How much does it cost to replace an internal combustion engine?
Without doing the math I suspect he spent more on replacing the batteries then gasoline would have cost him (and not counting the time to fill - perhaps 15 to 20 minutes compared to the time to recharge the batteries twice a day.)
So much for the savings.
Reminds me of the case of one of the hybrid models, where the computer essentially shut off the batteries due to the batteries getting dangerous to operate (I think, or maybe the batteries just crapped out, not sure) and thus forced the vehicles to operate as gasoline-only types - which the owners didn’t appreciate.
The econazis are clever, and climate change fear is pervasive.
My progressive son just informed me the other day that even though EVs are inefficient, and as heavy as a ice car and a half, that there is hope!
Battery makers are developing new improved batteries that are lighter, more energy dense, and charge faster.
Yeah, right.
The bad news about Tesla was buried: they replaced his battery, but with one that has only a one-year warranty? Not OK.
Well, to be fair...my gas-guzzling F150 dies after approx 550 miles.
But then, I refill the gas tank.
“The savings added up to $10,000 since he bought it, which is impressive.”
$10,000 - impressive savings
-$9,000 - new battery cost
- - - - - -
$1,000 - not such impressive savings
I would also like to know how much he spent on the electricity (probably coal plant generated), both on the road AND at home overnight.
I had forgotten that rechargeable batteries have a limited number of recharges.
1) EV's aren't for everyone. There are some use cases where EV's are good, but not everyone. Do your research before getting one (or for that matter before dissing the idea of getting one).
2) Don't get an EV if most of your charging will be DC fast charging (i.e. this Uber driver, or if you live in an apartment or some other situation where you can't do most of your charging at home with a Level 2 charger).
3) Tesla = expensive. Expecting repairs to be cheap with a Tesla would be like a Porsche owner fussing about repair costs.
4) Don't get an EV unless you need two cars anyway (i.e. married) so that you have an ICE car for the trips/situations that an EV is bad in. (In my case that means pickup chores -- thus the EV is our car not our pickup. Plus I'm sure the day will come when we go on a trip in a direction that has few charging options and use the ICE pickup.)
5) Don't get an EV unless you plan to drive it at least 12K miles per year so that the gas and oil change savings are enough to offset new costs the EV brings. If someone like Trump gets back into the WH and our gas prices go down to year 2019 levels, make it about 15K miles per year. (My wife and I drove our 28K miles in the past 12 months.)
6) Before getting an EV research your regular road trips to make sure most of the road trips you go on have good charging options. Assuming the EV will be your new car and, therefore, the car with the most comfortable drive for road trips, make sure it'll be good for most of your road trips. I.e. my wife and I do a lot of trips from Alabama to east Texas and weekend trips around the southeast and every now and then road trip to the northeast -- all have good charging options perhaps because that part of the country is somewhat densely populated.
7) Think twice before getting an EV if you live in a cold weather state. Ostensibly they've improved the EV tech to do "preconditioning" to warm the batteries before leaving the house and before charging at roadside chargers to make them handle cold weather better. I haven't seen the real world specs for that to see if it's a facade or if it's for real (or if it's for real but it drains the battery heavily and makes the overall throughput less efficient).
I can’t say I know about the batteries being used in Tesla’s, but UPS batteries can only be charged so many times after being drained before going bad. I’m sure supercharging them reduces the life time significantly.
Average MPG: 12 city and 21 highway.....
Well, well. It looks like EV’s aren’t “making the cut!”
Buying a used EV is a crap shoot and could cost more to replace the failed battery than the vehicle is worth. A friend has a 10+ year old Prius that is on its third battery. The first replacement was done by her husband using a battery purchased from E-bay cost $4k not including her husband’s labor. The second replacement by a Toyota dealer ran $7k. With good maintenance an IC vehicle can often run 200,000 miles and not need an engine replacement.
The same is true for rechargeable cell phones. With constant use and heavy recharging, the batteries don't last nearly that long. The dendrites start forming and short circuiting the cells. Just the same as in an EV.
And, if you think about it, internal combustion engines have the same problem only that it is due to friction and tolerances. If you use your car heavily as in Uber with multiple drivers 24x7, the engine will wear out in less time than you think even with good maintenance. And rather than just replacing a battery, it is better to replace it with a refurbished engine (still less cost than an EV battery).
I'd say EVs are not good under heavy use. We need more robust batteries before they would be just as good.
So in 2019 he spent 53k on an ev and over this usage saved 10k, which I presume is the difference between gas and charging fees.
I think it would’ve been easy to find a good car for less than 43k in 2019.