Expert tip: why you shouldn't buy new electric car models

An engineer and popular blogger Pavel Sigmund-rod, who lives in Norway and is interested in everything related to electric transport, published several posts related to the latest trends in this area, and at the same time explained why you should not rush to buy a new electric vehicle:

The "super-fashionable" train "VW Id.3, which began to be delivered to the first customers just a couple of months ago, turned out to be with a very serious defect. According to InsideEVs, more than 30 "happy" owners have already complained that after they left the car for a couple of days, it stopped turning on. The problem is a completely dead 12-volt battery. Yes, yes, the "electric trains" still have it. On this battery all the same economy hangs as in a car with an internal combustion engine. It supplies power to vehicle systems and functions such as audio, auxiliary control systems, headlights, windscreen wipers, etc.

But that's not all, one ID.3 customer found another 30 different problems with a brand new car: his ID.3's rearview camera was randomly turned off, his car's location in the navigation system and both displays were frozen, the speaker system made a crackling sound every time he connected his smartphone to Bluetooth, the dongle worked intermittently, and from time to time a message appeared asking him to take the car to the dealer.

Well, okay, it's clear that the car is still "raw". The fact that it is not clear why the hell are they selling a raw car?

I think the answer is simple: exhaust fines. As I wrote a couple of times already, for example here, Volkswagen will have to pay literally billions of euros if they do not reach the emission quotas required by Europe. Therefore, they are in a hurry and use Tesla's strategy: sell now, fix later.

Tesla's weeds

Tesla is infamous for all its glitches and imperfections. But Musk is his philosophy and goes even further: they don't even have "years of manufacture", like other machines. They are constantly being modified not only with OTA (On-the-air) software updates, but also mechanically, electronically and even the body is constantly changing . Most of the colleagues who drive Tesla are generally happy with it, but many of them have been repaired. Here I described love / hate for Tesla.

Apparently Volkswagen also decided to adopt this strategy.

Well, the rest of the brands are not far away. Poor Polestar has already responded a couple of times , even though only 3 months on the market, and the Mercedes EQC400 has had one at least.

I've been looking closely at the newest Skoda EnyaQ, but now it is quite clear that we have to wait a year when they will bring it to mind.

I'll tell you a little about my experience.

About ten years ago, Daimler (Mercedes Benz) was one of the first who seriously invested in Tesla and seriously helped her with the development of her model S. They said that she had almost all the chassis from the E class, but I do not know for sure, I I did not find it. After that, the Mercedes released a kind of Frankenstein, B250e, a B-class model, which was equipped with a motor, battery and all the electronics due from Tesla. Their collaboration didn't go very well, and Daimler subsequently sold his part of Tesla, and after that he got seriously involved in developing his EQ line, from which some representatives already ride, for example the EQC 400.

In 2016, we bought this very Mercedes Benz B250E, because at that moment it was almost the only affordable family electric car. My wife really liked it. The only drawback was the lack of fast charging, although the normal one was 11 kW, which is not so bad.

Well what can I say after four years of use. Little good. I suffered a lot with him. Tesla had very big quality problems, in particular with the bearings (from what the mechanics told me). On our Mercedes, the Drive Unit (the one from the S model) was changed 3 (!) Times (the coolant was constantly flowing), and the HV (high-voltage) battery was changed once. In addition, the Menekes portable charger once broke down and now they have changed something in the suspension (apparently the weight is heavy). Although everything is under warranty, there are a lot of hemorrhoids. So it did not come out very successful. Mercedes itself stopped producing it in 2018.

By the way, I had very interesting conversations with the mechanics:

Me: "What's wrong with the car?"

Mechanic: “And hell knows, the coolant is flowing, we recorded the telemetry, sent it to Germany. (A week later). The answer came from Germany, it is necessary to change the Drive Unit and the high-voltage battery".

Me: “So what are the Germans saying? What's with the car?"

Mechanic: “Who the hell knows, they didn't tell us. They told DU to change".

That's how we live.

By the way, I am generally satisfied with another train, the Nissan Leaf, although I only have it for a year.

***

In conclusion, the blogger listed the main advantages of cars and electric vehicles based on his personal experience, as well as on the information gleaned from Internet forums and social networks:

Advantages of cars with internal combustion engines:

1. Infrastructure. You have thousands of gas stations around every corner in different countries, while charging stations outside Norway are not easy to find.

2. Refueling speed. A car with an internal combustion engine is refueled in 5 minutes, while an electric car needs 30-50 minutes for the same. If you're charging at home, though, that's not such a big deal.

3. Travel range. An ordinary car with an internal combustion engine has a cruising range of 600-900 km at one gas station. Electric cars will travel 200-600 km.

4. "Electric trains" are more expensive. Electric cars still cost about 1.5-2 times more, all other things being equal. This is, of course, one of the biggest drawbacks.

5. Proven technology. Cars with internal combustion engines have been mass-produced for more than a hundred years; manufacturers have accumulated a lot of experience.

The advantages of electric vehicles:

1. Electric cars are quieter and do not stink. One of the biggest advantages of electric vehicles is that they are almost inaudible at low speeds and do not pollute the air in cities.

2. Efficiency . The efficiency of electric vehicles is several times higher than that of cars with internal combustion engines, even when you look at it as a full cycle, from oil production and electricity production to the wheels of a car:

3. Dynamic qualities at low and medium speeds electric cars are much better than cars with internal combustion engines. For dynamic qualities, I refer to the dynamics of acceleration and engine response. The torque for medium electric vehicles is at the level of 300-670 Nm and starts at zero:

You need to spin the internal combustion engine cool to reach maximum power and torque. All this leads to the fact that electric vehicles have maximum traction exactly where an ordinary driver needs: at low revs. Because on our roads it is not allowed to drive very fast, but it is allowed to accelerate quickly.

"Electric trains" also react much faster to pressing the gas pedal: there is no gearbox (for now, at least), and the whole system is much simpler.

ICE cars, however, can reach higher speeds and have more power at high rpm.

4. Electric cars are easier. An electric motor is simpler in design than an internal combustion engine. There is no need to change the oil, and generally the service is simpler and cheaper. The annual control for the "train" is cheaper than for the internal combustion engine (at least in Norway). Some argue that there is more electronics in electric vehicles. If you compare it to a car from the 80s. In modern cars with internal combustion engines, there are also enough electronic systems.

5. Electricity is cheaper (at least in Norway). One kWh costs in Norway about 1 CZK (if charged at home) or 3 CZK (when charging outdoors or at work). Fast charging stations are more expensive, about 4-5 kr per kWh (Tesla has 1.7 per kWh), depending on the power, but you rarely use them. The Norwegian Electric Mobility Association has calculated how much a kWh costs at a fast charging station in Norway:

The faster you charge, the lower the cost.

That is, with an average consumption of 2 kWh per hundred, the cost of "hundreds" will be only 20 kroons if you always charge at home, or a little more if you sometimes use charging stations. The cost of 100 km for a car with an internal combustion engine, which, say, consumes 5 liters per hundred - 17 kr per liter * 5 = 85 kroons. Four times more.

You can find many more small advantages with each of the types, but the most important, I think, I have described...