4k miles per year isn't really anything, no point in getting anything more than the bare minimum.

According to most studies EVs are more eco-friendly after around 50-100k miles depending on each individual country's energy production profile.

At 4k miles per year you'd need to drive a brand new EV for over 12 years to break even CO2 wise.

> I’m OK without the latest driver aids at that low level of risk.

Driver aid, ok. But passive safety?

I have a 10 year old vehicle. The current model has the basic advanced safety features (auto-braking, adaptive cruise control). But, no, I wouldn't get a new vehicle just to get those features. And this is coming from someone who does generally buy new cars.

I expect I’d get more passive safety improvement from buying a 5000# 2011 car/SUV than a 3500# 2021 car/SUV, but if I move my risk from once every 22K (or even 20K) years to once every 25K or 30K years, it’s not clear that’s meaningfully different.

I’d probably be much better off to take less stress at work over car payments and/or lose 5 pounds on an all-risks basis.

If you look at some people dedicated to testing EV’s - Tesla’s phantom braking has become huge driving factor away from their cars.