If it’s not a concern for my phone, why should it be for my vehicle? It is so nice never having to go to a local gas station, when all I need to do is plug in at night

I always heard the concern about electrical service but wonder at the reality. A level 2 charger is the same as a stove circuit: do none of you have electric stoves? You don’t even need that: some people are fine with just an extension cord, some people need a “dryer outlet”, I have never come close to needing the level 2 charger: is it really important that my EV charges in a couple hours vs by morning?

Also, hasn’t 200a service been standard for new homes for a couple decades? If someone can afford an EV, they are much more likely to have a newer home so already have 200a service

Really the biggest part of the price gap now seems to be volume. Not enough new cars to offset the R&D and bring prices down. Not enough new cars for there to be a healthy used car market. And especially not enough non-premium cars

They were a fantastic idea but:

• too many people never plugged them in, so you just have a slightly heavier ICE car
• they would have been a great transition to full EV, but full EVs are now functional enough for most people (we need to get the volume up to get the price down)

I suppose they’re still right for some people but generally it’s just Toyota looking back to do what they should have been doing ten years ago

7000lb all electrics

This idea overlaps the big truck mentality: most EVs are much lighter. The weight penalty averages only about 20% over an equivalent ICE, so the type of vehicle you get can be a much bigger impact. My EV is a mid sized SUV that may be the biggest car I’ve ever owned and it weighs 4,000 lbs. I’m not claiming it’s light, but it’s much better than you seem to think

bro is literally just advocating for public transportation

Seems to me that bro is arguing against EVs when that may be the best choice in an individuals control. Even if we’re all for public transportation, that takes years and millions to improve, so EVs may be the best choice available for the time being

I think they were trying to say that every individual who uses their car less is an improvement.

I live outside Boston, which has among the best transit in the US but it doesn’t take me everywhere. My town is quite walkable but also hilly and with weather. I do choose to walk, or ride the train when I can, but I still need a car. Improving this enough for most prople to dispense with cars will be a very long time. In the meantime, my use of EV, walk, train is a huge improvement of my brother in the Midwest using ICE car for everything

Only you can judge your own circumstances but it really seems like fear of difference makes worries loom larger.

Here in the US

• my Tesla was the most expensive car I ever bought
• but price had dropped and continues to drop
• cheaper than the average new car, cheaper than the custom trucks so many neighbors have
• it was like $120 to buy a full set of adapters and cables to allow me to plugin anywhere to any type of outlet
• installing a level 2 home charger (if you can) was essentially the same cost as installing a new stove circuit - expensive but quite doable
• superchargers are all over the place and easy to find. I know people who can’t charge at home just goto the supercharger once a week
• since I can charge at home, I’ve only used superchargers over 100 miles from home
• it’s really nice to never have to go to the local gas station: charging my car is like charging my phone, get into the habit and it’s always ready to go. Once people get used to this, they’ll never accept the idea of a technology like hydrogen where you would have to go refuel yet again
• it’s roomier, more practical than my Subaru
• it’s faster more powerful than my old Grand Am
• my local garage services them, or at least inspects them, since I haven’t yet needed service

There will always be a better choice on the horizon, but you can’t let that into delaying forever. Batteries in use right now are better the environment, even when judging by the entire lifecycle, and if sodium batteries happen, they are farther off than you’re likely to keep your vehicle. It does not pay to keep pushing it off

I think of the mining issues somewhat like nuclear power. That mining is also very problematic and destructive to the environment. However in both cases, it’s a relatively small amount. Even if the local environmental or social cost is higher, it is such a small amount of material that the overall cost is still lower.

Also, consider supply and demand. Every article talking about how bad. The mining is, mentions how there’s reasons more developed countries don’t do it. Recent years have seen several announcements of newly discovered resource in the US, for example. Will they be mined, despite higher worker safety and environmental protection? One way to encourage this is higher demand, raising the price enough to drive their profitability

And I don’t get this. I mean I also love the feel of power you get from a large engine turning over, but really? You over there in that mustang making all that noise and effort, really straining to accelerate, while my Tesla effortlessly leaves you in the dust? Do people not understand how much more powerful it feel to be the fastest car with seemingly no effort?

which causes more road wear and more tire wear (and more micro plastics

I’ll buy more tire wear and microplastics, but argue the reduction in carbon emissions still makes it a better choice. However I don’t think there’s a noticeable difference in road wear. We’ve all heard the claim that road wear increases dramatically with weight, but compared to large trucks, EVs are still in the category of “close to zero”

no established break-even point for carbon emissions over ICE vehicles. The estimates… vary wildly–from 13,000 miles to 94,000.

I once read an article that I wish I kept, that addressed this (for US) by calculating per state, based on each state’s typical energy portfolio. While you’d really need your local energy portfolio, state level really improved accuracy and gave something you could use.

West Virginia and Wyoming really stood out. As the two states still getting most of their electricity from coal the break-even is further out - I think it was as long as 14 years typical driving. Don’t buy an EV yet if you live in those states, unless you have solar.

Several states with more renewables or nuclear, had break-even as low as 2 years typical driving.

For most of us, the breakeven is low enough to consider the switch. It’s important to remember that electricity generation is getting cleaner all the time, even in Wyoming, so it’s quite likely the break-even point will move toward you over the years of owning a vehicle

Given the massive amount of things some women carry in their purses, and the plethora of choices in sanitizing wipes, I don’t understand why this isn’t solved already. If you’re afraid of butt rabies or see something suspicious on the seat, a quick wipe and you’re done. I understand most of us don’t want to carry more stuff but I’ll bet there’s a big overlap between people who already do and people who are afraid of butt rabies

Coed bathrooms at college seemed to work pretty well, and even improved privacy in some ways.

• everyone washed their hands. Nothing like peer pressure to encourage that
• stalls had walls and doors
• urinals had little privacy walls line so many no longer do

So if I’m using a urinal and someone walked in, regardless who they were, all they see is some guy standing there. If someone uses a stall, regardless of who they were , I can probably tell that it’s occupied and maybe judge them for their shoes, but that’s it. What’s the problem?

they may have had reason to believe the remaining complaints were not valid or not actionable or not in scope.

Maybe it’s my biases showing but while I can see the possibility that they’re not doing their job, only investigating a minuscule percent, I can also see possibilities that they were set up to fail, or that most complaints are obvious fakes or their scope is limited so most are not relevant.

I know I’ve never had reason to complain about the wrong person using the wrong bathroom. Have you? This really seems like a non-problem.

Of course im also on the side of fewer restrictions. Even back several decades ago when I was in college, the bathrooms in my dorm were coed, and we survived.

Realistically the only complaint I ever had was more age related. One time a Dad brought his kid in the changing room at the pool and did not use the curtained off area: she was really too old for that. She was clearly aware and uncomfortable being surrounded by naked guys - this could have been better handled. As a Dad myself, I let my kids go in themselves before that age so I mainly blame him being overprotective. Or at least I blame him for not using the curtained area that was right there that would have given her a little privacy

If you’re looking for a 10,000 pound vehicle, and are not one of a very small percentage that needs it, you have other problems. Yes, EVs are too heavy, but think like 20% heavier that on comparable, it’s not that bad. It’s only excessively huge inefficient trucks that are that heavy. My mid-sized SUV EV is a 4,000 pound explosive, thank you very much.

One of the benefits, if you’re able to install a home charger, is to never really have to think about refueling. Think of it like charging a phone and just get into the habit of charging over night. I need to recharge a couple hours per week, but I never have to go anywhere. When I get home, if the car is below 50%, I plug in. Then It’s always just ready to go without me ever waiting or going anywhere. So much more convenient than gas stations. Granted road trips aren’t as convenient but they’re also not as bad as people fear

If I were expecting to buy a car for $1-2k, I’d expect it to be on its last legs, even for ICE. Unless you’re comfortable fixing it yourself, any significant repair is already not worth it

Great, and I’m sure the same applies to public chargers, for those making the excuse that there aren’t any near them.

Yes, we need a lot more public chargers, especially to make charging convenient, but there really are some near most of the population

There’s no reason to need a garage. Mine is full of kids crap so I never park there, and just had the charger installed on the exterior p of my garage where it’s convenient to my car in the driveway. They’re all weatherproof and it’s not like someone is going to spend hours in your driveway charging their car to steal a couple bucks of electricity. Or, at least for Tesla, every car has a unique identifier, so you can configure a white list of allowed vehicles while blocking every phone else.

I don’t know what telematics the Leaf had, but you’re describing what Nissan tried to do with that