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Comment by logifail | Hacker News Reader

> If you don't need the extended range of a brand new battery [..]

My OH drove the best part of 200 miles, round trip, on the spur of the moment to pick me up at an airport late in the evening after my flight was badly delayed, she got to the airport just as I came through baggage reclaim so was at the airport less than 10 mins. That was just last week. By sheer coincidence I drove to pick her up at the same airport the week before, although at least I knew that journey was coming ahead of time.

What do used EV owners with smaller and/or degraded batteries say to each other in that scenario? "Sorry, I can't come and pick you up, the car's not charged?"

A car that can't manage to drive to a local airport and back in one go is exhibiting a fairly critical flaw, at least for people like us.

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>My OH drove the best part of 200 miles, round trip, on the spur of the moment to pick me up at an airport late in the evening after my flight was badly delayed[ ...] > A car that can't manage to drive to a local airport and back in one go is exhibiting a fairly critical flaw, at least for people like us.

Isn't this a standard trade-off? I have a sedan rather than a SUV or a pickup, and last year when I wanted to move some large items I couldn't. That's fine, because the other 99.5% of days I don't need that much capacity. Unless you frequently need to go on 200 mile trips on a whim, it's not as big of a dealbreaker than you think.

You can go to a supercharger after the first leg and spend 10-15 minutes there. It's really not the issue you'd think it is reading all the concern from people online. And Tesla batteries degrade much slower than you'd think based on experience with consumer electronics.

> It's really not the issue you'd think it is [..]

I appreciate that there are a lot of happy Tesla owners, indeed there are two in the office I'm working in this week, their Model 3s are parked outside. I had a ride in one recently, it was fun. Not something I'd buy, though.

Is it possible that EVs still aren't the good fit you think they are for a substantial proportion of price-sensitive consumers?

Also, the political landscape around EVs may still be evolving. This month the EU's policy to ban the sale of new combustion engine cars in the bloc by 2035 was substantially weakened after pressure from Germany[0], and the UK's policy is as a result - shall we say - "wobbling"?[1]

[0] https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/24/cars/eu-combustion-engine...

[1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/28/net-zero-ban... or https://archive.is/R6zVZ

> Is it possible that EVs still aren't the good fit you think they are for a substantial proportion of price-sensitive consumers?

The reality is flipped around. The vast majority of consumers, even price sensitive ones, would be better served by an EV. The edge cases trotted out in conversations like this are the exception, not the norm.

New bolt is what, 20k after incentive? I would assume in 5 years those will be cheaper used. No one is selling 11k gas cars worth a damn last I checked, either, there just isn't a huge supply of used electrics at the moment.

Not that I'm telling you to buy an EV, but EV's are like 6% of (new)sales this year iirc, I expect next year is 7-8%, then 9-11%? After 10% of sales and all the growth is in EVs I expect the market to change quickly, like gas car sales to just fall off a cliff as legacy automakers really start to scramble. Well, at least in the US, seems China has a much higher EV share.

Anyways, yeah, probably somewhere in the 4-7 year range from now, there will be some good options in cheaper, used EVs for people, and probably more than just the Bolt that has decent range at low end new pricing.

Until their a substantial used inventory and more deliveries, sure, EVs are not attractive to the people you refer to. At least in the US.

> What do used EV owners with smaller and/or degraded batteries say to each other in that scenario?

I’ll be a bit longer that usual sorry. I need to fast charge.

Range anxiety is something you have before you get an EV in my extensive survey of 4 people.

It sounds like you do need the extended range of a new battery but aren't willing to pay for it. Too bad, then...?

That's why I added a conditional, because I can't read your mind.

That kind of job is not what you'd get a <100 mile car for. They replace commuters for people who never need their commuter vehicle to do that.

That's definitely not for everyone.

Even the smallest range Tesla, Bolt, ID.4, or many others would be fine.

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