It is a long pending and highly debatable topic – Why Should A Person Not Buy an EV?
Nowadays, everyone is confused by this burning question: Is it better to buy an EV or a petrol car?
How would you know Which is better, a fuel car or an EV car?
There are many more questions in the market as EVs (Electric vehicles) have emerged and brought a new ray of light for a brighter and smarter future.
We know EVs look very compelling and stylish. From Tesla‘s sleek designs to Mahindra’s BE 6 and XEV 9e EV SUVs, everyone is getting attracted to the looks and features.
Governments are also offering incentives for EVs to encourage more use of EVs.
People are more conscious of the environment and want an EV for a sustainable environment.
We also thought the same of reducing the carbon footprint, a better and quieter drive, and also saving on fuel.
Buying an EV or a petrol car has both pros and cons and today, we will talk about the cons of EVs. Isn’t it a contradictory statement? Let us find out.
Here’s why I chose not to buy an EV despite the numerous benefits they offer. Let’s check this in story mode.
Why Should A Person Not Buy an EV? A Personal Experience (Story mode)
Once upon a time, in the Spring season, I bought a stunning EV vehicle for myself, and the very first challenge I faced was the lack of EV models. I just got one variety to choose from and no other options besides a hatchback. Now we have got SUVs also, but in that also we have utmost two model options and the cost of those SUVs were touching the roof, and I couldn’t touch that roof at all. This makes them inaccessible to most consumers.
Then I thought about going for a red hatchback. Now, for a small EV, I also have to give a high upfront cost. Now, we know that the government has provided tax incentives and rebates on EV vehicles, and despite that, the upfront cost of purchasing an electric vehicle is still higher than that of a petrol car.
Even a small Electric vehicle comes costlier than a petrol SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle).
In the long term, EVs could be beneficial as they have less maintenance and fuel costs are low, but they still need a hefty initial investment. Plus, the parts of an EV are costly and can make a hole in your pocket.
At the end of the day, that extra upfront cost simply didn’t seem worth it, especially when I could purchase a high-quality petrol vehicle with a similar range and performance for much less.
Comment what you think about pricing.
Then, after my heavy initial investment in my stylish EV, I decided to go on a long trip from Delhi to Kanpur, which was approximately 500 Km away from each other.
My first concern was the range. When I got my hands on my EV and saw 500 kms on Google Maps, I got range anxiety. I had the fear of running out of battery while driving. Though my EV has never upset me about battery, I was still not convinced that my EV battery would last for long-distance travel.
During my full trip from Delhi to Kanpur, I was scared of not knowing where the next charging station would be. I felt like gambling.
Comment if you feel the same.
This fear is not there when I drive my petrol car because we have a lot of petrol stations, making refuelling easy and fast, but with EVs, the shortage of charging stations in non-urban areas and many urban areas as well and also charging for a minimum of 30 mins in case of a fast charger. This was a dealbreaker for me as I didn’t want to stop for half an hour every few hundred Kilometers just to get a charge, which I needed.
Hence, petrol car’s range, availability of fuel stations, and time to refuel convinced a little to hold off on an EV much easier.
Though EVs are known to have less maintenance, there are costly repairs and costs associated. A significant concern with EVs is the battery degradation over time and long-term maintenance. The behaviour is the same as what we see on our smartphones. After a certain period, the battery peak performance drops, and that is a major concern because battery replacement costs a good amount of money depending on your location it is also possible that the model you purchased a few years back, like 8 years to 10 years, is no longer manufactured and hence replacements provided which is like a nightmare.
For a car I planned to keep for many years, the possibility of a massive, unexpected cost down the road was unsettling.
Furthermore, while EVs are often marketed as requiring less maintenance, there are still significant repairs and costs.
Unlike petrol cars, where all the parts are easier and cheaper to repair or replace, and due to this, I wasn’t sure I was ready for an EV vehicle.
Another factor that was bending my mind was that an EV is considered to be environmentally friendly, but manufacturing an EV will also have a significant impact on the environment. Isn’t that correct?
So, driving EVs produces zero emissions but not the manufacturing process, which involves making the batteries (lithium, cobalt,t, etc), which is resource-intensive and environmentally damaging and could potentially cause more environmental degradation than petrol cars.
The spring season was good for an EV vehicle. But I was surprised how my EV was affected, especially the battery, during extreme weather, both hot and cold. So, EVs are in danger during summers and winters.
Also, when there was a power outage in my area, and I couldn’t charge my EV, I had to take my petrol car during hard times.
So make sure to live in an area where summers and winters are not extreme and are power outages unless you have solar panels installed if you are thinking of buying an EV.
Has this ever wondered to you? Comment in the comment section.
Conclusion
Let us conclude Why Should A Person Not Buy an EV for you to make it clear. Though EVs are very important for future modes of transportation, people like me do not think that an EV is the right choice for me. So, Is it worth buying an EV?
If the combination of range anxiety charging infrastructure concerns high upfront costs or maintenance costs or any other things listed above don’t bother you, then go with the EVs otherwise, drive a petrol car for a few more years until the EV industry is stable and resolves all the above problems.
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