this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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I dunno man, the 5 minutes a week at a gas station doesn't really seem like that much of an inconvenience. Especially if you live in a state that taxes EVs more than gas cars, my home state taxes EVs so heavily that it's more expensive, even with fuel costs considered.
Winter and summer conditions are also an issue where I live, temps from very cold to very hot, sometimes within the same week, and the fact that most of the people who live around me who can afford an EV, are in fact taking routine road trips. Often to go camping where EV support is pretty minimal. Meaning at minimum, 1 car cannot be an EV.
Like, I get it. I've been trying to convince my wife to let me buy a sprinter van EV. Because you can't get a decent pick up truck EV for a reasonable price. And even if you could you're locked in to one of those giant 4 door monstrosities with a minimum sized bed.
We're not even going to talk about the horrifying lack of an affordable station wagon EV, at least in the US (Peugeot's got one coming in Europe at least), honestly that's the biggest crime here.
The biggest complaint I have about the current lot of EVs is that they're almost all trucks and SUVs. The manufacturers focused on the most profitable market segment first. Then, they make almost no units of the base model that's advertised for ~$45k. Only one's available are the top trims that go for $60k or $75k. Maybe more. Then they wonder why nobody is buying their EVs.
I want a hot hatch EV. Mustang Mach-E kinda is, but not quite right (and you'll get plenty of sneering comments from Mustang fans of yore). Hyundai has some stuff, but also not quite right. My wife has the Mini EV, and that's fun to drive, but its range is limited (and also FWD, which Mini will always do for historical reasons). VW apparently has a version of the Golf GTI coming out in a few years. So I'm sitting here waiting.
That's my biggest complaint as someone driving a 14 year old Honda Fit, I just want a barebones hot hatch EV without all the fancy computer stuff, a car that's a car and not trying to be a spaceship with bells and whistles. And I know a lot of people with EVs, we have free charging stations at my workplace, but I barely drive (once a week in office, errands, live in country and get everything delivered) so why would I spend over 60k in Canadian dollars for shittier version of what I already have. I could lease but that's another monthly bill, I'm only paying like $120/mo to keep my current car on the road and that includes gas and insurance, I can maintain my car myself with incredibly cheap scrap parts as well. Also any EV I could afford, I'd have to rent utility vans to do half my errands with or keep a second vehicle, and like you say with the Mini EV the range isn't quite there. I wired my shop/garage with service for an EV charger so I'm ready for it, I just can't justify it with the current offerings.
Here in Indiana, where it can get into the minuses for a month or more in the winter, it can be a huge fucking inconvenience.