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What are the pros and cons of owning an EV (electric vehicle)?

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Hybrids beat EVs hands down! The EV has a distance problem and recharging problem along with limited infrastructure to support recharge. Battery replacement is nearly half the cost of the vehicle and batteries at this stage are only forecast to last 10 years so there will be a lot of problems with recycling etc.

maybe in another 10 years if they get longer life and better mileage from batteries.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There will be a big problem with the a certain big demographics of those who have and will be in the position to buy a new EV nor a used EV because there won't be a market for them. No doubt battery replace would the first expense to over come. My Giant E-Bike is replacement $1500 USD today. Also the end user will bears the cost of disposal after replacement battery and making roadworthy and road tax This would out of the reach of the minimum wage earner. This demographic will be force to use public transport. So you are also looking at if you building a public transport system to accommodate.

rRecharge with green energy, yes. Recharge with coal energy, I don't know, I have a E-Bike assist MTB Giant, you still use the peddle. Great fun, use it daily. What worries me is people who have and will never be able to by a new car. This demographic have relied on used cars. Used EV will need battery placement. which is total new cost on top off replacing for roadworthy etc. You will have to give the EV away once battery life ended. Or they could just became completely worthless because it will cost the owner to the disposal costs. It could cost at be less 100,000 yen and upwards I know tire are costly in Japan. Car companies will end up make other components that lasted longer to a sti

0 ( +0 / -0 )

My Dad bought an electric car about a year ago, mainly as a novelty because it'll likely be the last car he buys before he's too old to drive.

Some pros: 

Cheap rego (depends where you live)

Brisk acceleration

Bragging rights

Depending on what make you buy (Benz, in Dad's case), free charging for 2 years at public charging stations

Quiet, so you can sneak up on pedestrians

Green halo

Some cons:

Limited public charging stations, and they can be slow so there are increasing queues as EVs become more popular. Hope you like waiting.

Home charging can be slow unless you have a 3-phase line

Limited range, and you can't just hitch a ride to the nearest service station to buy a can of fuel or an armload of batteries to get going again when the charge runs out.

Expensive replacement batteries

In some markets, living with the knowledge that you're basically a tax thief (sorry Dad!) for having taxpayers subsidise your EV purchase*

*This doesn't seem to bother some people

100% agreed. That’s why I would never buy one, I can afford the EV but why? Based on all the problems mentioned, I’ll wait, when the prices come down and 10-20 years later I’ll take another look.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I've got a friend here who loves his. It costs him about $3 to "fill up" at his home. He used to spend $17/day just to get to work and back. And his car is so fast its stupid. It's a nice ride too. Makes me consider replacing our Prius with an electric car.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Pros: You can act smug.

Cons: You pollute more in the vehicle production, operation, and eventual disposal. You have a short range. Charging is slow. You’re at risk of spontaneous battery fires. Your car can be remotely controlled (a problem with some newer ICE vehicles, too). Normal people around you will start to shun you for how smug you act.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

My Dad bought an electric car about a year ago, mainly as a novelty because it'll likely be the last car he buys before he's too old to drive.

Some pros:

Cheap rego (depends where you live)

Brisk acceleration

Bragging rights

Depending on what make you buy (Benz, in Dad's case), free charging for 2 years at public charging stations

Quiet, so you can sneak up on pedestrians

Green halo

Some cons:

Limited public charging stations, and they can be slow so there are increasing queues as EVs become more popular. Hope you like waiting.

Home charging can be slow unless you have a 3-phase line

Limited range, and you can't just hitch a ride to the nearest service station to buy a can of fuel or an armload of batteries to get going again when the charge runs out.

Expensive replacement batteries

In some markets, living with the knowledge that you're basically a tax thief (sorry Dad!) for having taxpayers subsidise your EV purchase*

*This doesn't seem to bother some people

2 ( +6 / -4 )

few reasons why to not buy ev yet.

productions of ev cars is not green.

electricity used for ev is not green 100%.

battery when aged will be biig enviromental problem/recycling problems ,storage etc/

technology progress fast so 5 or 7 yo ev will be morally old already/as same as iphones/

purchase prices very high compare to petrol of diesel powered cars

pricey repairs can be done just by authorized dealers

problems with overheating of system when ev can catch a fire very easy

2 ( +4 / -2 )

IMO, electric vehicles have not yet evolved to the point of being a practical replacement for internal combustion engine vehicles. That said, if E-Vics continue to evolve, maybe in 10 years they will surpass ICE vehicles and become the majority.

Either way, now is not the time to buy a brand new E-Vic or gas powered car, as both will be worthless and un-resellabe in 10 years.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

You can buy a decent used ICE vehicle for under £500. The cheapest used, working Tesla on ebay UK is over £27,000.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

a top speed of 40km/h

Presumably Toshihiro is in North America and not Japan, because that would be illegal as a bicycle in Japan. Over 25kph and its a motorcycle and you need a number plate.

It comes down to usage, but 25kph can be high enough/too high or too low.

For bikes carrying young children illegally ridden on the pavement and weaving between pedestrians, a typical e-bike situation in Japan, 25kph is already unsafe.

On a road bike-style bike ridden on the road by someone paying attention and following the rules of the road (unlike a Uber Eats person you may have seen), it is too low. Its very easy to exceed 25 kph on the flat on a road bike by pedalling, which limits the value of electrification to hilly places only. If road e bikes could go 40kph, I think they could replace two stroke scooters (gentsuki) in the city. They would be really good for commuting. You could go fast enough for a quick commute without sweating so much that you'd need a shower on arrival.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Why bother list them here when you can do a Google search?

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

If you can consider electric bikes and those foldable e-scooters as electric vehicles, then here's my two cents on it. They are efficient, but for short distances and in urban settings. A neighbor of mine has an electric bike that can be fully charged from 0% in 5 hours and will give it about 100km in range and have a top speed of 40km/h. Another is the lack of need to "warm up" the engine since once that switch is on, you're ready to go. It certainly beats their gas-powered counterparts in terms of lightness and cost of operation since petroleum prices have been on the rise. Another good thing that I greatly praise these e-vehicles are their silence on the road. You could pass through a neighborhood at full speed without waking anybody up. The cons I could think of are the time-consuming charging times, the inability to fix transmission issues by oneself, and its short range. Until the day comes where charging stations are about as common as gas stations, and electric motor and battery life can be at par with their gas counterparts for the same price, electric vehicles will still be catching up.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

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