I’ve been debating if I should get R1S or the new Bronco and repairability will be a factor for my purchase. I’m pretty sure many of you have seen the $47,000 fender repair bill story but I as far as I can tell that is an extreme case. Not to mention anecdotal. However, Rivian is still a relatively new startup and (from what I can see) doesn’t have the network nor the infrastructure to provide for repairs be it certified service shops or DIY repair. EVs in general are not as ‘open source’ as traditional ICE cars (yet).If I’m wrong about this, please do correct me. The Bronco, on the other hand, is based on the current Ford Ranger and (again, from I what can see) seems to be repairable and already has a steady aftermarket. What are your thoughts and experiences?
Pretty anecdotal, but I think most EVs are going to be a lot less repairable, or rather, the average repair is going to cost a lot more.
The flipside is that, if you don’t have any major malfunctions, and don’t crash into anything, the regular maintenance of EVs is almost non-existent compared to fossil fuel vehicles. No sparkplugs, no oil changes, no loose belts, no replacing transmissions or catalytic converters or alternators or anything of the sort. Putting air in the tires and wiper fluid are the only regular upkeep needed. So you may factor in the expense as potentially higher one time costs of repairs against much lower routine maintenance costs. And the savings not buying fossil fuel every other week. And the difficult to quantify benefit of contributing much less greenhouse gas to the atmosphere with your transportation choice.
