In most U.S. zip codes, electric vehicles are cost-competitive with their gas-powered counterparts, according to a new study. And regarding emissions benefits of EVs, individual driving patterns matter as much as regional factors like the local electricity mix.
U.S here, and I’m legit considering selling my CR-V and getting a used electric if I could find one, provided it could go more than 40 miles on a charge and wouldn’t need a ridiculously expensive battery replacement in like 3 years.
I drive like 45 minutes to and from work, and filling this little tank multiple times a week is BRUTAL.
Thing is, we’re still paying off the SUV and I was worried it’d be all stupid over-inflated like everybody would be doing this due to gas prices…maybe?
…and no, I want nothing to do with Tesla and their “swastikars” and “kampfwagens”.
I just wonder which electrics would be at least a LITTLE user-respecting…the car spyware lately is ridiculous. We really need FOSS cars and firmware…
…but now I’m ranting…lol
…Is it still possible to switch without being rich or am I too late? Haha.
All cars spy on you not just the electrics. But it’s simple enough to disconnect the TCM or bridge a resistor across the antenna terminals.
If you really want out of box no spying get an old Nissan leaf. They use 3G and 4G radios and were never upgraded to 5G so when the towers shut down they had. Nothing to communicate with.
45 miles? Unless you’re looking at someone more than 10 years old you won’t have a problem.
And on the battery… even with a battery problem you don’t need to replace the whole battery. You need to replace the cell that’s borked. There are battery repair specialists that will do this.
The car spyware problem is across all cars. ICE and EV
All excellent information. Thank you so much! That’s really cool about the individual cell replacement. I thought that was still on the horizon! The future can be very cool.
This is sounding more and more like a good idea. Especially with how fast this 15 gallon tank is dropping every week…
To give you a little more info as you seem genuinely interested.
Taking the battery size in kWh and multiplying by 3 or 4 will give you a rough range in miles. Big heavy cars will be more like 3 miles per kWh. Small cars will be closer to 4.
My 2017 BMW i3 (34kWh, tiny battery by today’s standards) still gets 100-120 miles and it’s coming up for 9 years old. That’s why I say 45 miles won’t be a problem.
As somebody else stated, some more modern cars are making the battery less serviceable. Tesla’s especially, but others too. Fact is batteries have lasted longer than we expected a decade ago so manufacturers aren’t prioritising making them a serviceable component. That’s good and bad.
The exception is when the battery isn’t cooled properly. Nissan leafs suffer with huge battery damage because the leaf didn’t cool it’s batteries during charging.
Most EVs being sold now will go at least a couple hundred miles on a full charge if you don’t drive like a maniac. And if you find yourself stuck with a low charge, level 3 chargers are pretty widely available and can get you to 80% in a half hour or less. Kia and Hyundai are good options on a budget, just don’t look at the high-end models like the Ioniqs. We bought a used Kia Niro EV last year. It’s a great little commuter car for my wife since her employer is making her drive into the office every day now. Nissan Leafs are often pretty affordable used, too. I’m with you on Tesla. The dealerships were flooded with them when we went looking last summer, and they were desperate to sell us one. “Are you sure? I can make you a great deal on a Tesla!” Not interested.
Sadly, you might be about a year late for the really good deals, and the Republicans allowed the EV tax credits to expire in September. If you can’t find a good deal on an EV, you might consider a hybrid, or pluggable hybrid (a hybrid with a larger battery that can be charged when it isn’t running). A former co-worker of mine used to drive a Chevy Volt pluggable hybrid to work and bragged that he only filled the tank once a year.
U.S here, and I’m legit considering selling my CR-V and getting a used electric if I could find one, provided it could go more than 40 miles on a charge and wouldn’t need a ridiculously expensive battery replacement in like 3 years.
I drive like 45 minutes to and from work, and filling this little tank multiple times a week is BRUTAL.
Thing is, we’re still paying off the SUV and I was worried it’d be all stupid over-inflated like everybody would be doing this due to gas prices…maybe?
…and no, I want nothing to do with Tesla and their “swastikars” and “kampfwagens”.
I just wonder which electrics would be at least a LITTLE user-respecting…the car spyware lately is ridiculous. We really need FOSS cars and firmware…
…but now I’m ranting…lol
…Is it still possible to switch without being rich or am I too late? Haha.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/03/youve-got-20000-to-spend-on-an-ev-here-are-some-options/
There are still plenty of deals on electric cars, especially used ones.
All cars spy on you not just the electrics. But it’s simple enough to disconnect the TCM or bridge a resistor across the antenna terminals.
If you really want out of box no spying get an old Nissan leaf. They use 3G and 4G radios and were never upgraded to 5G so when the towers shut down they had. Nothing to communicate with.
45 miles? Unless you’re looking at someone more than 10 years old you won’t have a problem.
And on the battery… even with a battery problem you don’t need to replace the whole battery. You need to replace the cell that’s borked. There are battery repair specialists that will do this.
The car spyware problem is across all cars. ICE and EV
All excellent information. Thank you so much! That’s really cool about the individual cell replacement. I thought that was still on the horizon! The future can be very cool.
This is sounding more and more like a good idea. Especially with how fast this 15 gallon tank is dropping every week…
To give you a little more info as you seem genuinely interested.
Most EVs being sold now will go at least a couple hundred miles on a full charge if you don’t drive like a maniac. And if you find yourself stuck with a low charge, level 3 chargers are pretty widely available and can get you to 80% in a half hour or less. Kia and Hyundai are good options on a budget, just don’t look at the high-end models like the Ioniqs. We bought a used Kia Niro EV last year. It’s a great little commuter car for my wife since her employer is making her drive into the office every day now. Nissan Leafs are often pretty affordable used, too. I’m with you on Tesla. The dealerships were flooded with them when we went looking last summer, and they were desperate to sell us one. “Are you sure? I can make you a great deal on a Tesla!” Not interested.
Sadly, you might be about a year late for the really good deals, and the Republicans allowed the EV tax credits to expire in September. If you can’t find a good deal on an EV, you might consider a hybrid, or pluggable hybrid (a hybrid with a larger battery that can be charged when it isn’t running). A former co-worker of mine used to drive a Chevy Volt pluggable hybrid to work and bragged that he only filled the tank once a year.