Am I going crazy of has the amount of anti-EV “articles” started to skyrocket. Just today, I’ve seen a “Why I’m not buying an EV” concern article, some accusing Biden of killing EVs, “The true costs of buying an EV,” and my favorite: “Study: The True Cost of Charging an EV: $17/gallon.” (That study was funded by Exxon Mobil, lol).
What’s going on? Why is all the EV hate in the media ramping up?
I did just realize how bad the high interest rates are for many kinds of environmental progress. When interest rates were half what they are now, a higher SEER heat pump made a ton of sense financially, you’d come out ahead immediately. Now, the math just doesn’t work to justify it financially. To spend an extra $2000 on it, I’d need to save $20 every month to break even on the interest alone, and that’s not happening from a few SEER points and a 15 year life span.
EVs are the same deal. They cost more up front but less ongoing - but the interest rates really reduce the ROI. Yeah Lightnings and Bolts still have the lowest TCO of vehicles in their class, but a lot of EVs just don’t quite beat ICE equivalents at 8% interest as they would at 4% interest.
If you are getting a car with a loan, then there is almost no difference. Particularly now that a m3 is cheaper than a Camry and a my is cheaper than a rav4.
I’m just saying the EV paradigm in general is more upfront cost, with long term fuel and maintenance savings. But high interest rates make upfront costs a bigger part of the equation than if interest rates were lower.
This post compared a ton of EVs with non-EV equivalents. There’s still a lot of red in there, and an extra $10k is one thing, but when that $10k costs an extra $1k a year in interest, that wipes out a big more of the cost savings. If interest rates were really low again, people would be more likely to get EVs with 8 year loans and experience immediate cost savings.
Thanks for the link. Very cool!
I was really surprised at how many were less that the ice version before the rebates. BMW and Porsche were within 4% across the lineup, with many costing less.
Also some have come down in price. The id4 pro and pro s are listed as $4k over the current price and don’t include the rebate. Depending what state you’re in they might cost less and they were among the worst price difference offenders.
Also some are a roughly comparable vehicles, but also not. The ioniq 5 was pared with the Tucson, which is a good fit for size. But, one has smooth acceleration and a 0-60 of 4.4s and the other is clunky ice and 8-13 seconds to 60!
Have you driven both? Other than acceleration, they drive shockingly similarly.
I haven’t driven either. Though now that I drive an ev, all shift points bother me and clunky ones really bother me.
Just the shifting and crazy difference in acceleration would make the ev worth the price premium for me.