I’m facing a really tough situation right now and I could use some input from others who may have gone through something similar.

Basically, my wife and I are considering purchasing or leasing an electric vehicle as our next car. We are having difficulty finding knowledgeable people to talk to. It seems that auto dealers are not really interested in talking about EV. They try to steer us away from such a vehicle and point us toward their hybrid or ICE vehicles, basically stating EVs are not perfected enough to satisfy the average person and further try to dissuade us because of the high upfront purchase price. When we do find salespersons willing to somewhat talk about EVs, they seem to focus mostly on the fact that they are great to use around town but not really suitable for over the road use due to the lack of charging stations. Additionally, we found that the few dealers that do sell EVs only have one or two in stock and are usually hesitant in offering a test drive for some reason.
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? How did you handle it? How did you end up? Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

  • NZgeek@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Honestly, the biggest learning curve with an EV is adjusting how you do longer drives.

    EV chargers aren’t as plentiful or as speedy as gas stations, so you need to take that into account when planning a longer journey. You need to think about where you’re going to stop and whether you have a backup plan if the chargers are all in use or not working. You also have to look at whether overnight charging is available away from home because that can help get you on your way a bit sooner.

    The faster you drive, the more energy you use. You may want to consider taking it a bit slower if there’s a big gap between charging stations. On a recent long drive, dropping my speed from 118 km/h to 115 km/h (about 2mph difference) was enough to give me about 20km (12mi) extra range on a full charge. It doesn’t sound like much but it does add up.

    The instant torque is amazing, but if you get a RWD vehicle, it can be a bit treacherous in the wet. I have to be careful accelerating when cornering at intersections, as I’ve had the tail slide loose on me a few times.

    That’s about it. Aside from this, an EV will drive just like a normal car. Except it’s better because there’s no engine noise, you can “fill the tank” at home, and the maintenance costs are a lot lower.