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BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

electrek.co

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Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#51

Post by dangus »

roryobrien wrote: post #15
jrjeksjd8d wrote: post #3

I finally put my money where my mouth is and bought a PHEV. In the past month I've done all my errands around town exclusively on battery power (30-40 miles per charge) from a home L1 charger. I know EV purists will complain about the complexity of maintaining the gas engine, but this hits the perfect sweet spot for me - it doesn't weigh a million tons, it cost under 40k new, and the one weekend a month when I need t…

PHEV is the absolute way to go. Next car is 100% going to be this. I rented two EV's and had serious stress about charging in locations I wasn't familiar with. All the different plug types and speeds was also not helpful. PHEV is a great gateway into full EV.

I totally understand the learning curve aspect, but I think if you owned one that stress would fade away pretty quickly.

I will first point out that for DC fast charging, there are only two connectors to think about. It is not really more complicated than that. It's a learning curve, but not much different than learning the difference between gasoline, diesel, and which octane to put in your car.

You would have your charging station at your house. That removes a whole lot of the burden.

Then, there’s just the sheer size of the expansion and reliability in charging networks over the past year or two. Where I live, there is no direction where I can travel on an interstate where there aren't chargers on premier networks at normal rest stops/truck stops (rather than in odd parking lots behind Walmarts or what have you).

You've also got newer non-Tesla EVs that have NACS compatibility or NACS built-in, doubling the size of the charging network for those vehicles.

You wouldn't have the problem of lacking the right adapter if you owned the car.

With long trips, we are talking about multiple hours of driving before needing to charge, so I think we need to rethink the amount of burden it really is to plan your route ahead of time. It’s gotta be less of a burden than getting multiple oil changes per year or visiting a gas station every week or two to cover your daily commuting.

I think the only people for whom EVs don’t work are people who take long road trips with a frequency that far exceeds the national average (e.g like a monthly 600+ mile trip).

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#52

Post by Underphil »

PedroBatista wrote: post #10

I'm sorry to be that guy, but can we reintroduce a good dose of skepticism in our mental diets? BYD was already selling a ton of cars when the oil prices were "low", of course there's some very creative accounting business moves you would expect from a Chinese company like BYD ( companies from other places have their own peculiarities too ). Gas prices have been "sky high" for a week and people who are under financia…

At any one time I would assume there are thousands of people in the world who are replacing their existing vehicle right at this very moment for normal reasons.

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#54

Post by claaams »

bawolff wrote: post #29

It seems really unlikely to me that 2 weeks worth of high oil prices is anything more than a rounding error in BYD's years (decade?) long bet on electric cars. Even if they tripled their sales for the last two weeks, it wouldn't be relavent to if their bet will ultimately pay off.

Extrapolate this into a forever war where oil is increasingly expensive week after week.

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#55

Post by 01100011 »

jrjeksjd8d wrote: post #3

I finally put my money where my mouth is and bought a PHEV. In the past month I've done all my errands around town exclusively on battery power (30-40 miles per charge) from a home L1 charger. I know EV purists will complain about the complexity of maintaining the gas engine, but this hits the perfect sweet spot for me - it doesn't weigh a million tons, it cost under 40k new, and the one weekend a month when I need t…

PHEV would be my choice but I WFH and my wife doesn't work so we just don't drive enough for a non-IC car to make sense. Gas would need to be like $20/gallon for it to pay off.

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#56

Post by triceratops »

bluGill wrote: post #38
triceratops wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not have 2 $20k used cars instead? One EV and one ICE.

You have to insure each, pay license and taxes... most also need a parking spot.

A car's ownership costs are dominated by fuel and depreciation (which is a proxy for repairs and maintenance - brake pads, oil changes etc). You're probably going to come out ahead of the fixed costs of licensing, insurance, and registration on gasoline savings alone.

The parking spot may or may not be an issue. If you can charge an EV at home, you likely have a garage or driveway. If not, then sure this doesn't apply.

The bonus: with 2 vehicles you can use exactly as much car as needed for each trip.

The EV can be a smallish hatchback or sedan with low-to-medium range. You aren't going too far and won't carry much stuff. It's enough for 90% of your miles driven.

The ICE can be a minivan or SUV, since you'll likely need more space for road trips. You aren't pointlessly driving that hulking PHEV SUV on milk runs.

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#57

Post by dangus »

epistasis wrote: post #18
roryobrien wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PHEV is the absolute way to go. Next car is 100% going to be this. I rented two EV's and had serious stress about charging in locations I wasn't familiar with. All the different plug types and speeds was also not helpful. PHEV is a great gateway into full EV.

Rental cars as EVs are pretty much the worst possible case. We are at the transition where we don't have chargers everywhere, but we will soon because chargers are way cheaper than a gas station. Also rentals tend to be driven for longer trips, and for uncertain distances! And on top of it all rental companies tend to not give people any choice, education, or help with the EV. I wouldn't bother with a PHEV for a vehi…

I love renting EVs now, when they’re available.

They’re always the cheapest option and they’re often nicer than the cheapest gas ICE options. I’d rather be in a Genesis G80 Electrified than a Camry.

I just got a $100 charger for my relatives garage, which almost immediately paid for itself.

(Though I’ll admit, I’m lucky that they installed a 220v outlet decades ago for appliances in their garage).

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#58

Post by michaelteter »

If one removed the country names and just looked at where investment (focus, planning, and money) was, we would see two greatly different pictures.

One country is disincentivizing or even blocking renewable energy production, rolling back climate protection measures, trying to revitalize the coal industry, slashing investment in scientific research of all kinds, demonizing higher education, and spending vast and rapidly increasing amounts of public funds to create direct, physical conflicts.

Another country is increasing their renewable energy generation capabilities dramatically each year, encouraging EV adoption, investing very heavily in scientific research, and also investing in military (although without initiating direct physical conflicts).

One of these two countries is riding on momentum, but the drag from waste and mismanagement of resources is increasingly slowing it. The other country is building momentum while reducing drag.

The difference in these approaches will be obvious in a decade, and in two decades one of the two countries will be just another chapter in a book about the rise and fall of empires.

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#59

Post by 01100011 »

triceratops wrote: post #32
jrjeksjd8d wrote: post #3

I finally put my money where my mouth is and bought a PHEV. In the past month I've done all my errands around town exclusively on battery power (30-40 miles per charge) from a home L1 charger. I know EV purists will complain about the complexity of maintaining the gas engine, but this hits the perfect sweet spot for me - it doesn't weigh a million tons, it cost under 40k new, and the one weekend a month when I need t…

Why not have 2 $20k used cars instead? One EV and one ICE.

Please don't downvote a perfectly valid question. This isn't reddit. If you think op is wrong, leave a reply or move on.

Re: BYD is seeing a flood of new EV buyers

#60

Post by [deleted] »

louwrentius wrote: post #47
jrjeksjd8d wrote: post #3

I finally put my money where my mouth is and bought a PHEV. In the past month I've done all my errands around town exclusively on battery power (30-40 miles per charge) from a home L1 charger. I know EV purists will complain about the complexity of maintaining the gas engine, but this hits the perfect sweet spot for me - it doesn't weigh a million tons, it cost under 40k new, and the one weekend a month when I need t…

I still feel that PHEVs combine the worst parts of both worlds. The battery of a PHEV is relatively small and will be strained much more (as compared to an EV), especially if you drive a lot in EV modus. PHEV batteries tend to wear out faster for this reason. This drives up cost of ownership. Then you still have the maintenance / cost of the ICE drivetrain. It does not make sense to me. I feel that a lot of people bu…

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