I switched over to an EV about a year and a half ago and I've been extremely happy with it, but I'm curious to know how many people in OT have taken that particular plunge. While I love my car, I can't pretend that it's all advantages and no disadvantages compared to a comparable gasoline vehicle. For my particular situation, the pros far outweigh any cons to the point that I really don't have to deal with any cons on a regular basis. They definitely are not practical for everyone's situation, though. Here are some of the Pros and Cons as I see them:

Pros:

• Never having to go to a gas station. I charge my car at home in my garage at night as needed.
• Lower "fuel" cost as they are more energy efficient and electricity is (generally) cheaper than a comparable amount of gas. My car will go about 260 miles on $8 worth of electricity where I live.
• Quiet and non-polluting.
• They tend to be more technically advanced cars with extra features you might not get in many gasoline car, such as remote climate controls. In my car, I can turn the heater or AC on from a mobile app and leave them on for days if I wanted to.
• EV charging stations are becoming super common all over the place. There are apps that help you find them. In many cities they are actually more common than gas stations.
• High torque means better acceleration than comparable gasoline cars, particularly from a complete stop. This makes accelerating to pass more effective.
• You never have to worry about discharging your 12 volt battery. Some EVs don't even have a 12v battery anymore.

Cons:

• You pretty much -have- to charge at home in your garage, carport, driveway, etc. Relying on public chargers like you do with gas stations might work, but can be problematic for a lot of reasons (see below). This means that you need to be in a living situation where you have control over where you park at home. At a minimum a regular outlet is required for cars with low range (more on that later) but for cars with larger ranges you need to install a high amp circuit or your car won't fully recharge even if left overnight.
• They tend to be more expensive than comparable gasoline cars, which offsets the electricity cost benefit.
• Some have very poor range (100 miles or so). Obviously these tend to be the less expensive models.
• Electricity costs can be relative expensive depending on where you live. That $8 I mentioned to recharge my car would be closer to $28 in Hawaii during peak hours.
• Charging takes much longer than putting gas in a car. Even with the fastest chargers it could still be 30-45 minutes to bring the battery up to full from near empty. Slower chargers can take much longer (hours), which leads to my next point...
• EV charging stations are wildly inconsistent. With a gas station you pretty much know what to expect (unless you have a diesel car, in which case you have to make sure they have diesel) but EV stations are all over the map. Some are fast, some are slow. Some use a J1772 plug, some use a CHAdeMO plug, some use a new third type that's big in Europe that I forget the name of. Some chargers are free, some are expensive. Some are fast, some are really, really slow (like 3-4 miles of range per hour on my car) and are no good for charging back up during a road trip. That plus different chargers are run by different companies. I have like 4-5 RFID cards and mobile apps for different EV charging companies because I may not know what I'm going to find should I need a charge.
• Extremely cold weather affects battery output and can have a severe effect on range, reducing it to almost half. That means if you have a 100 mile range Nissan Leaf and the temperature drops to well below freezing, you may only get 50-60 miles before you have to charge again. For cars that have low ranges already, that's a huge problem.
• Having a super quiet car can be a negative. I can't tell you how many peoples I unintentionally crept up on people walking down the middle of the lane in a parking lot because their backs were to me and my car makes no noise. Note: They changed the law so that in 2019 going forward all EVs will have to make some kind of noise while driving uner 18MPH for safety.
• Finding chargers in rural areas can be problematic.

Neutral:

• High torque means that some of the normal tech you see in modern cars like Limited Slip Differentials and transmissions. Slip may be controlled electronically but top speed will be limited compared to other high performance cars.
• People park gas cars in EV charging spots constantly. Hell, even some EV owners use those spaces as "EV Parking" and don't bother to plug their cars in.
• Some people like messing with EVs by unplugging their charging cables when they find them.
• Power output is technically affected by battery charge level. However, the amount of difference you'll get generally isn't significant unless you're going for 0-60 or 1/4 mile records.
• Higher carbon cost to produce EVs, mainly because of the battery. This offsets the environmental benefits of a non-polluting car.

The cons list seems long, but I'm very pro-EV provided it makes sense for someone. Anyone else have an EV? What do you like/dislike about it?

-Byshop