Originally Posted by Dcuda69
Originally Posted by AndyF
Originally Posted by klunick
Wife and I were discussing battery life and EV vehicle pricing tonight. She drives 135 miles a day to and from work(roundtrip). We buy a Camry LE for 27k I can and have kept them on the road for over 300k. With her rate of 36k a year we get our money out of these cars and replace them about every 8 years. Now the problem. Today I read average EV car is 60k. Battery price is what 15k. If the battery only lasts 100k that means I have to replace it at least 2X. That is another 30k added to the 60k or 90k total in 8 years vs 27k every 8 years. Yes, the batteries do degrade. My friend that was an early Model S buyer said initially the car would go 180 miles on a charge. Now 8 years later it goes 130 miles. Fine for her as she drives 30 mile round trip and husband installed a 220 charger(yep, he is an engineer). As I have said elsewhere, in 30-40 years the tech could have these batteries down to briefcase size and EVs cost may come down to be competitive. But for many, myself included, just due to cost an EV is a NO. For the wife, it is a HUGE NO.


Used EVs tend to much less expensive so that is something to look at. I just picked up a used Leaf with only 7000 miles on it that was roughly 50% of new price. If you find a good deal like then your numbers might work out different.


If the value of all EVs drop like that Leaf, it's gonna be a damn hard sell for most folks. A 100k Lightning is worth 50k with just 7000 mi on the clock? That's a big hell no!! My 10 yr old F150 with 65K on it is still worth over 50% of what I paid for it new


EVs depreciate heavily right now because each new generation is so much better than the last. Gas vehicles don't improve so much from year to year so they don't depreciate so much.
I would not buy a new EV for at least the next 5 years. Let other people take the big hit. Anyone who is interested in an EV for a second or third car should look at 2 year lease returns, especially cars that are low miles and certified. When I'm in the market I just watch the mfg website for local certified used cars and I screen for ones with super low miles. My last couple of EVs have been barely used but I bought them at huge discounts over a new car.