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Comment by biomcgary | Hacker News Reader

My family bought both our current vehicles (Toyota) with >100k miles and they are now around 250k. Average cost (including depreciation!) is <$2k per year, so a little more than $150 per month, each.

Running cars longer is likely to slow down the transition to electric, unfortunately. I really want an EV, but I have never bought a new car and don't ever plan to, so I'm going to be waiting a long time for the market to deliver reasonably priced used EVs. Battery lifetime is also a question.

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in your defense, there’s a non-zero carbon footprint just to build new cars and holding on to old ones longer reduces the impact of having a new one built. And the moral impact, battery tech is still way too dependent on inhumane conditions for miners in Africa. I’ve always been a little worried the kids there are getting sucked into it[1].

For older cars, you can get some milage, engine lifetime, and emissions improvements by using a in-fuel cleaning product like Seafoam from the auto parts store.

[1]: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893...

Funnily enough, just today I’ve decided, or submitted to, running my current non-EV car until the death (it‘s, or mine).

I’ve only got 20 years left on my driving licence and I can’t imagine affording a comparable EV (I drive a 2013 Audi 3.0 Biturbo A6 with ALL the trimmings) and then having to modify the house to get a place to park and charge - just for a car.

> I’ve only got 20 years left on my driving licence

What does this mean?

I'd assume they live in a country where after a certain age they take your license away - that or they expect to live another 20 years on earth.

I think that'd be a really odd way of phrasing it if it's the latter. If it's the former, then I'm really curious where that rule exists, because I'm not aware of anywhere that has a maximum driving age like that.

It'd also be quite stupid. I know >80 year olds that drive just fine. And plenty <40 year olds that shouldn't be out there.

Regular re-evaluation of driving fitness can be a good idea at that age though as not all 80 year olds will be driving well and safely any longer.

The UK drivers licence expires at the age of 70, and henceforth must be renewed every three years after that point.

Is that a big deal in the UK? In a lot of states in the US, everyone regardless of age has to renew every 4 years, and nobody considers needing to renew a reason to stop driving instead.

Nah, no big deal. My father went for an eye test and he did whatever form and it was sorted. Easy.

The same for me. My current car is a 2014 model, with 42k miles on it. I probably drive less than 2,000 miles a year. The car looks great, drives great, and has plenty of safety features.

Unless there's some life-changing event that requires me to get a larger vehicle, I plan to keep this car until it drops, or I do.

> Battery lifetime is also a question.

Are there any "bright ideas" "out there" on how to check (i.e. measure) the battery health of a used e-car ? Do most e-cars have some kind of measure built-in, and are they reliable & credible ?

Most fast-charge algorithms generate an accurate estimation of the current battery capacity in order to terminate the charge cycle.

Presumably this figure is available to the driver, or at least to a diagnostic technician.

I worry about buying an EV will be like buying a used computer....

It is not only EVs, almost all modern cars are DRM locked.

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