The Real cost of operating an Electrical Vehicle (EV)

[Cadman-iac]

That brings up other issues.

One of having so much acceleration amongst most other vehicles on the road that if not sensibly used, problems can occur.

Plus, when towing trailers, one has to be aware of what they are doing. 

Having all this power is not good for the inexperienced drivers that want to show off to their friends, then they complain that they are getting range anxiety because they don't realise that they have to suffer the loss of range because they are needlessly pushing the limits.

Bruce.

Something else that affects the cost of new cars, regardless of how they are powered, is how much they have to "protect" the driver and passengers (and others on the road) from themselves because driver education is not taught by anyone anymore.
The legislation that has been enacted by our government is just adding more to the price tag of each vehicle.
It used to be that you would learn how to drive before you received a license, and yes, there's always been a risk involved with traveling in a motor vehicle, which was assumed by you when you got into the car.
You pays your money and you takes your chances.
Unfortunately, today that risk is exponentially higher because of people who don't know how to drive, as they rely on the systems that have been legislated into these vehicles to try and overcome their stupidity. Cars that can stop themselves, or keep itself in a lane, or whatever other things that will make up for the driver's lack of attention or skill. And also Unfortunately, the technology is not as good as it needs to be in order to keep us safe from these idiots.
Legal costs are skyrocketing because of accidents. Everyone is looking for something to blame other than the idiot behind the wheel that caused it in the first place, due to inexperience, distraction or whatever.
As Bruce and Carl have said, the acceleration of these electric cars is phenomenal, and people who don't know how to drive a regular car, sure as hell aren't going to be able to handle one of these.
Remember when you took responsibility for your own life when you got behind the wheel, and it was generally accepted that if you crashed, you were somewhat at fault for not being able to avoid it?
Today's legal system doesn't seem to want to accept this position, they are always looking for someone with deep pockets to go after. Which is just another reason why legislation has been enacted to force automakers to design out the "idiot" factor.

I know I sound old fashioned, or out of touch with today, but I believe that we should make affordable cars that are dependable and not made of plastic, that can be rebuilt if and when it wears out.
If you drive a vehicle, you accept that risk.
We're all, (most of us anyway) old enough to remember when that's how it was.

I didn't intend to go off on a tangent here, I apologize for that.

Rick
  Edit: Carl, I was unaware of exactly how crude oil was broken down and distributed for different uses. I see my mistake here.
 Ya gotta admit that it would have been nice if it only worked that way though.
 Thanks for clarifying that and correcting me on it.
 I'd still like to see less plastic in cars, only because metal lasts sooo  much longer.

[Cadillac Jack 82]

EVs are just a trendy way of saying I can be in the in crowd.  Electric cars have been tried before.  Granted the tech wasnt there but try to drive an EV if the grid fails, or an EMP hits, etc.  ICE will run on all types of crap provided it has the same reactive force as gasoline.  EVs without a grid are useless as tits on a bull.  Hydrogen...now thats worth looking into!

[Cadman-iac]

  Yeah, if you could get the package small enough so your hydrogen tank doesn't take up the entire trunk, and the related hardware can be shrunk down without compromising the safety factor, that's the best solution. Burn hydrogen and oxygen and make water.
 
 Rick

[David King (kz78hy)]

I suspect that the tire selected/developed for the specific car matters more than the powertrain spinning it.  I have a 2012 Chevrolet Volt that I've had since new and I just put on its 3rd set of tires.  Both sets of tires I bought were the exact ones that came on it when new.  The set I put on now will be last and they went out of production and supposedly I have one of the last sets which were out there. 

Two sets of tires were consumed at 140k miles, so average 70k/set, not bad in my book.  The first set was replaced at around 60k and the last set at 80k or in that ball park.

EV's weight more for the same size of ICE vehicle today, but not necessarily crazy.  Our 5 and 6 thousand pound Cadillac's are the same weights as Electric CUV/SUV and our tires are nothing special.

If the tires wear out early, it is because other criteria had priority over life.  Typically, a performance, soft tire wears quickly so the those attributes had to be needed when the manufacturer chose them for their vehicle.

My Volt has been the best car I've ever owned.  Virtually no issues in those 140k miles.  3 oil changes, a set of rear brakes, fronts are original.  It has been a great car.

[cadillacmike68]

I last week had the Climate Control Air Conditioning charged on my 1968 DeVille convertible ( last thing I needed to do ) at my local Cadillac dealer and when I was checking out a customer stated to the service manager that his brand new Cadillac Lyric was just towed in. He was less than pleased, I said nothing of course but was thinking God spend all that money and own a car that immediately fails? as for me at age 69 I cannot afford a new Kia gas powered car to say nothing of a $ 60,000.00 plus electric car. As inflation worsens and my dollar recedes I fear the future as even though I am back to working a job I can barely keep up. 

But Bill, you were able to afford the restoration costs fort the 1968 DVC, weren't you ? 

[cadillacmike68]

Unfortunately Oil for plastic and fuel does not work that way. Oil goes into a distillation tower where it is separated by its molecular weight. There is a certain band of weight that can be used for fuel, Then there are bands that separate out into the different grades of raw chemicals used for plastics and other things. The bottom of the distillation tower is what is used for Asphalt. The prices we currently pay is at an equilibrium with the volumes of raw materials that exit that distillation tower. If you need more ABS resin it does not divert oil away from Gas. We would need to pump more oil and the gas becomes a byproduct that may then reduce in price.

Now if we were to have a drastic reduction in the amount of fuel we need for transportation. If that reduces the amount of oil pumped then that is less raw material for Asphalt and plastic resins. If we need plastic at the same rate then we would still pump the same amount of oil but fuel grades would be a waste byproduct. We could reprocess into new things. As long as we do not burn it we do not release the carbon.

I was on a research project that looked at using waste molasses from processing sugar beets as an organic carbon source to make plastic. The project started in Italy where they were actually pumping the waste molasses directly to a land fill. So the raw material was free for them to process into plastic. We wanted to replicate the process in Michigan since we have a large sugar beet processing operation here. The problem is for America this is not a waste product. We have already found other uses, so as a commodity waste molasses was in the hundreds of dollars a ton. Oil for plastic is much cheaper at that rate. Side note the company in Italy was also involved in some form of scam and was shut down and investigated.

I do not see ANY grade of fuel oil being a "waste byproduct" in the next several hundred years.

[billyoung]

Actually Mike I so called afforded the 1968 partly from the sale of a previous car and the rest I put on a Home equity line with the thought of refinancing my basic mortgage due to the increased value of the house, however when the mortgage rates rose so rapidly then I was in trouble because the new mortgage would be as expensive as just leaving the current one in place and paying the monthly HELOC hoping that someday the rates will come down. If not, no end to working or sell the car. We will see what transpires.

[cadillacmike68]

Actually Mike I so called afforded the 1968 partly from the sale of a previous car and the rest I put on a Home equity line with the thought of refinancing my basic mortgage due to the increased value of the house, however when the mortgage rates rose so rapidly then I was in trouble because the new mortgage would be as expensive as just leaving the current one in place and paying the monthly HELOC hoping that someday the rates will come down. If not, no end to working or sell the car. We will see what transpires.

I'm in a similar situation here. Good luck.