Is the Iran War Driving a Surge of Interest in Electric Cars? (time.com) 276
In October and through November, America's EV sales reached their lowest point since 2022 after government subsidies expired, remembers Time. "But first-quarter data for 2026 shows that used EV sales were 12% higher than the same time last year and 17% higher than the previous quarter.
"One factor likely helping push buyers toward these cars is high gas prices, which recently topped $4.00 a gallon for the first time in four years," they write — but it's not just in the U.S. Instead, they argue the U.S.-Iran conflict "is driving a global surge of interest in electric vehicles..." In the U.K., electric car sales reached a record high, with 86,120 vehicles sold in March... The French online used-car retailer Aramisauto reported its share of EV sales nearly doubled from February 16 to March 9, rising to 12.7% from 6.5%, while sales of fueled models dropped to 28% of sales from 34%, and sales of diesel models dropped to 10% from 14%. Germany's largest online car market, mobile.de, told Reuters that the share of EV searches on its website has tripled since the start of March — from 12% to 36%, with car dealers receiving 66% more enquiries for used EVs than in February.
South Korea reported that registrations for electric vehicles more than doubled in March compared to the prior year, due in part to rising fuel prices and government subsidies... In New Zealand, more than 1,000 EVs were registered in the week that ended on March 22, close to double the week before, making it the country's biggest week for electric vehicle registrations since the end of 2023, according to the country's Transport Minister, Chris Bishop.
In America, Bloomberg also reports 605 high-speed EV charging stations switched on in just the first three months of 2025, "a 34% increase over the year-earlier period," according to their analysis of federal data. A data platform focused on EV infrastructure tells Bloomberg that speedier and more reliable chargers are convincing more drivers to go electric and use public plugs.
"One factor likely helping push buyers toward these cars is high gas prices, which recently topped $4.00 a gallon for the first time in four years," they write — but it's not just in the U.S. Instead, they argue the U.S.-Iran conflict "is driving a global surge of interest in electric vehicles..." In the U.K., electric car sales reached a record high, with 86,120 vehicles sold in March... The French online used-car retailer Aramisauto reported its share of EV sales nearly doubled from February 16 to March 9, rising to 12.7% from 6.5%, while sales of fueled models dropped to 28% of sales from 34%, and sales of diesel models dropped to 10% from 14%. Germany's largest online car market, mobile.de, told Reuters that the share of EV searches on its website has tripled since the start of March — from 12% to 36%, with car dealers receiving 66% more enquiries for used EVs than in February.
South Korea reported that registrations for electric vehicles more than doubled in March compared to the prior year, due in part to rising fuel prices and government subsidies... In New Zealand, more than 1,000 EVs were registered in the week that ended on March 22, close to double the week before, making it the country's biggest week for electric vehicle registrations since the end of 2023, according to the country's Transport Minister, Chris Bishop.
In America, Bloomberg also reports 605 high-speed EV charging stations switched on in just the first three months of 2025, "a 34% increase over the year-earlier period," according to their analysis of federal data. A data platform focused on EV infrastructure tells Bloomberg that speedier and more reliable chargers are convincing more drivers to go electric and use public plugs.
Not sure, we've been all electric over 2 years (Score:5, Interesting)
There is zero chance I'd go back to an ICE car. The maintenance, reliability, and fuel costs are not even comparable. The math behind driving an ICE car today only makes sense if you need to tow large loads for significant distances. The caveat is that you need a place to charge them for it to be stress-free. We calculated not long ago that it would take $0.25/gallon gas to make an ICE car break even with what we're spending on EVs.
Re:Not sure, we've been all electric over 2 years (Score:4, Informative)
I've been driving a Model Y since 2019 and I also will never go back as well. The cost calculation for me does not seem to work out quite as well as what you are reporting, but it is an improvement over ICE, mostly over maintenance issues. Not ever having to go to the gas station is a big plus all by itself.
Even if there were no economic advantage I will still go the EV route. They are just better cars. Five years in it is hard to tell my car from a new one, they are so easy to drive, no vibration and never any hassle accelerating when it is convenient to do so.
That said, if you are looking at $5-10/gal of gas you have to be thinking about it. In some parts of Europe the cost is as much as twice that.
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First drive a Leaf back around 2012, and I wouldn't have gone back after that, even with the small battery. These days a long range, very well specced EV is around the same price as a fossil here, but of course much much cheaper to run and much much better to drive.
Re:Not sure, we've been all electric over 2 years (Score:5, Insightful)
The math behind driving an ICE car today only makes sense if you need to tow large loads for significant distances.
I would add to that "on a regular basis." For example, if you're towing a boat to/from that marina twice a year for launching/storage, then a EV still makes sense; rent a big pickup for those few times per year that you need the capacity. If there is a need for the capacity on a frequent, regular basis, then the math certainly changes.
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Re: Not sure, we've been all electric over 2 years (Score:4, Insightful)
I am not wealthy by any definition, rent a flat, have no garage and no second car, just my Hyundai Inster. And will rather use public transport than get a car that burns fuel.
Aren't you tired of whining about how electric cars are bad since they are impractical in some edge cases that don't even apply to you over and over and over again in every slashdot discussion about electric cars? Or are you being paid for doing this?
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But those use cases are few and far between. For most use cases, EVs beat ICEs. And for the few use cases ICEs indeed are advantageous, EVs don't completely suck either.
That last paragraph is likely unrelated (Score:4, Interesting)
This almost certainly has more to do with the recent closure of numerous court cases which were brought by various states against the Trump administration after Trump arbitrarily blocked the disbursement of allocated funds that Congress had previously approved for the purchase of those chargers. Unsuprisingly, Trump has lost just about all of those cases since his behavior is clearly unconstitutional.
I think that, despite the undeniable pain and suffering Trump has caused, we should thank our lucky stars that he's prioritized toady-ism over subject matter competence when filling roles during Trump 2. As bad as it's been, it could've been much worse. And it seems increasingly likely he's going to lose both the House AND the Senate this fall.
Personally speaking, yes. (Score:3)
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Are you in an apartment complex? If not, you can charge using an extension cord from a standard wall outlet. I do that from an outlet in the back of the house. You can even go though your window if need be. Just be sure to get a super heavy duty cord that can take it. Specifically I bought a $150, 50ft 10guage 15amp cord from McMaster.
I don't know where you live, but this winter it was really nice to be able to heat up the car while I was scrapping snow and not breathing in exhaust fumes while doing
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I don't know where you live
No, you don't. If it were as simple as an extension cord do you not think I would have thought of that?
I live in the UK on a post-war terrace*, which means no driveway. It also means that if I wanted to run an extension cord from my house to my car it would cross a public footpath, so there's no charging at home for me at all. Oh, and I work from home as well, so charging an EV would need to happen at the local supermarket (the 90p/60p option I mentioned in the other thread), in a small shopping park (the c
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Electricity is already throught the roof, thank (Score:2)
... you very much, and a new wave of notices about price increases are on the way, despite the European (and North American) summer being really easy on the providers with all the solar installed (and not that much A/C use in large parts of Europe).
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Electricity is already throught the roof, thank you very much
I did the maths last week, comparing my ten year old diesel vehicle with a Hyundai EV. If I had an EV I'd have to rely on public charging and there are two such locations near me. One costs 55 pence per kWh, the other 60p after 8pm and 90p before 8pm. Based on the stated efficiency figures and what I know about the mileage my ICE car gets I would need to pay about 88 pence per kWh to spend as much on charging as I do on diesel.
Domestic electricity costs vary, naturally, but the average unit cost in the UK i
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Yes, the maths look quite different in different countries.
Sure, and can even depend on your power company.
Here in Australia I get a super off peak rate of 8c/kWh 12am - 6am which on average is more than enough to top up the battery on my EV each day.
This works out to ~1c per km driven, about 1/10 of the cost of our last ICE.
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On an average day, your car is parked for 23 hours anyway.
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Re: Electricity is already throught the roof (Score:2)
You need to have solar to offset the cost. Of course, in California that's harder to do now that NEM2 has been discontinued. However non-export solar is an option. There needs to be enough sunny days to make this pencil out, so living in the desert might work, but living near the coastline probably would not unless you invest in a battery (which probably doesn't pencil out)
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A battery can only output power when it's charged, so your panels have to have lots of sun all the time... in the Frozen North US, you'd have to deice the things all the time or sweep snow off them. Tornado alley, you'll have to chase your panels a few counties over.
And, covering your house in solar panels only works if you own the property and house, or the landlord you lease from is fine with it. You'd still have the issue of cleaning them 20+ feet above you on your roof... you could have a built-in def
Watch out for taxation (Score:4, Informative)
1. California is experimenting with a mileage tax. The per mile rate, and whether your location remains private is yet to be determined. Watch out if this requires a device on the CAN bus. Also watch out if you have to take your electric car to a smog check station just to have its mileage recorded a few months before your registration is due. Whether this applies to electric and ICE vehicles at the same rate remains to be seen.
2. At the federal level there is talk about taxing electric vehicles and additional $250 per year, but given that the Republicans have a lot to lose at the midterms, it is doubtful that it would be included in the up and coming reconciliation bill restoring funding to the DHS. If the republicans win at the midterms and keep control of the House and the Senate, watch out.
Re: Watch out for taxation (Score:2)
Re: Watch out for taxation (Score:2)
And yet, whenever they raise taxes, they tell us to spend less.
Why donâ(TM)t they?
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They need a paycheck, which comes from taxes and the cash bill printing press.
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Except they're taxing at a much higher rate compared to the average gas tax, at least in America where the gas tax is generally very low. Politics.
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Some states are taxing EV's at a few hundred a year already, much more then if paying the gas tax. https://taxfoundation.org/data... [taxfoundation.org] look at the middle column. Somehow it has become political.
Probably not (Score:3)
While I have joked with EV owners about this it still isn't worth it. Owning an EV that costs any serious amount of money there is an added yearly $150+ EV registration fee and at least $1000 in added yearly insurance costs. Yearly fuel costs for my ICE POS assuming $4/gallon is lower than that even if the energy cost to run the EV were $0.
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Some states tax EV's others don't. Also the insurance number you mentioned really depends on the weight of the electric car. I have a rather light car, and it is only about $200.00 extra per year compared to my other hybrid car.
California is doing a trial on per-mile taxes which might replace the gas tax. So by the mid-2030's we could be taxed per mile instead of at the pump.
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Also the insurance number you mentioned really depends on the weight of the electric car. I have a rather light car, and it is only about $200.00 extra per year compared to my other hybrid car.
The $1000 extra I cited was a conservatively derived estimate of vehicle value. My POS is worthless and I don't have collision or comprehensive because that is pointless. If I were to purchase a vehicle that was worth something it would dramatically increase my insurance costs.
I have a rather light car, and it is only about $200.00 extra per year compared to my other hybrid car.
No idea what my added fee for vehicle weight would be. I presume an extra 500-1000lbs in curb weight. I didn't even think to include it in my estimate.
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Makes sense (Score:2)
Coal markets are local. So electricity generation is less affected by international conflicts.
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But, nobody wants those nasty, polluting power plants (that have enough coal fuel to last another hundred years)... they'd rather burn the still-polluting NatGas that can be used for cooking and heating (and, you can get furnaces with 95+ efficiency). If you switch all houses to only electric everything, that power has to come from something.
Nuclear power is better, fusion would be the best (if there was enough funding put towards it).
We want 100% renewables, so we will buy up every square inch of land to
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But, nobody wants those nasty, polluting power plants (that have enough coal fuel to last another hundred years)... they'd rather burn the still-polluting NatGas that can be used for cooking and heating (and, you can get furnaces with 95+ efficiency).
Lets save the natural gas for cooking, heating and some industrial uses that will be difficult to convert.
If you switch all houses to only electric everything, that power has to come from something.
We are going to need a lot more electric power. If oil becomes scarce, that's about the only other thing we can use for transportation. Cars, trucks and possibly electrifying freight rail.
But wait! There's AI. And then (here in the Pacific Northwest), we need to return the water to care for the fish. Because it's all our orcas will eat. Being too stupid to go after the sea lions that eat all the fish.
I'm not in the market yet. (Score:2)
I'm fortunate enough to have a a 2019 Honda Insight Hybrid with only 82k on it. Gets about 50mpg on average. I love it. With that said, I really hope the Slate truck does well. I could see buying that and being much happier then some of these luxury cars. My Insight is a touring edition and it's all the luxury I could ever really want.
If I absolutely had to buy a car today, I would still be looking for a hybrid option. Fortunately, Honda has quite a few hybrid options across it's line up and so does Toyota.
People have a very short memory (Score:2)
In the 1970s, we all thought the world was running out of oil, and people started buying tiny cars with better gas mileage. Well, for a few years. Then people forgot about the oil crisis and started going for bigger and bigger cars, to the point that most American car makers don't even make...cars...any more.
There might be a temporary surge, but then people will soon remember how comfortable their massive, luxury SUVs were, and they'll forget all about electric vehicles. Even electric SUVs induce range anxi
US $8 per Gallon (Score:3, Interesting)
To give some context to the price of petrol in New Zealand driving electric vehicle demand.
In April 2026 Kiwi's pay around NZD 3.60 per litre which is USD 2.09 per litre or (ensure you're seated) USD 7.92 a gallon. I'd love if we only paid USD4 a gallon (or a $1.80 a litre).
We keep 60 to 70% of our population (Score:3, Informative)
When you grow up poor you learn to take what you can get the moment you can get it because you know in advance something horrible is going to happen and wipe out any attempt at savings or long-term thinking you do.
This is extremely well documented behavior among poor children and it's one of the few social studies you can consistently reproduce.
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And yet I can present myself as anecdotal evidence to the contrary of what you just said. I grew up poor and it while it taught me a survival mindset, which isn't really all that necessary in modern society, it also taught me how to save money, live within my means and quickly figure out the actual difference between needs and wants.
A lot of poor people stay poor because they absolutely cannot decipher between the two and another subset stay poor because they are just really bad with money. Examples of bein
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For once, I agree.
A regular ICE vehicle (taken decent care of) will run until the car's frame falls off it... there are still ICE cars from the 50's out there that run perfect (no motor replacement... of course, disassembled and cleaned up)... locally, we have one of the Pandolfo cars that still runs.
I'd rather have an old $600 car that runs fine and can be maintained under the shade tree, than have a used BEV for $3k that can only be serviced at certain places, and nothing can be owner replaced.
And, while
Re:We keep 60 to 70% of our population (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, the EV has almost no mechanical parts that need constant maintenance. Just a huge battery and two/four electric motors. There is more complexity in the charging circuits than in the propulsion system.
Having an EV that you can recharge overnight from a standard 120v or 240v outlet to replace the 30 miles of a typical commute would be attractive to many drivers. No worrying about fluctuating gas prices, no worries about oil changes, fuel injectors, spark plugs, oxygen sensors, starter motors, radiator cooling, catalytic converters, emission controls -- all the things necessary to keep an ICE vehicle in running condition.
A shade tree mechanic that can replace a starter motor today can probably learn to replace a hub motor in time.
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Having an EV that you can recharge overnight from a standard 120v or 240v outlet to replace the 30 miles of a typical commute would be attractive to many drivers.
Your life situation != everyone's life situation
In the US, if you don't own a home with a driveway, it's very difficult to charge overnight. Dense urban housing and most apartments/condos residents don't have access to overnight charging.
DC "fast" charging exists, but it has limitations. It's electronic payment only. Most DC chargers are unmanned, so physically-limited drivers can't get assistance (like they can at gas pumps). "Fast" charging is bad for battery health. Cars without a garage need to be preco
Re: We keep 60 to 70% of our population (Score:3)
Except it's not just the drive motor or batteries, there's usually some sort of self driving system, a big screen, software for every part of the car. Not even going into power windows, retractable door handles ( now a big issue with older Tesla's) heating and cooling, where does it end?? If I was dead broke, I'd rather have a 92 Tercel with wind up windows, at least there's a good chance a regular Joe could fix most of that car on a weekend.
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:5, Informative)
Short sighted idiots and people trying to justify "I want a new car" that they clearly can't afford will "justify" it with fuel savings or lower operating costs. It almost never works out. Nothing to see here. The same thing happens literally every time fuel costs spike.
There's nothing in the summary that supports that holier-than-thou take.
That enquiries and sales of EVs have increased does not imply or require that people are buying cars when they weren't otherwise going to, and doesn't imply or require that they cannot afford those cars.
You are just painting these buyers as "short-sighted idiots" to make yourself feel superior but there's nothing presented to support that. What I'm saying is that there were already X people looking to buy new cars. There's nothing - nothing - here that says overall sales are greater than X, only that the number EV sales, searches, and enquiries are up.
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Short sighted idiots ... The same thing happens literally every time fuel costs spike.
in the current situation 3 developements are not only possible but becoming increasingly likely:
- fuel shortages (not merely a price spike)
- inflation going through the roof
- combined with a recession if not depression, which also means high interest rates
so considering an electric vehicle if you currently drive a a combustion vehicle is not at all uncalled for, specially if you were considering a photovoltaic installation aswell. it means you might remain functional during these developments, and you might
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This is the third major energy shock in the last six years. The first was from COVID, the second when Russia invaded Ukraine, and now the third from the US attacking Iran. You could dismiss any one of them as an isolated event, but when they keep happening it starts to look like a pattern. When prices have surged three times in six years, each from a different cause, it suggests the whole system is more brittle than we like to think and there will be more shocks in the future.
Don't need to be idiots (Score:2)
Consider that there are going to be people who less "want" a new car than "need" a new car, due to things like accidents, family changes, wear and tear rendering a car unreliable, etc...
Then there are people who have the disposable funds who have decided it is time.
Basically, people buying new cars is continuous. What the war on Iran and subsequent oil price increase has done is make more of them look at the cost of the gasoline chugging vehicles against EVs and decide to go with the EV, because we don't k
Re: Same as it ever was (Score:4, Insightful)
That may be anecdotal evidence, but you've got none at all.
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:4, Insightful)
Are there? And is it? Does that explain a 17% increase in a quarter? Are more vehicles available increasing the number of buyers? Or is that just propaganda?
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:5, Informative)
Possibly: the battery has like a hundred miles left in its life, the EV motors are on their last legs, the computer glitches now and then, there's a short in the wiring that shuts the whole car down sometimes, any of those things.
It's hilarious the completely wrong things that the anti-EV crowd comes up with. EV motor on it's last leg? Seriously? And why would the EV computer glitch and have wiring issues, but not the ICE computer and wiring? (Yes, ICE vehicles have computers, and GASP wires).
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:5, Informative)
It's clear you've never owned an EV and simply want to demonize a technology it's obvious you know little about.
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:5, Interesting)
It's clear you've never owned an EV and simply want to demonize a technology it's obvious you know little about.
The same people usually don't want to learn either. I know of people for whom an EV would be a perfect fit; local driving only, low annual miles (I'm talking maybe 5k/year)...but claim that "there are too many unknowns" with EVs. The only "unknowns" are the ones you don't want to learn about.
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Now that I work from home, I really have little use for a daily commuter car. When I'm driving now, it's mostly longer road trips to go on vacation or visit relatives.
I've rented EV's to do these trips before, and it's not a fun experience. Finding a fast DC charger still isn't as easy as it should be in rural areas, and they're often broken or derated from their maximum charging speeds. Waiting an hour in the cold for the EV to charge because something in the battery pre-conditioning process didn't work ri
Re: Same as it ever was (Score:2)
Get aTesla. It will route you to the next available charger.
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You can buy a fairly modern, used Model S for $12.k now.
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:4, Interesting)
EV's for long trips aren't great. I have a Chevy Bolt 2023 EUV. Cross-state trips take 50% longer than a gas car. The drive is easier: no constant vibration from the engine (you don't realize how great this is until you experience it) and stopping every 1.5 hours to stretch and charge. But when a trip morphs from 10 hours to 15, it just turned into a 2 day trip with a stop at a hotel. That's a big deal. On the plus side speeding is inefficient (it can increase your charging time more than the speed cuts your travel time, though probably not the case on faster charging cars) so my trip is far more legal and less likely to kill me.
When you're charging, you can turn the car's heater on and it doesn't slow down your charging speed. The cable provides power faster than the battery takes in, so if your car draws more power when heating, charging isn't slowed.
The mobile apps are fine at finding charging stations and you can see when they were last used. You can pre-plan the route so you know where you'll stop with X amount of charge left and you can ensure there's other chargers nearby in case a group is fully out of order. I've see a couple out-of-order chargers, but there tend to be 4-18 at a stop. Only once have I needed to go to the next charging station down the road.
The car was $20k used. It was the cheapest EV I could find that had more than a 150 mile range (max ~250).
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:5, Informative)
> EV's for long trips aren't great. I have a Chevy Bolt 2023 EUV. Cross-state trips take 50% longer than a gas car.
I know it's a cop-out to blame your choice of vehicle for your experience, but please understand that the 2023 Bolt EUV has a max DCFC power of 55kw. That's about a third what the majority of vehicles are capable of (150kw peak) and about 30% less than what my 2020 Kona EV can pull (75kw) - another vehicle that was comparatively under powered when it was new.
Your 2023 Bolt EUV is literally the second worst charge-performing EV you can find in the US, with the #1 spot being the 2024 Fiat 500e.
I hope you're not too disillusioned with EVs because of it; the EUV is a perfectly fine vehicle for daily use especially for the price. Just know that your experience is not typical.
=Smidge=
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Whether or not they could afford a different vehicle is irrelevant.
The point is the vehicle they chose, regardless of the reason, is way below average performance in this use case and is not representative of the average experience.
=Smidge=
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The Bolt is likely great for around town, but it is not a long-distance car and shouldn't be used to draw conclusions on long trips in other EVs.
I did two major trips last year (3000mi round-trip each) in my Hyundai Ioniq 5. Since the car can fast-charge up to at rates up to 350 kW (e.g., 20-80% battery in ~18 mins) I found the trip time didn't increase significantly.
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Actually, I've never had my drivers license, so naturally, haven't owned a vehicle at all.
Is (literally) everyone's office 10 miles away? Does _everyone_ own a house where they can install all that (solar, batteries to store it, the charging station)? My building has pay-per-hour outlets for most parking spots... are you staying up all night to run out and pay the thing to slow-charge your car some more?
It's a battery-operated vehicle... same as an R/C car or anything else operated by a battery. At some
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It's clear you have no concept of what an average commute looks like for most people and simply want to demonoze someone who you little about.
The average commute distance in the USA is 15-20miles, something that is trivially easy to support by plugging your car into a standard 110V power outlet you already have in your garage.
In your effort to criticise the parent you've just again demonstrated ignorance to the point that you haven't actually countered what they said in any way. A longer than average commute can be supported without any wiring changes in your house with you only ever charging at your house, even if you work 6 days a week.
Please s
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Yeah, I just did one to an area with very few chargers. It was FINE.
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Perhaps your one of the people that electric doesn't work for you, what with one of your main pleasures being driving.
Me, I hate driving now, my leg hurts from the clutch, my hip hurts from sitting and I'd rather not drive any more then needed. Last road trip, I found myself stopping at every rest stop for 10-15 minutes to stretch and everyone of those rest stops had a couple of unused level 2 or 3 chargers, so I'd love to be able to afford to go electric. Obviously you and I are quite different when it com
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WTF are you driving that is a manual?
If your hips and everything hurts from sitting in the car taking a road trip, you might have to stop driving those long distances.
A gas station anyplace works, even the backwoods station has unleaded, and unless it's really nasty watered-down gas, it'll work. The nearest charger might be "nearby", as in 50+ miles away.
That's at the rest stops... how many charging stations do you run across taking backwoods roads?
And, then... there's the possible cost that using one of t
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You use the starting handle, duh
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You are going to need a more complicated and convoluted hypothetical to make your point.
Re: Same as it ever was (Score:5, Funny)
No you don't understand, he needs to drive 900 miles with no notice. He keeps 100 gallons of petrol in his garage just in case. Stopping even for 10 minutes means his relative will die seconds before he arrives!
Seriously, he told me that 15 minutes of charging over a 5 hour drive would cause him to miss his flight once. The more you investigate these non-negotiable needs he has, the more laughable they become.
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Your battery has way, WAY more miles than you're going to need. You can charge overnight on 110v to keep it topped up, but if you have a night when you can't charge, your battery will still have plenty of miles, and you'll catch up on charging over the course of a few nights or the weekend.
It's just not a big deal.
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Let me give you another scenario. My cottage is only 1 hour away from the city
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Do you really live somewhere far from any charger stations? This sounds unlikely.
Re:Same as it ever was (Score:4, Informative)
Your entire post assumes the intelligence and foresight of a potato on the part of the buyer.
Get someone to install a decent charger at home: View it as part of the purchase price of the car, if one even needs it. Many can actually charge enough using a standard outlet, and in some areas the dryer and/or electric panel is right in the garage, so a bigger charger isn't hard. Most home chargers are just fancy cables anyways, the car's on board charger does the heavy lifting.
Drive to the office on lowish battery: Didn't plug it in the last 3 days or so, I guess?
Find out the office doesn't have a single charger: One would think one would know this before they bought the car. Alternatively, I know of people who bought an EV because their work not only has chargers, but they're free, so don't have to pay for gas or electricity.
Limp home: Alternatively, they can use an extension cord to a convenience outlet outside to get 30-40 miles over a 8 hour shift even if there aren't any dedicated EV charging outlets, or visit a fast charging station. Cost a bit more money, but that's like getting gas just outside an airport due to poor planning.
Replacing the battery: The official lifespan of an EV battery today is 8-15 years (and the 8 years is getting old). Seriously, it's like planning to replace the engine in an ICE car at this point. Does it happen to a percentage of vehicles? Yes, but most ICE vehicles never see a replacement engine. Neither will most EV cars.
Month to get a "shipment of batteries" - no, it is more like a week in most cases. Replacement is rare enough that yes, sourcing an OEM replacement can be tough at times, but I've also seen ICE vehicles grounded for months because of lack of parts.
In addition, replacing the battery is unlikely to be a "sudden" requirement. It'd be like elective surgery, schedulable.
Meanwhile, if one has one of the more common EV models, rebuilt batteries are more and more available.
And no, not every small shop will work on them, but a quick search showed 4 shops that explicitly work on EVs but are not dealers within 30 miles of me. Meanwhile, there's less need on average for work anyways. Your favorite shop can still probably work on the brakes, suspension, and such. Tire shops have zero concerns. Etc...
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Get someone to install a decent charger at home: View it as part of the purchase price of the car, if one even needs it.
So to buy a car, you have to first buy a house, or at least buy out the rest of your lease in favor of somewhere to live whose parking could support a charger.
Find out the office doesn't have a single charger: One would think one would know this before they bought the car.
Consider the case of buying a car and then changing jobs. How practical is it to choose where to work based on whether the office has a charger?
Not to mention that a lot of ICE car drivers aren't rich enough to afford a new car, only a used car. And a lot of ICE car drivers live in the United States, where BYD has chosen not to build a factory, and ha
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... And a lot of ICE car drivers live in the United States, where BYD has chosen not to build a factory...
You live the USA, sorry to hear that, good luck. Then again I'm guessing you are one of many there who voted for the self destruction of your once proud country.
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Lots of people already own their home. So no need to buy out a lease.
Even if they are renting, may landlords would not object to an upgrade.
Besides, we're still at that an extension cord out of an ordinary outlet works for many.
Nirvana fallacy - it does not have to work for 100% of people to still be a valid solution for many.
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If one buys an EV then loses their job, many of the same problems apply to an ICE vehicle, making that payment. In any case, charge at home instead, use supercharger stations around, etc... Like learning where to best fill up with gasoline for a different job location.
BYD didn't so much chose to not build a factory here as they are blocked from doing so.
More and more used EVs are hitting the market.
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BYD didn't so much chose to not build a factory here as they are blocked from doing so.
Last I heard, the trade policy was set to deter importing cars made in China into the United States. BYD having been blocked from setting up a factory on United States soil and hiring United States residents to produce cars for the United States market is news to me. The interview that Wikipedia cites [yahoo.com] states only that BYD isn't planning to build in the US or Mexico for the US market, not why that's the case. Searching DuckDuckGo for "is byd blocked from setting up factory in usa" didn't turn up relevant res
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100% right.
For those who have a cushy 9-5 office job and make $100k/yr, sure, you can afford a new Tesla every few years.
For the rest of us who make do living in an apartment with no garage, work someplace and make $12/hr part-time, an ICE vehicle that only needs fully filling the tank every like 8-9 days is perfect.
Maintaining an ICE car is pretty easy (oil change on a regular basis, spark plugs and air filter when needed, brakes and rotors, bleed brake lines, replace the alternator or power steering pump)
Re: Same as it ever was (Score:2)
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That's an interesting fantasy you have. Far more exciting and with more drama than the reality.
The reality being you plug your EV into a normal wall outlet, drive to work on a full battery, drive home, plug in again. Rinse and repeat for 10 years and then sell the car second hand.
The percentage of people who replace their battery is about similar to those who do complete engine replacements on their cars. Also my last "maintenance" for my EV was cheaper than for my last gas car, turns out you don't pay a pr
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Replace batteries? Give me a break, BEVs have been around long enough to know it is not an issue with modern BEVs. Yea, the older
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I'm sure all the small shops around have the proprietary computer to copy the old computer's information to the new one (when replacing the much-needed infotainment system), because only a computer leased from Tesla can be authorized to do that (far as I know) (doubt your regular OBDII computer would even work on a Tesla).
And, I'm sure the small shops have _all_ the needed parts for a BEV... a battery for each one, replacement electric motors for each one, replacement computers for each one, and so on.
High
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I'm sure all the small shops around have the proprietary computer to copy the old computer's information to the new one (when replacing the much-needed infotainment system), because only a computer leased from Tesla can be authorized to do that (far as I know) (doubt your regular OBDII computer would even work on a Tesla).
This is not a BEV issue, it is an industry issue that has existed since about the 1980. Regular ODBII works fine on a Tesla. On the public facing port it tells you what is legally required, which is almost nothing. However with an adaptor added to part of the vehicle loom easily accessible by the center console you can get all the info you need.
And, I'm sure the small shops have _all_ the needed parts for a BEV... a battery for each one, replacement electric motors for each one, replacement computers for each one, and so on.
I assume that is sarcasm as it apply more so to ICEVs which have way more parts in them to source when they fail. Here's a clue for you, getting parts for an BEV
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I wouldn't know anything about BEVs, because I only worked at a regular transmission shop (parts washer) that dealt with regular ICE vehicles.
We could have a complete drivetrain delivered the next day, we had parts for every transmission needed.
From what you say... I assume there's warehouses with every part that _might_ be needed for a BEV readily available, located nearby so you don't have to overnight it from China or whatever, so I can get it fixed and off my lift.
For an ICE, change the spark plugs and
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With an ICE, I can find a junkyard that has my model of car, pull the power steering pump and alternator, and the guy will test it for me, and that's $80 or something, I go home and, a couple hours in the garage (with the requisite string of swearing when I whack my knuckles against a bracket or something), the car works fine, same day.
Does your local junkyard have a bunch of the same Model Y so you can pull the electric motors and computer, to fix your faulty one(s), and is it specific enough to need the s
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Is there enough refining capacity to produce fuel Venezuela's heavy and sour crude in sufficient quantity to make up for loss of gulf sources?
Re: No (Score:2)
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Your daddy Putin won't like that.
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We had expensive gas before Trump at all... https://factually.co/fact-chec... [factually.co]
Hint: not every single thing is because of Trump. He's just the latest of a long line of Presidents who waged war for nothing (how did the War on Terror go), other Presidents wanted to do something about illegals, he was the one that did something.
Oh, he got his picture taken by someone when he was talking with Epstein (about a land deal)? Is it proven he did anything wrong (hard data, not speculation)? How about Biden or Clinto
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Just like everything else that went up because of covid and never came back down?
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What do you need 88+ octane (exclusively) for? Lower Octane is fine for the vast majority of ICE vehicles, and basic unleaded is fine for most everything (mowers, chainsaws).
You're only paying that for "high test" because you want to (your '93 Dodge Stealth doesn't require it, but loves it... it'll run fine on the basic/regular unleaded)... if you have a diesel truck, you don't really need the truck unless you haul a lot of stuff.
Gas prices didn't spike under anyone else's Presidency, ever, at all, in hist