Study: ‘True Costs’ Of Electric Vehicles Far Higher Than Most Believe

[Bacchus]

it takes about 20 to charge back up to 80%,

You mean, about 20 minutes? In my younger days I would try to drive 600 miles - 10 hours per day. That's too much for me now, but in your example you leave the house fully charged, drive 350 miles, charge for 20 minutes, drive for another 250 miles.

That doesn't seem bad at all, very comparable to stopping to fill up with gasoline.

Do you know how long it takes to recharge a non-Tesla on the road? I'm guessing much longer than 20 minutes, at least until the other manufacturers concede that Elon is King! and adopt the Tesla recharging standard.

 

[bikemutt]

As a Tesla owner, I bought the car for spite. Lithium and Cobalt mines are terrible, no recycling of the batteries ( at least yet, I know several companies are working on it) once they are dead. The gubernment can't produce enough electricity and the grid couldn't handle 25% of the population driving electric cars. And dumb bubblegum Oregon is stealing a bunch of farm land to build fabs and manufacturing plants - both of which take an inordinate amount of power and water…
On the plus side, I LOVE the torque in the Tesla (quicker than my Corvette). Also love charging at night. Using off peak charging I'm getting just over 30 miles per dollar of electricity. I get about 350 miles on a full charge and it takes about 20 to charge back up to 80%, which gets another 250 miles or so.
We did a trip to South Carolina this summer, I figured charging made the trip about 4 hours longer - but I'm old, so more frequent stops is good thing .
Lots of pros and cons for owning an electric car. For me, it's just about the fun I have driving it and knowing I'm quicker than 95% of the cars on the road . And yes I know, it's useless towing anything, driving off road and a myriad of other activities.

We bought a 2015 Smart4Two stink bug electric drive as a second car; errand, appointment, grocery runner. Charges in 3 hours on a 240v 20a level 2 garage charger. The SUV would have to get 500 mpg to beat Li'l NInja; not gonna happen. Not for everyone, not for everything, for us it's perfect.

 

[Flopsweat]

Very practical assessment of EV trucks.

https://nitter.net/marketplunger1/status/1718982484208312715

https://twitter.com/x/status/1718982484208312715

 

[Bacchus]

We bought a 2015 Smart4Two stink bug electric drive as a second car; errand, appointment, grocery runner. Charges in 3 hours on a 240v 20a level 2 garage charger. The SUV would have to get 500 mpg to beat Li'l NInja; not gonna happen. Not for everyone, not for everything, for us it's perfect.

Have you ever charged it on a highway trip, at an EV charging station? How long did that take? How far does your car run on a single charge?

I realize that is not how you usually use it, and the car does sound perfect for your normal use case. I'm just wondering if it takes less than 3 hours at a EV charging station, not the 20A charger in your garage.

 

[Certaindeaf]

We bought a 2015 Smart4Two stink bug electric drive as a second car; errand, appointment, grocery runner. Charges in 3 hours on a 240v 20a level 2 garage charger. The SUV would have to get 500 mpg to beat Li'l NInja; not gonna happen. Not for everyone, not for everything, for us it's perfect.

Yeabut how much did the vehicle cost?
My $1000 car will go pretty dang far on $9000 worth of gas at 30mpg.

 

[Certaindeaf]

We bought a 2015 Smart4Two stink bug electric drive as a second car; errand, appointment, grocery runner. Charges in 3 hours on a 240v 20a level 2 garage charger. The SUV would have to get 500 mpg to beat Li'l NInja; not gonna happen. Not for everyone, not for everything, for us it's perfect.

Don't electric car batteries only last 8 years? It seems your little dream ride is getting close to worthless.

 

[Jay Walk]

Discount tire just told me that tires wear much faster on EV's.

 

[Bacchus]

Discount tire just told me that tires wear much faster on EV's.

Why would that be?

 

[Flopsweat]

Why would that be?

They're way heavier due to the batteries.

 

[CamoDeafie]

They're way heavier due to the batteries.

Can't be that much heavier due to the proliferation of obese people driving compact gas cars full of trash I haven't seen a lot of fat men driving EVs. Chubby women... sure but... then again, men tend to be heavier for the same size.

 

[Bacchus]

They're way heavier due to the batteries.

Umm, yeah, I guess, but aren't tires sized to the weight of the car? Do Cadillacs go through tires faster than Mini Coopers?

I'm not saying they don't, it's just something I never heard of, I guess.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Umm, yeah, I guess, but aren't tires sized to the weight of the car? Do Cadillacs go through tires faster than Mini Coopers?

I'm not saying they don't, it's just something I never heard of, I guess.

That's partly why I want to call BS on Discount Tire's claims. Automakers have engineers who can figure what load ratings are needed for safety and for meeting NHTSB and DOT safety rules..it's not like they're slapping temporary duty compact spares on all 4 corners for road duty

 

[Certaindeaf]

Umm, yeah, I guess, but aren't tires sized to the weight of the car? Do Cadillacs go through tires faster than Mini Coopers?

I'm not saying they don't, it's just something I never heard of, I guess.

It's because of the weight.
All things being equal, the heavier vehicle will wear tires out faster.
Electric cars are very heavy due to the batteries.

 

[CamoDeafie]

It's because of the weight.
All things being equal, the heavier vehicle will wear tires out faster.
Electric cars are very heavy due to the batteries.

Right, but engineers would have already calculated the load ratings and the types of tires needed for a given weight. Otherwise.. we'd need to be replacing tires more often underneath compact trucks and vans because they're heavier than passenger cars?

 

[Certaindeaf]

Right, but engineers would have already calculated the load ratings and the types of tires needed for a given weight. Otherwise.. we'd need to be replacing tires more often underneath compact trucks and vans because they're heavier than passenger cars?

The fact still remains that for a given tire, all else being equal save weight, the heavier vehicle will wear tires faster.
The same concept applies to brakes, suspension..

 

[CamoDeafie]

The fact still remains that for a given tire, all else being equal save weight, the heavier vehicle will wear tires faster.

And this is where things get messy you have different load ratings for the same tire size. Possibly people just buy cheapest tires possible that fits the size of wheels on them and that's why they wear out faster because wrong load rated tires. You dont want Passenger tires under a Light Truck. You could get away with putting Light Truck tires under passenger vehicles if they fit.

There's also different speed ratings on tires too.

 

[Certaindeaf]

And this is where things get messy you have different load ratings for the same tire size. Possibly people just buy cheapest tires possible that fits the size of wheels on them and that's why they wear out faster because wrong load rated tires. You dont want Passenger tires under a Light Truck. You could get away with putting Light Truck tires under passenger vehicles if they fit.

There's also different speed ratings on tires too.

Yes, those are givens. For a GIVEN tire however, see above.

 

[Nosferatu]

And this is where things get messy you have different load ratings for the same tire size. Possibly people just buy cheapest tires possible that fits the size of wheels on them and that's why they wear out faster because wrong load rated tires. You dont want Passenger tires under a Light Truck. You could get away with putting Light Truck tires under passenger vehicles if they fit.

There's also different speed ratings on tires too.

Load ratings are for supporting the gross weight of the vehicle and cargo, at speed, at temperature. It has nothing to do with wear.

Treadwear ratings are a gauge of how long you should expect the tire to last. It's no an exact science though, because different cars weigh more or less, not to mention how they are used make a huge difference.

My F350 with just me and a full tank of fuel come in at just under 8000lbs. Most of the time I'm using the truck I have either a trailer hooked up to it or camper in the bed, etc. It rolls around much heavier than it comes from the factory, increasing wear on tires and everything else. Yes, it's built for it, but I'm the one who pays for that extra weight in increased maintenance.

And you're absolutely right about one thing: people cheap out on their tires constantly! Having worked in a tire shop, I can't tell you how many times I recommended a tire for a persons application, but they insist on just buying the cheapest thing we had, even though they end up replacing it much more often. Consumers are stupid.

 

[Flopsweat]

Load ratings are for supporting the gross weight of the vehicle and cargo, at speed, at temperature. It has nothing to do with wear.

Treadwear ratings are a gauge of how long you should expect the tire to last. It's no an exact science though, because different cars weigh more or less, not to mention how they are used make a huge difference.

My F350 with just me and a full tank of fuel come in at just under 8000lbs. Most of the time I'm using the truck I have either a trailer hooked up to it or camper in the bed, etc. It rolls around much heavier than it comes from the factory, increasing wear on tires and everything else. Yes, it's built for it, but I'm the one who pays for that extra weight in increased maintenance.

And you're absolutely right about one thing: people cheap out on their tires constantly! Having worked in a tire shop, I can't tell you how many times I recommended a tire for a persons application, but they insist on just buying the cheapest thing we had, even though they end up replacing it much more often. Consumers are stupid.

Also consider that some high gas mileage tires do not wear well.

 

[Bacchus]

All things being equal,

But I think that's just the point. Other things aren't equal if the tires are increased in size or thickness or design to accommodate the increased weight.