To not get the hate thrown at EVs?

[EngineStart]

We have an EV. We didn’t get it for environmental reasons, we got it because I have access to an EV lease scheme via work and it was the most cost effective way for us to get a new car. I don’t think I’m morally superior for having one. It serves us well, is nice to drive, and cheaper (for us) than running a petrol car.

What I don’t get is the visceral hatred some people have for them. I understand they aren’t for everyone, there are definite logistical challenges with on-street parking and long journeys particularly. However, I expect range and logistics to improve as time goes on. I also get that some car fans might find them a bit sanitised. But I don’t really get why some people are so viciously against them?

AIBU?

For me I wouldn’t like one. I’m angry that potentially within a decade I may be forced into having one. The range is nowhere near enough for me, I tow a caravan fairly regularly. I don’t want to be stopping multiple times on a journey to charge them. It seems a ridiculous concept.

I have a friend who has one, it works for her most of the time but on the occasion she’s done a long journey she’s spoken about struggling for space at motorway service charging points.

im quite happy for other people to have them if they’re happy for them. But I don’t think the environmental benefits are as good as people think. Mining for the stuff for the batteries which won’t last as long as an engine. 🤷‍♀️. I’ve heard people saying that hydrogen will be the technology which works for cars so maybe EVs will be a flash in the pan concept.

Misinformation.

The break-even, co2 wise, on an EV is about 30k miles, and over the lifetime of the vehicle the benefit is huge. Search for reputable studies on this; there are many.

even 2015 Teslas have only lost about 10% of their battery life to today, and almost all of that in the first couple of years of their lives. Today’s EVs have much better chemistry and heat management in their batteries; the batteries are expected to outlive the chassis.

They are more expensive to buy, but you can charge them for literally pennies (at home) and they need almost no servicing. Lifetime cost is much lower than a fossil burner. Again, many reputable studies on this.

Charging infrastructure is already great, especially if you have a Tesla, and every time I do a long journey I see new banks of chargers at services.

i have a Tesla Y, and I routinely drive it from London to Northumberland. I’ve driven it to France on hols several times. I’ve never had an issue, and actually charging while I pop to the loo and grab a drink is better, because then I don’t have to stop again for petrol on the way out of the services.

They are, in almost all ways, superior. They are also a major part of the transition away from carbon. Misinformation is damaging.

I missed those news articles about the EVs going up in flames. Could you send the links please? I’m curious because my understanding from my bit of research is they are less likely to catch fire.

Agree with this, everything we need is close by and DH walks or cycles to work (2.5km), so little EV is the go to option. But for family trips and longer journeys we still use our petrol car.

last year we booked a car back home from Wuhan airport, about 300km the guy came in an EV and said that the range was no problem. Well we had to go up and down some hills and I was watching the charge indicator going down a lot faster than the distance remaining. We had to stop for an hour and recharge; not what you want after a 7 hour flight with a 4yo

Driven mine from Yorkshire to the alps three times. It was easy and fun. No range anxiety at all, just fast smooth spacecraft-like driving.

I personally don't like them, not because there's anything wrong with others choosing them though. My objections are 1. Range is appalling, even a top of the range Tesla needs recharging going on a typical journey we take annually, and most would need charging at least twice. 2. Charging costs are expensive if you don't have access to home/work charging, friends moan constantly how unfair it is for them to have to pay for electricity (why not?) 3. Yes people bragging/acting superior due to their electric vehicles gets me a bit annoyed, just like vegans you barely know telling you eg man you met at a bus stop and 4. Most of all the tech isn't as green as they make out, lithium has serious issues and I don't think governments should be incentivising aka spending my taxes on, these vehicles and only the wealthy by new cars anyway.

Ok my gripes over, but as I say these are why I won't be buying one at the moment, my choice not others.

I don't hate EVs, but I agree with these concerns.

Also, the cost of replacement batteries is apparently causing these cars to be written off by insurance - I couldn't afford to take the risk.

I have also never had to queue to charge my EV. Especially if you do the same journey regularly you find your favourite charging point which fits your journey well. There are many located at supermarkets or coffee shops/ fast food outlets so you can do something useful while stopping to recharge.

I agree it takes a different type of journey planning to what we are used to but there are plenty of apps that can be used to do this.

EV & other manufaccturers are doing a lot of research into the optimum method of recycling electric car batteries. For example reuse for domestic energy storage and extraction of the minerals/ chemicals in them for reuse.

In 2023 39% of grid energy came from renewables and many people I know who own EVs are able to recharge their EV fully or partially from their home solar panels.

I just want to point out that the tax payer massively subsidises the oil industry.

Also see other posts about the actual research on carbon footprint. Even taking into account lithium, they are more environmentally friendly. No car at all is the best for the planet though of course.

I read that EVs are a reason car insurance is rocketing for everyone. That in an accident an EV is likely to be written off due to the cost of repairs. So everyone is paying the premium for this not just EV owners because there’s a risk in your diesel car that you hit an EV.

I agree
I have one, DH wanted it and I leased one to shut him up and prove I was right. Unfortunately I fell in love with it and ended up buying one instead.
I know they are not for everyone and thats fine but they do seem to polarise opinion. I would never call someone names or laugh at them getting into accidents or having their cars damaged etc purely becasue their car is petrol/diesel but I see a lot of things on SM taking great delight in that sort of thing happening to EV's. Quite a lot of people we know feel the need to tell us how our car isnt as "green" as we think (not why I bought it), how it wont be worth much in 5 years (I dont care) and how it will probably blow up (unlikely).
For some reason driving and EV really does seem to trigger people who don't

@BasilBanana

This is where I disagree, it's 510 miles to Aberdeen from my house, why would I want to stop for an extended time to charge my battery, petrol takes literally 2 minutes to pump (I can get 450 miles on a tank anyway so we buy fuel at Perth normally) then we eat a sandwich and drink, loo then then off we go. Perhaps we are unusual in how far we go in a day. On the motorbike we stop twice for fuel I admit.

Some people do seem to be unduly emotive about cars and driving in general, I've never understood why. I think the EV hate is partly because a small minority are indeed a bit superior about driving one, and partly because it's a different way of driving in terms of planning and charging that seems to irk some people.

How far would I be able to tow a 1800kg caravan in an EV? Could they actually tow that weight? Maybe EVs will kill off the caravan industry 🤷‍♀️

It’s because of conspiracy theories about them being part of an agenda to price ‘’normal’’ people off the roads because they cost so much and lose their value so quickly, and they’re very inconvenient for long distance travel due to lack of charging points and time it takes to reach full charge.

The batteries also cost so much to replace, and government ministers are still driving petrol and diesel cars, so I do get the disdain for them, although I don’t tend to buy into such theories. Hopefully, infrastructure should improve as time goes
on, as you say.

If you read the full thread, lots of these concerns don’t stand up to scrutiny. I’m not trying to suggest you should get an EV but there is a lot of misinformation out there.

More misinformation.

The US and Finland have both published figures showing that EVs are 20 to 60 times less likely than a petrol vehicle to catch fire.

Lifetime cost of an EV is much, much lower . Yes, the up front cost is difficult at the moment, but new cars are getting cheaper all the time. The Golf id.2 is pegged at 25k euros. Expensive, but comparable to new fossil fuel vehicles.

This is something I looked into into and towing a caravan would bring down your driving range considerably and it would be too hard to charge. So if you need to tow a caravan it’s not yet possible to do this using an EV without a lot of hassle (lots of charges and having to unhook at each charge point.

Insurance costs. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/30/the-quotes-were-5000-or-more-electric-vehicle-owners-face-soaring-insurance-costs

Yeah I tow on my own so no way could I be unhooking and hooking up multiple times. And yes I suspect that charging bays won’t (yet) accommodate a caravan.

I actually love the idea of an EV but practically speaking, I wouldn't be able to commit. I don't have off-road parking and it's rare that I can park outside my house. There are two public chargers in the town I live in and they're regular out of order.

If I had a house with driveway and a guaranteed way to charge my car whenever I needed to, it would be very different.

I don't like them when they silently come up behind me when I'm out riding my horse, it's quite unnerving when a car appears and makes us both jump!

I never mention mine unless it comes up in conversation. My DSis tries to start arguments about it because she is down an algorithmic rabbit hole that’s made her think they are somehow evil 🤷‍♀️

I have to do a 400 mile trip to see my parents and it's a case of stopping for 20 minutes for lunch, charging the car, and starting off again. It honestly makes no difference to when I drove it in a petrol car.

But I'd agree that infrastructure does need to improve and I'm lucky that a) we have a charge point at home and b) it's a Tesla so more charging points, supercharging available etc. In our previous EV things weren't nearly so easy.

Anyway as it stands with the infrastructure I'd rather keep the no of EVs down, so yeah they are shit and don't get one!

This is one reason I’m not a fan.
I have considered getting one but prefer a smaller non suv car.

The Nissan leaf ev also put me off as the app was no longer supported for heating.
Things like Tesla glove box can only be opened through the car. I just like things simple! Some of it feels like tech toys for the sake of it.

And I’d read that ev can trigger motion sickness in some people.