this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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[–] Jode@midwest.social 26 points 10 months ago (16 children)

They completely whiffed on the most important and obvious part. That whole article could be replaced by the words "THEY'RE TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE".

[–] ted 25 points 10 months ago (14 children)

The article doesn't whiff on this, it lays out why it's too expensive.

  1. The strategy was to replace gas cars with EV 1-to-1 to solve the climate crisis and save the car industry.
  2. Gas cars have gotten bigger over the years because of marketing, bravado, "safety", and regulation-skirting.
  3. EV-makers have largely bought into that and made all these huge EVs.
  4. Huge EVs require bigger batteries which are more expensive in raw materials and manufacturing.
  5. Huge batteries are heavy and dangerous.
  6. Range anxiety has encouraged even more oversized batteries on already oversized cars.
  7. Huge batteries are the main source of cost, meaning EVs end up being a luxury.

So, yes--they are too damn expensive, however a vehicle that meets our actual needs wouldn't be, if it existed in North America.

[–] dom@lemmy.ca 13 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Bolt ev just got a price drop to 20k. It's not a nice looking car, but would fit 99% of most peoples driving

[–] ted 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I love my bolt, but most other EVs are not its size. Only the i3 and the Mini come to mind.

[–] dom@lemmy.ca 5 points 10 months ago

Yeah, but I just mean in terms of a low cost option.

Most people don't need a big car for their around town driving. I have a kona ev and it's not much bigger.

Having said that, travelling as a family of 3+dog was tricky in the kona so we just upgraded my wife's ICE to an ioniq 5

[–] coffeetest 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There is also the Fiat 500e. Not many of the original ones I think in the US but a new one is coming.

We have the i3. While we love it and it is by far the best car we have ever had, it is smaller, the looks are polarizing and the range is limited. So even among those it would be a good fit for, there is resistance. It was absurdly expensive new but used are reasonable'ish. And I mean the range is fine for probably almost everyone but you know people are always like, "but what if I want to spontaneously drive across the country?!" as if they will ever do that.

[–] admiralteal@kbin.social 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Rental cars are still a thing. Plus they get regularly cleaned and you aren't responsible for their maintenance/depreciation.

If you live in a city -- and if you are getting municipal water/sewer, you definitely do -- there's a car rental place close enough that will doubtless be happy to do a same-day rental.

The car rental may be expensive, but you're comparing it to owning and maintaining that car year-round for those occasional trips. And if that car is anything bigger than a small suv, it doubtless costs more than the EV would've in real terms.

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