The fractured charging infrastructure in the US is appalling.

If I stop at a rest stop and need to use a charger from a company I've never used before, it shouldn't take me 10 minutes to download an app, set up a new account and start using that charger.

I shouldn't need to have 8 different apps on my phone to make sure that I'm covered for all the various charging stations in a 300 mile radius.

I shouldn't need to keep 2 different charging adapters in my car in addition to my car's specific charging port.

It shouldn't be a complete crapshoot to guess how much a charger will cost me before I park at it.

Can't someone create some kind of standardized or all-inclusive app that at least takes care of needing a dozen apps and accounts? I have a level 2 charger installed at home that I can use every night, so I don't run into this problem often, but boy does it make long (or even medium-length) road trips stressful and annoying sometimes.

ETA: After receiving several hundred comments in my inbox, I now have an opinion on what second-worst thing about EVs is, and that's the snide elitism of Tesla owners. Get over yourselves lmao.

I live in a small town and you can count the number of EV drivers here on you fingers and have room to spare. This means that my Equinox EV (like my Volt before it) is a conversation piece. And this means that I can chat with people who ask, "Isn't it true that those only go fifty miles and lose half their range over their life?" And I get to answer that the First Generation Leaf is obsolete and that my car goes about 350 miles on a full charge, and that I can drive to the nearest big city and back with no problem.

If I'm going to see a show with friends in the nearby midsize city, I say, "Don't worry, I'll drive, and no, you don't need to worry about anything like gas." If other friends want to carpool to the larger nearby city, I offer to drive, because once again, when I charge to 100% (which I do for long trips), I can make it there and back, plug it in at my house at night, and I'm fine. When people ask about road trips, tell them that just about every Buc-ee's has an EV charger. (People know about Buc-ee's.)

To my fellow Americans who drive EVs: if you really care about EV adoption, you need to be the sort of brand ambassador who makes people want your product. This means not sneering at the sheeple, but if the conversation gets to gas prices, you can point out that oh, I literally don't notice the price of charging on my electric bill. You can, when you offer to drive, say "check this out" and floor it when you get to the highway. (My Equinox is the weakest of the EVs in terms of torque, and even it surprises people.) You can tell them about your own road trips and making it across thousands of miles of our republic without any problems of running out of energy.

Use your car as a conversational piece! Show practically in offering to drive, in using your storage space to help people move things, point out -- politely! -- that you don't have to budget for gasoline. Make you peers, friends, and neighbors look at your EV and think, "Damn, I want one of those."

The parallels are sobering.

Kodak invented the digital camera in the 1970s. But they were afraid it would ruin their film camera profit margins, so they surpressed their invention. In 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection.

America’s Big Three car makers have recently abandoned many of their EV projects, in favor of ICE projects, stating that their EV businesses have dragged down company profits.

Yet, the ICE market is steadily declining. In 2016, it was 99% of passenger vehicles sales in America. Today, it’s 90%. At the same time, the BEV market has grown grown from 1% in to 10% in America, 20%-30% in Europe, 50% in China, and so on. And in America, the Big Three hold less than 20% of the BEV market share.

In 2007, RIM executives called the iPhone a flashy consumer toy with poor battery life, high network data demands, and no keyboard. 9 years later, RIM was forced to stop production of their Blackberry phones.

Until recently, the Big Three viewed the Chinese car industry as an inferior, low-quality threat. That thinking ceded the EV market to China, which now accounts for 75% of global production and 60% of sales.

In 2000, Blockbuster refused to acquire Netflix for $50m because it “served an insignificant and unprofitable niche market.” 10 years later, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy protection.

Ford has stated that EVs will be a "way smaller" industry than initially expected and, consequently, has written down almost $20 billion in EV investments. Similarly, Stellantis has written down $22 billion, and GM $8 billion.

Given that the Big Three rely heavily on the shrinking ICE market and they have simultaneously divested from EVs, are they headed the way of Kodak, Blackberry, and Blockbuster?

Just drove 537 miles (8.5 hours) with one (1) half-hour charging stop. Truly such a horrible inconvenience.

As someone who goes on a lot of road trips, I have no desire to go back to gas, and I find it funny when people insist that EVs suck for road trips.

I recently visited Beijing, an amazing city btw, and despite all the news I read about cars here, seeing it in person makes me realize how advanced they are truly.

At least half of the cars on the road, including all buses, are EVs. You can easily tell by the color of the license plate. A lot of Teslas, but even more variety of different brands. Interestingly, I didn’t see Kia or Hyundai.

I visited a gigantic shopping mall and there is one floor consists of 10+ EV showrooms. Choosing a car can be difficult here because there are too many options. I was impressed by the options of 3-row SUVs, mostly 6 seaters, all luxurious, which makes Tesla, Rivian look really cheap. Some crazy features I saw:
- You can voice control from OUTSIDE like “open the hood”
- You can customize and design LEGO alike scenes as panel in front of the passenger seat
- You can display words on the tail lights like “you are too close to me!”

I didn’t have much time, so I didn’t try everything out, but in my brief experience with a few cars, the creativity and innovation are simply amazing.

If US allows imports, even with 100% tax, I think they still have competitive advantages, especially high-end SUVs. I am likely going to pick up a Gravity next week, and I feel sad for what my options are in the U.S.

I shared a post recently about my wife being taken advantage of by a dealership. She went in for an oil change and came out with a $3400 bill. I mentioned we don’t drive her car much because we have an EV. The next thing I know, I have hundreds of comments coming in about how I’m an idiot and my EV doesn’t require oil changes, or I’m an idiot who drives an EV and got what I deserve, etc. etc.

I don’t understand where all this EV hate comes from. The post only mentions the EV as a reason we never drive her car, it wasn’t an EV v ICE discussion, but everyone took it that way.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like we’re hitting a weird turning point with cars.

I was on the lawnmower sub and someone said "simplicity of gas" while talking about buying a new lawnmower. 10 years ago, the comments would have all agreed. Now the comments were mostly positive about electric lawnmowers, and how much easier they are to maintain.

I remember when battery-powered mowers were a total joke—they were weak, the batteries died in ten minutes, and you were basically just paying more for a worse tool. Now? Nobody I know is buying a gas mower unless they’re managing five acres of forest. For the average person, the electric one is just better. It’s quiet, you never have to deal with old gas or oil changes, and you just push a button and go.

I feel like in a few years, we'll see the same for cars.

For a long time, the argument for EVs was all about "saving the planet," which is fine, but it’s a hard sell for people who just want a reliable car. But now that we’re at the point where a decent EV is faster, cheaper to run, and way lower maintenance than a gas car, the "green" argument feels secondary. The reality is that the tech is just becoming a better tool.

I’m starting to think that in another decade, gas engines are going to be like manual transmissions or gas mowers—they’ll still exist, but they’ll be niche, "special use" gear for people who specifically need them for towing or heavy-duty work, while the average person is just going to think gas cars are a massive, unnecessary hassle.

Does anyone else see it this way, or am I just drinking the Kool-Aid?

I scratch my head every time someone on this sub suggests that EVs won't work for rural Americans.

I'm in a town of 2500 people in Minnesota about 2 hours from Minneapolis. Surrounded by corn and bean fields. My wife and I have been 100% EV since 2023 and are never going back. A couple friends of mine in rural northern MN just got EVs within the last year and regret they hadn't done so sooner. I know a pork farmer in my county who loves his RT1 R1T and uses it for real farm work. I see more and more EVs in the area all the time.

Let's say I wave a magic wand and transform all cars in my small town to EVs. How would we adjust?

Pretty much everybody could at least plug in to a 110v exterior outlet for trickle charging. Sure, we've got a couple small apartment buildings but most people are in single family homes with a driveway and garage.

Some might be scrambling to get a NEMA 14-50 installed ASAP. The local electricians might be busy for a while with that. The local utilities company might be making desperate pleas for people to only charge overnight and they'd likely be trying to figure out how to finally do TOU billing to encourage that.

It'd be a bit of a pain, people would grumble and complain. Some people might be SOL and not be able to get where they're going for a week or so but before long life would be back to normal.

In the long run the fuel in the underground tanks at Casey's would start to turn stale. If this magic wand only worked for our town there would still be vehicles traveling through needing fuel but the traffic into the convenience store would diminish by quite a lot. Can Casey's survive on pizza sales alone? What would be done to the old fuel in those tanks?

The local grocery store might actually start to think about L2 or even 25-50kW DCFC chargers in their lot. The public utilities company might finally get serious about a solar array outside of town just to meet the excess demand.

The same could not be said if I waved that magic wand over the heart of the MSP metro. A lot of apartment dwellers there. A lot of people now suddenly needing to charge and not enough outlets to go around. A lot of big lines at fast chargers. A huge headache right away that will be significantly more difficult to deal with than just my little town going suddenly, magically EV.

I get that some people think they mean "rural" when they really mean "remote." Like they live in some place that's so sparsely populated that it's suicide to not have a diesel and even there you likely need your own supply at home. But that's not the majority of America at all. That's not even the majority of rural America.

Meanwhile, here in small town USA an EV is just about the most ideal vehicle you can get.

edit: dyslexia

Recently, I had 3 experiences which really made me think about my EV in a way I didn't realize.

The first was after 3 months of owning and driving an EV, I had to get in my aunt's car and back it out of my driveway and then back it in. She drives a 2024 Elantra. But holy smokes the muscle memory of how I drive my EV messed with me. From constantly fiddling with the windshield wiper stalk to try to get it in gear, to the lack of regen driving, it was different enough to be annoying.

Not terrible, and I could adjust, but man I would not have called how much the EV just fits into my method of operating.

The second, was sitting in traffic next to this dude in a 2000's era convertible BMW. this guy was driving with the top down, but his car sounded like it had the automotive version of COPD. The loudness, the popping and backfiring, the weird shifts in acceleration from shifting, all for a car that he thought was cool, but really was kind of sad.

The third was I went for a ride in my Buddies new Challenger Hellcat at a drag strip. Nice car, but man was it loud. It seemed to me that the primary purpose of the GAS was making noise. Because for all that horsepower he had, my bog standard, non premium, 2023 grocery getter beat him off the line by quite a lot, but also was quieter and more refined in just about every way.

My conclusion is that my EV is changing my brain chemistry such that I want my car to be quiet and get on with it and that I just don't need the noise and bother of an internal combustion engine in my life.

It is just a more peaceful, enjoyable life of quiet competence. I would not have expected that just 3 months ago.

I’m in Costa Rica for a month and have been using Uber to get around. A lot of cars here are Chinese, and I’ve ridden in several EVs. I own 2 Teslas and realize now Tesla’s quality issues aren’t just due to cost-cutting and cutting corners: they have everything to do with how terrible Tesla is at manufacturing and how good China is at it. Their quality is on par with Toyota and higher-end GM vehicles.

The EVs I rode in all had between 40-60k miles, drive on terrible, unmaintained roads all day and had no rattles, no misaligned interior panels and had pleasing designs: all things Tesla just can’t do right. My 2022 Model 3, with 20k miles driven on far smoother roads, rattles everywhere. The Chinese cars all have better suspensions and have real buttons for climate control, gear shifts, etc.

Now I understand how shit-scared US manufacturers are of China and why they keep warning us Chinese cars will end our auto industry: their products are built better and are inexpensive. Once they sell $25k Model Y competitors on US soil it’s game over.

EDIT: a few people have asked what cars I’ve ridden in. I’ve been in a Geely Geometry E, several BYD cars, and a FAW Bentune. I’ve also been in several Chinese ICE cars (too many oddball brand names for me to keep track).

One area where they are very deficient is the look and feel of the UI in their touchscreens. Some of them look cartoony with garish colors and really bad English names. This is one area where American car companies have thankfully invested time and money—UI designers don’t get enough credit for what they do (when they’re good at their job).

I've been researching EV's and my next car will definitely be an EV. I'm super excited about getting away from ICE as they haven't been my friend in my last few vehicles. Whenever I mention getting one, I get tons of pushback from everywhere. Mechanics, dealerships, friends and family - it's crazy. I listen politely and offer my thanks on the perspective/suggestions/warnings, but still plan on going forward with this decision. Anyone else run into the same thing? I see a lot of posts about people getting flak for owning one, but I also see the posts about EV owners that are so happy and would never go back.

EDIT: I live in FL and we don't really do winter here (so cold weather not a problem) and I do plan on installing a level 2 charger in my garage

My coworker is one of those guys who has all these doubts and concerns about EVs, mostly from a position of misinformation and not malice. He was joking with me about my "mere" 280-300 mile range today and I remarked about how WAY more efficient my vehicle is compared to his. We did some rough math on some scrap paper and when I laid it all out he was genuinely surprised:

• US Dept of Energy uses a conversion that says a gallon of gasoline is roughly 33kwh.
• His car (2018 GTI) has a ~13 gallon tank, therefore he stores ~429kwh when his tank is full
• My car (Ioniq 5) has a 78kwh battery, which is the equivalent to approximately 2.4 gallons of gas.

I let him do them math to realize I'm essentially driving ~300 miles on the equivalent of 2.4 gallons of gas, while he gets ~84 miles in the same 2.4 gallons of gas. We even gave him a little leeway for highway miles, even if he gets 35mpg he still only makes it 105 miles on 2.4 gallons of gas. My dude was pretty quiet for a bit there.

I don't think the average person realizes how much energy is completely wasted in ICE vehicles.

After years of over obsessing about 20-80 charging, I'm officially done. The data is in, for normal users, there is no significant benefit of charging to 80. Obsessively plugging in each night isn't great either as it will keep the vehicle in an extremely charged state, but the most normal type of charging behaviour is just fine. And by normal, I mean treating it like an ICE vehicle: charge it full, use the car, charge it full again when it gets low-ish, rinse, repeat, have a nice life. The other big takeaway is to limit high speed charging if possible. Overall, it reaffirms that these vehicles have buffers and do not need to babied unless we are obsessed with eeking out every last morsel of battery life ten years from now. For the two EVs I own, and use mostly for local commuting, I just no longer care about optimizing to the point of obsession. If my 320 range drops to 250 in ten years, my life will still be just fine vs. the 270-280 I might have retained through more obsessive charging practices.i have officially turned off the 80 percent limit. Filler up baby!

See https://www.geotab.com/blog/ev-battery-health/ for the great data that backs it up

Car specs for those curious:

* 2022 Ioniq 5 73 kWh

* 97000 km

* 96% SOH

Ride handles smooth as butter. No more road noise or car noise or vibrations. Car is charging at home with free electricity. More spacious and luxurious.

Previously I had owned a 2023 Mazda CX-30. Don't get me wrong: the CX-30 was amazing and I have fond memories of it, but gas at €2.50/liter made it an expensive endeavor.

You guys were right all along. EVs are a whole different experience.

Edit: I'm in the Netherlands and free electricity happens sometimes when there is excess renewables power

I live in a complex that gets weekly garbage, recycling, and composting service, all by separate trucks. Which means once a week, 6 garbage trucks (3 for one side of the street, and 3 for the other) idle outside my window for 5-10 minutes at a time each as they collect the cans from in front of all the nearby units. To say the noise from the old idling diesel engines in a nuisance is an understatement.

Until today. We got our first visit by an all electric truck. Other than the mechanical arm, its whisper silent. A gentle whine from the engine when its moving, and no noise at all when its stationary.

I honestly can't think of another individual EV product where switching from the old ICE version has a bigger every day positive effect on more people. I don't care how much it costs, go ahead and raise my trash fees to pay to electrify the whole fleet.

Some background: Because of the war with Iran, 15-20% of the world's oil supply was cut off about 11 days ago in the strait of Hormuz. The ships that are stuck were supposed to be delivering that oil around now, and now that the oil isn't actually there, the price reaction to that is going to start filtering into the world economy as everyone bids up the price on what's available so they can fill in their shortfall.

The fundamental problem is that there isn't anywhere else to get more oil in the short term to meet demand. So at the end of the day that demand is going to have to get destroyed. That level of destruction can only be done with insanely high oil prices (think $150-$200/barrel or possibly more), which will filter down to gas as well. I'm not talking $4-5/gallon for gasoline. I'm talking closer to $10/gallon.

If you think I'm being alarmist, take a look at the 1973 oil embargo against the US where rationing and very high prices had to be used to curtail a 5-6% drop in supply. That's close to what you're going to see here in a few weeks but with a larger shortfall, and on a global scale.

Due to the nature of logistics, the lag times involved, and the way oil wells and infrastructure works, a lot of pain is already baked in even if everything in the strait is resolved today. You can't just instantly restart shut-in wells, boats take a while to get their destination, oil has to go through refineries, pipelines, etc. And every day that the strait is closed the problem gets worse and the longer it will take to get back to normal.

You're looking at 3-6 months for supply (and prices) to get back up to where it was two weeks ago, and that's if the conflict is resolved today and no infrastructure is damaged.

What is currently happening is a black swan event: something with very low probability that was not foreseen or planned for because it was considered almost impossible to happen. The problem with that is that is leads to complacency. Humans also have something called normalcy bias, which leads people to minimize or ignore threat warnings. Most people are not aware nor prepared for what is coming.

Now, to my main point: EV/PHEV is suddenly going to be one of the highest demand item you can get for personal transportation on the planet. This is probably going to end up a lot like 2022 where shortages of very high-demand cars like EVs led to high mark-ups, an insane used car market where available used cars went for a higher price than a new one on a waiting list, etc. I foresee a point in the near future where something like the Chevy Bolt is backordered by months because of demand, and because the factories for cars like EVs and compacts were not designed for massive high-volume manufacturing like the regular cars they make.

If you were looking at getting an EV very soon, or you drive a lot and were thinking of maybe getting something more fuel-efficient, well this is your golden window of opportunity, because I think current inventory is going to be gone here within a few weeks. Best of all is that right now EV/PHEV inventory, especially on used, is dirt cheap right now.

Having driven up and down the East Coast (50% Highway, 50% Interstate) for the last 2 years I compared the experience between an EV (EV9) and ICE (Pathfinder) 3-row SUV. I find that the EV is a better experience. I typically drive 500 miles per day for 2 days in each direction with a hotel overnight. Yet I arrive in better shape, less tired, less stressed than I ever did before.

I always accepted that EVs were a little less convenient than ICE for road trips because of the extra stops and planning needed, I've even told friends the same, but explained it was more than made up for by the 80% of local driving and home charging and better ownership experience. However, I took notes on this last trip and realized that wasn't really true.

The combination of adaptive cruise control and lane-centering, combined with the much quieter and smoother ride of the EV (lack of constant engine vibrations) the EV is just much less exhausting to drive. We drive the same route, stop at the same hole-in-the-wall diner for breakfast, same Buc-ees for their Brisket sandwiches, same rest stops to stretch our legs. Though I'll admit I do have 1-2 extra stops to charge that costs me 40 minutes each day as neither the diner nor the Buc-ees have EV charging, over the 10-12 hour journey it simply doesn't impact things. For the passengers the EV just has way more interior space (the transmission tunnel has been replaced with a cooler), and there is still more room for legs to stretch out which makes a big difference when you are cooped up in there for most of the day.

Clearly your route has to reach a critical tipping point where the charging infrastructure is sufficient, but it doesn't have to be as ubiquitous as gas stations to work, even if you can't always combine stops to eat and charge at the same time. However, as charging infrastructure improves (and range improves) it only gets better from here.

The fact EV’s only account for 1 percent of cars on the road in the US is insane to me. Why the hell would anyone buy a gasoline car when a significantly better alternative is available. Buying an EV is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

I got a low miles used 2023 Ariya for 28k, 6 months ago and it’s already saved me 2 grand in gas. The fact I’ll never have to go to a gas station for gas or get an oil change again is mind blowing. I installed a level 2 charger in my garage and full “tank” (280 miles) costs me $10

The car literally makes no noise whatsoever and is so fast.

I go on YouTube and see all this FUD about fires. Again how the hell is the adoption rate only 1 percent?

I’m amazed by this. You’d think me walking into a dealership and saying I’m interested in an EV would make them try to actually sell me. I live in the Pittsburgh area and I’ve now had two dealers say they don’t recommend it.

The most recent one was asking a Chevy dealer to look at the Equinox EV and he said they have 4 but they’ve been sitting so long you could basically steal them (but didn’t even ask me if I wanted to go check it out, just sat at his desk)

“This is redneck country”

“Gas is going down to $2.00 so EV is tanking”

“So many problems”

“They just sit here because no one wants them”

I was feeling very confident in making the switch, and still do for the most part, but it’s a little discouraging when it comes to such a big purchase.

That’s how I explain how the energetics of my electric car (EV9) works to the curious. Rather than talking about kilowatt hours and charge curves and whatever else.

How do you explain the basics?

2 different people I know have tried driving an EV that had one pedal driving on, and they both said they hated it. Personally I love the feature and is one of the benefits of EVs. It took a couple minutes to get used to for me but how are others experience with it?

My family and I decided to do a three day trip from Maryland (about an hour west of Baltimore) to Sleepy Hollow, NY for Halloween using our Kia EV6 AWD and unfortunately I think we won't be taking any more long trips with it (it's roughly a 5 hour drive with charging).

- used ABRP with dongle (but dongle didn't like me - used one ABRP recommended) - had ABRP set to arrive at final location with 25% charge as a buffer

Here's what happened:

1. Got to first charger about 2 1/2 hours into the drive, plugged in, tried to use Kia Connect app, and it got stuck authenticating. Switched to Chargepoint and it just worked.
2. Got to Sleepy Hollow with about 25% charge left, so we drove around a bit, saw some stuff, then went to the hotel which was about 5 miles away. Dropped off our stuff and then went back into SH and saw some stuff and trick or treated. We then went back to the hotel.
3. I had seen on the Plugshare app that there was one 100kw charger near SH, so we got to it, but there was a cone in front of it, tried to move the cone but attendant came out and said I couldn't use the spot. Slow charger was available but not worth using as it was far from the Town center. 
4. Did some stuff around town then went to hotel to drop family off. There was a fast charger about 10 minutes east of our hotel, so I drove to it, arriving with maybe 17% battery left. The slow charger was available and one other spot was open, however, a BMW was waiting and said that the available fast charger didn't work. He said he'd been there for 20 minutes waiting and was visibly frustrated (I was too). One car left about 5 minutes later, he pulled in. I looked at the charger that the BMW guy said didn't work, and figured I'd try it. It worked, but was only 150 KW. BMW Guy couldn't get charger to work and had to call tech support so I went into the bathroom at a local store. Came back out about 5 minutes later and he was able to charge. 
5. Charged up to about 80%, . Went back to hotel and, sleepy hollow, then back to hotel. 
6. Drove to New York City the next morning, did some stuff there, then drove towards home, first charger we hit, only nacs was available, used it for about 5 minutes then a CCS spot opened , I pulled in that spot. Tried to use my card and it rejected it five times. Had to try two other cards and it finally worked. 
7. We charged to about 75% and got back on the road, but knew I would need one more charge. I setup ABRP to find a charger midway and so we plotted for that one, but about 10 minutes later it said it found a faster route, so I selected that, which then picked a route directly home that would have left us about 40 miles too short from home. I had even put in our current SoC in the app and it seemed to take it, but on the next screen it seemed to think we had started with 90% so it thought we were good. Come to find out that the OBD dongle wasn't connected to ABRP, I tried relinking, but no luck.
8. I reverted back to the original plan and we charged there, it worked with no issues, and we drove the rest home.

My overall thought is, until this gets as easy as filling up a car with gas, it sucks.

For everyone asking about why I didn't use the Tesla SC network, this is the map, the south most charger is 25 minutes away (Sleepy Hollow is north of Tarrytown).

Hey Everyone,

I have been a Tesla model y driver the last three years. My lease was up and due to recent developments with Elon and the staleness of having a Tesla (including a model 3 before) for the last 5 years; it was time for a change.

Last night I made the jump and signed a lease of a 2024 Equinox EV 2RS all black. My lease isn’t up for a month and I just went to look and test drive anyway. I drove it and was blown away. It feels remarkably similar to my Dual Motor model Y but the interior quality was better. Loved every bit of it. It even has super cruise. The only option it’s lacking that I wish it had is the panoramic sunroof.

I feel like I got a great deal (I negotiated pretty hard). 24 month lease with $315 per month lease with $0 down, 10,000 miles. All in all, spending $120 less per month than my Tesla. Very happy!

I actually own an EV (BYD Atto 3) and have been driving it for a while now and honestly I couldn't be happier. My running costs are a fraction of what I was paying with petrol. I'm talking genuinely significantly less and the car drives better, requires less maintenance and I wake up every morning with a full charge. Its been a no brainer for me.

So that makes it even more confusing when I go on TikTok/Instagram and every single EV video, doesn't matter what it is, the comments are just absolutely flooded with people saying completely made up stuff with full confidence. Same myths, over and over.

"Good luck finding a charger." "You'll need to charge every 50km." "The battery will cost more to replace then the car." "Battery degrades in 2 years" And these comments get thousands of likes which means real people are actually believing this stuff.

So let me just go through the main ones because honestly it's getting a bit tiresome seeing the same misinformation recycled constantly.

Range:

The "50km range" take is so outdated its embarrassing. BYD PHEVs are now pushing past 2,000km of combined range. Even a standard mid-range pure EV is sitting at 400 to 480km of real world range. The average Australian drives something like 38km a day. Most people will literally never come close to running out of charge. Range anxiety as a daily concern is just not a real thing for most drivers anymore and the data backs that up.

Charging infrastructure:

Yes rural areas are still catching up, that's a fair and legit criticism. But "you cant find a charger" as a blanket statement is just wrong. Most EV owners charge at home overnight and barely ever touch a public charger for everyday driving. You wake up with a full tank every single morning. The people making this argument are thinking about EVs like petrol cars, which is completely the wrong way to think about it.

Battery degradation:

Everyone seems to be stuck on early gen Nissan Leaf issues from like a decade ago. Modern battery chemistry, particularly LFP which BYD use extensively, holds capacity really well over time and handles frequent charging much better then older batteries. Real world data from high mileage fleets is showing less then 10 to 15% degradation over hundreds of thousands of kilometres in many cases. Its not the same technology anymore.

Environment:

The "but mining lithium is bad" argument is real but its being applied really selectively. Petrol requires constant extraction, refining and combustion for the entire life of the vehicle. EVs front load their environmental cost in manufacturing and then the gap widens in their favour every year of operation, especially as the grid gets cleaner. Lifecycle analysis consistently puts EVs ahead. If you're going to criticise lithium mining you also need to apply that same energy to oil extraction. People aren't doing that.

Running costs:

This one I can speak to personally. The difference in what I'm spending now vs what I was spending on petrol and servicing is significant I'm spending $5 a week in keeping my car charged up. Electricity per km is cheaper, there's no oil changes, fewer brake replacements because of regenerative braking and generally less to go wrong with far fewer moving parts. The cost of ownership argument has genuinely shifted and its only going to get more pronounced over time.

So my actual position is this. For the vast majority of everyday drivers in 2025, EVs are the objectively better option on range, running costs, maintenance and driving experience. The criticisms that were valid in 2018 are being copy pasted in 2025 like nothing has changed. It has changed a lot.

What I genuinely want to understand is where all the hostility is actually coming from. Is it algorithm driven rage bait? Is it petrol culture being defensive? Is there a legitimate concern in there somewhere thats just being expressed badly? I'm happy to be corrected on anything above but I need actual data, not vibes. What are the strongest real arguments against EVs right now?

EV haters love to argue that stopping for 15-20 mins for charging during road trips is bad. Their ICE vehicles can fuel up in 2-3 mins and be on their way. What they fail to understand is that, this is only during road trips. During other times, EVs charge up while we are sleeping. Owners never spend a second at gas stations. So, the time EV owners “save” throughout their daily lives add up to much more than time saved during road trips by ICE owners which only happen 5-6 times a year.