Re:Designing better batteries for electric vehicles
by gameswithgo on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @10:35AM
(#28221516)
You might be able to get a used Tesla by then. Shops are proliferating that can repair battery packs for way less than replacement which offsets a lot of the risk.
Re:Designing better batteries for electric vehicles
by sokoloff on Wednesday August 18, 2021 @10:40AM
(#28221593)
Tesla's got their service information and parts supply far too locked up for someone like me to ever own a used Tesla.
Could be a good option for people who prefer paying someone else to maintain their cars (which is most people, of course).
Those quickly add up the 99% of trips (as measured by getting into the car and going somewhere). Those 1% of trips really impact your overall satisfaction with the car, though. I don't remember all the times the car effortlessly and nearly silently took me to work, but I do remember when I couldn't go to visit a friend or play in a softball tournament because my wife needed to use the ICE car for something and the LEAF couldn't do the trip. Or where we had to carefully plan who was going to take which kid to which activity and who was going to take the dog to her chemo appointment and in which car. If you "plan it wrong" in an ICE or hybrid, you lose 10 minutes. If you "plan it wrong" in a BEV, you lose an hour minimum (and more in a LEAF; mine has been DC fast charged twice since new, once before delivery and only once have I found and used a CHAdeMO in the wild).
I liked the LEAF (as the person who maintains our cars, I absolutely treasure it), but I suspect my next car will not be a pure electric. Teslas are more money than I choose to spend on a car. (Taycan is way more.) I'll probably end up with a 10-year old ICE car that will do everything I need for 20% of the purchase price, 30% of the insurance, and 150% of the marginal cost per mile, which is fine as we drive each car only about 3-5K/yr.