The Canadian Electric Vehicle thread

[ssiguy]

Small wonder EVs are collecting dust..................even with the rebates they are still too damn expensive.

My brother is thinking of getting rid of his 2015 Ford Escape and buying an EV. When he started looking he nearly fainted at the prices. He doesn't drive very much and even with the rebates they would come to around $15 to $20k more and that's a hell of a lot of gas. For it to make financial sense for him, he would have to drive about 10 years before it started paying for itself and then the dreaded battery replacements are needed which cost a king's ransom or if he wants to sell, greatly reduces it's resale value. There are lower maintenance costs for EVs but what the dealers don't mention is that tires need to be replaced more frequently due to the sheer weight of BEV vehicles.

As for the Teslas, yes they are a good car and probably make sense if you are doing a lot of driving but most people don't buy them due to being electric but rather as a status symbol. At least for now, Toyota and Honda are right, hybrids are the way to go. They are only marginally more expensive, get far better fuel economy and acceleration than 100% ICE cars, pollute less, and don't have any of the recharging anxiety or even need which is a big factor for people in apts/condos that don't have access to home recharging.

I live in a condo so right now recharging is not an option but the vehicles will improve in both greater distance and shorter recharging times. That said, I, like many, will not consider an EV until they come down {coming close doesn't qualify} to the price of an ICE or at least a hybrid.