Title text:
Now that I’ve finally gotten an electric vehicle, I’m never going back to an acoustic one.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3214/
Title text:
Now that I’ve finally gotten an electric vehicle, I’m never going back to an acoustic one.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3214/
So if you’re in a country where it’s economically feasible to continue maintaining cars beyond 15 years, why wouldn’t you think that the much cheaper electric cars wouldn’t dominate the market even more?
Compared to the U.S.'s low adoption rates, EVs sell at higher rates in certain rich countries like Norway and Denmark, middle income countries like China and Turkiye, and poor countries like Estonia and Nepal. The cheapest EVs, globally, are cheaper than the cheapest ICE vehicles.
The cost of maintaining a car to last 20 years can be applied to EVs and ICE cars alike. I suspect that EVs will be easier to maintain to those ages. In the U.S., that doesn’t really happen in large part because our labor and parts network is expensive enough that buying new is comparably cheaper than repairing, past the 15 year mark, for most vehicles. EVs don’t actually change the equation any.
So how are mechanics going to solve the battery problem? Maybe replace dead batteries with used but still somewhat working batteries? But then after 20 years all batteries for that same model will be dead.
Or are you trying to say that poor people will be able to buy newer cars than they do now, because rich people will dump them sooner?
Why not replace them with new batteries?
Also, you’re not engaging with the fact that the typical ICE car lasts an average of 12 years. If there’s a batch of survivors that lasts much longer than average and are accessible to the people of your country, what makes you think the same won’t be true of EVs when they get old enough?
I will be honest, it’s not like I’m doubting your data, but that number is hard to swallow, a 12 year old car is basically new. Even if people in America throw away new cars just because they need some minor repair that doesn’t mean the car can’t survive 20 years more with proper maintenance.