[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by speedyink1

I like the idea of less things to break (at least on commuter cars where "soul" or "driving character" isn't necessary).

My biggest worry is the battery.

If you do not follow the traditional "Don't discharge below 30%/Don't charge over 80%" at all, how long does the pack last? I'm not talking even talking strictly from a mileage point of view either. The chemicals in the battery degrade over time as well. I can see an EV in 10 years with lowish mileage being ok, I can see a 2 year old EV with high mileage being ok, but what about a 10 y/o car with say 200,000 Miles on the clock?

When you think about it, the buyer of a used EV gets MORE information about the car they are considering purchasing than the buyer of a used ICE. If you want to know the health of the battery of a car you are considering buying, just ask the seller to charge it up to 80% (or 100% for LFP) and read out the range. If there is battery degradation it will show up in the range. We charge our car to 80%. Every morning it reads 260 - 262 miles of range. If a year from now it starts reading 255 at 80% I will know it has lost 1 - 2% of battery life. You can’t do that with an ICE. If you are a mechanic or are willing to take a purchase consideration to a mechanic you can quickly diagnose for leakage, gasket health, pressure test the cylinders, and maybe other areas of concern, but you can not get an accurate “% of degradation” of the engine itself.

Originally Posted by speedyink1

Battery replacement cost is huge. Not to mention, with a 10's of thousands $ repair, would you want to invest that in an EV with "old" drivetrain technology?

With ICE cars, you can buy a 40 year old car that may only take a few thousand to get running great.

It’s a bit early to make that type of an assessment. There are very few battery replacements known in the EV landscape. Pretty much anything being replaced aside from replacement due to collision damage is being replaced under the 8 - 10 year, 100 - 150k mile warranties being offered by the companies. Add to that the fact that all batteries are not created equal. While I would not like to replace a Tesla battery outside of warranty, I’d have no issues with a GM Ultium battery. The Tesla batteries are constructed cell-to-pack, meaning all the cells are aligned in the pack, a foam type material is injected to hold the batteries in place. The foam also spaces the batteries to prevent inadvertent contact causing instability. GM’s Ultium batteries are pouches assembled into modules. The modules are then stacked into the pack. The modules are individually replaceable, so in the event of some modules or pouches losing functionality, they can be replaced without replacing the entire pack. Modular replacement at a sub-pack level varies from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Originally Posted by speedyink1

As for sports cars, the gimmick isn't just "pedal go down I go fast", it's also the sound of the motor, the feel of the motor, the connection to it and the transmission and everything.

Not to discredit engineers working on electric vehicles as the work is still impressive, but their inherent simplicity also leaves less room for areas of engagement/excitement.
I can buy an ICE car from 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, and feel like I am having way more fun, even if it's just a car with 130 HP. Maybe it's a tiny high revving V6, with amazing induction sounds, and a crisp free shifting manual transmission. Maybe it's a 180HP V8 with huge sound, lumpy idle, and again, just super fun to master the transmission.
Will there be people looking back at any EV car and go "yeah, this car has so much character regardless of deficiency A or B"? Is there enough to make it feel "special" like many ICE cars in the past still do to this day?

I get this. In fact in a lot of ways I am this. Love the sound of my Camaro. Love the tossability of my MR2. Love rowing the gears in the MR2. But I also really enjoy driving the Tesla. It has character in a lot of ways that the Camaro and the MR2 don’t have and of course the reverse is also true. In my experience, almost all of the people who maintain that “EVs are soulless appliances that take all the excitement out of driving” have never actually driven an EV and are typically proud of that fact. More power to them. Love what you like. But I do get bored with people who’ve never driven an EV telling everyone how horrible they are. Just as I get bored with some in the EV crowd who opine that anything with a tailpipe is a toy of demon spawn. Just to be clear speedyink1, I am not accusing you of same, I’m just on a roll

Originally Posted by speedyink1

I get I kind of have "old school" thinking and really like all the moving parts that just sing when you have the right car on the right road. If you're totally ok with just having the push you back in the seat feeling, all my points are basically moot.

I’m still at buy and drive what makes you feel good and let everyone else do the same.