AMIRZA786

I fully agree, that's why I'm glad non EV owners participate. 100 percent there are some adjustments that will be made. Not for day to day driving if you have access to home charging, but mainly for trips and those who don't have access to home charging/public charging

swajames

But here's the thing. Unless someone actually owns and drives an actual EV, they're not in much of a position to tell anything it like it is. That's essentially telling it like they think it is.

AMIRZA786

^^^ This ^^^. I was having a discussion this morning with one of my co-workers, he couldn't understand how and why I take my Model Y on trips. Just couldn't grasp it. He's never owned an EV, never lived with one, and is basically "nervous" about them because he hears stuff from other non EV owners and sees news reports about EV's stuck in the cold. It didn't even occur to him that maybe gas powered cars also get stuck in frigid weather. So in his mind, driving an EV will get him stuck somewhere on a remote road, although the Suburu he owns could also get stuck on the road

Bob04

Doesn't automatically make them wrong either.

swajames

You have to at least acknowledge there's a significant difference between experience and opinion.

AMIRZA786

Just my experience, but 99 percent of non EV owners I talk to (mostly in person) have completely wrong or biased information. I'm not saying EV's are for everyone or that everyone should go buy one, but I've never heard as much misinformation as when it comes to EV's. A friend of mine owns a Raptor, I've never owned or driven one in my life, so I don't try to share my opinions on it with him or make assumptions. He lives with it and knows more about it than I do, but it seems that people who've never lived with an EV have lots of opinions to share with me...which is fine

Bob04

Yeah, charging at home and using for a daily commuter is a slam dunk for EVs. Nobody needs to drive or own one to see that.

The dispute usually lies outside that use case. Lots of factors come into play at that point, many of which have nothing to do with the car itself.

AMIRZA786

Again, I would say most people flat out have misconceptions in this area as well. I've written a lot on this, so I won't go into this here. I'll just leave it and say that everyone has to make a case by case determination if owning an EV is right for them. I don't judge anyone that says it doesn't fit their lifestyles, it's too expensive an investment, or they are just not comfortable with them

Hameed

Let's assume the worst case scenario (a non Tesla EV that doesn't have a decent charging infrastructure) and use your own personal life as the specific use case.

What is the percentage of your annual miles that you travel?

Now weigh that "con" against the "pros" of an EV. Which side does it lean more towards in your mind? And why is that?

BayeauxLex

I don’t own a BEV but I have an idea of what it’s like.


I’m with your coworker to an extent. My friend refuse to drive his gas vehicle that gets 35mpg on trips instead takes his MYLR that can’t go anywhere reasonable (210 miles) at highway speed without stopping to charge. His gas vehicle can more than double his MYLR range on the highway And now towing with an EV truck the range is cut in half plus now you have to drop the trailer to charge then re hitch your load. I know I know, chargers for towing are forthcoming. Like stated earlier most people won’t take their EV truck off road or hook a trailer to it just like a lot of gas truck owners. But for those who do and will, it seems like it’s too soon to own one. Swajames do you tow an/or take your lightning off road?

Adjustment or inconvenience, depends on how you slice it.

Your coworker Subaru will probably make it up that incline. 🙃 Sorry I couldn’t help it. 😆 In all seriousness, don’t just share the good with owning an EV. Share with him things you wish could be better. My friend does share things he wish were better owning an EV. A lot of the information I bring here I get from him. Then also it’s like when you watch 1-2 videos of the same subject on YouTube then you’re flooded with them.

Bob04

That's the key. Potential EV purchasers can decide if they like an EV, just like with an ICE vehicle, by testing driving it. What they can't actually experience is how it fits into their lifestyle with range and fuel. They can only make an educated decision based on the information they have. And the lack of information works both ways. Lots of people rule out EVs based on bad info, but lots of people purchased an EV not knowing all the limitations. I've got a coworker that won't drive her Leaf more than 50 miles from home. Lots of people on tv recently that were floored that the cold was hurting their range. or impacting it way more than expected. The lack of good information that better considers someone's personal situation is doing both the buyer and the technology a disservice at this point. That will change over time.

AMIRZA786

First I want to start off with Youtube..the worst way to get information on EV's, IMO. Youtubers look to drive traffic to their content. One Youtuber made that admission when one of his videos went Viral he did on his Lightning, it got used by Fox News and Alex Jones trying to prove how bad EV's were. He had to make a whole separate video apologizing for how they took his content and misused it, and admitted that he did that way to drive traffic to his channel.

Next, towing. If you regularly tow, you probably shouldn't get an EV. The battery capacity is just not enough at this point, and it makes charging more difficult.

Lastly, just having stats is not the same as having experience. You can have a ton of facts, but if you don't know how to apply it, then they are useless. All it makes you is a Google scholar. If you go back four years, I was my co-worker. I was nervous about EV's, and my first EV (2020 Ioniq EV) I got just as a commuter only for my wife. I had no intention of ever getting one for other than commutes. But as I got more comfortable with them through ownership, I realized that they are not only cheaper to travel with, but they are fun to take on trips. When I took my Polestar on it's first trip in Feb or march of 2022, I admit, I was nervous, but got over it quickly. In 2022, I took a total of 9 trips in my Polestar, despite having to use Electrify America for charging.

Now that I have the Tesla, I don't even think about it for a second. We pack the car and go. If it's ever a choice between the Tesla and our Sienna...Tesla always wins, unless we have more than 5 passengers going with us. You don't get this confidence looking at statistics, but from experience

AMIRZA786

I agree, without knowing what you are getting into beforehand can blindside you. I've done that before, I bought a Civic Si because I was looking for a cheap, fun commuter with a manual transmission. I sold it 14 months later.

To be fair, a Leaf is a bad example

BayeauxLex

Avg. Cost of gas
Availability of public chargers
Cost to insure
Resale
Reliability
Service center (closest Tesla service center to me is 101 miles away 2hrs)
Cold weather effects

In addition like you mention how it fits your lifestyle. It may be safe to say a lot buyers don’t look further than cost of the vehicle, $7500 tax credit, charging at home before they go EV.

BayeauxLex

And I am somewhat the same way. Depending on how many people are traveling and where we are traveling to determines which vehicle we take. I know gas is expensive in California but let’s say you owned a later model 35mpg Sienna hybrid which vehicle would be your go to for road trips. Little bonus, gas is $2.51/gallon.