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Only 1% of EV Drivers Would Go Back to a Gas Car*
(cleantechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2024
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Electric Vehicles
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I was talking to someone I know well about this, she was in an EV and went back to petrol. Two factors, range anxiety and the EV was "soulless"
That's the same kind of thing people say about vinyl records vs CDs, digital video vs film, 48+ vs 24fps.
All I hear with that kind of complaint is: "It's too good, I'm not used to it. I want what I'm used to, even if it's worse."
Vinyl I find is a much more holistic experience than makes listening to music easier for my ADD.
It becomes a process where I can feel the record, read the liner notes, enjoy the album art, and since it's not easy to just skip a track or change to a different artist I find I'll actually listen to an entire album instead of just individual songs.
As for cars, I don't like a lot of modern regulations forced into vehicles. I really like small, simple machines with analog controls that are intuitive to use. Modern cars in general have grown in size that make them less pleasurable to drive. They also are rife with touchscreens and so many systems are so interwoven with software that it becomes a pain in the ass to modify them.
I don't want something that sings at me if I put a bag on the back seat but don't fasten a seat belt. I don't want something that alerts me that I'm speeding. I don't want an infotainment screen that controls my AC which makes it hard to upgrade my stereo. I don't want my car to have a cellular antenna. I don't want "software updates" that change how my car runs. I don't want an entire system locked behind DRM.
I want a car that looks good, not like current copy and pasted of each other's makes. CR-V? Rav-4? Rogue? They all look like similar piles of plastic.
Cars are something I actively enjoy fixing and working on. They are a hobby and a love. Modern vehicles are turning into iPhones where everything is decided and controlled by the manufacturer.
None of those things is forced by regulation.
You can also do all that album stuff with a CD album. That's what we all did back in the 90s - 2000s. Plus the CDs are a lot more durable than LPs. I still buy music on CD as my first preference but most new music isn't published that way anymore.
Those are great reasons to like vinyl records. They have nothing to do with audio quality.
As far as preferring simple cars, EVs can be just as simple as you want. Look at the Carice TC2. Which is quite cheep for a hand built car.
And all the things you don't like, are in all the new ICE vehicles also. The power-train doesn't matter to any of that.
The sound is different. Or I should say, it is supposed to be. Because of the limitations on vinyl it needs to be mastered differently. Most modern releases don't necessarily take this extra step in the production so vinyl may sound worse than a digital release.
And yea. It just mostly means that I typically buy 20 year old used vehicles and there aren't EVs from back then. Though wrenching on an EV is different than on a ICE.
If they had an EV that met my criteria, I wouldn't mind buying one. But I don't think I'd replace my ICE cars for it. It would be in addition, though probably get driven more regularly than the ICE cars especially for taking the kid to school.
All that said, we both work from home and the most we drive is usually to school or a nearby shop. We'd get by with a 20 mile range car.
I keep the 01 MR2 Spyder because I love having a convertible and my 03 WRX which I've lifted and drives 95% of the time just when it snows and I need the AWD. It probably uses only a tank or two of gas for an entire year. Both of those are used so infrequently that I had to buy and keep them on battery tenders or the battery would be dead between when I take them out.
Our main car is my girlfriend's hybrid accord. We fill the tank every other month, so cost of operating it is around $20 a month. I spend way, way more in insurance than anything else to drive so little. Because the cost to operate and maintain it is so low, it's not worth the expense to buy a new EV and drop the cash on upgrading my electrical service, replacing my very old panel with pushmatic breakers, and installing a new circuit (or my goal being a sub panel) in the garage.
Except all the things you mention are about sensory fidelity and you can make an argument for either. The only "fact" involved in CDs vs vinyl is that the latter is less convenient. The audio warmth being more pleasant to someone's ears is not something you can argue with, it just is for them.
That's exactly my point.
People like the noise and feel of an engine, even if it's objectively worse at doing the primary thing it's supposed to do.
All the things I mentioned have the exact same issue. They have more detail and more accurate reproduction. Which are objectively the point of their medium. But people want less detail and accuracy, because they "like it."
Okay. My apologies. Rather than stating that as a fact, I thought you were judging it. My mistake.
I'm not judging people who prefer vinyl, and other objectively worse things.
I'm absolutely judging people for calling them better, in an attempt to justify why they like them.
I was right then. as you were
Vinyl is actually higher fidelity than CDs though. That's not subjective, it's scientifically verifiable.
It's not. The benefits are all hypothetical. In practical demonstrations, records have dramatically less dynamic range and more distortion. It's not even a contest.
CDs have a digital sampling rate of 44.1 KHz. Vinyl is a continuous waveform as an analog medium, but if you were to digitize it, the equivalent sampling rate would be at 96 KHz or higher.
That's because humans can't hear frequencies above ~20 kHz. If humans could hear the difference, the sampling rate would be higher.
Yes that's the hypothesis.
But in practice the distortion eliminates reliable reproduction at those frequencies, which humans can't hear anyway.
Yeah, but CDs don't have static, aren't affected by dust and there's no hiss. In ideal conditions, vinyl is best, but I don't live in a vacuum chamber.
Back in the day my parents had a high quality turntable and sound system from a very well respected manufacturer, and we had strict rules on how you look after vinyl. The first generation CD player blew it away for sound fidelity.
All you have to do is clean the record before playing it each time. It takes 20 seconds, and I enjoy the ritual.
The soul of a petrol/diesel car, what's that new strange noise, did I change the oil recently, is the cam belt about the explode, acceleration until you have to change gear, inconsistent acceleration, don't cook the brakes going down hill, did I remember to sacrifice to the car gods with morning, how I wish my EV had a soul
Typically I prefer my appliances soulless.
Not surprising that someone who calls a vehicle an "appliance" would say something like this.
For some people (myself included), driving is more than something you're required to do to get from point A to point B. Driving is an experience, something meant to be enjoyed.
I love the feeling of the car communicating with the road through the tires, suspension, and steering, and throughout my body. I like to feel like the vehicle and I are a single entity, and not just something to be driven, something I'm fighting to control. Which is why I prefer small, sporty, nimble roadsters with firm, communicative suspension, and hydraulic rack and pinion steering. Not a giant boat of a crossover that handles like I'm floating on a cloud, with electric steering that vaguely goes in the direction I point the wheel.
I drive not just because I have to, but also because I enjoy doing it. Not having the right car is detrimental to my enjoyment. I need a car with soul. (Just not a Kia Soul.)
You and I are on completely opposite sides when it comes to vehicles. Driving is what I do to get to the thing I actually want/need to do. It's the price I pay to do the things I want when they can't be done "here". The only reason I don't have someone drive for me is because I can't afford that. The only reason I don't have a computer do it for me is because we haven't made one good enough to do it, and I hope it happens soon. If I could teleport to my destination and get back the years of my life spent in a car waiting to do something else, I would. If the odds of my turning into a fly were less than 50% over 50 years, I'd still strongly consider it. As for fighting to control my vehicle, that just sounds like a second job, and I don't want to pay to have one of those.
I get that all those things sound like "soul" to you, but they all sound like "work" and "wasted time" to me.
My humble family EV is the most fun to drive of any vehicle I've ever driven. The acceleration is bonkers and you can beat cars of any badge unless they're electric too. It's such a joy to drive. I used to hate my commute but now I love it.
I'm in your boat but I also care about the planet. I know that not doing everything for commuters today, will mean I will not be able to enjoy my mx5 na, 944 and similar in the future.
I think us petrolheads have a choice: make sure as much as possible is turned green or stop dreaming about true lightfooted joy on the road in the future. I'm thus very positive about electric cars because they are great for almost everyone and most fears are just not warranted. I want as many dinosaur burners as possible to be replaced as quickly as possible so 15 years down the road I can step in a Mercedes W123 or old Citroen DS and know where I am by the smell of it.
Just about everything I drive now is electric. The first gen Model S is okay in terms of communication, even though it weighs too much it is mechanical. It is too fast to be fun. The last gen BMW i3 is zippy and quite fun to drive but many assume they need 400km range on a daily basis and it's not that. If budget doesn't matter, I assume a first gen Tesla Roadster should effectively be fun if you retrofit the charger, it convinced many reporters in its day. The electric drivetrain really lends itself to feeling one with the machine.
We should have our voices heard. We want light communicative cars. But we should get as many as possible on the EV train if we want to enjoy our old toys in the future.
Oh don't worry, I'm completely on board with EVs. I'm just waiting for a proper sports convertible EV to go on sale for less than $30K. If that day never comes, I will eventually convert my 350Z Roadster to an EV and just drive it forever.
I do wonder at how the vibrating nature of a fossil car works into that. I know some people call e-autos "dildo cars", which I guess would make fossil cars "vibrator cars". It annoys me these days, like the car can't just sit still like a normal thing, but I guess some people would like it.
Everyone i know who had actually owned an EV has realized that range anxiety is largely a myth.
Yep, if you buy one that's realistic for your lifestyle a few weeks in something pops and you wonder why people were making such a big deal out of it.
I've looked at a few EVs, and I do keep going "Well not yet" because of the goddamn interiors and controls. All of a sudden they don't have to worry about mechanical linkages and they can't fucking help themselves but make you shift it into drive by tonguing a clit on the ceiling.
I know your mommy didn't let you go into art school, doesn't mean you get to take your creativity out on me.