That time I almost bought an EV

[My future?] Nissan Leaf EV

This is really the beginning of the story that will ultimately end with me buying an electric vehicle or EV - but I’m not there yet. In the poignant, if slightly altered lyrics of Janis Joplin, “My friends all have Teslas, I must make amends!”

I am convinced that I will own my first EV in the near future if for no other reason than to feel better about offsetting the gas-powered emissions nightmare of an SUV that I have been using for a series of cross-country road trips over the past year. But along with the guilt of burning all that gasoline comes the security of knowing I won’t get stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere without fuel. But more on that (“range anxiety”) in a minute.

image source here.

Several months ago, I was poised over the “Buy” button in my browser on one of the online used car shopping sites, ready to trade in a second car I inherited but didn’t really need for an all-electric 2015 Nissan Leaf that I could use mostly for city commuting. But the “dealer” kept running into snags with their internal inspection process and my own window was closing as I was about to head out on another long trip. I was eager to start exploring the joys(?) of EV ownership including how/where to charge it, but I wouldn’t be using the Leaf for my trip so it would have otherwise sat idle while I was away.

So, I closed my browser tab and instead, on said trip, I sought out opportunities to catch up with friends and colleagues who have all gone further down the path of EV and/or hybrid vehicle ownership. Now, I can share some of what I learned about the options that exist and what factors into the decisions people are making about moving off of gasoline-powered vehicles for their own transportation needs.

More EV options than ever!

I am sharing excerpts here from my recent conversations and most of the vehicles shown below are/were owned and used at one point by the folks in my survey. Many of you may be surprised to see the range of options that currently exist for the EV-minded buyer. And I’m sorry that my photo gallery looks like a paid ad - ha!

VW ID Buzz EV

VW ID.4 SUV EV

Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid

Tesla Model X EV

Audi e-tron SUV EV

BMW i3 EV with gas-powered range extender

My Short Survey

It was after I had my fourth, unexpected alternative car ownership conversation that I decided to do a formal survey. I put together a short list of questions for my EV-minded friends and colleagues to better capture and distill some of the early/prevailing wisdom circulating in the US consumer market.

I created the following prompts and promised to anonymize their responses:

1. Describe your motivations for shopping for a pure EV or some hybrid automobile, e.g., both your inspirations and your specific constraints.

2. Was your decision governed more by the idea of “doing what you can to help save the planet” or more by the economic impact on your own personal finances?

3. If you were/are considering both options, explain why you would ultimately choose an EV over hybrid or vice versa.

There are some patterns that emerged in the answers and I will do my best to distill the wisdom of these early adopters.

Motivations & Constraints

In my survey, the drivers (no pun intended) for EV ownership decisions are pretty broad. Some made their purchase for very practical reasons and others seemed more infatuated with the cachet of a particular brand.

“Cars are long lived assets, and I tend to buy a car and own it for 7-10 years. For me, I wanted an EV that was a nice 'car', not a computer with wheels. I wanted something that could be our daily driver that was comfortable around town, but also could get us to the mountains and to the trail head.”

“Tesla first enamored me back in 2013 when their car broke the NHTSA’s crush test machine. I was like, “damn, they didn’t just make a car electric—they rethought cars altogether." I admit I’ve been a fanboy ever since.”

“I want to decrease pollution and improve air quality, locally and globally. The internal combustion engine seems wasteful when used for transport in a dense urban environment. So fuel is wasted idling waiting for stoplights, or creeping through traffic during rush hours or waiting to pass an accident. Battery power seems to be a better fit for these driving conditions.”

“Years ago when I had decided to not own a car and instead to just use Uber, Lyft, and Zipcar. I’m not a car-guy so all the bits about acceleration and linear torque didn’t really sink in. The only part that sank in was, ‘The auto-pilot is very relaxing.’ And the gull-wing doors were pretty cool.”

Takeaways:

• EVs and their hybrid cousins definitely offer a cool factor and their owners are not only proud to drive them but often use the car to initiate conversations about their own individual points of view.

• Nowhere in any of the answers did price come up as a decision criteria even though there are quite a few incentives at the national and state levels and from the manufacturers too.

• For some of the owners, this was their first alternative fuel vehicle purchase but several were already on their second EV or hybrid. Across the board however, there was no regret about their decisions.

Saving the Planet vs. Saving Money

I suspected that this might be a vapid prompt for my audience and I fully expected a lot of “It’s both!” answers. But the range of responses here also surprised me and helped me better understand the mindset for these early adopters:

“EVs are clearly the future, but they are also better cars. So [I] was more focused on buying the 'superior product' than saving the planet or saving $.“

“In my opinion those of moderate means to high wealth have a responsibility to be first adopters of the green technologies needed to save the planet. I certainly do enjoy paying less for fuel and having the ability to recoup some energy (primarily braking).”

“I’m pro Earth, but honestly that wasn’t a huge factor. Rather, electric vehicles are just better. They are faster, quieter, and require virtually zero maintenance.”

“[I decided] we’d just not have a car for a while until the tech got better, and we didn’t need one anyway. I’ve been trying to teach the kids that when you can buy anything you want, then “what you can afford” stops being a useful guide, and “what you really need” is a much better guide.”

Takeaways

• The cost savings that can be realized from buying a newer EV are not nearly as important for early adopters - which generally holds for any new technology. Some owners are choosing Teslas for example, which no longer qualify for tax credits.

• There seems to be agreement that EV vehicles are benefitting from better engineering and that their owners have put a premium on the technology advancements that these vehicles offer.

Full EV vs. Hybrid Alternative

As was highlighted earlier in this article, the number of EV-related options are increasing for new car owners concerned about the impact of burning gasoline on the climate. Most readers are likely familiar with gas/electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius or all-electric vehicles like Tesla’s lineup. I’ll share some excerpts here from my own survey and in future articles will talk more about variations on these themes:

“Hybrids feel like transitory technology. They have all the existing hardware and complexity of ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles, and additional electric components. If I only had 1 vehicle, I can see it as a useful option, but owning multiple cars, for the limited cases where I need extended range I can use my 'other' car.”

“I don't think I have gotten the full utility out of my hybrid investment yet. I am also looking forward to the next generation(s) of EV vehicles to come out now that major automakers have fully committed to all EV fleets within the next decade. I expect to trade gas powered and hybrid vehicles for EVs within the next 24 months.”

“Hybrids are a compromise. It’s a lot of unnecessary expense and complexity to alleviate range anxiety. Fast EV chargers are everywhere these days, and my fully charged range is twice that of my previous ride. No anxiety, no hybrid.”

Takeaways:

• Hybrids were crucial in the very early days to help consumers wrap their brains around something other than a gasoline-powered vehicle but now seem to be losing favor as more all-electric options are within reach of the mass market.

• There is still legitimate concern with EVs about being stranded somewhere without power when your batteries run out. More investment is needed in both building but also socializing the growing availability of EV charging stations. One new EV owner had researched a few long distance road trips and confirmed that would not run into recharging issues along the way which is still a major mental roadblock for EV-curious customers that have latched onto “range anxiety”.

Wrap Up

Electrification is one of the major components of the Energy Transition movement where we will be looking to migrate fossil fuel-intensive sectors to using electricity - ideally powered by clean and renewable energy sources.

In the Transportation sector in particular, that will almost certainly be dominated by the wholesale move to electric vehicles. Changing up consumer car ownership is dominating the headlines at the moment but pushing individual EVs and hybrids are only part of the larger story. Governments and large private companies also need to change over their fleets to electric alternatives if we are going to make a significant dent here. In the US, there is now a major legislative push to invest in converting the government’s massive fleet to electric and to invest in a national electric charging infrastructure to support this.

On a personal level, I do expect to trade up(?) to an EV in the coming months and will share more about that entire experience. In the meantime, I thought it was curious to hear that one of my survey respondents ultimately returned their Tesla after the lease was up after being frustrated that the "auto pilot” tech had not really advanced much and opted instead to go back to a cheap, gas-powered car:

“I opened up the browser, did one search, and pointed to the first result, a 2017 Honda Civic with 35,000 miles…. I took an Uber to where it was and bought it.”