Besides cost, what keeps you from buying an EV?

[Anonymous]

1) Our electricity grid can't handle all of the homes, etc., let alone everyone switching to EVs. I prioritize my refrigerator over virtue signaling.
2) Mining and disposal of the batteries is extremely unfriendly to the environment.
3) I go on lots of road trips much long than 200 miles and have no desire to sit around waiting...

[Anonymous]

We bought an EV 2 months ago. We have yet to charge it at home. My DH charges it for 8 hours on level 2 charger at work once/ week.

Even if we did not have the option, we would be able to use a DC fast charger 10 mins from home, and spend 30 mins charging 1x/ week.

The charging infrastructure in Northern VA is actually very good. We have lots of charging options close to us in Alexandria. Every retail center has free charging.

If people drive high mileage, an EV would be inconvenient at this stage, but for regular around town and commuting, it is not a hassle.

[Anonymous]

No way to charge at home. Mostly get around on public transportation and by bike or foot so already environmentally friendly. Concerned about sustainability of EV component materials and reliability/safety.

[Anonymous]

Because it’s virtue signaling at its worst. You know they run on coal, right? And they represent all the worst in terms of sustainability. They aren’t making the statement you think they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maintenance costs, repair costs, reliability in extreme temperatures, dependence on electricity.

This surprises me, unless you saying these costs are too low?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s virtue signaling at its worst. You know they run on coal, right? And they represent all the worst in terms of sustainability. They aren’t making the statement you think they are.

They run on coal if you live in pa or w va. Simply not true for most of the country.

And when people say that, keep it grudge people other electric items in those places because they run on call? And they still use less energy overall than natural gas cars, even if the electric grid is powered by coal.



Don't get one, but using "virtue signaling" because someone wants a cleaner, quieter car and then following it up with be "facts" is annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maintenance costs, repair costs, reliability in extreme temperatures, dependence on electricity.

This surprises me, unless you saying these costs are too low?

DP. Yeah, I don't get this. I change my tires and wiper fluid. That's about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maintenance costs, repair costs, reliability in extreme temperatures, dependence on electricity.

This surprises me, unless you saying these costs are too low?

DP. Yeah, I don't get this. I change my tires and wiper fluid. That's about it.

DP, also with two EVs, and what strikes me about most of these responses is how uninformed they are. “They run on coal!” “You can’t take long road trips!” “They need too much maintenance!”

Be honest: you don’t want to spend the money and you don’t want any inconvenience. I think those are lame excuses for continuing to drive gas guzzlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only having street parking. No driveway. Even if I installed a charging station in front of my house sometimes I can’t get that parking spot.

This is our situation as well.

[Anonymous]

Cost, availability, it would be only care and I worry about access to charging stations.

We live in an apartment and it feels daunting to set up a charger at home. We have a private parking pad but we'd have to wire the charging station to our electricity (not the building) -- we know people who have done it but it feels like a lot.

I am interested in one of those pvez assist vehicles about with current supply chain issues it just seems not worth it to try and hold out it.

We don't drive that much (no car commute, mostly use for running certain errands and to get out of town on weekends) so I don't feel our current gasoline usage is high enough to seriously inconvenience ourselves to go gas-free.

I think that about covers it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maintenance costs, repair costs, reliability in extreme temperatures, dependence on electricity.

This surprises me, unless you saying these costs are too low?

DP. Yeah, I don't get this. I change my tires and wiper fluid. That's about it.

DP, also with two EVs, and what strikes me about most of these responses is how uninformed they are. “They run on coal!” “You can’t take long road trips!” “They need too much maintenance!”

Be honest: you don’t want to spend the money and you don’t want any inconvenience. I think those are lame excuses for continuing to drive gas guzzlers.

DP
Another is “battery fires”. Here are the detailed results of the car fire study: Electric vehicles: 25 fires per 100,000 sold. Gas-powered cars: 1,530 fires per 100,000 sold. Hybrid cars: 3,475 fires per 100,000 sold.
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/electric-vehicles-catch-fire-considerably-less-gas-cars/

As far as initial cost, we bought a new Volt (PHEV) in 2016 and the cost was in the upper $20k range before any trade and we did qualify for the $7,500 tax credit at the time. We have a 2019 Bolt that we purchased used (low mileage, certified pre-owned) a year and a half ago and the list on it was $19k. We haven’t found the cost to be prohibitive.

For us, where almost all of our charging is done at home, not having to stop at a gas station is a big convenience. Instant torque is nice. With our type of driving we can easily get 250+ miles per full charge regularly out of our Bolt. Like any vehicle, what meets one person’s need might not meet another. If someone is driving 200+ miles a day, then an EV might not make the most sense. Someone might need a van for a large family or a pick up bed for hauling materials. It depends.

[Anonymous]

Need a range that’s over 200 miles so I can get to my summer house without stopping to charge, and room for kids and dogs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it’s virtue signaling at its worst. You know they run on coal, right? And they represent all the worst in terms of sustainability. They aren’t making the statement you think they are.

Coal is going the way of the dinosaurs. I charge mine with my solar panels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maintenance costs, repair costs, reliability in extreme temperatures, dependence on electricity.

This surprises me, unless you saying these costs are too low?

DP. Yeah, I don't get this. I change my tires and wiper fluid. That's about it.

DP, also with two EVs, and what strikes me about most of these responses is how uninformed they are. “They run on coal!” “You can’t take long road trips!” “They need too much maintenance!”

Be honest: you don’t want to spend the money and you don’t want any inconvenience. I think those are lame excuses for continuing to drive gas guzzlers.

Some of the responses are uninformed, I agree.

But I think it's foolish to discount people's concerns about money and convenience. For us, spending an extra 10-15k on a car would mean massive sacrifice elsewhere. It's not no big deal. And we have young kids, which makes "convenience" almost a necessity. If we were DINKs I think we would have already bought one, but we're not. If we were a two car family, at least one of our cars would definitely be EV. But we aren't. If we lived in a house instead of apartment, I wouldn't worry about charging. And so on.

I could as easily say: "Be honest, the reason you life in a SFH instead of multi-family housing like me is space and you don't want any inconvenience. I think those are lame excuses for continuing to live in an unsustainable home."

I think EVs are great and hope to either own one, or even better, simply have access to a shared one when I need one and no longer own a vehicle at all one day. But right now, EVs are more expensive and less convenient than other vehicles, and simply have not made the jump to being a viable option for our family. If that bothers you, lobby for better infrastructure and more cost-effective EVs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s unknown how long an EV battery will last and they are expensive to replace.

I have a 16 year old minivan with over 200,000 miles on it that still drives well. I want to know an EV will last a decent length of time.

Similar. I have an 18yo Acura TSX that runs beautifully and has never needed anything but routine maintenance. I have 110k on it. Also once a year my kids and I take a 2000 mile road trip to see grandparents in different states and side trips to go exploring. Neither grandparent destination has great EV infrastructure.

Also, I live in a walkable (and bike-able) western Fairfax county area.almost everything I need is less than a mile away (groceries, bank, library, entertainment, restaurants, car maintenance shop, pharmacy…. Metro stop is about 3 miles away though it is too pricey to use on the regular so we rarely go down town now).