I need a new car, and I really want to go full electric. I’m wondering if anyone regrets buying one? What are the downsides?
I’ve gone from the Chevy Volt, to the Bolt, to a Polestar 2, to a Ford Mach E. 7 years in EVs, around 100k miles, with no regrets and no intention of going back to ICE.
I’m not even sure what the downsides are. Maybe longer trips require a tiny bit more planning? The infotainment systems do all the work though, telling me where to stop and how long to charge.
Yeah, I bought a Tesla and now regret it because Elon is a dipshit.
That said, I’ve gone over 38,000 miles for less than $900 in electricity. I haven’t had to deal with oil changes or any other maintenance items other than tire rotations and tire replacement (the latter was of my own accord they actually said I didn’t need to yet, at the time).
I recently did a nearly 4hr trip with no need to charge on the way, and at my destination basically filled back up in something like 25 minutes while checking in to my hotel. So, no range anxiety for me.
The ride is nice, the features are helpful to me, and I have had no other issues with the vehicle.
So if it weren’t for Elon I’d love it. I still like it, but I just hate being seen in it now. It’s paid off so the financial cost of getting some other EV doesn’t make a ton of sense right now, so I guess I’ll just drive it until it dies…which at this rate might be a long-ass time.
Same boat here. I bought mine back when Elon was just “juvenile weirdo who makes dick jokes and smoked weed with Joe Rogan”. Best car I’ve ever owned hands down, no intention to buy anything Elon is selling ever again.
I read somewhere that people have bumpersticks and stuff that say things like “I got the car before he went crazy” or “if I knew him then, I wouldn’t have bought it”
I’m not a huge fan of bumper stickers, but I might make an exception for this 🤔
Downsides: Have to go to a gas station to find a squeegee to clean the windows.
Upsides: You have no other reason to go to a gas station.
Recharge the car when you’re away from home?
Most large gas stations I’ve been to have chargers now.
Good to know. I do more road trips now that I’m not driving an ICE car. Plugshare does list those stations. I have a certain antipathy for ‘petrol’ companies. Something to do with the demise of the human species, to which I’m reasonably concerned about.
Sometimes you need to check your tire pressure, too.
The general reduction in scheduled maintenance requirements is really wonderful.
My EV has onboard pressure monitoring. And came with a little electric tire pump.
What about for gas station sushi?
Good name for a band.
Heh. Now that’s a party.
My Hyundai Ioniq 5 is my favorite car ever! We’ve taken it on two long road trips with very few issues. The biggest issue was one charging station in a rural area had a 2 hr wait to use it. But we typically only take 15-20 mins to charge from 10%-80% on road trips.
Not sure where the top commenter is getting their range issues from. Our level 2 charger at home adds ~250 miles of range in 4 hours. In hindsight probably would have gone a cheaper route of a simple exterior 240V outlet on the wall and a compatible cord to save a few hundred dollars.
Otherwise there’s very minimal maintenance and the car is super easy/fun to drive. Love the 1-pedal driving mode after a short learning period, it’s so responsive that the car feels like it reads my mind on where I want to go/how far to be behind the next car.
Edit: the 2025 Ioniq 5 models are coming with the Tesla charging port, so that will open up a lot more charging stations!
I’m really intrigued by the Ioniq. It isn’t cheap, but it looks great.
I love mine, Chevy bolt. The biggest downside is that you need to plan road trips more carefully with them, and road trips will just take longer. Once you accept that, it’s actually kind of nice to periodically take 20-30 minute breaks while on a trip.
These problems are greatly alleviated if you also have a fossil fuel car. My partner has a gas car, so if we’re just going for a weekend or there aren’t good charging options, we just take the gas car so we don’t have to worry about charging.
I like the electric part.
What I don’t like is that it’s a steaming heap of spy-ware on wheels with no opt-out ability.
Which may lead to more expensive insurance depending on your driving style, or could be abused for even more nefarious reasons.
I was able to get my Toyota’s DCM disabled and did a data collection opt-out with the company. It was a total pain in the ass and they tried very hard to dissuade me, but it is possible (depending on manufacturer).
The spyware you are mentioning is in gas cars too. It isn’t exclusive to EVs it is a problem with all new cars.
That’s not limited to EVs, though. Most modern cars have the same antifeatures.
True, but I have an old ICE that I can keep running for a while. The question is should I spend more than it is worth on maintenance?
You’d be hard pressed to find any modern car that isn’t doing that.
I disabled the OnStar unit on mine and don’t use any of it’s associated apps.
Make sure that the car matches your expectations.
Don’t trust their range claims, most of the time they are exaggerated and only able to get that range on a perfect day doing constant 45mph without hills.
Do you have a reliable place to charge it? If you don’t have a personal parking place, and cannot install a charger at said place, trusting you have the range you need gets difficult, and expensive. As you have to rely on public chargers that are not very reliable, and worse for battery longevity (level 3 chargers)
Speaking of range. What range do you actually NEED? My opinion is the minimum range should be double the normal daily commute, as most level 2 chargers can add ~18 miles/he charging (overnight charge means 144 miles charge). Double your commute gives you a buffer for the heater, or the grocery run after work. For most people this is only 80 miles… which almost every electric only car can do without issues.
Is the cost worth the vehicle? Buying new is expensive, buying used can be risky. Do your research thoroughly and you’ll be able to decide what fits what you NEED (and that answer may easily be a used ICE vehicle instead)
I’ve had a full electric vehicle for 5+ years now as my daily. But I have always had a personal parking place, with a level 2 charger. I consider electric only to be a commuter car at best. It’s not going to be able to do a road trip. And depending on the car and the commute may even not be able to do a grocery run after work some days. If you have another car that is ICE that you can keep for those times, cool. Or if you are ok with planning, and rent a car when you want to do a road trip, great.
Personally I suggest a plug in hybrid for anyone who can only have one car, and is considering going electric. Prius prime, Chevy volt, Chrysler Pacifica are the ones that have enough range for a short commute, the rest are trying but just haven’t gotten there yet.
I consider electric only to be a commuter car at best. It’s not going to be able to do a road trip. And depending on the car and the commute may even not be able to do a grocery run after work some days.
I really wonder what kind of car you drive. Sounds like a Nissan Leaf or something.
I’ll share a couple of anecdotes regarding my experience with EVs:
My parents live on a farm in rural Maine. They are on their second Chevy Bolt (first was a lease, and they liked it so much that they upgraded to a later generation when the lease expired). It’s an inexpensive, no-frills EV that is their primary means of transportation. Living in the country, the shortest trip they take is likely to be at least 20 miles round-trip. In the past, I’ve borrowed that car for an overnight trip to Vermont. We made sure to charge it at home before the leaving, and drove to Vermont without needing to stop. I don’t recall the exact distance, but it was about 4 hours of driving through rolling hills. We charged it again in Vermont, and drove home the next day.
My partner and I have a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 that we bought used for $28k. It’s all-wheel drive and has a battery warmer, both of which are helpful in cold climates. We do not have a charger at home. My wife’s commute is 20 miles round trip, and we are able to charge the car where she works, which we do roughly once a week. Although the car itself is capable of charging very quickly, the charger available to us is a low-power home charger, so it’s nice to be able to leave it plugged in during the full work day. We don’t hesitate to take this car on longer trips, especially if they take the interstate highway system or pass through major cities, where faster charging is always available.
When I bought the car, it was 150 miles away from my house. It was charged to 100% when I picked it up, and the car estimated 300 miles of range. We arrived at home with 50% charge remaining, so I’d say the 300 mile range was pretty accurate.
With this car and our charging habits, daily driving doesn’t really require any special thought or planning at all. For longer trips, anything less than a 150 mile round trip requires no more planning than “I should make sure to charge it within a day or so of the trip, if possible.” For a trip in the 250 mile range, I would definitely prefer to start fully charged, if possible, otherwise I’d want to explore charging options along the way. Only if going over that would I definitely feel the need to investigate charging options at my destination or along the route. A home charger would make things even simpler, but as it is it’s so low-stress that we don’t feel a lot of urgency to get one installed.
I recommend reading Tim Bray’s experiences with several years of EV-only ownership, including some long (1000+ mile) road trips in Canada. Here are a couple:
I live in the western us, where 150 miles isn’t all that far, and 200 between compatible fast chargers can be normal depending on where you’re driving.
In the end it’s all about everyone’s personal situation. Mine is, that battery is only a commuter because there’s no way I can afford the 400+ mile cars (nor am I interested in them anyways)
Yep, I live in the south and we will regularly (several times a year) drive 300 miles or more to visit the various families.
as most level 2 chargers can add ~18 miles/he charging (overnight charge means 144 miles charge).
Level 2 EVSEs (the charger is actually in the car) have a wide cross-section of power delivery. Portable units are usually limited to ~20 amps and will do this level of charge. Installed units with a sufficient circuit can charge at a rate 40 - 60 miles / hour. They are also considerably more expensive and should be installed by an electrician (adding more cost).
For the record, Level 1 EVSE’s (that plug into a US 110v outlet) only do 3 - 5 miles/hour. Important to know for US renters who might not be able to get a 220v circuit to their parking spot.
I’ve found that buying used is fine if the car is still under the manufacturers original warranty. Better yet if it has the premium/extended warranty package.
That’s basically the only warranty that you would care about (and actually want to extend), most other warranties have so many exclusions that they’re not worth it. And definitely ignore anyone calling you telling you that they’ve “been trying to reach you about your cars extended warranty.”
I’ve found the range is better than what they claim for stop and go city driving due to regen braking. But otherwise the range estimate is about as accurate as the miles per gallon estimate on a gas car.
It is definitely way cheaper to own than a gas car.
Double your commute gives you a buffer for the heater, or the grocery run after work. For most people this is only 80 miles… which almost every electric only car can do without issues.
Is the cost worth the vehicle?
This is where I get grumpy. I feel like that kind of range is a different category of vehicle, and it should be significantly cheaper than an ICEV, since it means I need to plan around the range.
I realize it’s the size of the battery pack, so it isn’t where most of the cost of the vehicle comes from, but still.
When it’s time to replace my current vehicle, I’ll probably go PHEV. But ideally public transit will be solved, so I won’t need to. 🤣
That kind of range is a different vehicle. My 500e I bought for 7k. It’s the perfect commuter.
Do you really NEED to be able to drive 300 miles every day? If so, battery isn’t likely for you. And if you don’t need to, why cry that it can’t?
if you don’t need to, why cry that it can’t?
Because I need to drive 300 miles every few months and a car I own that can do that is cheaper than a car that can’t and renting something that can for the few times I need it. Rental cars are expensive and most come with per mile charges on top of the daily rate.
It takes less than twenty minutes to charge enough to make that in any modern ev. Unless you’re filling up on gas before your trips anyway, you’re still gonna have to stop. The difference in time is negligible.
My 500e I bought for 7k
A vehicle that can do a daily commute for 7k would be perfect. If you’re talking about the Fiat 500e, it’s 34k in my region. The cheapest used I can see is 22k.
Do you really NEED to be able to drive 300 miles every day? If so, battery isn’t likely for you. And if you don’t need to, why cry that it can’t?
This comes across as hostile.
My complaint is price points. When I get reduced range, I feel like I should pay less. An EV with a range of 120km in the winter for 7k would be amazing. It’d be a decent deal up until 15k. After that, the apparent value drops off. Like I said in my post, a PHEV feels like better value.
If you buy a PHEV be prepared for the cost of a gas car and an EV combined
This wall of text is like an EV prophylactic
Is the cost worth the vehicle? Buying new is expensive, buying used can be risky. Do your research thoroughly and you’ll be able to decide what fits what you NEED (and that answer may easily be a used ICE vehicle instead)
This is one of the rare cases where, at least for right now, leasing a new vehicle may make more sense financially than purchasing outright. For one thing, many more cars are eligible for the $7500 federal tax rebate when leased instead of purchased. For another, used electric vehicles seem to lose their value a lot more than ICE vehicles. This is a combination of newer, better cars being released at lower prices than previous vehicles and consumers being unsure of the capacities of older battery packs. The latter is seeming to be less of an issue than feared based on preliminary data, but we really only have long-term results for a few models. The former is much more volatile from the market, though. Elon Musk single-handedly tanked used car values when he dropped prices on model 3 and Y vehicles, and it happens every time they cut prices, but Tesla is not the only electric manufacturer that’s been cutting prices on new cars. While manufacturers would love to sell for high prices, the reality is they need a larger market to be profitable from economies of scale, so as they reduce costs there’s been a general trend to cut prices too, either by cutting prices on existing models or introducing new, less-expensive models.
All of that is to say, it looks like the leasing companies aren’t factoring in enough depreciation on current leases. A lease is essentially you paying for the depreciation of the car. If you’re paying for a $50,000 car to be worth $35,00 in two years but it actually ends up being worth $25,000 in that time you’ve come out ahead, especially compared to if you bought it and tried to sell it yourself.
Spot on. Another thing to consider is weather. EVs perform worse in cold weather - lower ranger and slower charging. Some manufacturers are worse than others. Preconditioning while plugged in is super helpful in below freezing temperatures and use the heated seats and heated steering wheel instead of climate control if you can.
Just needs some research if you live somewhere where below freezing temperatures occur at times in a year. Absolutely not a reason to avoid EVs altogether, just know the limitations, what to expect, and how to best mitigate some of the limitations.
worse for battery longevity (level 3 chargers)
Is this because the power on fast charges is too high and bad for batteries in the long run?
Its not to high or bad for them, it’s more like it just pushes the system to its max over and over. They are designed for fast charging.
Its like stretching a rubber band that can go to 3ft over and over. Its part of its design, but it will cause more wear and tear then just stretching it a few inches.
I haven’t regretted it. Did a road trip across the country. Takes more planning because chargers are more sparse than gas stations, but totally doable. Having a place to charge is a must. I lived in an apartment complex without charging and REALLY had to plan my charging sessions or it could get stuck in the parking garage.
Yeah, I stayed with my parents for a few months while I was house hunting and being limited to Level 1 charging was challenging. I couldn’t recover a full commute’s worth of charge overnight and would start each day with progressively less charge, so I’d have to swing by a L3 charger once a week or so. Still cheaper than gas though.
I have not regretted it. Bought a second EV for my family as well. Most of my extended family have also bought EVs and all had positive experiences. I don’t know anyone who has regretted it.
I think EV cars are mature enough. A lot of colleague have EVs, Tesla 3, Bolt, Ioniq 5, Soul EV, etc. and no-one regret it.
Me I don’t need one because I WFH and do maybe 4000 miles (6000km) per year, so buying a 60k$ EV compared to a 30k$ ICE does not make sense, for money.
If your #1 priority is to save the planet and not pollute and you have the money, so of course go for it.
Your second paragraph is why I haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I don’t WFH, but my commute is only about 10 miles round trip and most of my errands are done within that same area. My Toyota is 12 years old and only has ~80k miles on it, so it just doesn’t make sense to switch at this point.
That said, I’m casually looking for a new job and my commute would go up dramatically for a lot of options in my field, so I haven’t eliminated the possibility.
If your #1 priority is to save the planet and not pollute and you have the money, so of course go for it.
In the pollution case, it’s better to keep a viable used ICE car running than to go buy a new EV. But that’s completely ignoring the economics of it. Battery is cheap once purchased. And ICE has more maintenance and repair costs.
Better yet get a bike (or ebike) which is much less pollution and improves your health.
I love mine. Hyundai Ioniq 5.
2 years so far and it’s been great. Wouldn’t ever go back to gas. I don’t even have a charger at home, but there is charging at work. I only need to charge it like 2 shifts per week, maybe 3 if I did a lot of driving, so it’s not hard to keep it topped off just from work. Every once in a while the work parking lot is so damn full every single day that I can’t charge there all week… So I have to suffer the inconvenience of… Going to a gas station and using their fast charger. Ugh.
Road trips take a bit more planning but I don’t go on many road trips anyway. One per year, at most.
Weekend mountain trips and camping/skiing is great, though.
Downsides are you can’t drive as far, usually, before needing to fill up, and quick charge takes about 25 minutes, instead of the usual 5 for gas.
Upside is that only matters on road trips. If you have an outlet at home, like we do, your car is just always charged.
Yeah it seems only practical if a person is travelling local and is assured outlets are where they are going. Road trips you are never assured there is a station especially if you’re seeing relatives.
That’s not what I said at all.
Charging stations are pretty plentiful. Basically if there’s a gas station, there’s probably also a charging station nearby.
I’m very pleased. I have a 2023 Bolt.
For us there was no way we’d get one without a home charger. It’s great because every day you wake up and it’s like a full tank of gas.
My wife still has a gas car and we bought the electric planning that we’d still use the gas one for road trips. The Bolt in particular doesn’t have super fast charging (probably like 45 minutes to get to 80% using a fast charger) so if we didn’t have the second car that might be my one concern.
My wife wasn’t sold when we got it, but the electric was for me so we went ahead. Now she likes it. I’m banking on better EV options being available when we get our next car but I think it will be electric too.
We’ve had three EVs for a few years now and they been great, had four in total and replaced the first one a bit over a year ago as its lease expired, so no regrets.
Lengthy road trips aren’t a problem if you plan out your route in advance I get not everyone wants to do this so if this you then wait till there are more charging stations for your region. We plan stops based on charging stations that have a lot of high speed chargers (over 100kw) so we are never waiting more than 20 minutes and never waiting for a charger. It is faster to charge twice to around 80% on one of these than it is to charge to 100% once due to how much charging slows down as the battery nears completion. I would not even consider a car that does not have a 800v architecture due to the slower charging speeds if you plan on road trips.
We have done 1200 mile round trips, probably small fry for Americans but a lot for us, especially as we towing for all that. Its achievable with planning in most western countries. I want to stop at most every three hours as I want to use the loo, are people who are driving 6 more hours non stop peeing in a bottle or something?
Cost per mile is stupidly low as we charge at home when not on trips over 280 miles, 8p per kwh, with a monthly cost between the three cars of £40 for around 2000 miles a month (more in summer, about that in winter). Good luck doing 2000 miles on £40 for an ICE car. Charging when out is more expensive the faster you want to charge, ultra rapids work out about the same per mile as high economy petrol ICE, rapids or lower a bit cheaper but nothing significant. Its only going to be cheaper if you can charge at home and your energy provider has a suitable EV tariff as we do.
Absolutely zero chance I would buy an EV right now as depreciation is already horrendous and the rate of change for EVs is rapid unless you know the car will meet your log term needs and those will not change. We lease so that all the cost of the risk is with the leasing company and we know we want the improvements.
Edit: Plug in hybrids are fucking useless BTW, you are either doing a ton of miles and using the ICE all the time, or you are using the battery all the time and very rarely the ICE. It means carrying around both a full EV setup and a full ICE setup, so you have more than twice the complexity of either and more weight than an actual pure EV with the same battery that impacts both EV and ICE economy. Plus recent studies have shown that hybrids are far harder on the ICE part than a pure ICE, which is fucking awful for long term ownership.
They were only ever meant as a stop gap until battery prices dropped, which they have and its now possible to get EVs with over 400 miles of ACTUAL range not just promised range.
are people who are driving 6 more hours non stop peeing in a bottle or something?
They are stopping every 3 hours for gas, but they have a “when the pump stops better be in the car” rule. Generally two drivers, one goes in, pees, and returns to watch the pump so the second can go in and pee. If you are young and fast is possible for two people to pee in the time it takes to fill your tank with gas. (males typically take half as much time as females)
Every 3 hours?
New gas engines can drive for up to at least 8 hours depending on ascent and load without feuling up again. Theyve been getting really good at economizing. Just stop to go pee, stretch legs, take a nap.
they compensate for better economy with smaller tanks in the cars I’ve seen. Though I’ll admit to not knowing all tanks.
For health and safety reasons you should stop, stretch your legs, and take a nap. Unfortunately I know far too many people who are not doing that. Normally they get by with it, but there are many many road deaths every year because of things people normally get by with.
As much as everyone complains that it’s too expensive I am very happy with the Toyota zx4.
