EV's are not all bad. And while they're a certain political side's wet dream and that tells me to dislike them, I don't.
- First, this is modern america, where the bulk of households or even renters don't have the family car, but usually one car per person, at least. So you can still retain one ICE, while having an EV
- Second, having an EV is not evil. If an EV is equally priced with an ICE, and as long as you drive less than 150 miles a day, chances are it's cheaper to commute with an EV
- Third, I would say at least 80% of the workforce drives less than 150 miles a day, so you would be able to charge your car overnight, and have plenty of charge for the following day's commute, thus negating any fuel expense at all, and a marginal uptick in your electrical bill.
- Forth, if you invest in a solar array, say 12-16kw, for $15-20k, it will pay for itself in 5 years(without incentives), thus eliminating the need for reliance on grid power. Add in some batteries and you'll eliminiate your need for a generator as well.
- Fifth, gas prices are all over the place, who knows what's going to happen next. You most likely can't practically make your own gasoline, you completely rely on big oil combined with a functioning supply chain, combined with the government not actively conspiring against you.
This is not without it's down sides though.
- EV's claiming 300 mile range provide those claims under optimal conditions. If you want heat or AC, basically cut that figure by a third. Any traffic at all? Even worse.
- Batteries suffer from fast charges, so if you want to get the most from your battery, slow overnight charge is the best. Otherwise you're actively doing damage to your batteries.
- Under the best conditions, batteries have a life of about 15 years and then they're completely dead. However, htey start degrading on day one. It's a progressive thing, so after 5 years your 300 mile claim may be 250 miles, after 10 years and maybe 200 miles, 15 years and probably down to 150. Cut those in half if you want real world figures.
- Your resale value will be scrap prices, batteries are expensive. At and beyond 15 years your batteries will likely to see high failure rates, and if you're not willing to invest in a battery pack, your car is dead.
One more thing about a consumer society we live in today. My oldest tractor is 71 years old, if it was in an EV, it would have since long expired. My oldest car is a 29 year old f150, dead if it was an EV. My daughters car is 20 years old, dead in EV land.
I will buy an EV at some point. But it just can't be my only vehicle. I'm on the waiting list for a new hummer EV scheduled to take delivery in the fall of 2023. My current truck is has 250k miles on it, and rust is becoming a ***** to deal with being in the rust belt. I recently blew brake lines and had to have them all replaced, and it wasn't cheap. I also had a radiator blow to rust, again an annoying and expensive fix.
There's something to be said about new cars, or even slightly used cars that come with a warranty and generally don't come with high repair bills. When you need your truck for work and to make your living, you can't afford down time or costly repair bills.
The one thing that can't be denied is the simplicity of EV's, fewer moving parts means fewer things to fail. No stretched head, no head gaskets, no valve cover gaskets, no oil to change or brake pads, rotors, or calipers. Sure there's electronics and electronics can be costly to repair, but I have 30+ year old computers that run just fine, it's just a matter of finding vibration resistant soldier that can handle the temperatures they're subjected to.
Then there's the biggest challenge of EV's: electricity. We use it in our homes daily, all the time, and we rely on it for nearly everything. But in my parts, I lose power often. A day or two at a time, or 1-2 weeks during winter months is not uncommon. Where's my EV then? That's where solar comes in. I don't need to go somewhere every day, so even a non-battery solar system works for me so I have power during hte day to live and charge an EV for hte days that I need it. Eventually I'll get batteries, but the fact that I'm overproducing during production hours I'll suck every watt from them that I can during a power outage. Owning an EV without a solar array, that's one thing I can't get behind.
