Why I'll Never Own Another ICE Vehicle. Will You?

[dbsb3233]

I still own both (my First Edition Mach-E and a 2013 Escape). But the Escape rarely gets used now that we have the Mach-E. I don't envision ever buying an ICE again (although we do get tempted to replace the Escape with a Bronco Sport). The Mach-E has proven to be just as great on road trips as it is locally. Although there are still some routes that aren't sufficiently covered with chargers yet.

But unless we get crazy, we're set for years with these two vehicles (especially since we're retired now). If we do even buy another vehicle, it will surely be a BEV at that point.

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[HuntingPudel]

Yeah, I'll probably not buy a new ICE vehicle. No guarantees on used, since I have this Ponycar/Musclecar issue. The shrinks haven't been able to cure it. ??

The Blazer hardly goes anywhere. I should probably drive the crap out of it because I need to replace the fuel sender and it has about 32 gallons in the tank. The T/A doesn't go anywhere right now due to a problem with the ignition box and I've been too lazy to weld up the firewall so I can replace the box with a different, newer one. It has other issues too. ??

 

[Avelli]

I've been a car guy, mostly as a hobby, although my first job was a tire jockey/grease monkey. Recently I've found the smell of cars a bit off-putting (rich exhausts, used oil, brake dust, etc). It's so refreshing to smell "clean air" in my yard when I move the car now that it's a subtle joy.

As for road trips, the droning, growling, elevated noise levels of the wagon were problematic every time I went on a road trip. Couple that with the constant thought of all the moving parts and "what could go wrong", it drove my anxiety to 11. In our first road trip with the MME, we arrived refreshed, not tired at all.

I'll probably look at selling the wagon and getting a sporty little runabout coupe/convertible, just to scratch that ICE itch. However for a daily or family car, the EV wins hands down.

 

[AllenXS]

I've been a car guy, mostly as a hobby, although my first job was a tire jockey/grease monkey. Recently I've found the smell of cars a bit off-putting (rich exhausts, used oil, brake dust, etc). It's so refreshing to smell "clean air" in my yard when I move the car now that it's a subtle joy.

As for road trips, the droning, growling, elevated noise levels of the wagon were problematic every time I went on a road trip. Couple that with the constant thought of all the moving parts and "what could go wrong", it drove my anxiety to 11. In our first road trip with the MME, we arrived refreshed, not tired at all.

I'll probably look at selling the wagon and getting a sporty little runabout coupe/convertible, just to scratch that ICE itch. However for a daily or family car, the EV wins hands down.

The noise and smell was terrible in an ice vehicle. I’ve arrived feeling exhausted from both factors when driving. Now on road trips its good to feel rested and ready to do stuff.

 

[ridgebackpilot]

We have two EVs in the family, and two ICE vehicles. The other day, my wife said, "I can't remember the last time I bought a tank of gas!"

As much as I love my MME, I'm not quite ready to trade my F-150 Platinum diesel in for a Lightning. That's because my pickup has more than twice the range of the Lightning. And here in the American West, range matters! When I go fishing in the high desert of Central Oregon, there isn't a Level 2 or 3 charger for 200 miles in any direction.

But that won't be the situation forever. By the time I'm ready to trade-in my F-150, the Lightning will have double or triple its current range, and I'll line up for one at my Ford dealership.

 

[Ming]

Just sold my last ICE yesterday.
Long trips will be mostly with my Tesla. Didn't get any issue with range or charging over a 2200 miles trip.
Agree with other people noise and smell is the most important factors I ditched all my ice cars. Now I need to craigslist leftover oil, filter, transmission fluid, and maybe even tools. ?

 

[phil]

Well, there is cost, range, charging and weight.

I don’t think we can solve all of those, despite working on the technology for over 100 years.

But for now, they’ve hit the “good enough of a compromise” level.

Quite right, Mach1e. Many of us on this forum are fortunate enough (and/or elderly enough) not to have to worry too much about cost and charging at home. But these things are enormous barriers to EV use for the large majority of people - people who don't own a house with garage, or who don't have thousands of extra dollars available to spend on a car. That is why the large majority of cars sold are still ICEVs.

EVs are very cool, and a "good enough compromise" for some of us today. But I can't believe the final evolution of personal transportation involves lugging a thousand-pound battery everywhere you go. I bet EVs and ICEVs will both improve dramatically over the next few decades. And I would also bet that both will be made obsolete by even better technology shortly after that.

 

[dbsb3233]

Well, there is cost, range, charging and weight.

I don’t think we can solve all of those, despite working on the technology for over 100 years.

But for now, they’ve hit the “good enough of a compromise” level.

Yep. BEVs are great, but not for every purpose. They're still quite expensive, and battery supply will be an issue for years, which means larger vehicles will remain a problem. A BEV Suburban is gonna be a hard one to produce. So will a $20k compact.

BEVs are also highly impractical if you don't have residental charging. That's usually not a problem for homeowners, but something like 40% of the US population lives in multi-family units without a dedicated parking space. Adoption among those folks will only move as fast as the L2 chargers installations where they live.

 

[BalsaDust]

Being a motor head ever since I saw Steve McQueen in Bullitt at the ripe old age of 11, I have owned and driven a plethora of ICE vehicles.
I have driven everything from a BMW Isetta, to a twin turbo Porche 935, and while I do miss the sound and fury of a high performance vehicle, I would never go back!
Lately I have been toying with the idea of a Factory Five MK4 Cobra and stuffing in an Eluminator powerplant! just need to figure out the battery situation and availability.

Tony

 

[Bayviews88]

Yep. BEVs are great, but not for every purpose. They're still quite expensive, and battery supply will be an issue for years, which means larger vehicles will remain a problem. A BEV Suburban is gonna be a hard one to produce. So will a $20k compact.

BEVs are also highly impractical if you don't have residental charging. That's usually not a problem for homeowners, but something like 40% of the US population lives in multi-family units without a dedicated parking space. Adoption among those folks will only move as fast as the L2 chargers installations where they live.

More L3 chargers are being installed in Cities (at least in CA) that will allow for those without garages to keep their car charged. A friend who has a Nissan Leaf and lives in an apartment has being doing this routine for four years.

Yet I do agree that many more L2 chargers are needed for multi-family homes and destinations. This will help folks without home chargers, EVs to top off while running errands, and those with plug-in hybrids keep enough juice in the battery so they don’t have to use gasoline. I also have a Chevrolet Volt and I struggle to find a public L2 when running errands, which at today’s gas prices public charging is cheaper than gasoline.

 

[ridgebackpilot]

We're going through the same kind of transition as we did in the early 20th century. Then, most people rode horses for transportation. Now we use horses almost exclusively for recreation.

Likewise, for many years we've used ICE cars for transportation. Soon we'll be using our EVs for transportation and ICE cars mainly for recreation (e.g., racing).

 

[Garbone]

Hopefully by Christmas we will be down to just out 62' C10 for gassers. If I ever feel the need to relive the glory days of carburetors I can go crank it up. Sure enough after rolling over the manual fuel pump enough to fill the bowls she fires up. I commute one week a year to keep her loose .
Drive her to the gas station and put in marine gas and drive her back to the garage. Until next year or I need to go pick up lumber or firewood .

 

[dbsb3233]

More L3 chargers are being installed in Cities (at least in CA) that will allow for those without garages to keep their car charged. A friend who has a Nissan Leaf and lives in an apartment has being doing this routine for four years.

Yet I do agree that many more L2 chargers are needed for multi-family homes and destinations. This will help folks without home chargers, EVs to top off while running errands, and those with plug-in hybrids keep enough juice in the battery so they don’t have to use gasoline. I also have a Chevrolet Volt and I struggle to find a public L2 when running errands, which at today’s gas prices public charging is cheaper than gasoline.

Using DCFC for routine local charging is a terrible idea. Bad for the batteries, bad for the grid (prime hours), way more expensive, and terribly inconvenient 52 weeks/year.

But I know some do it anyway. I sure wouldn't put up with that, and I think 90% of the public wouldn't either. But some die-hards will. There's always exceptions. But it's not a viable solution for the average person IMO.

 

[CWSpook]

Still waiting for my '22 Premium AWD ER, but I doubt I'll ever buy another ICE. At my age, 76, this will probably be the last new car of any type I'll buy. I'm giving up my beloved Jeep Wrangler and keeping the wife's Cherokee, just so we have two cars that she can drive. Our 3rd vehicle is a 1952 M38, ex-military Jeep. It's our summer toy. Original carbureted flat-head 4, about 10 mpg on a good day. That one I'm keeping until I kick off.

 

[Mach1E]

We're going through the same kind of transition as we did in the early 20th century. Then, most people rode horses for transportation. Now we use horses almost exclusively for recreation.

Likewise, for many years we've used ICE cars for transportation. Soon we'll be using our EVs for transportation and ICE cars mainly for recreation (e.g., racing).

Not even remotely close to a comparison.

For one thing, BEVs came out at the same time and drove side by side with gas powered cars 100+ years ago. This is nothing new.

Cars were so much incredibly better than a horse carriage.

BEVs? As mentioned still have their pros and cons but serve literally the identical purpose as their gas counterparts.

This isn’t like computers vs analog. It’s more like computers vs slightly faster computers.

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