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248 sats \ 1 reply \ @Jer 12 Jan \ on: What are stackers thoughts on the future of electric cars? tech

I need to preface this reply by stating upfront that I am not a gearhead. Like, at all. I did some work on cars I owned when I was young and broke because I had to, but I didn't care for it. I'm not a purist about anything and certainly not a "car guy".

They work for my use case and I am unabashedly bullish on Teslas. I don't care for the dork who owns the company but their cars are fantastic, IME. After driving one: every other car seems dumb dumb in comparison.

High Purchase Price: Electric vehicles often have a higher initial cost compared to their gasoline counterparts, which can deter mass adoption until prices decrease or incentives make them more accessible.

They are not inexpensive. I would not purchase one as a grocery-getter. My work requires a tonne of driving. 80,000+ km per year. I went from about $3,000 CAD per month in fuel and maintenance in my last ICE vehicle to about $500 in electricity, with scant maintenance in my M3LR. I rotate the tires and put washer fluid in it. C'est ça.

The insurance is less than my previous ICE car was.

Charging Time: The time required to charge an EV, especially compared to the quick refueling of gasoline cars, is seen as a significant drawback for long trips or for those without home charging options.

I can't speak to the other charging options for other brands but the Tesla charging infrastructure is great here in Southern Ontario. It takes about 15-20 minutes to charge at a 250 kW machine and depending on the charging station location, costs about $16.00 - $18.00 to charge. I use the time to return emails, zap posts etc. I charge at home for $0.08/kWh.

Battery Life and Replacement: The lifespan of batteries and the high cost of replacement are often cited as potential barriers. There's uncertainty about how long batteries will last under real-world conditions and the cost implications of eventual replacements.

I have about 190,000 km on mine and according to the third-party "Tessie" app: my battery has degraded 8% from new.

Range Anxiety: Despite improvements, there remains a concern about the range of electric cars, especially in adverse conditions like cold weather, which can significantly reduce battery efficiency.

With the aforementioned 8% battery degredation and keeping it at or under 110km/h: I get about 450km on a "nice day" and about 300km on a Canadian winter day.

My son bought a new Kia Niro about 5 months ago and has been very pleased with it. Aside from backing it out of the driveway: I have no other experience with it.

Thanks for taking the time to post this, @cleaningup12. You bring up some great points.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cleaningup12 OP 12 Jan

Thank you for posting a positive glowing review of your experience, the only point I didn't notice in your answer was, will your tessie actually have a decent resale value iyo when you need to replace it?

One way around this issue is buying through a lease hire agreement/personal contract purchase or similar? Once you have reached the end of the agreement, you can bypass paying the final balloon payment by commencing a new agreement, thus kicking the can down the road, although at some point the agreement will need to be finalised I would suggest.