This seems reasonable, from Quora...
Bryan Jones
Enjoy researching and following the new technology.
Why should you never buy an electric car?
First of all I’m not a EV fanboy or anything like that. I’m a person that does research. Then I make informed decisions based upon the information I have gathered from the research. Unlike most people, I look at both sides of a story. I’m also willing to change my mind when presented with logical and factual information that I may not have thought about or misunderstood. I also understand that my reality is not everyone’s reality.
Here is my experience after owning 2 different Tesla’s and why EV’s are not a fad. I will also note that EV’s (just like ICE vehicles) are not 100% perfect for 100% of the population of the united states. Just like everything, there are perfect fits, kinda fits and doesn’t work at all scenarios. As usual it depends on where you live, how much money you make, your personality and a thousand other factors.
Range Anxiety. Only exists in people that have not owned an EV, are irrational or can’t do basic 3rd grade math. This is usually because people read posts like this and or don’t talk to someone that actually owns an EV. The car tells you everything you need to know before you leave the garage so why do people have anxiety? It gives you multiple options BEFORE you reach the point of no return. Why do people still have anxiety?
If you run out of juice it’s entirely your own fault. Listen to the car, use common sense and you should run out of juice the same amount of times you run out of gas. For me, I’ve never run out of gas in my driving lifetime and I have never run out of juice in my Tesla. Not even close. Even in the middle of nowhere because I took 10 minutes and planned ahead with the available options.
You do have to stop more on road trips. It’s not long stops like most people think. I avg about 10 to 20 minutes per stop. I have found the extra stops actually make road trips more enjoyable. I’m not the only one. I have talked to thousands of Tesla owners and many of them agree. You arrive at the destination not sore, tired or irritated because you get out and stretch. I used to be the get there as fast as humanly possible type but no more. Never going back to that way.
Premature tire wear. This can be true if you drive it like you stole it. Which is easy to do because Teslas are a blast to drive. I experienced this with my first Tesla! What is not true is the range if you switch tires. I switched out my tires (Michelin Cross Climate 2) and did not notice any decrease in real world range. The new tires lasted the same amount of time as normal tires.
My insurance is around the same. Within 5% of my ICE vehicle. This depends on so many things that you can’t really say it’s the EV. Unless you are an actuary you are just guessing on why EV’s cost more, if they do in fact cost more where you live. They do not where I live.
Road Trips. Tesla chargers DO cost more than charging at home. A lot more! I pay .13/KwH at home. Not sure where you are getting your information from but even .50/KwH is nowhere near the cost of gas. You will only need an extra day if you are driving really, really far. This goes back to my may not be a fit for everyone. If you do road trips of 700 or 800 miles each and every weekend then an EV might not be a good fit for you.
The reality is, the avg American drives 30 miles a day. How many days of the year do you drive 30 miles a day vs how many days you drive 800? For me it’s like 360 days vs 5. I get all the benefits of an EV 360 days of the year vs 5 days where I experience a few things you talk about. Easily worth it for me. I can’t speak for anyone else.
Taxes are taxes. They will get paid. One of the main reasons our country is the leading economy in the world is our road system. I’m not political at all but even the dumbest politician would be a fool to not create new, different taxes to pay to keep the roads in reasonable shape. It doesn’t matter how the vehicles on said roads are being powered, the roads need to be serviced and paid for by taxes of some type. This is not rocket science. Nothing to do with EV’s.
Lastly, Here are some of the things I’ve heard people ask and get the wrong answer to.
Why are we being forced to switch to EV’s.
Have people forgotten which country they live in? You are not being forced to do shit. You are being forced to make choices but you are forced to do that every all day every day. It’s called being an adult. ICE vehicles will around for a long time. Especially if you are mechanically inclined.
How will the grid handle EV’s?
As far as the grid goes, someone will figure it out. Again, have you forgot which country you live in? What runs this country? MONEY! If there is enough money to be made, and there is, someone will figure something out. If not then yes, EV’s will fail along with our entire country if we don’t keep up with our growing power needs. It’s that simple.
What happens if you need new batteries?
I’ve talked to thousands of EV owners and have never once heard of someone having to get new batteries. Not saying it has never happened but it has to be very, very low. I believe the batteries are rated for 500,000 to 800,000 miles. How many people have a car with that many miles on it? I know there are some but on average! There are plenty of Tesla’s out there with over a million miles on them with the same batteries that came with the car. We keep getting more and more data each year that proves what I’m saying.
When purchasing an ICE vehicle how many times did you walk into the dealership and tell them you were worried about replacing the entire engine and how much does it cost? For me never, this is the same thing IMO.
Aren't EV’s bad for the environment?
I’ve been to some Oil and Gas sites and there is nothing you’re going to tell me that a lithium/cobalt or whatever mineral mine is any worse for the environment. Both are are horrific for the environment. I didn’t get an EV to save the environment, cure cancer or any other bullshit. It’s just a car. I’ll leave that to others to debate.
IMO, many EV haters sound just like the people when cars first came out vs horses or tractors vs Oxen. How did that work out for the horse and oxen people? We figured it out didn’t we. It’s called progress. Sorry for the long post.