A lot of people think that you can just buy an EV and call it a day. They think they can get all those perceived benefits (cheaper than gas, etc) since day one. The reality is that, you gotta adjust to the charging lifestyle and its changes to your schedule. Not everyone has the luxury of having a dedicated 240v charger in their own garage. Then you have to worry about not charging around peak rates because that shit will cost you almost the same per mile as gas.
You are going from 5 minute fillups to hours. Even if you go the DC fast chargers, you will have to wait 30 mins or so. Those aint cheap either. More on that later.
You have to have you own home to even do that tho, - so stop being poor! Also you better sign up for one of those time of use plans where you have suffer thru the heat during the day sweeting your balls off cause they will rape you with extra peak rates if you dare to turn on the AC. You almost have to live like in the dark ages during the day just so you can charge your car at night for a decent rate.
A lot of people rent or live in multi family condos, even in newer ones you have a only few dedicated charging spots, with the added stress and drama of people camping the chargers for hours and hours even when done charging. Are you going to check if someone unplugged their car when they were done charging at 3:00 AM. Would you remember or have the courtesy to unplug your car and move it at 3:00AM? Fuck no.
Also Installing a charger aint cheap, unless you DIY it.
Public charging infrastructure is a joke. I guess you could use a regular 120v outlet, but that only charges at a rate of 3 miles per hour vs a 30 miles per hour with a 240V - it also less efficient.
So you end up buying a Tesla then have to dedicate a couple hours per week to sit in your car to charge at the supercharger. Sure you could go to the store, go to grab a coffee, or even dinner - but those xtra expenses add up. Taking any roadtrip sucks balls, having to stop every couple hours to charge. All that xtra time adds up. A 10 hr drive becomes a 15 hour one. I did that, never again. Autopilot sure is great, but I came live with dumb cruise control.
Not counting that using those Tesla superchargers is not that much cheaper than gas. Tesla fees just increased in CA. At $.58 - $.61 per kwh. At that rate, it cost to the same as a 40mpg ICE @ $6 per gallon. (The Model 3 averages 250-280 watts per mile, higher for heavier models. $.61 / 4 = $.15 per mile driven.
Unless you choose to sit in your car between 00:00 - 08:00 for the offpeak rate, in some dark corner of some mall and homeless hanging around.
There is one sweet spot: if your work wants to join the virtue signaling trend and offer free or reduced charging. Thats the stuff right there. EVs make for great commuter cars, but buying one just to save on gas when you already have a car is not a sound financial move, specially if such car is already paid off.
Tl;dr just buy an house with that EV to save on gas! Oh an add solar.
A lot of people think that you can just buy an EV and call it a day. They think they can get all those perceived benefits (cheaper than gas, etc) since day one. The reality is that, you gotta adjust to the charging lifestyle and its changes to your schedule. Not everyone has the luxury of having a dedicated 240v charger in their own garage. Then you have to worry about not charging around peak rates because that shit will cost you almost the same per mile as gas.
You are going from 5 minute fillups to hours. Even if you go the DC fast chargers, you will have to wait 30 mins or so. Those aint cheap either. More on that later.
You have to have you own home to even do that tho, - so stop being poor! Also you better sign up for one of those time of use plans where you have suffer thru the heat during the day sweeting your balls off cause they will rape you with extra peak rates if you dare to turn on the AC. You almost have to live like in the dark ages during the day just so you can charge your car at night for a decent rate.
A lot of people rent or live in multi family condos, even in newer ones you have a only few dedicated charging spots, with the added stress and drama of people camping the chargers for hours and hours even when done charging. Are you going to check if someone unplugged their car when they were done charging at 3:00 AM. Would you remember or have the courtesy to unplug your car and move it at 3:00AM? Fuck no. Also Installing a charger aint cheap, unless you DIY it.
Public charging infrastructure is a joke. I guess you could use a regular 120v outlet, but that only charges at a rate of 3 miles per hour vs a 30 miles per hour with a 240V - it also less efficient.
So you end up buying a Tesla then have to dedicate a couple hours per week to sit in your car to charge at the supercharger. Sure you could go to the store, go to grab a coffee, or even dinner - but those xtra expenses add up. Taking any roadtrip sucks balls, having to stop every couple hours to charge. All that xtra time adds up. A 10 hr drive becomes a 15 hour one. I did that, never again. Autopilot sure is great, but I came live with dumb cruise control.
Not counting that using those Tesla superchargers is not that much cheaper than gas. Tesla fees just increased in CA. At $.58 - $.61 per kwh. At that rate, it cost to the same as a 40mpg ICE @ $6 per gallon. (The Model 3 averages 250-280 watts per mile, higher for heavier models. $.61 / 4 = $.15 per mile driven.
Unless you choose to sit in your car between 00:00 - 08:00 for the offpeak rate, in some dark corner of some mall and homeless hanging around.
There is one sweet spot: if your work wants to join the virtue signaling trend and offer free or reduced charging. Thats the stuff right there. EVs make for great commuter cars, but buying one just to save on gas when you already have a car is not a sound financial move, specially if such car is already paid off.
Tl;dr just buy an house with that EV to save on gas! Oh an add solar.
I look forward to an increase in homes burning down