.
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Trying to figure out how to read that chart, unless it’s just labeled oddly. “Percentage decrease?” So a larger number is better than a smaller one, yes? And how can the chart start at 100% unless there was an immediate cessation in pedestrian fatalities in 1990?
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It’s a weird graph… it says percentage decrease since 1990, so you’d think 1990 would be at 0% and the graph would go up if showing a positive trend. It seems to be a percentage of fatalities relative to 1990, though
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A while back, I read that a study in the increase of pedestrian/cyclist fatalities in the US since 2010 showed that the major factor was the increasing number of pickups/SUVs as a percentage of vehicles on the road. IOW, more people are driving pickups/SUVs and those vehicles tend to impart more torso/head damage to pedestrians/cyclists than sedans do.
So we got that going for us.
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Because the people who’ve had problems sold their Teslas for pennies on the dollar or have sued the company for premature loss of range.
And I’m basing the long-term range degradation numbers on Model S vehicles advertised for sale after their battery warranty has expired. Vehicles that started with 250-300 mile ranges are for sale with stated ranges of 125-175 mile ranges 5-7 years from manufactured date.
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This is the source, fwiw
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Doesn’t that link say that Tesla just lied about the range and not that the battery degraded over time?
Is there any reporting that covers battery degradation over time from the real starting range? For a Tesla or other electric car. Are the different brands really that different for degradation after 5 or 10 years? Something more than say 5% different from each other?
Are any of them like my iPhone with only 88% capacity in less than 3 years?
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