Worst thing about owning an EV

[Anonymous]

I got my first EV. I do travel a lot on the road. For Teslas, the infrastructure is great, and we have had no issues so far on long trips. At home, I have the wall charger, which works pretty well.

If you are only driving around town, you won't need a super charger. Try it out!

This. You never need to stop somewhere to charge. We put in a level 2 charger next to the driveway. It's basically the same as your dryer. We didn't need a panel upgrade.

We have also done long trips. I'm not sure you save money over a Prius (but our Prius got around 60 mpg). It's about the same as that I think in terms of money. We just got back from a trip out to Minnesota and along the Mississippi River (maybe 1600 miles?). No problems finding chargers. The car finds them for you. We always used Tesla superchargers (fast and don't need to get out our credit card). However, we bought a CCS charging adapter in case we want to use a CCS charger (have not done it yet). We have heard that those other chargers are not as reliable.

[Anonymous]

The whole flat tire thing and needing a damn tow truck to fix it seems like a major major problem. We get flat tires about once every 18 months from nails and other crap on the road. I can't imagine it turning into a major project involving a tow truck. Horrible.

[Anonymous]

The whole flat tire thing and needing a damn tow truck to fix it seems like a major major problem. We get flat tires about once every 18 months from nails and other crap on the road. I can't imagine it turning into a major project involving a tow truck. Horrible.

Where do you live?

If I get a flat in my ICE car, I am calling a tow anyway since I'm an elderly woman. So might as well drive my EV. It's a lot more fun to drive. My ICE sits in the driveway now. Love the EV.

[Anonymous]

Tesla owner. When I tell you I love it, believe me. I have an old ‘13 and a newer one ‘23. The older one, when it got really cold that one time in the winter the battery was wonky the new one had no issue at all in the cold. The old one has about 260k miles on it and no repairs, no oil changes, no nothing. That’s why I got a new one. Both have free charging so I have no idea what the electric costs.

[Anonymous]

^I'm over 65. If I can learn to drive a Tesla anyone can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The whole flat tire thing and needing a damn tow truck to fix it seems like a major major problem. We get flat tires about once every 18 months from nails and other crap on the road. I can't imagine it turning into a major project involving a tow truck. Horrible.

Where do you live?

If I get a flat in my ICE car, I am calling a tow anyway since I'm an elderly woman. So might as well drive my EV. It's a lot more fun to drive. My ICE sits in the driveway now. Love the EV.

What is it about driving the EV that makes it more fun than driving an ICE car?

[Anonymous]

I love it too. Have a Volvo EX30 since last year. I'm an elderly woman and was capable to learn to handle the EV, find the charging stations while on the road and put them into operation. Electricity is cheaper than gas.

[Anonymous]

The only real challenge for us has been when we've ended up in situations where we needed to take the car on longer trips and need to factor in stopping to recharge. That's only happen a handful of times in the few years we've owned it.

We actually haven't gotten around to upgrading our electrical or putting in a fast charger. We should do both, but it hasn't been necessary up to this point so we keep putting it off. We just charge from a normal outlet in our garage which is enough for the amount of driving we typically do.

[Anonymous]

The few times we traveled, it was easy to find a charging station. We chose Hotels with charging stations and for fast service we always found a station when we needed one. Long distance travel gets more relaxing because you are forced to take a break after a drive of several hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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What is it about driving the EV that makes it more fun than driving an ICE car?

Go test drive one. That's the only way for you to understand.

In brief, instant torque (acceleration), no "vibration" from engine, and smooth, quiet ride. Also, since the batteries are typically heavy, they put the center of gravity low to the ground making it a more dynamic "drive" on curves.

[Anonymous]

Elderly woman here again. I second everything the previous driver said. Instant acceleration is incredible. I can merge into traffic much more safely. All of the cameras on the Tesla give me a view of everything around the car without having to strain my neck. Plus the quiet ride. l feel very safe in the car.

Go test drive one. It's easy to do.

[Anonymous]

Worst thing is the depreciation. don't buy a new EV. You can frequently find a 2-3 used EV with very low miles for half the price of a new model.

Second worse thing is the lack of reliability in some of the shady brands and models. Don't get a new model or weird brand. EVs are basically moving computers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The whole flat tire thing and needing a damn tow truck to fix it seems like a major major problem. We get flat tires about once every 18 months from nails and other crap on the road. I can't imagine it turning into a major project involving a tow truck. Horrible.

Where do you live?

If I get a flat in my ICE car, I am calling a tow anyway since I'm an elderly woman. So might as well drive my EV. It's a lot more fun to drive. My ICE sits in the driveway now. Love the EV.

Same. I’m 63 and unless my son is around, I’m calling AAA for that free tow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The range issue is really the only downside for me. I have had a Nissan Ariya for a year. It’s been great — easy to charge, nice to not pay for gas, all around good experience. The long distance charging challenge, however, is real.

This is not a minor concern. I have heard crazy stories of people needing to drive 20-30 minutes (or more) out of their way to charge, and then sometimes all the chargers are taken, so then needing to wait 20 minutes for your turn to begin, and another 20 minutes for the charge. It's weird to me that people just accept this on road trips. Maybe if you only drove locally and only charged at home, I could see it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The range issue is really the only downside for me. I have had a Nissan Ariya for a year. It’s been great — easy to charge, nice to not pay for gas, all around good experience. The long distance charging challenge, however, is real.

This is not a minor concern. I have heard crazy stories of people needing to drive 20-30 minutes (or more) out of their way to charge, and then sometimes all the chargers are taken, so then needing to wait 20 minutes for your turn to begin, and another 20 minutes for the charge. It's weird to me that people just accept this on road trips. Maybe if you only drove locally and only charged at home, I could see it.

I’ve put 23k miles on my EV. The first couple of weeks of owning it I had to use a super fast charger frequently until we got our charger installed. Since then, I’ve used a commercial charger maybe 5 times in 20-22k miles.