this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
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I think EVs mostly are bought by people who are in 2 car family who also own a petrol car, or those who only ever drive in the city. Most people want to do longer trips for weekends, holidays, visiting family etc. So if it’s your only car, it’s unlikely to be an EV. Other barriers are that they are more expensive for the same size vehicle, nowhere to charge if you live in an apartment, higher insurance costs. It’s gonna be a while until EVs outnumber combustion engines.
Let's not forget the fact that once the battery dies it's very expensive to replace. And the thing is it's hard to factor in whether that's worth it right now since nobody has a very good idea about how expensive batteries will be in 10 years time.
It costs less than a new engine. But there are teslas at 200,000 miles (in the US) do it’s not as if they need new batteries every few years. (Had one for 7 years now, no sign of battery replacement required and only 2% degradation.
@wscholermann @SituationCake battery technology is improving constantly. I have a 10yo ev, bought secondhand and got the battery upgraded, the new battery is double the range than the old one was when new, and the old battery was still very serviceable and can be used for an off grid home battery system, but new batteries if the size of the old one are getting so cheap now it's probably cheaper to connect a new battery to an off grid pv system.
@SituationCake @wscholermann I'm a single parent who lives rurally but comes into Melbourne roughly every second week for work. While I usually charge at home I'm minding a friend's house this month and they have street parking only. I'm heading up to Kyneton today. No dramas, my EV only has 30kwh battery but there are these things called fast chargers, they are a bit like petrol stations, you have to wait slightly longer, but 8 only have to use them when travelling long distances. While in the city I'll largely charge at work. At home I largely charged from solar, especially in summer. Having a family is no barrier and I don't have a second car. It's these kinds of myths about EVs that keep people from considering them in the first place. I pay less overall and the extra cost of the battery is paid off within 5 years of fuel at its current cost: who knows where petrol cost might be in 2 years let alone 5.