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Comment by AshleyGrant | Hacker News Reader

You can't trade in for a used EV that likely wouldn't cost you anything and would save you money?

I just checked 2015 diesel vehicles on my local craigslist (I refuse to use facebook, though I know that is where most cars are these days). A bunch of trucks for $15k-30k, and a few VWs for $15k. So then I search for electric cars from $10k-$15k and found nothing at all! YMMV in your local areas, but you will likely find the same: in the price range of a 11 year old diesel you will find nothing: EVs were still rare niches 11 years ago.

I did find a few eGolfs and leafs for $5k-8k, but in my experience if a car is that cheap there is a reason for that, so I assume they are unacceptable. There is a chance OP has a diesel truck because he needs a truck which in turn means they wouldn't work even new (the F150 lightning perhaps would)

I did find a few eGolfs and leafs for $5k-8k, but in my experience if a car is that cheap there is a reason for that

The reason is: no one wants them. Three years ago we sold an OG Leaf my spouse’s coworker for $3500. Battery was about 80%, but otherwise the car was flawless. All the buyer needed was an around-town car, and the old Leaf fit the bill. Leafs didn’t go very far on a charge, ergo they won’t have a whole lot of miles in them, and they were otherwise reliable. If it’s all you need, I’d recommend one for cheap.

No if you actually do the math it’s not worth it.

In what way is it not worth it? I'm genuinely curious.

I used to be dead-set-against electric cars but I just bought one and am loving it. The maths is staggering. It's secondhand though as I don't believe new ones are worth it.

You can't find an equivalent for the same price. OP has an 11 year old car that apparently works fine. To get a EV means he needs to spend thousands (or settle for one that is a lot cheaper for a reason) more. We don't know how much OP drives, but in generally I'd expect several years before the savings from the EV are more than the upfront costs.

Now if OP's car is worn out and needs replacing anyway the economics are different.

I'm of the opinion that the greenest car you can have is the car that you currently own!

No matter what you buy, energy was expended to make it! The car you own already has spent the energy. It's done.

So, assuming you're not spitting flames and smoke out wherever you go, your current car will be greener than quite literally anything you can buy, new or secondhand.

Note: I've done zero maths to verify this but it makes perfect sense to me :)

blu nailed it, but to reiterate, if you already have a working car then the cost to to swap to an EV is not worth it. I have done the math with my current car and even with a downgrade it’s not worth it.

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