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Comment by bad_alloc | Hacker News Reader

I just got a Renault Zoe 2020 last December and it's been great. Commuting to work and going to the shops is just as comfortable as with a combustion engine. No gas station visits and even with the high cost of electricity in Germany (0,3€/kWh) it's still worth it. Only when driving longer distances (>250km) you need to plan ahead for charging and trips take longer (1-3 hours).

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I'd go with "more comfortable" when you're talking about a car that can heat the cabin almost instantly, rather than waiting for the combustion engine to heat the coolant enough to trip the bi-metallic thermostat, thereby routing tepid coolant into the heater core in the cabin, and then blowing a fan over it. :)

Takes literally 3 minutes on my car at -10C. If you have issues with cold climates maybe buy a car built in and for cold climates. Like Swedish cars.

Varies on engine size. I used to drive 1.8L with broken thermostat. I had to drive for an hour until it started to get warm.

That is really expensive electricity. Does anyone and everyone with the ability to finance solar panels just install them pronto, or do you not have net metering?

Putting electricity into the grid is almost useless in Germany because you don’t get much back. Solar panels and the legal stuff behind them is expensive and it will take many years to break even. Might be better with an electric car, but you charge your car at night usually. When there isn’t a lot of sun available.

Half of people live in flats - solar is mostly not possible (unless they have system like some countries where you buy a share of solar farm somewhere outside city (arguably much smarter than wrecking roofs with expensive labor)).

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