Would you be willing to share what the car has cost in total (maint, elec, insur, ect) over the years? Genuinely curious.

Not who you originally asked, but I bought one of the cheaper EVs earlier this year (Hyundai Kona, slightly more expensive than the Bolt but in a similar class). With fuel savings included, (which, for our use case was between $100-$130/month), it was hard to find an ICE vehicle that met our needs for cheaper when we were shopping. We did have to compromise slightly on size (it's smaller than we wanted) in a way that we wouldn't have had to with an ICE vehicle, but so far, it's absolutely been cheaper and easier than my previous ICE vehicles. As I said to some relatives not that long ago: even if I found out 100% conclusively that electric vehicles had exactly zero environmental benefit over ICE vehicles, I'm not sure I'd ever go back. I just like it more as a vehicle.

> We did have to compromise slightly on size

This is my main trouble with EVs available so far. If I want something that's not substantially smaller than what our current Ford Galaxy, and I want to still have the tow bar and roof box, there are very few EVs available and they cost $$$.

We're talking stuff like the Nio ES8 at $70k+, the Peugeot the or the Mercedes EQS at $105k+.

Or you can go down the van route and get a Peugeot e-Traveller ($65k) or Mercedes EQV ($85k) or something like this, you get even more space but your range is abysmal at 150 to 200 miles.

Meanwhile on the ICE side you can get the spacious Dacia Jogger for just $15k new! Then you have $40k+ left to spend on gas and maintenance...

I daily a 2015 LEAF, bought in Dec 2014.

It had a warranty battery repair (to replace a failing module, free of charge to me but a possible concern long-term).

As the guy who turns all the wrenches on the family cars, it’s been incredibly low maintenance. Wiper blades twice, cabin air filters three times, and I had to charge the 12V battery once in the peak of COVID shutdowns when the car sat for 8 weeks or so with a Bluetooth adapter plugged into the OBD2 port. It’s about due for tires all around.

It was $32K before $10K in government cheese, so $22K for a new car was pretty good, but, like any then-new car, it has been a lot more expensive than buying a 2011 Honda CR-V would have been.

Our electricity is expensive in MA, so energy costs about $0.06 per mile. That compares slightly favorably (about half) to a 35 mpg car buying $3.70/gal gas and doing periodic oil changes.

The newer model Leaf has CarPlay, and as you say, it’s a deciding factor in which car we take.