Overall the issue is that they’re not a “like” technology for ICE cars. The transition won’t happen without regulation. In Norway the vast majority of new car sales are EVs. China too has basically moved straight to EV infrastructure rather than ICE. It can be done but the government has got to do the job. In countries where they are unwilling to, this isn’t going to work.
Sounds like US healthcare too
Why don’t more people adopt EVs?
From a US consumer standpoint:
New EVs are still too expensive,
(A 2024 Nissan Versa is $18k, a 2024 Nissan Leaf is $28k)
Non-dealer mechanics are almost universally unwilling to learn anything about EVs (or Hybrids), so serious repairs are more costly,
For a great many used EVs, battery charge capacity wears out significantly with mileage compared to wear and tear on many ICE vehicles, to the point that getting a new battery installed might end up costing as much as you paid for the used EV itself,
Charging your EV overnight generally is not an option if you rent an apartment, unless you can afford a fairly fancy and modern apartment with a new parking garage and pay a premium for or luck out and get one of the 5% of EV charging parking spots,
You live in an area where significant portions of the year are quite cold, which reduces the EVs range by roughly 1/3 (or more), potentially to less than your work commute if you don’t have a fast charger at home.
I say these things as a person who used to drive a hybrid, would love to see EVs (well really, public transit and non car centric city design) proliferate.
EVs are still an impractical and more expensive kind of car for them to be adopted by the proles.
You basically can’t functionally own and use one unless you’re actually fairly well off, own a home or live in a fancy pants apartment.
For a great many used EVs, battery charge capacity wears out significantly with mileage compared to wear and tear on many ICE vehicles, to the point that getting a new battery installed might end up costing as much as you paid for the used EV itself
Latest what research I read showed exactly the opposite of what you have stated. But I would love to see your reference.
I may have overstated the prevalence of that particular point, as I did all my research on that half a decade ago, and I’m talking about the used EV models that I saw available in my area for a cost that would be less than roughly $20k.
A whole lot of the models I saw available, I’d go onto EV forums for those specific makes and and models and find stories of people with the same or similar listed mileages as what I was seeing available, and a whole lot of them were saying that their EVs with 100k to 150k miles on them, the battery packs had about 50% less than the listed manufacturer range from that same make and model whilst new.
And when you are in the used EV market, that can mean that if you get a battery pack thats a dud, well the average cost of a battery replacement is roughly half what youre paying for the whole EV, or as much as the whole cost of the EV if you’re going for a cheap option.
https://www.howtogeek.com/805841/how-much-does-an-electric-car-battery-replacement-cost/
Avg battery replacement cost is about $8k, but can range all the way up to $22k, which is basically as much as or more than the cost of a used EV itself if you’re aiming for an under $20k vehicle.
However, it may be that newer EVs have gotten better on this front in recent years, and thus the newer, but still used, market offering have improved in this regard.
Going by the % of battery capacity degradation stated here:
https://www.howtogeek.com/806181/why-do-electric-car-batteries-degrade/
of roughly 3% a year, which degrades cumulatively…
That means if you are buying say a 10 year old used EV, which started out at 200 mile range capacity…
That EV now has a roughly 148 mile capacity, approximately a 25% overall decrease in range.
Real problem of evs besides the production process not being super environmentally friendly is the added weight that causes deadlier collisions, is the release of more micro plastics from tires. The fact that they are hard to extinguish doesnt help their case.
I believe that they are still an important tool to detransision from fossil fuels, but I hope the tech improves.
Agree. From stories around me and the internet, waiting for charger when travelling is also an issue from people’s experience. That 20minutes fast charge adds up when there’s a queue ahead, which is normal when in holiday, even for petrol station. The article also mentioned terribly maintained infrastructure where he have to change charger to get the desirable charging speed. Also those live in highrise where parking space doesn’t have charger, or older highrise that can’t fit more charger due to the wiring limitation. Aside from misinformation, there’s a lot of problem with using EV that need to be solved, and rich people living in landed house in a country with good charging infrastructure telling others to adopt it is kinda a problem as well.
Also, while EV fire is rare, the fear of it shouldn’t be dismissed as misinformation, given an ev truck fire shutting down a highway not too long ago. Kinda like telling people covid threat is there but it isn’t as risky as people think, so they should overcome their fear of it. If somehow sodium ion battery or any non-flame-y battery is in use, more and more people will start to use it. EV still have a long way to go compared to decades of development for ICE car, but it’ll be there eventually.
