Will I ever switch back to an ICE vehicle?
I’ve talked to a lot of people about EVs since I bought my first EV a little over a year ago (including at a an EV show last month). By far, the most common question I am is asked is “Would you ever go back to ICE?”
For those not in the know, ICE standards for Internal Combustion Engine and refers to a vehicle that runs on gas (or diesel).
The answer to that question, for me, is a resounding and emphatic “No”.
But why is that? Below are the primary reasons I give people.
Quietness and Smoothness
Although I’ve always liked cars and driving in general, I’ve never much liked the noise they make, especially when accelerating. An engine has lots of explosions going on inside of it and that sound leaks out, no matter how well insulated things might be. The noise leaks into the cabin and leaks to the outside adding to noise pollution and making city streets more annoying to be around.
Sitting inside an EV while driving is remarkably serene. Even the EVS that let in the most noise, such as Tesla Model 3s, are quieter than most ICE vehicles.
Related to the quietness is the smoothness. There are no vibrations when the car is sitting at idle. When idle an EV is utterly silent. Sometimes a fan might kick on, but that’s about it.
After driving an EV for a while, if you switch back to an ICE vehicle as I sometimes do when I have to drive my wife’s Toyota RAV4, it feels like things are broken. The car’s small shakes and vibrations are unsettling. The engine noise when accelerating is also annoying.
The quietness of EVs is definitely my favorite thing and as adoption continues to rise this will have a huge benefit to cities and neighborhoods. The din of engine noise will become a thing of the past and it will be more pleasant to walk around, with no exhausts fumes or other irritants.
Speed
It’s hard to explain the instant speed of an EV. You really have to drive one to understand it. First, an EV only has a single gear. There is none of the shifting that causes small hiccups as you accelerate an ICE vehicle. I keep using the word “smooth”, but is also applies here. EV acceleration is silky-smooth.
But the other thing is that the torque of an EV motor is available instantly. Unlike with an ICE vehicle where getting most of its torque typically means you have to also get the revs up, with an EV all this torque is available the second you press the go pedal.
And EVs really do go. Even the slowest EV, such as my old Hyundai Ioniq Electric feels faster than most ICE vehicles. And a fast EV, such as my Polestar 2 feels like a race car.
All-Wheel Drive
Many EVs are available with all-wheel drive, but they are typically called “dual-motor”. An all-wheel drive ICE vehicle has its engine in the front and sends power to all four wheel as needed. An all-wheel drive EV has two separate motors, one attached to the front wheels and one attached to the back. This means all four wheels get propelled instantly, which makes AWD EVs even faster off the line and perhaps more stable as well.
Charging at Home
What if you never had to go to a gas station and instead your car filled itself up overnight while you slept? Sounds pretty great, right? Well, that’s exactly what you do with an EV.
For 95% of my driving, I charge at home once or twice a week. I just plug the car into the charger and it charges to the set level (usually 90% for the Polestar 2), usually finishing at some point during the night.
Most EVs are smart so you can tell them when to charge and how much to charge, which basically means you can ensure that your car is fully charged (or nearly so) every time you leave the house!
Charging on the go is done using DC fast chargers and those are plentiful in most populated areas. DC fast charging is more complicated than filling a gas tank, but it is still relatively easy and the navigation system of most EVs will track the charge level and automatically route you to a charger when needed.
Regenerative Braking
With an EV you almost never have to actually press the brake pedal to stop. Instead when you let up on the accelerator, the car automatically begins to slow down (the brake lights come on automatically).
With my Polestar 2, I can slowly ease up on the accelerator and come to a complete stop at a stoplight without ever using the brake. In fact, I’ve driven on 100+ mile trips without having to use the brake once!
Another bonus of regenerative braking is that the EV is using the motors to slow the car and actually generate energy to put back into the battery. Unlike with an ICE vehicle, driving slowly in stop and go traffic is where an EV is most efficient.
Once you get used to this, driving an ICE vehicle that coasts when you ease up on the accelerator feels dangerous!
Low Cost of Ownership
If you do it correctly, an EV can have much lower cost of ownership than an ICE vehicle. EVs are mechanically much simpler than an ICE vehicle and generally require very little regular maintenance, usually just tire rotations.
And long-term maintenance, such as timing belts/chains, turbos, water pumps are all either not preset or not wear items on an EV.
Because regenerative braking is used most of the time, the brakes on an EV last an incredibly long time, with owners often reporting reaching 100,000 miles before they need replacing.
Depending on what ICE vehicle you are coming from, energy costs can be significantly lower with an EV. Even my Polestar 2, which is not a particularly efficient EV, gets the equivalent of of 80mpg or so. That can make a big difference when gas gets more expensive.
A lot of this depends on how you buy your EV. I do not recommend purchasing a new EV as they do depreciate more quickly than an ICE vehicle. If you are considering a new EV, then leasing it is absolutely the way to go.
If you would rather not lease, then purchasing a used one is an even better idea. With the steep depreciation, it is not hard to find lightly-used EVs that just came off a lease for a low price.
If you’re in northeast New England, you should take a look at Green Wave in New Hampshire and Eco Auto in Massachusetts, both of which specialize in used EVs.
EVs are Great!
In short, EVs are great. If you’ve been avoiding EVs because of reasons related to range or battery degradation, then you are worrying about the wrong things and probably have been lied to by people (or industries) that have reasons try to make the benefits of EVs look like negatives. Do yourself and go test drive one!
If you already drive an EV, leave share your favorite thing about it in the comments.
I'm also enjoying my recently purchased Polestar 2 (MY 2023), which I bought certified pre-owned at a great price, thanks to depreciation. This is my 3rd pure EV after buying a PHEV BMW X5. I traded it in for a Model X, which I sold three years later, after my Fisker Ocean One arrived. Despite the company's failure and a couple of now-resolved mechanical issues, I love driving the Fisker, now my weekend car, while I await arbitration proceedings to decide whether to sell it back to the lender. My favorite aspects of EV ownership are the instant torque, minimal and infrequent maintenance, and the ability to plug in at home rather than stopping at a gas station.
Road tripping in my Tesla was not something I ever intended to do. I figured we would always take the CRV for that.
We decided rather impulsively to take the 3 from Cincinnati to Orlando back in 2020, to see how it would be.
It was the easiest road trip ever, way more comfortable than in the Honda. Much is made about charging, and I found it a non issue. In fact, having the car dictate when we stopped removed a point of contention when travelling - when do we stop?
Subsequent trips has seen the car get much better at driving itself, relieving even more of the long distance driving stress.
I mean, the car can handle Atlanta and Tampa traffic.
Fifth Florida road trip starts Wednesday with the new Y.
Won't ever go back to a 'regular' car.