electric car owners, be honest, what's the biggest pain owning an EV?

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking of buying a 2009 Prius with A LOT of mileage - 189,000 on it. We'd solely use it as a commuter car. It's in good condition and has been well-maintained?

Is there any particular downside to buying a Prius that old compared to a regular vehicle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Tesla owners use the Supercharger stations much outside of random family road trips? Like 99% of the time you just charge at home (overnight) and at work (if possible), right?

Some people do, but it's not the preferred technique. That's part of why Tesla went away from Unlimited Free Supercharging. Too many people taking up stalls because they didn't want to charge at home. I always thought they could accomplish their objective by having Supercharging be free if you're more than one battery from home, half-price if you're between 100%- and 50%-to-home range, and full price if you're say, within 25 miles. I dunno, they didn't ask me. lol

Is the Supercharger any cheaper or more expensive per "fill up" verse just charging overnight at home? I understand it's faster, just wasn't sure if it's a cost difference that would incentivize people to go out of their way to use them. Outside of being on a road trip or driving a lot as a salesman, I can't understand seeking out non-home chargers.

New Tesla owners now have to pay to use a Supercharger, so most folks using them would be on the go these days. For a Model 3, a fill up charge is similar to paying for a tank of gas right now.

[Anonymous]

If you can afford a tesla and have a charging location (garage/driveway); there are very few downsides. The range is good enough (300 miles) for the 3 times a year you need it. The chargers in the middle of nowhere are mostly free (which is all that matters if you have in-home charging)

We have solar panels; so the marginal cost of using the cars is literally just the tire wear and depreciation. Which is much much better than our other german car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of buying a 2009 Prius with A LOT of mileage - 189,000 on it. We'd solely use it as a commuter car. It's in good condition and has been well-maintained?

Is there any particular downside to buying a Prius that old compared to a regular vehicle?

The main battery may be up for replacement. That can get a bit pricey. Seems to tend to need replacement/fix between 150-250K miles.

[Anonymous]

Downside to a Tesla? Making Elon Musk richer. The man is an anti-social tool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Downside to a Tesla? Making Elon Musk richer. The man is an anti-social tool.

Except that his wealth is all dedicated to the betterment of mankind. Every one of his companies was put together on the philosophy of "what is best, long-term, for mankind's survival?"

* Tesla - accelerate transition from fossil fuels, starting with cars, moving into electricity production, then distribution
* SpaceX - build a self-sustaning colony on Mars so humanity's eggs aren't all in one basket
* The Boring Company - because traffic jams are soul-crushing
* Neuralink - develop a brain-computer interface to better communicate with the AI once it's developed, in hopes that it doesn't destroy us. Interim goal of helping people with spinal issues.

These things are quite capital-intensive, as you might imagine.

Does Elon say and do goofy things? Sure. We're all flawed, and he's on a higher platform than most.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of buying a 2009 Prius with A LOT of mileage - 189,000 on it. We'd solely use it as a commuter car. It's in good condition and has been well-maintained?

Is there any particular downside to buying a Prius that old compared to a regular vehicle?

Becoming a holier-than-thou tree hugger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of buying a 2009 Prius with A LOT of mileage - 189,000 on it. We'd solely use it as a commuter car. It's in good condition and has been well-maintained?

Is there any particular downside to buying a Prius that old compared to a regular vehicle?

Becoming a holier-than-thou tree hugger.

Did you steal my Jesus fish?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Downside to a Tesla? Making Elon Musk richer. The man is an anti-social tool.

They are also data sieves. I guarantee there will be a much-publicized hack within 2-5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Downside to a Tesla? Making Elon Musk richer. The man is an anti-social tool.

Tesla is publicly traded. Buy shares if you want to make yourself richer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm thinking of buying a 2009 Prius with A LOT of mileage - 189,000 on it. We'd solely use it as a commuter car. It's in good condition and has been well-maintained?

Is there any particular downside to buying a Prius that old compared to a regular vehicle?

I'd be careful on that. Batteries have about a 10 year life, and they are super-expensive to replace. Like, more than the cost of a new engine in a regular car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford a tesla and have a charging location (garage/driveway); there are very few downsides. The range is good enough (300 miles) for the 3 times a year you need it. The chargers in the middle of nowhere are mostly free (which is all that matters if you have in-home charging)

We have solar panels; so the marginal cost of using the cars is literally just the tire wear and depreciation. Which is much much better than our other german car.

Depends on the model. We have the base M3, which gets 250 miles. Less IRL. Still as good or better than other makes but not really good enough for us to want to take it on major road trips. Kind of a bummer since it's so much fun to drive.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of talk about the next gen of electric cars(‘24-25) getting 350-450 on a full charge.

[Anonymous]

The latest Long Range Model S is rated at ~400, and Panasonic just announced another 20% battery capacity increase coming in the near future. (Tesla mostly uses Panasonic batteries.) That either means the (2022?+) Teslas will either have another range boost or the same range with smaller batteries, making them faster and/or more efficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Downside to a Tesla? Making Elon Musk richer. The man is an anti-social tool.

Except that his wealth is all dedicated to the betterment of mankind. Every one of his companies was put together on the philosophy of "what is best, long-term, for mankind's survival?"

* Tesla - accelerate transition from fossil fuels, starting with cars, moving into electricity production, then distribution
* SpaceX - build a self-sustaning colony on Mars so humanity's eggs aren't all in one basket
* The Boring Company - because traffic jams are soul-crushing
* Neuralink - develop a brain-computer interface to better communicate with the AI once it's developed, in hopes that it doesn't destroy us. Interim goal of helping people with spinal issues.

These things are quite capital-intensive, as you might imagine.

Does Elon say and do goofy things? Sure. We're all flawed, and he's on a higher platform than most.

And he has a wicked sense of humor - check out the Toy Box that comes on every Tesla.