This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Make it affordable and I'll buy one tomorrow.
Let's talk VW specific. I would absolutely love an ID.Buzz. But you made the fucking thing SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Heh, my understanding is that they are affordable, assuming you're buying Chinese cars and your country hasn't levied absurd tariffs on that one country in particular.
I have no doubts about electric cars being nice or "the future", but the price of these things is still a problem.
A (reasonably) new one with the range I need (~400km+) costs way more than I care to spend. That is partly because batteries still cost too much, but also very much because they still have a tendancy to gatekeep larger range figures for use in luxury cars.
And getting older second hand is still too much a questionmark in terms of how much of a chance there be you'll end up having to fork over big for a new battery or motor and/or write it off prematurely.
Another problem is that I also have no way to charge it at home and would be fully at the mercy of public charging infrastructure. And generally speaking as a taller man, I feel some of them can also be quite lacking in terms of interior space.
With the current charger technology, there are very few people who would actually need that kind of a range: you basically have to live in extremely rural areas (so there are no fast chargers anywhere), you need to drive multiple hours a day, and you don't have any access to charging at home or at work.
In almost any other situation even on a long trip your bladder, stomach or back will stop you every few hours to take a break, which is enough time for a fast charger to top you back up to the next stop.
Why do you need 400km+ range? Is this for a daily/weekly need or a once in a quarter holiday trip style need?
If I could trade my current car for a feature similar EV for no more than a coupld of grand out of pocket, I would.
Literally every single person that I talked to that seriously tried an EV (like, as a daily driver for some time, not just the rental you had for a day) said they were never going back to combustion engines.
Yeah I will never go back.
I still have my ICE car for my kids, and have been tempted to upgrade them ….. but there’s no point spending money to replace a perfectly functional car only 9 years old, and most importantly just sits while they are away at school
Yeah, I drive an EV and will never go back to gas.
I mean maybe if I had a project car or something but even then my thoughts drift towards how I might swap an electric drivetrain…
The problem is that modern cars are shitty. It doesn’t matter if it’s a petrol, diesel or electric car. If I can’t repair it myself, it’s a poor quality car. The fact that you might need specialized paywalled software to remove error codes after fixing the car is just awful.
Most people I’ve spoken with that claim that they don’t like electric cars eventually agree that they don’t like modern cars. Mainly due to how closed everything is.
Depends what you mean by "better" I suppose. Riding a horse is more enjoyable for me. Car is more efficient for long distance travel. I pretty much never drive a car for pleasure though.
I mean, kinda same, driving a gas car for pleasure or certain niche uses is great but practically it's a huge waste of money and resources for a daily driver. Same as horses. I think the analogy works.
I paid $6000 cash for my current car about eight years ago. I'm retired, so I only drive it about once a week. I've put less than 2000 miles per year on it. Also, no cameras, no screen, no phone app, no nothing I don't need or want.
There's no way I'm buying a $30,000 car, both because I couldn't afford it, and because what I have fits my needs perfectly.
So, are EVs "just better"? For some people, or maybe most, I imagine so. But, no, not for me, not unless the VW boss wants to give me one for free.
One of the benefits of the EV incentives was that growing the EV market faster also meant growing the used EV market faster. You’re going to have to wait another ten years now
Apples and Oranges my firend.
You can also buy used ev's for less than $6k.
The arguement wasnt about price, its about what is a better vehicle for the average driver.
I love cars, and im mourning the death of the manual transmission. But i bought an EV for my daily. Its just a better daily use car. Less maintenance, lots of convenience, no extra cost in gass prices and technically faster than my toy car. It doesnt give me the driving experience i want, but grabbing takeout, or sitting in traffic, its just better.
