Why EV?

[Anonymous]

For those that drive an EV, tell us why? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I drive a cheaper all EV (not a Tesla). Not having to fill up is a huge plus. I have to charge my car about once or twice a week (it depends on the weather). The car itself has a very smooth/quick acceleration and is very easy to drive. I got a good deal on the car, especially with the tax rebate. I charge at home during non-peak hours so charging is cheap.

If you're looking for a commuter car and have the ability to put a charger in at home, I'd recommend it. Our other car is a plug in hybrid which has a shorter range but is usually enough to do most normal commute and errands on all EV. But we have that car for linger trips if needed.

If you're worried about range, the plug in hybrids are pretty great too.

[Anonymous]

As PP notes they are a lot of fun to drive and cheaper/easier to keep “full” for daily driving. Also less maintenance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As PP notes they are a lot of fun to drive and cheaper/easier to keep “full” for daily driving. Also less maintenance.

Yes, an EV actually has a tiny fraction of the number of moving parts that a combustion engine has. No oil changes and less maintenance. My battery did get recalled but they replaced it and I ended up with better range.

[Anonymous]

i have a plug in hybrid. not ready to go all electric.

my commute to work is under 20 miles. I do it all electric, free juice at work. so it only costs me when I plug in at home, and that's going to cost me 44 cents per battery charge. my current tank I'm at 98mpg. so my occasional 40-50 mile trip is still fuel efficient.

I dont have to worry about range anxiety, especially when its cold

Id like to think that my next car is going to be all electric

[Anonymous]

As an engineer, the reduction in moving parts and wear items appeals most to me.

Granted, batteries and electric motors DO wear out. The stators and armature bearings will eventually fail, and brakes and suspension components still wear out at the same rate as those components on fuel-powered vehicles. But not having a transmission is a huge advantage, because transmissions are the thing most likely to fail prematurely on a regular car. Second to that are cylinder head gaskets and the valvetrain, both of which are also absent in a EV.

[Anonymous]

90% it’s status and virtue signaling. And I’m an environmentalist. Most people who own EV fly enough that their commute is noise (esp in new WFH paradigm)

[Anonymous]

I love the acceleration on my EV - a Nissan Leaf. I used to hate to merge/drive on the Beltway - now I just breeze right along. It's also great to use the regenerative breaking combined with the adaptive cruise control in stop and go traffic.

I charge at home and love never going to the gas station - especially with prices so high now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% it’s status and virtue signaling. And I’m an environmentalist. Most people who own EV fly enough that their commute is noise (esp in new WFH paradigm)

The zero direct emissions really do make a difference; if every car (and truck) was electric, we'd all be better off. Our house has solar, and that means that even with charging the EV, we have almost no net electric consumption in a given year.

We fly about two or three times a year (and pay for offsets when we do), so driving around town and/or for road trips is a significant portion of our household's total carbon emissions. Also, our car doesn't indicate anywhere on it that it's electric, so I don't think there's significant status for us in driving it. I just didn't want to buy another gas car when we needed to get this one.

[Anonymous]

Annual maintenance costs are almost nil, totally fun to drive with the pick-up ability, and bilsfully ignorant how much paying to make it run because not going to the gas station every week.

[Anonymous]

They are more fun to drive.

[Anonymous]

We have both types of cars.

EV: No going to gas stations. We just plug it in every time we return home to a standard 110V outlet.
Much less maintenance. Tires, brakes, and wiper blades
Quieter
Oh and the environment

[Anonymous]

How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

Our EV has a range of 250 miles. We don't make long trips very often, or we use our other (non-EV) vehicle just because it's bigger and we're carrying luggage.

250 miles is about 4 hours of driving, and you can look for charging spots along the way -- they usually have them at convenience stores or the like off major highways. Our EV comes with free charging on the Electrity America network, and they tend to have their charging stations at Walmarts or shopping malls. Charging is about 20 minutes to charge the battery mostly full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do they do for long trips? How long do you have to stop to charge? Have you ever gotten stuck because others are charging at your planned stop?

Our EV has a range of 250 miles. We don't make long trips very often, or we use our other (non-EV) vehicle just because it's bigger and we're carrying luggage.

250 miles is about 4 hours of driving, and you can look for charging spots along the way -- they usually have them at convenience stores or the like off major highways. Our EV comes with free charging on the Electrity America network, and they tend to have their charging stations at Walmarts or shopping malls. Charging is about 20 minutes to charge the battery mostly full.

NP. Suppose I wanted to drive to NYC. That sounds like it would be cutting it close so I wouldn't want to go the whole drive without a charge. I'm assuming I could charge at a rest stop. But if all the chargers are in use, then I have to wait 20 or so to begin to start my charging? So my 15 min rest stop to pee and fill up would know potentially become a 40min stop?