Batteries don’t just fall apart or stop working. They very slowly lose capacity over many charge cycles, but they very rarely just stop working. Actually, total failure of a battery pack is a lot less likely than catastrophic failure of an IC engine if something goes wrong. And I’m sorry, but engines eventually do need to be replaced, too, if you intend to keep driving the vehicle. Most people don’t, though, because the cost to replace or rebuild an engine typically exceeds the value of the vehicle by a lot. The labor alone is $$$. And if you look at the lower cost of maintenance, and vastly lower cost of charging vs fuel over the lifetime of a battery pack, the cost to replace one ends up being far lower than what you will spend maintaining and driving an equivalent ICE vehicle for the same amount of time.
Yes, there are up-front costs, but they’ve come down a lot, and you can get a lightly used EV for a lot less than you probably think.
Lot of words, no sub–$5k EV listings. Again, my car was $700, 1 to own it 6 to fix the engine. Not at all hypothetical. I have a pretty solid idea what a used one costs and can find ICE beaters ~$500 all day. Post em if you’ve got em
If you have the skills and tools to repair and rebuild junkers on your own, that’s great for you. The vast majority of people do not, and the economic reality is that the total cost of ownership in that case does not tilt in favor of ICE vehicles. Sub $5K? Probably not right now. Sub $10K? Absolutely. And to most people that’s an amazing deal for a vehicle that will probably last at least 10 years with very little maintenance costs. That may not seem like a deal to you personally, but that was not the point.
Batteries don’t just fall apart or stop working. They very slowly lose capacity over many charge cycles, but they very rarely just stop working. Actually, total failure of a battery pack is a lot less likely than catastrophic failure of an IC engine if something goes wrong. And I’m sorry, but engines eventually do need to be replaced, too, if you intend to keep driving the vehicle. Most people don’t, though, because the cost to replace or rebuild an engine typically exceeds the value of the vehicle by a lot. The labor alone is $$$. And if you look at the lower cost of maintenance, and vastly lower cost of charging vs fuel over the lifetime of a battery pack, the cost to replace one ends up being far lower than what you will spend maintaining and driving an equivalent ICE vehicle for the same amount of time.
Yes, there are up-front costs, but they’ve come down a lot, and you can get a lightly used EV for a lot less than you probably think.
Lot of words, no sub–$5k EV listings. Again, my car was $700, 1 to own it 6 to fix the engine. Not at all hypothetical. I have a pretty solid idea what a used one costs and can find ICE beaters ~$500 all day. Post em if you’ve got em
If you have the skills and tools to repair and rebuild junkers on your own, that’s great for you. The vast majority of people do not, and the economic reality is that the total cost of ownership in that case does not tilt in favor of ICE vehicles. Sub $5K? Probably not right now. Sub $10K? Absolutely. And to most people that’s an amazing deal for a vehicle that will probably last at least 10 years with very little maintenance costs. That may not seem like a deal to you personally, but that was not the point.