Is going with a fully electric car a good choice?

Kaching999

Kaching999

Galvanizer
My father is looking to buy a new car and seeing the many benefits being provided to EV owners and also the lower cost of ownership, they do seem to be an enticing option, but I am also a bit skeptical seeing the problems with many public EV chargers not functioning properly and also being unavailable in most places other than the major metropolitans.

So should they be considered or not? And if yes what can be expected from the experience and what to look out for?

Which are the ones to consider and avoid?
 
What is your current vehicle?

Monthly use-case scenario- i.e. highway runs, whether it will be used as a daily beater. daily distance driven etc.

Lastly, budget.
 
Well it's not really going to be replacing anything but will be added and mainly used as a family and personal use car by my father so daily usage is to be expected, might even be needed to cover about 240-250km, but will mostly be used in the city. As for daily distance give or take about 15-25km and the budget is under 20L on road.
 
so i have seen only majority of bad stuff of EV (but i think the new styled batteries might be able to help a bit like li-C batteries)
Kaching999 said:
My father is looking to buy a new car and seeing the many benefits being provided to EV owners and also the lower cost of ownership, they do seem to be an enticing option,
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tension na lo electricity bill sub lagbhag lvl kardega, (if you are in maharashtra to to pakka lvl kardega in long term)
(my idiot little brother wanted electric scooter he got one and then rip batteries after a while, a yr or so later, so aftersales service and battery-waale se connection ho to badiya, hamara tha to usne jaise taise change karva dee)
Kaching999 said:
So should they be considered or not? And if yes what can be expected from the experience and what to look out for?
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- for city lvl it should be enough if not best, more like any ev should be enough for city regions (point being small region), long travelling keliye nahi hai ye. bas after sales service/battery-waale logo se achhe sambhand ho to ek major plus point hai.
- they too silent. itna ki, literally kab koi EV pichhe aake khadi hojaye/thokde pata nahi chalega.
not just that even the drivers of ev have said ( even one of my friends ) kind of scared how quite they are and needs use horn more than average in NON-EV. varna lag gaye
- india and temperatures.... if burning , sudden burst in flames then there is no easy way to extinguish them, often times it has been seen that even what is considered a 'extinguished' EV from flames would light up after a while or would keep lighting back up. Aur jaisa india ka abhi temperature hai....... where i live it feelings as if it is already mid april. itna garmi (O_O)
- some EVs cant even open doors without charge, or something in accident cant open doors up (so this is something one needs to checkup in vehicle specs on how their doors work and their history of accidents)
- Resale Value, Battery Degradation: Over time, the battery in an EV can lose its ability to hold a charge, potentially reducing its range. Although warranties often cover battery life for a certain period, replacing a battery can be expensive once it's out of warranty.
- avoid tesla ofcourse.
 
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k660 said:
tension na lo electricity bill sub lagbhag lvl kardega, (if you are in maharashtra to to pakka lvl kardega in long term)
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well I am from Delhi so, it will probably be cheaper still.
k660 said:
india and temperatures
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that is also kind of a concern and the manufacturer will likely always ask one to go to the insurer first to get a claim and it is all to well known about insurance companies coming up with different excuses to reject any and all types of claims possible.
k660 said:
Resale Value, Battery Degradation: Over time, the battery in an EV can lose its ability to hold a charge, potentially reducing its range. Although warranties often cover battery life for a certain period, replacing a battery can be expensive once it's out of warranty.
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True but manufacturers like Mahindra are offering lifetime warranties on the batteries for first owners and 10 years of 200k for subsequent ones.
k660 said:
avoid tesla ofcourse
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very out of budget, and not the greatest choice even if you have the budget for it, considering the build quality issues and all.
 
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k660 said:
so i have seen only majority of bad stuff of EV (but i think the new styled batteries might be able to help a bit like li-C batteries)

tension na lo electricity bill sub lagbhag lvl kardega, (if you are in maharashtra to to pakka lvl kardega in long term)
(my idiot little brother wanted electric scooter he got one and then rip batteries after a while, a yr or so later, so aftersales service and battery-waale se connection ho to badiya, hamara tha to usne jaise taise change karva dee)

- for city lvl it should be enough if not best, more like any ev should be enough for city regions (point being small region), long travelling keliye nahi hai ye. bas after sales service/battery-waale logo se achhe sambhand ho to ek major plus point hai.
- they too silent. itna ki, literally kab koi EV pichhe aake khadi hojaye/thokde pata nahi chalega.
not just that even the drivers of ev have said ( even one of my friends ) kind of scared how quite they are and needs use horn more than average in NON-EV. varna lag gaye
- india and temperatures.... if burning , sudden burst in flames then there is no easy way to extinguish them, often times it has been seen that even what is considered a 'extinguished' EV from flames would light up after a while or would keep lighting back up. Aur jaisa india ka abhi temperature hai....... where i live it feelings as if it is already mid april. itna garmi (O_O)
- some EVs cant even open doors without charge, or something in accident cant open doors up (so this is something one needs to checkup in vehicle specs on how their doors work and their history of accidents)
- Resale Value, Battery Degradation: Over time, the battery in an EV can lose its ability to hold a charge, potentially reducing its range. Although warranties often cover battery life for a certain period, replacing a battery can be expensive once it's out of warranty.
- avoid tesla ofcourse.
Click to expand...
In addition to this, for sudden longer trips, range anxiety may hit, because under 20L, you'll have very limited decent long-range capabilities.

Cost savings are definitely attractive, but I don't think the country is at a mature stage for EV adoption - mostly due to infrastructure, unlike the West. Definitely not as a main/primary vehicle.
 
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As a daily-duty secondary car, it would still make sense, though, as long as you don't mind the potentially shorter lifespan. I would recommend the Tiago EV. Decent city range, great build quality, and safety rating. It's a great daily workhorse EV.
 
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PunkX 75 said:
Cost savings are definitely attractive, but I don't think the country is at a mature stage for EV adoption - mostly due to infrastructure, unlike the West.
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Yes, it makes sense for those who have their own house with large enough area for rooftop solar installation. Most of India gets awesome sunlight. The initial investment for solar in that case will be worth it for most cases.
 
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PunkX 75 said:
As a daily-duty secondary car, it would still make sense, though, as long as you don't mind the potentially shorter lifespan. I would recommend the Tiago EV. Decent city range, great build quality, and safety rating. It's a great daily workhorse EV.
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What about the base model BE6 or the Nexon ev, a taller vehicle would be preferred.
 
I was also considering buying an EV for myself. Cars I considered: Tata Curvv EV and BYD Seal premium.
One of my friend owns an EV, spoke to him for opinion. He said you can have a EV for city drives and short trips but wouldn't recommend taking it for longer trips. There's still a lot of unpredictability and he said the range anxiety is real. He has other ICE cars and he said that's why he was okay with that. He also said that the car depreciates faster so the if the plan is to change cars after a few years, don't expect a good resale value.

For Mahindra cars, my personal opinion: Never buy first generation products at least on the first year. Because that's when they'll fix a lot of issues.
Review on the two cars: Tata Curvv EV was good but the showroom car had a steering misalignment. I think QC is something Tata has to improve a lot on. BYD seal was an absolute bliss to drive and I really liked the car. But think I'm not ready for EV yet.
 
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