The Real Costs of Electric Car Ownership - CNET

[Alamo]

Every bit of weight counts against EV range just like it does against ICE fuel mileage, and so does the space it occupies. Other factors count may more, but weight is not trivial, especially since EVs are already heavier than their ICE counterparts because of the batteries. Space also drives overall volume of the vehicle, which directly impacts the shape and wind resistance, so eliminating the space occupied by the spare lets them use it for other things and contributes to range as well as cost targets.

Manufacturers try to squeak every bit of range that they can, especially since EVs are still notorious for not matching ICE vehicles in the range department.

 

[indyblue]

Or maybe just maintain the car, drive carefully and attentively to not get flats. No high performance car has a spare tire. Heck, the tire on a Corvette would fill your dads back in the day Caddy trunk They are so big…

Stock tires on Corvettes are run-flats. Probably the same on most sport cars now.

I have regular tires on mine because the run flats suck and are very noisy.

 

[Ingomike]

Stock tires on Corvettes are run-flats. Probably the same on most sport cars now.

I have regular tires on mine because the run flats suck and are very noisy.

Ditto, no run flats please.

I carry the fix-a-flat pump for emergency as KLB said…

 

[indyblue]

Ditto, no run flats please.

I carry the fix-a-flat pump for emergency as KLB said…

But fix a flat comes with its own set of problems. Some shops will refuse to work on wheels and tires that have been exposed to it since it’s so difficult to clean up.

 

[firecadet613]

I keep a patch kit in my garage and drive way more than most (25k+ miles a year on my company car).

Tires recently have sucked. In 27k miles on my 2023, I've had a nail and most recently a rock cause a flat caused low tire pressure. Both times I've been able to use a gas station air pump to air them up enough to get home and to my kit. In 22+ years of driving, I've never had to mount a spare.

May need to start carrying the kit and a small air pump though...

 

[Ingomike]

I keep a patch kit in my garage and drive way more than most (25k+ miles a year on my company car).

Tires recently have sucked. In 27k miles on my 2023, I've had a nail and most recently a rock cause a flat. Both times I've been able to use a gas station air pump to air them up enough to get home and to my kit....

May need to start carrying the kit and a small air pump though...

Spend the bucks and get a good pump if you do. I found a 12v pump that will 100psi but it was $100 twenty years ago.

 

[Ingomike]

Spend the bucks and get a good pump if you do. I found a 12v pump that will 100psi but it was $100 twenty years ago.

This is off the charts great looking.

Sherpa Air Compressor (BOX-AIR)

Sherpa BOX AIR, 12 Volt SUV and Truck Air Compressors. Portable and Oil Free. Toughest 4x4 Equipment. Massive air flows. Pump up tires or use as an on board air compressor. Comes as a complete, boxed kit. Fast Shipping to the US.

sherpa4x4.com

This is practical.

12V Heavy Duty Air Compressor Tire Inflator

This powerful 12v air compressor is designed to handle a variety of heavy duty loads- can fill an average tire in 2-3 minutes at 35 Liter/Min. flow rate. It has a high quality brass nozzle tip with...

www.safety-devices.com

 

[indyblue]

I keep a patch kit in my garage and drive way more than most (25k+ miles a year on my company car).

Tires recently have sucked. In 27k miles on my 2023, I've had a nail and most recently a rock cause a flat. Both times I've been able to use a gas station air pump to air them up enough to get home and to my kit....

May need to start carrying the kit and a small air pump though...

At least with most modern cars, they are equipped with TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) that let you know you're losing air and you may have the opportunity to get somewhere safe to fix before pressure runs out. Of course you must pay attention to your dashboard, my S-I-L once asked me what this butt-crack symbol lit up meant.

Happened in my 'Vette with it's new tires this summer. I noticed it and drove straight to Discount Tire where they fixed me up from the drywall screw sticking in it.

 

[firecadet613]

At least with most modern cars, they are equipped with TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) that let you know you're losing air and you may have the opportunity to get somewhere safe to fix before pressure runs out. Of course you must pay attention to your dashboard, my S-I-L once asked me what this butt-crack symbol lit up meant. View attachment 318605

Happened in my 'Vette with it's new tires this summer. I noticed it and drove straight to Discount Tire where they fixed me up from the drywall screw sticking in it.

Yep, that's how I caught it. I realized my earlier post was misleading (it's not really a flat if you don't stop and put the spare on). Both times I was able to drive home.

To put it in perspective, I just hit 27,000 miles on the '23 I took delivery of in May...

I'm just thankful they've all been in the free car vs the truck with its 285/45-22s...

 

[KLB]

Ditto, no run flats please.

I carry the fix-a-flat pump for emergency as KLB said…

I feel dirty having Mike agree with me about something.

 

[JCSR]

I feel dirty having Mike agree with me about something.

 

[ajeandy]

Or maybe just maintain the car, drive carefully and attentively to not get flats. No high performance car has a spare tire. Heck, the tire on a Corvette would fill your dads back in the day Caddy trunk They are so big…

The only reason I have ever had a flat tire was from running over something that was not supposed to be in the road. The last flat tire I pulled a 4 - 5" smashed vape pen out of my tire. I could not believe it. It was like watching one of those bot-fly videos where they pull a fly larva out of someone's back who was in Africa and had a fly lay eggs in their skin.

 

[BeDome]

I've not gone the EV route and do not plan to until the tech actually arrives to support this "new idea."

My latest story with flat tires was a couple of weeks ago, first flat in many, many years for this family. I've used all major brands of tires in recent decades and people just do not get flats anymore, it seems.

My wife hit a coyote in early August, tore up the front of her Chrysler 300, some. After a two month wait for parts, it was time to surrender her car to the body shop and go rent a car to get her to and from work for a week or so, but NO, time dragged on at the body shop.

The rental agency did not have the advertised car we set up online, so they upgraded to a higher priced model at no upcharge. Fine, another Chrysler 300, but white instead of black.

OK, now third week in with the rental and the shop is taking forever.
At 3AM one morning I get a call (my wife works overnight at UPS, two more years and retirement with full pay ... whew!)
My wife has a flat and can not loosen the lugnuts. She's 60, farm raised, strong woman and has got this whole change a tire thing down, but has a hard time defeating the air powered tools they use to tighten the lugnuts.

She is thirty miles away and I just woke up, but I flew to her aid and we changed the tire.

No problem.
But we noticed that the tire was ruined with a hole in the sidewall, but due to our refusing the road hazard insurance at the rental desk, we are responsible for the tire repairs.
Usually not an issue, but keeping a rental car for three weeks is unusual as well.
Damn body shop, every few days a text stating, we are waiting on more parts to come from Canada.

We HAD TO BUY a P245/45R20 to keep the car going, out of our pocket.
I know, I should have just driven it with the fake spare and turned it in that way, but would any of you do that to your wives? Traveling forty five miles per day, one way, half on I465. Don't think so.

It was a piece of rebar from construction that got her rental car tire. How it hits the sidewall is a mystery.

Oh and we laid out $1600 for the month-long rental (thank God for decent insurance coverage) and the tire replacement (we paid $220 for that part of the episode) and our insurance check was over $5600 for the body shop ... for one damn coyote I could have taken out with a ten cent .22 round!

Electric vehicle would not have changed the overall direction of this horror.

 

[KMaC]

I hope this hasn't been posted already.
This is a comedy video of a fake car sales commercial, "If Electric Cars Were Honest", some bad language.

 

[gorge]

 

[ajeandy]

That seems like a bogus video. A new Tesla battery costs about 20k sometimes less. Every manufacturer will be different but Tesla battery & motor warranty is 8 years or 120k miles whichever comes first. Used to be 8 years unlimited miles. That warranty is better than any other gas car I've personally owned for comparison...

 

[indyblue]

That seems like a bogus video. A new Tesla battery costs about 20k sometimes less. Every manufacturer will be different but Tesla battery & motor warranty is 8 years or 120k miles whichever comes first. Used to be 8 years unlimited miles. That warranty is better than any other gas car I've personally owned for comparison...

It was mentioned that the damage to that car voided the warranty, so the consumer is on the hook for the whole replacement cost. That I think was the point of the video.

$60K CAD ~ $45KUSD at current exchange rate.
Tesla is known for some of the lowest cost batteries in the industry.

Below is the estimated price back in 2022 not including installation/labor.

Hyundai deployed a single integrated pack strategy for the Ioniq EV, meaning the whole pack has to be replaced if there is a fault. The cost is $17,845, almost as much as the car itself.

45K does seen a bit high, but consider dealer markup and being in Canada and who knows.

EDIT: found this

 

[ajeandy]

It was mentioned that the damage to that car voided the warranty, so the consumer is on the hook for the whole replacement cost. That I think was the point of the video.

$60K CAD ~ $45KUSD at current exchange rate.
Tesla is known for some of the lowest cost batteries in the industry.

Below is the estimated price back in 2022 not including installation/labor.

45K does seen a bit high, but consider dealer markup and being in Canada and who knows.

EDIT: found this
View attachment 318956

It's just extremely misleading, especially for people who already have no experience with EVs and it just leads to fear mongering / spreading a false narrative. The facts are that buying a new EV vs buying a new gas car are not that different when it comes to warranty and in some cases the EVs do have better core warranties when buying new. I think Kia / Hyundai have a 10 year engine warranty but I don't know anyone who's had to try and get that honored. I could be wrong on that. I know GM / Ford do not have 8 year powertrain warranties on their gas cars.

I have seen some stories of people buying an older EV, say 8 years old, out of warranty and eventually having a battery failure. It's not common but I've seen a couple posts on reddit. I personally wouldn't want to buy one out of the 8 year warranty. I am pretty sure you can get a used Chevy Bolt EV for around 12-14k AND get a 4k Federal Tax Rebate on your tax return making it a 8-10k vehicle which is a great price for a lightly used EV. The bolt is no thrills but it was a good enough commuter vehicle with plenty of space in the back for cargo.

 

[Ingomike]

Biden Finally Built an EV Charging Station but There's One Little Problem...

pjmedia.com

 

[oze]

That seems like a bogus video. A new Tesla battery costs about 20k sometimes less. Every manufacturer will be different but Tesla battery & motor warranty is 8 years or 120k miles whichever comes first. Used to be 8 years unlimited miles. That warranty is better than any other gas car I've personally owned for comparison...

I've watched their videos for 6 months or so, when I started shopping for a new car. They always seemed fair in their reviews, and if anything, leaning towards a positive bias towards EVs. I watched this video, and what they have presented seems well-documented. What I can't get past is the dealer's determination that the battery is a total loss, based on what to my lay person's eyes, looks like minor scratches on the battery's protective cover. Which, by the way, voided the warranty.