this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2024
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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?

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 5 months ago (13 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

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!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

As much as everyone complains that it's too expensive I am very happy with the Toyota zx4.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I had one and severely miss it. Well, I don’t miss the one I had but I miss the EV part of it.

I had a 2015 BMW i5 which apparently that and the 2014 models had a whole host of problems, especially if you were like me and had the range extender which was basically a small motorcycle gas engine seated in the back and could be used to charge the battery. Being BMW’s first generations, it’s not too much of a surprise that they’d have issues but there was more beyond those like the small form tires that didn’t last long, were rare, and expensive and the 12v battery which was also expensive, rare, and difficult to replace…

Beyond all that, I just miss the simplicity and the feel of the EV drive. Stepping on the accelerator and you feel it accelerate. It has much lower maintenance, with the only trade off being that tires usually don’t last as long as an ICE because the battery adds so much more weight and the battery replacement can be pricey. But other than that, no oil changes, no transmission worries, no smog checks, no needing to let the car warm up…just hop in and go. I also miss the charging aspect of it. Sure, it sucked not having the same range as a gas/hybrid where I now get about 500 miles on a full tank, but I actually liked going to charging stations and just sitting there while my car charged. I also liked the price difference, so much cheaper. I also liked that I could be lazy. I didn’t have to “fill up” when I was tired on my way home or early the next morning because I would charge at home and have a full “tank” to use the next day.

I only got rid of the i5 because of the host of problems and got a hybrid instead which has been fine and a better car in many ways, but I still long to go back. I’ve been thinking very strongly about going and trading in for an EV each weekend that passes by. I’ve been researching possible EVs to go to and have a few in mind I’d like to check out now that the prices are way down.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

See how you feel about it after watching this: Aging Wheels/Technology Connections EV Road Trip

[–] [email protected] 15 points 5 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 71 points 5 months ago (10 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Sometimes you need to check your tire pressure, too.

The general reduction in scheduled maintenance requirements is really wonderful.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago

My EV has onboard pressure monitoring. And came with a little electric tire pump.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (2 children)

What about for gas station sushi?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 144 points 5 months ago (6 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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"

[–] [email protected] 62 points 5 months ago

I'm not a huge fan of bumper stickers, but I might make an exception for this 🤔

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I love mine. I live in Kansas and that shapes some of my needs differently than most of the audience here, but have a Ford Lightning and it’s great.

I had to install a charger in my garage and unless you have a lot of public fast chargers near you then you’ll need that.

I’ve driven long distances with it and most of the Love’s truck stops have dc fast chargers which worked perfect on the interstate.

Weather, speed, and payload are the biggest factors for range for me. The only time any were a real problem is when the temp was near zero, but I could mitigate the severe range loss some by letting it warm up for an hour or so before I departed, which can be controlled in the app.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (5 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Do the numbers! Check that the range is at least double of that you need. Check if the purchase price makes economic sense. Put priority on wants and needs. Think of resale value, because you never know if some life changing event can happen.

I avoided that bullet in 2017 when my e39 blew the headgasket. It was either a modern EV or hybrid or a cheap second hand gas guzzler. At less than 5000km a year the numbers told me what I needed to know, and looking back, my Mondeo ST220 has been much cheaper overall, fun and dead reliable.

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