My wife and I currently own one EV. We live in the U.S. Midwest where winter months do have an impact on battery performance. Our other car is my older 2002 Honda CR-V. It has over 187k miles on it, but has been very reliable, usually just requiring general maintenance and replacements as the years and miles have come. We have two older dogs that occupy the back of the car for longer road trips. Given announcements of solid state batteries arriving in a few years or so, I am deliberating between buying a compact SUV EV in a couple years or waiting for 3–4 years to see of solid state batteries have arrived in vehicles from good automotive brands. I would be curious what others think. Feel free to share your own situation too.
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I don’t think it’s worth waiting for solid state batteries. CATL and others has a number of battery advancements coming sooner.
CATL has dense battery tech, LMFP batteries and a recent LFP cold weather electrolyte advancement that lessens the impact of cold weather charging. Then there’s the silicon anode battery that’s readying for production which claims more than double the power for the same size.
But if you need something now, then find what’s best now.
- a bolt is still a good budget car
- if your usage is low enough, you could get a cheap used car - a BMW i3. Enough to go get groceries and come back.
- the equinox and new Volvo coming out are around 35k. That’s a good reason to take the plunge.
Do you have any quality concerns with Chevy/Equinox or Volvo/Ex30?
See what they look like when they come out - however, GM has made a lot of bolts, and Volvo is well established as well.
This isn’t a vinfasy that we’re talking aboutThanks for putting the Volvo options on my radar. Those look stylish and decent.
If you can afford it, buy a medium size EV. The money you’ll save on gas and reduced stress due to lower noise and comfort is worth it.
I’d suggest going with kia or Hyundai, as they have rock solid durability. Just avoid the current gen vw group products as they have expensive faults engineered in the design.
Although I appreciate the steps Kia and Hyundai have made in terms of quality, news like this still keeps me somewhat averse from seriously considering the brand. I do like the look of the Hyundai Ioniq though.
If you replace your remaining ICE car with an EV, do you have any concerns about range? For example, I am super eager to replace my commuter vehicle with an EV once I can financially do so, but we will keep one ICE car in the household for long road trips.
That’s our current model & approach. We do 90% at least of our driving with current EV and use the 2002 Honda CR-V for long road trips, especially those that are away from current charging infrastructure.
