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Comment by _yb2s | Hacker News Reader

What makes total cost of ownership complex? It seems like modern EVs require little maintenance and are really reliable, even the brakes last almost forever. I leased a new VW E-golf for a while- with incentives it was some crazy cheap amount, I think it was like $29/month to lease a brand new car because VW had to sell a quota of them and wasn't meeting it and this one was almost 2 years old and still new/unsold because it couldn't fast charge. That was really all it cost besides insurance- my work had free charging, and it needed zero maintenance. Great car, I regret not buying out the lease.

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Charging. The network of chargers and the billing is a shit show. Also service which is somewhat variable.

If I fast charge anywhere reliable here (instavolt) in the UK I’m better off driving a petrol car. Helm a coal powered one is probably cheaper. So that limits me to home charging which I can’t do any more because I live in an apartment block.

Owned a model S and have rented a Polestar numerous times.

Yeah, charging when 'out and about' in new places is a total shit show. It worked for me economically because I had free charging at work, and could also charge cheaply at home.

There were some stressful events when I went to like 3 public chargers in a row that were broken or missing, and almost ran out of range before finding one.

Ooh yeah fuck that last one. Especially when you have 2h to return a hire one. Urgh.

I find my EV eats tires much faster than my Honda/toyotas used to. I think it’s a mixture of the additional torque and weight.

The extra weight is a huuuuge factor.

Electrified trucks and freight will likely never be much cost effective given how tires will be constantly worn out.

I strongly doubt that, tire compound and design plays a huge roll, as well as the driver.

I reckon that simply changing the throttle ramp would have a good effect on tire wear

(I daily drive an ev conversion and have seen this first hand)

No "good driving" beats the laws of physics, the extra weight the batteries have will make that happen faster than an ICE.

Of course, battery tech can improve by becoming lighter, more efficient etc, then my argument would change, but without those improvements, I don't believe in it.

Fast acceleration from instantaneous torque delivery is going to increase the chance of breaking the friction barrier between the ground and the wheels. changing that torque delivery curve is going to have a huge effect on maintaining grip. driving habits absolutely have an effect on tire wear.

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