Does anyone regret buying EV?

I traded in my 2010 Insignia Diesel estate for an BMW i3 33Kw nearly two years ago and don't regret it for a second. Car is so much fun to drive, and even the longer trips are now fun little expeditions when you bring charging planning into it! My wife's car is a 2019 fiesta, and the minute the loan is up on that, she will go electric too.

I totally understand people in the market right now waiting for a few months for prices to settle, but other than that, no reason not to buy an EV for 90% of people.

Vast majority of people on here will tell you that once you change, you will never go back. I hate driving the fiesta!!

No regrets from myside - i've saved a fortune on fuel on the EV we have and also have a PHEV which is usually kept charge.

Depreciation is something i've learned to live with - when I traded in my first EV against the one I have - the trade in value after two years was nearly what I paid for the car new - so swings and round abouts. I've been stung badly in the past with depreciation on some ICE cars too ... so it is just something I deal with when it happens. Usually we change cards every 3/4 years so depreciation is just a cost of keeping new cars on the road

No real regrets.

I kinda got lucky, bought my 1st EV 5 years ago before brexit really hit and while EVs were still niche - so got an BMW i3 for €17k from UK, and absolutely loved the car. Really converted me to the joys of driving EV

Traded it last year for an MG4 and got €13k trade in value - at a time EVs were still priced high, so my car had only lost €4k over 4 years.

Now my MG4 probably has depreciated a bit more than I expected - probably based on the above experience - but since I'm now an EV convert, the price wars among new EVs means I'll probably be spending a lot less to upgrade anyway whenever I do.

Regret buying at a time where there was waiting lists and high prices in Aug 2022 but don't regret buying the car at all apart from that, it has been great. Very briefly looked at what it would be like to trade in and it wasn't anything I could stomach so just keeping it now.

Added a 2nd full EV to the family fleet with same range as the 1st one last week so wouldn't have done that if EV didn't suit.

Not going back to ICE at all. Both cars are 22 reg plates so very fresh and think they will both be outside the house for at least 3 more years.

3 EVs since 2015, no regrets. Or is that ragrets?

maybe read what the poster said, which was saved a fortune in fuel, and your second point is wrong as well.

No,

Bought a Model 3 almost 4 years ago (base SR+/RWD version), and since I bought it, the Model 3 has had too many upgrades/improvements to mention, but in summary the WLTP range went from 409km (my car) to 513km (current version), the battery got bigger, and the price dropped by about €8k.

Still love the car though and depreciation aside, still can't justify upgrading to a newer 'better' version...

I'm just about to roll over 90,000km, and since new it's had 8 new tyres installed (1 set front, and 3 sets on the rear (latest as recently as yesterday)) and a new set of wipers, and nothing else that I've had to pay for.

90,000km in my ICE would cost me around €11,000 in diesel, and maybe €500 over about 6-9 oil changes (which I'd do myself), 2 full sets of tyres (~€2,000) & probably a set of brake pads in there as well... €13,500 + €2,840 motor tax = €16,340

90,000km in my EV would cost me about €2,628 in home charging* (14.6kWh/100km average @ €0.20.kWh (€0.20/kWh is the highest my night rate has ever been, but most of the 4 years I've had the car it's been below that - currently €0.18/kWh, but lets use worst case)), tyres about €1,800 (but I won't need more now till 120,000km) and a set of wipers for €50 - €4,478 + €480 motor tax = €4,958

*there was still a bit of free charging around when I got the car, and I also had free Supercharging for about 2 years, so my actual spend on charging would be a bit less than the stated €2,628 stated above. (got about 7,000km motorway driving from Tesla Superchargers for free)

Regrets: yeah, why didn't I switch to EV sooner, though in fairness nothing really appealed to us until the Model 3 arrived here, and we bought early enough, with ours arriving here as part of only the 2nd shipment of Model 3's into Ireland (back in the glory days of ship watching and seeking out VIN's in the Tesla website's source code...).

If you have access to home charging it's a no brainer. Theres lads on Facebook with the same car as mine, and they're already up over 200,000km and the cars are still going strong... milage monsters they are...

Have another read of my post - i've saved a fortune on 'fuel' ... i've lost my shirt on the cost of the car - but that isn't any difference on the amount i've lost over 25 years of changing cars every 3/4 years. I accept depreciation as a cost of liking my cars and having a relatively new one.

As for saving on fuel - yep - compared to what I was spending on Diesel and what I'm no paying to drive the same miles on nightrate electricity it is significant and I've also considerably reduced what I was spending on coffee and shite in service stations.

Too expensive. Expensive to buy and expensive to sell ( depreciation). Fantastic vehicle to drive. A real pleasure to do shopping runs, and motorway across the country.

But cost to own is just too much. Will cost me way too much over 3 years, to cover 50,000km. Compared to other sized cars.

But....

If the fear around EVs finally swings around in 24/25? Or if government makes tax changes to ICE/fuel? Then all those problems go away, and you're left with a really nice car.

2 years in and I am still very Happy

I probably spent 15-20K more to get the EV I wanted than I probably would have spent on an ICE .

That's a mixture of buying new versus second hand and just the equivalent in my eyes EVs are dearer.

But as I avail of free charging through works Solar panels , I am saving ~3,500 a year in running costs . The driving experience though is several times better , and its hard to put a value on that aspect , but I certainly will not be going back to ICE .

Hopefully when I want to change it next there is an actual second hand market which might close that gap for me .

Interesting discussion, and one I’m gonna watch.

I’ve had solar installed in December, and my current car loan will be done in the summer, so currently considering my options for changing! Live rural and have 2 diesels ATM.

I am leaning towards a first EV, though there’s a lot of announcements from BMW and also GM/ Honda about hydrogen power. How far away is that? More research to do, plenty of reading and probably more dreaming in the next few months!! 😂

Not me! Bought an ID3 in 21, have done 80,000km mostly free as we have chargers in work. Saved a fortune so far

A co worker sold his EV and bought a phev, only after a month or so, his wife has medical problems and the realization of how long it takes to charge was not acceptable to him, I had suggested a phev, but greed got the better of him, he would only save a few hundred in fuel a year compared to the phev.

My sister has ID4 gtx, she was not happy with queues, driving in the wrong direction to charge and then chargers not working and moving to the next one, I have not talked to her since the price drop, but I imagine she isn't happy.

I have seen 2 or 3 more people here who have posted about getting rid of there EV.

Saying that I can well understand people in towns and citys or 2 car households owning one or 2, works for them why not, but insisting on everyone one else buy one, failing that ridiculing them for not buying one or calling them trolls for agreeing with other peoples comments,

I have to laugh at the guy with one EV and 3 diesel cars who does not like me clicking the thanks button.

Fair enough but that list of issues you have posted reads like a conspiracy forum post, most ev drivers have seen their insurance drop especially for the performance on offer, the lack of physical buttons is a modern car thing not an ev thing, and what servicing is expensive when the warranty runs out. There isnt much to service.

The range and charger queues depends on your usage requirements to be fair, if range doesnt meet yours then thats understandable.

Ignoring capital outlay I've consistently done conservatively 33+kms/euro. Versus my old octavia which was doing 6-7km/euro. This is not something one can regret. Assuming the car works correctly of course. Switching to energia and further elec price drops I look forward to doing 55km/euro. Including capital outlay I'll hit 1euro/km after only 12 months driving. To put in context, the used octavia purchased for only 1500e ONLY managed 5km/e over a 9 year career. There is simply no comparison. I also am led to believe that the performance drop of the battery will favourably compare to performance degradation and repairs to a similar ICE.

Here is a token historical account of trains and gives some insight on how long this changeover will take. Beginning in the 1900s steam locomotives were gradually superseded by electric and diesel locomotives. With railways fully converting to electric/diesel power beginning in the 1930s.

And frankly, the longer the changeover takes the better for everyone who bought early and holds on to the car. People who buy every year anyway don't care about depreciation so the depreciation argument is null.

All the neanderthals who fear change are doing is missing out on cheap energy that doesn't leave cities in a cancerous smog.

I’ve solar too and last year from the beginning of April to July 5th 100% of my charging came from solar excess.

it you have solar, and have a car(s) sitting on your driveway for most of the day then it makes even more sense…

In fairness, you could say the same about the take-up of EV. I appreciate that most people can 'refill' at home but not all and the lack of a charging infrastructure is one barrier to mass take up. If hydrogen cars have decent range, durability and dont cost the earth literally and in monetary terms there's no real reason they won't gain popularity.

Switched over last year from an A6 quattro to the E tron, Mainly commute between the house and work both based in Dublin and can charge at both locations. Yep the price of the cars are dropping but what I'm driving is on a different level comfort wise range is crap.

If I was doing high mileage then I would have stayed with the A6 as it's a miser on fuel once on the motorway. I'm going keep the car for another few years and see what comes on the market then. One option would be depending on trade in value is to give the missis the E tron sell her car and get another electric.

Went from a 2010 Skoda Superb to am ex demo 2019 Ioniq 28kwh in June 2019. I sometimes irrationally regret it, (size etc) but there is no doubt it was the correct decision. I intend to keep it forever! The car runs for pennies.

No regrets here. Had an ID3 since 2020 and it's the best car I've ever owned. I've owned more expensive, more premium cars and the ID3 has a lot of annoyances around its infotainment system, but the advantages of the powertrain make up for all of that, whether it's the much cheaper running costs, the convenience of never having to worry about range or queue up at petrol stations anymore, the bags of torque at all rev ranges which is great for overtaking or getting out into junctions and means you no longer have to think about gearing, or the pure refinement of the silent, smooth electric motor that makes driving so much more relaxing.

We're hoping to be a 2 EV family by the end of this year.