Is the electric vehicles better or worse?
In: Other
It really depends if you have at home charging and often you go significant miles from home. Most of us will save a decent amount of money on fuel costs driving electric, my savings are roughly 50% compared to gas. Without the ability to charge at home there is likely no fuel savings AND charging at public stations can be painful given the long charge times sporadic charger availability. I don’t have an issue finding a super charger for my Y on the 3 times a year I go more than 100 miles from home. If you’re routinely putting 200+ miles on your car per day you really need to see what charger availability is like in your area and think about if you want to deal with the longer fuel stops.
Drivingwise, the instant torque is IMMENSELY satisfying to drive. Remember Mazda’s old zoom zoom commercial? The “slow” Model Y(Long Range) has a faster 0-60mph than a new Police Interceptor Explorer. Anywhere you are, if you want to be going faster you just breathe on the accelerator and boom, your going faster. It’s also very quiet which makes driving and having a conversation very pleasant compared to gas vehicles. You do need to get used to the one pedal driving/regenerative braking. That’s a hard one for people for a couple weeks, with your foot off or barely on the accelerator your car uses its momentum to recharge the battery and slows down quickly. This is designed to replace 80-100% of your braking and so to coast you need to find the feather point on your accelerator pedal.
Maintenance-wise, it varies slightly by vehicle but its significantly reduced compared to non-EV’s. My Y has no scheduled maintenance. Period. You also barely use your brakes with the regenerative braking and so I’m hearing many people are getting 80-100k miles before changing brake pads. Tires and washer fluid are your maintenance. Obviously there can be issues, but after the drivetrain, which is very well warrantied, you’ve really only got suspension and steering to worry about with any regular frequency.
Cost wise, in most states, you still spend a small premium for EV’s but I think we’ve passed the point of cost parity when comparing to comparable non-EV’s. Cheaper fuel(charging at home), next to no or actually no maintenance, and a battery and drivetrain warranty that cover nearly a decade of use.
TL;DR: If you can charge at home and aren’t often more than ~100 miles from home(or you have a second vehicle to make long trips in), you really should be considering an EV for your next vehicle.
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