Literally every single person that I talked to that seriously tried an EV (like, as a daily driver for some time, not just the rental you had for a day) said they were never going back to combustion engines.
Yeah, I drive an EV and will never go back to gas.
I mean maybe if I had a project car or something but even then my thoughts drift towards how I might swap an electric drivetrain…
I don’t have an EV, but I can imagine it would be nice to not have to go to the gas station once a week.
I've had an EV for a couple of years and had to rent a gas car on a trip recently. I was prepared for the expensive fuel, I wasn't prepared for how shit it was to drive.
See, an EV's electric motor and (usually) single reduction gear means you get basically the same acceleration between 5 km/h and 120 km/h. You can put your foot down slightly and forget you're accelerating because it feels just like sitting in a stationary car on a hill. How far you push the accelerator is how much acceleration you get. Unless you're getting wheel spin or you're at the car's power limit, that's all there is to it.
A gasser has an engine with different performance depending on RPM and a gearbox that provides different performance based on which gear it's in and changes according to it's own logic. You're just used to this when you drive one all the time, but for me it was awful the way I'd put my foot down and get nothing, then engine noise, then some power, then a lurch and more power and another lurch and less power. The accelerator pedal is a suggestion, mostly disconnected from what the car actually chooses to do.
Yes! About a year ago we went up a very curvy hill with the kids that has, in the past, always made everyone feel queasy, even the driver to some extent. But this year, it didn’t at all. I think it was because we were driving an EV, and without all of the hurky-jerky of the nonexistent transmission, it was way smoother.
I disagree. I have had an EV since 2018 and I can honestly say I never want another one. My next vehicles going forward will be ICE 100%.
I’m also going to make sure that they are older and have little to no infotainment / internet connected systems.
A sub year 2000. Maybe a nice Accord or Jeep.
I’m over this dystopian nightmare.
It sounds like your problems aren't with EVs. It sounds like your problems are with any modern car.
Is it the drive train you have a problem with or the software? Because I think you just dislike new cars, not electric cars. In which case keep an eye out for the Slate EV
We need to separate the feeling of driving from practicality. EVs are pleasant to drive for sure. Having to plan your trips around charging is annoying, there isn't really much progress there.
The only reason I want a car is to do spontaneous trips to less populated areas. I already have range anxiety, I top up as soon as I'm below 1/3 of the tank. Batteries make it worse.
I drive an EV, and planning around driving habits is simply not a thing for me. It’s hooked up to its 230v charger and will be ready at 100% charge every morning. I drive the 50km to work and back for about 25% worth of charge. There’s a few public chargers on the way to work and almost anywhere I care to go. Range anxiety is waaay overblown in my opinion.
If you can charge at home yeah it's fine, otherwise you're fucked. I had an ID3 and could only charge at work or at an expensive charger at a gas station.
I had to plan charging at work otherwise I couldn't decide on a whim to go see my mum on Sundays. The itinerary took around 60% of the battery in summer and only one charging station in between, which is not working half the time. So either I take 30-60 minutes before going to charge (hoping the charger is working and available), or I can throw the dice and hope the chargers on the way works this time.
It's not so much range anxiety than the infrastructure around me not being enough.
Edit: and by charge at work, I mean go to the nearest charger near the office and remember to get the car back once full to avoid overtime fees. Work took 3 years to install chargers on the office parking.
Sorry, but can't relate. Had that feeling for the first few trips until the first one where we drove so much more efficiently that we deliberately did not take the first planned stop. I rode shotgun, so I then looked for alternative spots to charge, just to see that there are so many in my country that having planned those routes in the first place literally doesn't make sense.
Since then we just drive. Once we get below 50 km remaining range, we check some map app for the next charger. Like we did with gas stations.
Also, coming from practicality... it's just so nice not to have to use gas stations. Like, you usually just always start whatever you do with a full battery because you just charge it overnight. No gas stops on my commute is quite practical.
Oh no, I have to stop for 15 minutes after four hours of driving, every time I drive more than four hours at a time.
I have anxiety right now just thinking about the next time I have to spend that 15 minutes in a couple months from now.
Do you think I can save up all the times I don't stop for gas between now and then and use that as some sort of credit towards that time?
Make it affordable and I'll buy one tomorrow.
Let's talk VW specific. I would absolutely love an ID.Buzz. But you made the fucking thing SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
I wanted a Ferrari, but they made the fucking thing 6 HUNDRED AND 40 THOUSAND DOLLARS.
What does this headline even mean?
Are electric horses better than gas powered horses or what?
Yeah, it's phrased in a weird way.
He is saying that when cars were becoming popular, lots of people insisted that horses were better. Over time, basically everyone realized that cars are better.
Now electric cars are becoming popular, although lots of people insists that ICE cars are better.
He is saying that over time, people against electric cars will change their mind, just like the horse-people did.
Henry Ford once said somethimg like: if i had asked people what theh wanted, they would've said faster horses.
Electric engines are better than horses
Electric horses are better than engines
Even the Empire knows that!
Make it illegal to include touch screens, tracking, no buttons and no handles. Then I'll consider getting a loan for one 🤷♂️
I'm only interested when the vehicles are simple and affordable and the charging stations are fast and ubiquitous.
You can already drive cross country in almost any EV. There are more charging stations in my area than there are gas station.
Mechanically, EVs are very simple. Cost and "complexity" (app, touchscreens, etc) are rampant in ICE cars today as well, so buying one of those won't really make a difference there either.
They say this whilst trying their best to make EVs the printers of the car industry. Update? The car stops and bricks itself for the duration of it. Want basic features? You have to pay a monthly subscription for the car you already payed for. Need it repaired? Have to bring it to a dealership with criminal prices because every part is serialized and they have you by the balls. Need a new battery after it kicks the bucket in 4-5 years? Expect to pay $10-20k for a new one. Oh and of course the center terminal/tablet is now crucial for the cars function, so anytime that malfunction it bricks itself again. Oh and it will always track and spy on you with GPS and onboard cameras and microphones.
People aren't going to realize EV's are better until the can actually afford one.
Also, maybe one day America will get their heads out of their ass and realize that public transportation is better EV's.
I have no doubts about electric cars being nice or "the future", but the price of these things is still a problem.
A (reasonably) new one with the range I need (~400km+) costs way more than I care to spend. That is partly because batteries still cost too much, but also very much because they still have a tendancy to gatekeep larger range figures for use in luxury cars.
And getting older second hand is still too much a questionmark in terms of how much of a chance there be you'll end up having to fork over big for a new battery or motor and/or write it off prematurely.
Another problem is that I also have no way to charge it at home and would be fully at the mercy of public charging infrastructure. And generally speaking as a taller man, I feel some of them can also be quite lacking in terms of interior space.
And they won't need to cheat their emissions tests with evs
Also article quotes an executive but no labor leaders
It also has the added benefit of watching you all the time!
Other than that EVs are pretty dope.
The only problem I've had with the EVs we've been leasing for 5 years now, is unsolicited criticism from EV haters. They seem to ignore the fact that I've been driving various diesel and petrol vehicles for decades. If my own lived experience of EVs was less rewarding than my previous ICE ownership I'd switch back. It's not like a football team that I'm wedded to. They're just generally better cars in terms of driving, torque, maintenance, cost to run and basically every metric that matters to me as a driver. Quite why that annoys people who in many cases have never even been behind the wheel of one is beyond me.
everyone has known evs are just better for some time now. the real obstacle to switching isn't the charging network or cost. it's oil and gas lobbying and oil and gas subsidies.
stop all oil subsidies today. stop the big oil lobbyists. then let's see how fast the switch happens
Three times I read "cats are like horses", and was wracking my brain trying to figure out the analogy...
Thats absolutley true, but I live in an apartment complex that wont even fix the elevators, there's no way in hell I'd ever be able to charge at home and for that reason... I can never have an EV.
Unless the (public) charging infrastructure gets expanded massively, EVs won't become a valid alternative to most people. Not everyone owns a house where you can just slap your own wallbox onto it.
I owned an EV for 3 years while living in an apartment without charging possibilities. It's really not that big of a deal (in Munich at least).
Ehh, I feel like a lot of people in here are arguing just for the sake of it, and because the guy who said this is from a car company.
Yes, of course electric cars are better than cars burning fossil fuels. EVs being too expensive, too few buttons and too many touch screens has nothing to do with that. The same goes for the also obvious fact, that we should focus more on public transport because it is much more efficient in moving people around than cars.
Ah yes, I do remember preferring the electrical horse back then.
We know they’re better, we just can’t afford them.
Better analogies would be automatic vs manual transmission, power steering vs not, and CarPlay/Google Maps vs a paper atlas.
I think a lot of people know you have to pay to charge and that charging can take nearly an hour and they don’t see the point. I didn’t know what it cost to charge an EV before. I saw an article yesterday where someone charged, if I read it correctly, 89% of their capacity (they were down to 11%), for $13.99. Get a petrol driver to figure out their capacity, multiply it by 0.89, then multiply that by the cost of petrol in their area. Then convert to US Dollars and see which is cheaper. Guarantee it’s electric.
Of course, that leaves another variable. Batteries, being consumable devices. How much is the EV’s battery to replace (including labour) and how long does the OEM part last?
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
