Yesterday. Would you buy and EV?

[jyoutz]

^my suspicion is the manufacturers want batteries that fail and can't be economically replaced after 10 years in order to drive future new car sales.

Has anybody seen any rechargeable battery that lasts forever? I sure haven’t. The batteries on my solar lights and hand tools last a long time, but fail eventually.

 

[Bentrim]

Considering EV technology is where ice technology was back in the early 1900's. As the development of EV advances they will get better, but in the meantime there will be hiccups and "experimentation" by EV manufacturers just as it was for any technology. Remember not long ago a computer needed a whole room, now the fit in our phones, tractors were huge and cumbersome beasts with huge engines and little horsepower, now they fit lots of power into small packages, with much better reliability.
As EV's improve in both battery life and safety, they will become more accepted, just as the ice did.
As for me just shy of the 3/4 century mark, I don't expect to see them the "gotta have" item in my life time, that is unless our freedoms are taken from us and it is the only vehicle that can be purchased.

 

[Oaktree]

Considering EV technology is where ice technology was back in the early 1900's. As the development of EV advances they will get better, but in the meantime there will be hiccups and "experimentation" by EV manufacturers just as it was for any technology. Remember not long ago a computer needed a whole room, now the fit in our phones, tractors were huge and cumbersome beasts with huge engines and little horsepower, now they fit lots of power into small packages, with much better reliability.
As EV's improve in both battery life and safety, they will become more accepted, just as the ice did.
As for me just shy of the 3/4 century mark, I don't expect to see them the "gotta have" item in my life time, that is unless our freedoms are taken from us and it is the only vehicle that can be purchased.

I agree for the most part, though I think EVs are further along than ICEs were in the early 1900s...maybe the 1930s. I don't see the current track of strictly battery EVs to stand the test of time, there are just too many drawbacks which so many of the fanboys dismiss. Electric motors for the power train, yep, but with some on-board power generating source that's easily refueled. Likewise with all the ultra-tech-y ergonomics that for the most part aren't very user-friendly. Yeah, that appeals to the "gotta be the first on my block to have the latest toy" crowd, but not so much for mass adoption.

As with you, it's probably a moot point for me. I'm in my early 70s myself and never buy new vehicles so by the time EVs are mainstream enough so there are reliable 7-10 year old used ones I'll likely be on the other side of the grass.

 

[scootr]

I have read the following.
The man that invented the Lithium battery is working on a new version that stores energy in sand not heavy metals. They have so far been able to store the energy in the glass type substance. The challenge now is releasing it fast enough to be useful.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

Electric cars date back over 120 years.

 

[crashz]

I look forward to a small electric garden tractor. As I get older, quiet operation is more important. The noise just beats me up. Actually, I really like all of my battery operated lawn tools (trimmer, hedge trimmer, blower and saw). So an electric garden tractor to mow and tow with would be very nice, probably quiet and reliable, and really wouldn't need more that about 4 hrs of run time. I think that's much more feasible right now than a car. Wouldn't replace my Kubota, but would be a nice mower.

I'm no fanboy, but I do see electrification as the future. I just see the gobber-ment doing it all wrong. Legislating out ICE vehicles before we have any reliable electric infrastructure is ridiculous. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the federal and state governments shelled out massive amounts of cash to build the interstate system, right? This is what is needed to invest in electrification of the US vehicle fleet. Not banning the current fleet. Did they ban horses and carriages?

 

[scootr]

Electric cars date back over 120 years.

Took a while for them to catch on

 

[MossRoad]

.... Did they ban horses and carriages?

The Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894

By the late 1800s, large cities all around the world were drowning in horse manure. The London Times predicted in 1894 that in 50 years time, every street in London would be buried under nine feet of manure.

www.historic-uk.com

 

[nickfank]

From Bloomberg:

Wind Turbines Taller Than the Statue of Liberty Are Falling Over

If I post a few pictures of tractors that have stopped working recently, will we all conclude that tractors as a group are not viable technology, or will we open our eyes, notice that most tractors work fine, and understand that they are useful?

The question is not whether you can find a few failures, because of course you can, no matter what technology you're looking at.

The important question is whether there are so many failures that the technology is not viable.

There are currently 71,000 wind turbines in the US. This article names three that have failed. Let's suppose that the article understates the problem by a factor of 30, and in fact, 100 have failed. Now put that in the context of the 70,900 that are still working just fine. That's a failure rate of 0.00141.

We shouldn't ignore failures, but we should act rationally, and do the math on the *rate of failure*. The same holds true for the more general EV question that started this thread. Yes, some EVs fail. However, the truth is that the overwhelming majority are reliable. Some EVs catch fire. However, the truth is that per mile travelled, there are more fires reported for ICE vehicles. Some EV repairs are very expensive, but the truth is that most EVs cost less over their lifetime to operate than their ICE counterparts. The truth emerges when you look at the big picture instead of focusing on a few cherry-picked stories.

Nobody has to take advantage of the opportunity to save money by operating an EV and powering it with renewable energy sources. I understand that many don't have the resources to give it a try yet, or are simply more cautious. I respect those personal decisions and the situations that drive them. However, as a person who is happily using this reliable technology every day, I occasionally have to point out that articles like this are designed to mislead you.

 

[nickfank]

As with you, it's probably a moot point for me. I'm in my early 70s myself and never buy new vehicles so by the time EVs are mainstream enough so there are reliable 7-10 year old used ones I'll likely be on the other side of the grass.

At 60-ish, I'm just starting to think about whether I'll get full value out of each major purchase in the time left to me.

I purchased my 2016 EV about 3 years ago, so it wasn't quite in the 7-10 years old category you mentioned, but it was 4 years old when I got it, and it's currently my reliable daily driver at 7 years old. Our family also has a 2019 that we purchased used, and it gets daily use as well.

Here's the secret many people won't tell you about EVs: They're fun to drive. I've already had enough fun with the 2016 in the first three years to justify the cost, and if it keeps running for another 5 years, the cost will go to zero because of how inexpensive it is to operate vs the ICE vehicle it replaced.

My advice to other folks who are a little past middle-age is to give it a try if you can get a good deal on a used EV that has the range you need for daily driving. It's fun, and in the long run, cheaper.