This was the basic analysis we did in switching all our lawn and garden equipment to electric. The higher initial outlay is more than made up for in near-zero maintenance, especially since we absolutely suck at routine maintenance, resulting in more expensive repairs when that catches up. The only thing left is the riding mower, and when it goes down, we will move to electric on that as well. The cars, when the time comes, will probably opt for electric as well. Really hoping the bugs are worked out by then!
5 Likes
6 Likes
Said as if it’s not possible to rent a vehicle for long trips.
Hell, I’ve got a hybrid that gets solid mileage and I still rent for some occasions. The idea that you need to own a vehicle that is, at an instant, ready to drive 500 miles and haul masonry, becomes extremely wasteful.
6 Likes
Well that’s nice and all but I wouldn’t have a clue where I can rent a car at a reasonable rate which will allow me to take it through the three countries that I would need to travel through.
And certainly not when the EV I’m using the rest of the time is twice as expensive to purchase as the non-EV alternative and is the wrong form factor/size for what I need.
It’s certainly true that people don’t need cars for long journeys as much as they think. It is also true that at present the capability and infrastructure is not quite there to entice people away from what they are used to.
This will hopefully not be the case for long.
2 Likes
This is a friction problem. One with a unique answer for everyone.
It starts with taking a hard and honest look at how someone actually uses a vehicle. Not just what they imagine, but how they really do use it. Then, looking at how much of that use is harder with an EV and how much extra effort is required to overcome those problems. The reverse is true too, there are things that are easier with an EV. The easier with an EV and the harder with an EV and the difficultly to overcome those things will be unique for everyone. Sometimes the EV will be better, sometimes not.
A rental car is an easy example. Getting a rental car for a trip adds friction to the trip. How much friction depends on lots of unique variables. Combined with how often that scenario is going to come up. If it’s just once a year, the extra friction that one time could be relatively high, as long as it’s not insurmountable, and be worth it compared to even small EV benefits that occur with huge frequency. Conversely, if that need happens once a month, that extra frictions has a larger impact.
I generally try not to say an EV is the right choice for everyone. Everyone’s needs are different. Instead, people should take a real look, not just a feel, for how they use a car and what the trade offs would be. They might surprise themselves.
In my personal case, the EV is one car of multiple. That real look for me included how often I need to drive more than 1 car long distances, the ability to drive the EV long distances, and the typical daily travel. It came out that I almost never need more than 1 car for long distances and daily drive well within the EV range. So, we bought an EV that was the cheapest EV we could get and has horrible fast charging, that’s what kept the cost down. In turn, I’ve never used a fast charger in the last 18 months with it. Lots of long haul trips in the other gas car though. Someone else with different travel patterns would arrive at a different solution, might still be an EV, but they might prioritize fast charging speed over cost.
3 Likes
That’s fair, really. I bought a model 3 in 2019, and I love the car in general. It didn’t take long to get used to looking diagonally down to the speedometer on the center screen, but I’d far prefer to have a traditional instrument cluster. I very much would prefer to have more physical controls (the windshield wiper controls are terrible).
The new model 3 has fewer physical controls. I’m not particularly eager to try one of those out.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
