Thread

1. cmiles8 · 1790590664 · focus · HN ↗

   Headline is misleading. Cheaper on per-mile operating costs but typically more expensive to purchase and insure. There’s also a nasty depreciation curve to contend with. Nobody wants a 10 year old Tesla, but a 10 year old well mentioned petrol car still has a ton of life left in it.

   It still often ends up a bit cheaper across comparable vehicles but not a slam dunk and nowhere near as good as the headline suggests.

   1. stinos · 1790591513 · focus · HN ↗

      Headline is misleading

      Honest question: how else would one interpret 'cheaper to drive', if not 'cheaper per-mile operating costs'? Wouldn't they have used plain 'cheaper than' if they would have meant 'purchase+operating'?

      1. cmiles8 · 1790591833 · focus · HN ↗

         Because driving includes a lot more costs than just fuel. And as others are calling out, nobody wants a used EV so deprecation is a real cost to every day regardless of if the car is driven or not.

         1. neilalexander · 1790592367 · focus · HN ↗

            I think "nobody wants a used EV" will change, there is already a growing amount of evidence that battery deterioration is nowhere near as bad as feared on average. ICE vehicles also tend to get less efficient over time as well due to wear and tear, build-up, degrading sensors etc, it's just that nobody talks about that.

            1. otherme123 · 1790593641 · focus · HN ↗

               Right now I would hesitate to buy a used car with 5 years and a 100% of 300 km range but down to 250 km due to battery wear, when I could buy a new car with 500 km range. Owners of first Leafs got hit by already low initial ranges (~120km), so even a 20-30% battery wear have huge impact or car usability. That would change when ranges stops growing (about 700 km, maybe, the same as ICEs?), and used cars have the same range than buying new. 600 km instead of 700 km? Good enough.

               1. TeMPOraL · 1790602379 · focus · HN ↗

                  Nobody is doing battery swaps yet? That sounds like an obvious thing? Or is the mobile "glued in battery not serviceable component" thinking spread like poison so much that people don't consider it?

                  If the rest of the car is fine, it should be one visit to a shop to swap out old battery for new (and the shop handling recycling/disposal of the old one), and off you go with car good as new.

                  1. otherme123 · 1790613623 · focus · HN ↗

                     I guess the real problem is pricing: right now it is buy used, then swap batteries for 8-10K? No wonder the car deprecates.

                     I vaguely remember a guy swapping modules of the battery of a Prius at home for peanuts, because the dealership asked 4K for the same service. There are a few places that do a battery refresh for 1 or 2K (eg. texashybridbatteries.com). In the future this might be a good business, today it seems to be a Prius thing... because it was the most successful car a while ago.

                     1. bryanlarsen · 1790618264 · focus · HN ↗

                        Liquid cooled, large EV traction batteries last 250,000 miles. Pre-2023 Prius's are neither, which is why they need replacement.

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