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Comment by lastofthemojito | Hacker News Reader

I'm really curious to see how electric cars work for the poor (maybe 25 years from now, not presently).

One of the big selling points of electric cars is simplicity - with far fewer moving parts, less can go wrong and you can hopefully expect a car to last longer.

That's the hope anyways, but the big maintenance item in an electric car is the battery, and of course that's an expensive thing to replace. Will folks be able to do DIY repairs like cobble together battery packs from various sources? Will a decades-old battery that is 50% depleted or more still allow that car to function properly, just with less range? Or will it refuse to "start"?

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Maybe in 25 years.

As is, electrical car means new car and new car means an inane amount of software components that break all the time. Just pick any specific model, say, the Tesla S: You can find people being confused how to turn it off, the car not starting due to software updates, the car being hacked, the being bricked by broken software or lacking connectivity, erroneous warnings, the car only driving backwards due to low battery.

The simplest car is something like a 1998 Corolla and given the current trends in automotive, that will stay that way for a long time.

The downside is needing somewhere to charge them. The poor don't tend to live in houses that you can easily plug an EV into.

They'll have to go somewhere else to charge up, that will charge a premium.

That's the main reason I'm so excited for EVs with useful amounts of solar panels on top. Adding 5-10 miles of range per day is enough to cover a lot of people's commutes, especially those who live apartments that're more likely to be closer to the city. (Folks in sprawling suburbia likely have longer commutes, but also have a place to plug in and charge.)

Looking at the current trend, it's highly unlikely e.g. single casting, structural battery packs. Car companies are for profit, so they have every incentive not to make it repairable. What is more, they are some good arguments to be made against DIY when you have autopilot in the car.

Self-driving cars may help tough, probably 15+ years after it's legal.

As much as I think the solution is "get rid of cars" (or get rid of personal vehicle ownership), I do think reliable cars would make a huge difference for people struggling financially. Not having to worry about the most important tool in your life — the thing that allows you to get to work, to the store, and to appointments — would be a massive stress-reduction for so many people, and stabilize their finances. No more "I can't make it to work, so I lost my job" and no more unexpected $2000 repairs?

Honestly, more reliable transportation might do more to reduce poverty even more than food stamps. (Also, allows you to make your food stamp appointments.)

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