Thinking about getting a EV. Just curious why you got yours. The reasons I can think of are:
- Environmentally friendly 🌵
- Cheaper Fuel ⚡️
- They are cool/trendy 😎
- Lower maintenance 🔧
Is there anything surprising that you found out after you bought it?
Environmentally friendly + for my wife and I, it makes very good financial sense … but our situation is fairly unique.
Really boils down to 2 things.
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Performance. Instant torque and faster than any ICE I’ve owned despite the EVs I’ve had not being the fastest out there. One pedal driving, Incredibly smooth ride. Just love it.
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Never stop at gas stations. Sure, charging on road trips takes longer (though my EV6 is pretty great there too), but eliminating weekly stops at gas stations has been awesome. And despite EVs being more expensive than an ICE alternative, I’m not subject to gas price variance and the cost to refuel is significantly cheaper.
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Instant torque.
I mean, Tesla was founded partially to prove that electric cars aren’t necessarily economy shitboxes like the EV1.
If it weren’t for the Roadster and Model S, people would still think of electric cars as “basically a shitty version of the Prius”.
For both my EVs has been:
- Drives well, that’s the first priority, I wouldn’t buy a car that wasn’t nice to drive.
- Cheaper to drive and insure
- Features such as preheating and ACC (not necessarily exclusive to EVs).
Other cars I was considering felt sooooooo slooooowwwww.
Also nice that I’m not spewing diesel fumes out a tailpipe.
Because with the distance we’re driving per year (30,000 km), the price of electricity here (6 to 9¢ per kWh) and price of gas (currently at $1.5/L but fluctuates greatly), over half of the monthly payment is saved right there.
I wanted a sporty car
I like sedans
I wanted an inexpensive but “nice” car
Model 3 RWD after all incentives was $27k. What else can you get for $27k OTD? Civic Sport? Corolla LE?
No brainer.
- Performance
- Maintenance
- Perfect for traffic
- Low stress, no noise
Autopilot for my 1.5 hour commute in heavy traffic… Everything else was a bonus, great performance, cheaper than a gas car (in SoCal), maintenance, quiet, no emissions.
🌵⚡️
- Can fuel from solar panels on roof.
- No smog forming tailpipe pollution
- Quiet
- Quick
- Super reliable.
- 3-5x more efficient than LICE
- No toxic oil changes, fuel filters, etc.
- Regenerative braking puts energy back into batteries.
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My wife can charge for free at work. That’s a 150€ less on diesel per month.
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Lower maintenance costs.
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( so far ) less cost on taxes and insurance.
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I rode an electric motorcycle for 2 years (still do…) and realized how undeniable electric is
- The car, EVs in general, my Ioniq 6 in specific, feel like the future. The zero engine vibration and eerie silence make getting back into an ICE vehicle feel like stepping back into a primitive era.
- Less than $10 to “fill” my car from dead empty at home, even though I never let it get to dead empty. (Okay, not surprising as I did the math beforehand, but still worth mentioning.)
- Being able to fuel up in my driveway and having an 80% “full” tank every morning. I understand not everyone has this option.
If you can’t charge at home with or without solar energy, and you must always charge at the supercharging stations… before you buy, go observe the waiting time during hours that you might be charging and then make your purchasing decision. It’s different for each person depending the community and infrastructures around you. For example, I have two years free charging but I never use Electrify America bc of the waiting at the “mall” unless I go during non peak hours. The worse is when cars are charged and people would re park cars because they are shopping or dining.