So you’re thinking of buying a Vanity vehicle?
“But the biggest issue I personally have with EVs is the government mandating them. Let the market decide.” — Reader Comment
“The market is deciding, they are not buying them.” – Reader reply
And as if that wasn’t fascinating enough… a friend of mine, now retired, spent his career with Pratt & Whitney, traveling the world selling power plants (engines) to private companies, governments, etc for power generation. We’ve had several conversations about the craziness of windmills, solar farms, in short — “green energy” baloney. He says the combustion engine isn’t going away any time soon, and his money is NOT on the electric vehicle. Instead, he believes the hydrogen powered engine is the answer for future vehicle power generation.
There is some debate about all of this, but if Toyota’s CEO is investing in it (while recently shutting down EV production), I think there’s something to be said for it. NASA used hydrogen fuel cells on the Space Shuttle. Worked for them.
Toyota CEO: This New Engine Will Destroy The Entire EV Industry!
10 MAJOR PROBLEMS With Electric Cars You Must Know Before Buying One
Comment from a reader:
As a rideshare driver, I did a long study of EV’s to determine if they were right for me. Uber had a promotion paying an extra $1 per trip to make it more attractive. After the study, I decided it was not worth it for several reasons. Some are listed in this video. Here are some more:
1. Fast charging reduces battery life.
2. Driving over 65MPH reduces range.
3. Cold weather (I live in MN) reduces range.
4. Battery takes a long time to warm up in the cold and further reduces range or uses your power.
5. Use of climate control reduces range.
6. Manufacturers prefer to replace rather than repair batteries making them more expensive to fix.
7. Most EV’s have low ground clearance. You will bang the bottom of your car occasionally or more often in an icy winter. In an EV, you will be banging the expensive battery. (Last winter in MN, I knocked the skid plate off my Camry twice. You have a different experience when you drive everywhere rather than just your normal routes.)
8. Sometimes you cannot buy whatever tires you want meaning you cannot get the best winter tires.
9. Useable range is probably half what is advertised. (You need to regularly drive between 80-20% of capacity per manufacturer’s recommendations and then reduce that based on everything else discussed.)
10. It costs much more to charge during the day if you drive at night.
11. There is no reason to think you can get several hundred thousand miles from an EV like you can from several cheaper cars.
12. Long repair downtime costs income.
13. Cheaper EV’s (still more expensive than practical vehicles) tend to be RWD. They are much more expensive to get FWD or AWD. And here are Tesla-specific problems:
1. Touch screen windshield wipers are an automatic no. It is unsafe in conditions that require constant adjustments, and no automatic windshield wiper system will be good enough. This isn’t just a preference. This setup should be illegal. I say this as someone who regularly drives through entire storms rather than someone who occasionally makes a short trip in the rain.
2. Touch screen controls for everything else are also problematic. I need to make adjustments as customers make requests in all traffic conditions safely. Touch screens are not safe for that. I could say no, but windshield wipers stand out as one you must use. I shouldn’t have to say no since every other car manufacturer offers the necessary features properly.
3. Door handles and doors without a top frame freeze in the winter.
4. I don’t want to have to explain to every drunk passenger how to open the door.
5. Tesla has a policy against rideshare drivers using super chargers. It is not currently enforced, but it is in writing so they can enforce it as demand for chargers increases. When you say you bought it for rideshare in protest, they will tell you their policy was published when you purchased it.
6. A “frunk” that breaks if it is closed hard is unacceptable and will break inevitably. I don’t know if the car is undrivable while you wait on that repair. It is hard to find a good deal on a newer but not new EV. I would rather buy a 2-year-old Camry getting 35MPG, drive it 2.5x’s longer than a Model 3, and pay less than half as much with virtually no unscheduled maintenance.
lololololololololololol!