Why do "some groups" bad mouth EVs?

[Flyct]

As a 5 time Leaf owner and a current 2x Tesla owner I constantly get negative comments about EVs from certain politically leaning uninformed people. It drives me crazy

For Example, comments I've heard just this year:
I wouldn't by an EV because of how much the battery cost to replace every 3 years.
I wouldn't own an electric car because the battery takes up al the room in the trunk
I don't want my electric bill to more than double, I'm already paying $300 per month.
Did you hear about the Tesla that caught fire after it drove through a flood.
What happens if there is a hurricane and you have to evacuate from Miami and get stuck in traffic and run out of charge?
I drive from Miami to Connecticut once a year and I will run out of range n a Tesla.
A friend of a friend bought an electric car and he sold it 6 months later because the range degraded to 1/2 original range.

Are you getting the same comments?

[Toby]

Are you getting the same comments?

Not personally but I have seen them. Those who post them are showing off for their friends.

[LeftieBiker]

It is the Right's version of "virtue signaling". The "virtue" in this case is mindlessly repeating corporate propaganda from Fox "News" that's about 5 years old.

[Drew21]

It's just part of the cycle of having something scary, which we'll define as new, different, or (more commonly) completely fabricated to scream at folks about so that those same folks are too distracted to pay attention to real issues in the world.

Just off the top of my head we've got:

- Migrant caravans.
- Ladies, their lady parts, and what they might do with them if rich old white men don't get to decide for them.
- GUNS (more specifically, how you don't have enough of them to defend yourself from the feral hogs and/or migrant caravans due to arrive any day now).
- People of a different skin color, social status, religion, or sexual orientation than you (see "Ladies" above).
- UFOs! (please buy more guns).

I keep hoping we'll circle back around to a full investigation of the true cost of the automobile. Think of all the poor child laborers who lost their poop-scooping job when automobiles replaced horses in our towns and cities.

Imagine the beauty of a world where children as young as 4 can seize their future independence in their tiny, stinky hands. Now, my friends, imagine what they must have felt like when that future was stolen from them... by the automobile.

For maximum effect, read the previous paragraph really fast while sweating profusely (=pretend to be Rep. Jim Jordan).

[WetEV]

I don't want my electric bill to more than double, I'm already paying $300 per month.

This one might make sense, if the person drives a lot of miles. At national average of $0.16 per kWh, that's just 62.5 kWh per day, or about 190 miles at 3 miles per kWh. Even less in high electric cost areas.

Of course, the gas stations might miss the fellow a bit.

[LeftieBiker]

The most effective lies have a grain of truth (like exceptional situations) embedded in them.

[knightmb]

As someone who has helped over a dozen friends and family buy a EVs over the last decade, I get those all the time. As already commented here, you only find those negative ones on right-leaning news sites. Anything on the positive side but not true like, the Leaf can drive 400 miles on a single charge, is one of those technical ones that is only true in the most extreme ideal example, but I never hear or read about those being repeated by any left-leaning new sites. While all the rumors have a small grain of truth, many are blown way out of proportion to fit a narrative.

Instead, when approached by friend or family members (most recently about all EVs catching fire when getting wet), depending on what type of EV they own, I'll point them towards some real data and research.

To add to the list though, what I've read or heard over the year to add to your list:

• The power grid will fail if everyone is driving EVs
• Power production to charge the EV produces more pollution than just buying gas and burning it in the ICE vehicle
• If you are driving in winter and get stuck, you'll freeze to death in an hour because you'll run out of power to heat the cabin
• The batteries are just throw into the dump when they reach end of life
• The batteries can not be recycled
• EVs can't survive a crash because they are heavier
• A EV caught on fire last month in the news, must mean all of them can catch on fire just as easily (ignores 500 ICE fires daily )
• A EV gets less mileage the faster it goes, but my ICE gets better mileage the faster I go
• EVs will lose all charge if they sit for more than a few days if you don't use them
• EVs cost more in maintenance because all the electronics and whatever stuff have to be updated every week
• EVs will kill you if left on in a closed air space or garage because of the O3 (ozone) produced by the motor (when driving )
• EVs can electrocute you if forget to turn them off and touch the outside of the EV
• EVs take days to charge up no matter how much power you put into them
• EVs are slow because they only have 1 gear
• EVs are difficult to drive because of the extra weight and can't stop fast enough to avoid accidents
• The list goes on....

As a 5 time Leaf owner and a current 2x Tesla owner I constantly get negative comments about EVs from certain politically leaning uninformed people. It drives me crazy

For Example, comments I've heard just this year:
I wouldn't by an EV because of how much the battery cost to replace every 3 years.
I wouldn't own an electric car because the battery takes up al the room in the trunk
I don't want my electric bill to more than double, I'm already paying $300 per month.
Did you hear about the Tesla that caught fire after it drove through a flood.
What happens if there is a hurricane and you have to evacuate from Miami and get stuck in traffic and run out of charge?
I drive from Miami to Connecticut once a year and I will run out of range n a Tesla.
A friend of a friend bought an electric car and he sold it 6 months later because the range degraded to 1/2 original range.

Are you getting the same comments?

[LeftieBiker]

Sometimes they come from personal bad experiences, not from evil 'news' sites. My housemate hated driving my 2013 SV, because she had bad range anxiety. Once we had to swap cars and she drove mine to work. I had the heat set for an easy trip, estimating 20% charge left. She got back with 30%, because she turned the heat off as soon as the car warmed up. Was she pleased at having 30% left? Nope. She was anxious. She used to say "I don't think that EV battery technology is appropriate for Upstate NY." Fast forward through many years of driving a Prius PHEV, plugging it in faithfully, buying it off lease, only to have it develop a sick motor. How does she feel about EVs now?

She drives a 62kwh Leaf. She loves it. What a difference another hundred miles of range makes.

[Oostenrijker]

I don't want my electric bill to more than double, I'm already paying $300 per month.

This one might make sense, if the person drives a lot of miles. At national average of $0.16 per kWh, that's just 62.5 kWh per day, or about 190 miles at 3 miles per kWh. Even less in high electric cost areas.

Of course, the gas stations might miss the fellow a bit.

What you only pay $ 0.16 for a kWh? I pay € 0,38 and only in the evening, it would go down to € 0,32 and still, driving electric is cheaper than gasoline. Because one liter of E10 is now going towards € 2,50 so that's getting way more expensive then driving electric.

At the public charger, I pay € 0,40 and some places in the Netherlands I pay a little less. Actually I countries like Germany, you need to pay more. So charging for € 0,29 at Aldi or Lidl, is like really cheap.

[Stanton]

It's just part of the cycle of having something scary, which we'll define as new, different, or (more commonly) completely fabricated to scream at folks about so that those same folks are too distracted to pay attention to real issues in the world.

^^^ THIS
In general, people don't like change.
Having said that, I have had countless positive experiences talking to people about my Leaf (and EV ownership) over the years.