Electric car reviewers and focus

[Vidar]

I just read another electric car review. And once again the focus and judgement was based around three metrics; acceleration, range and charging speeds. But there is so much more to a car, and those metrics are hardly the most important ones for a car. Handling? Safety? Comfort? User interface? Noise? Towing capacity? Electric cars are just powered differently - they are still cars. How about doing car reviews as such? (What factors did they put weight on before electric cars came about??)

I suspect electric car reviewers with hard focus on acceleration, range and charging speed have never had an electric car in actual daily use. Take acceleration - once it is fast enough any faster still hardly makes any difference for daily driving. You might try it a few times, and show it off I guess, but is that really a key metric in daily use?

As for range it is primarily important for long journeys. I suspect few people drive further than the range very often. We typically charge the car once a week in daily use. For most of our other journeys the range is more than enough to avoid charging on the way. And on the longest journey, some 1900km, we simply charged when eating or sleeping. We had to wait once for charging during that trip for all of 20 minutes. Range beyond our normal use is just not that important to us.  But reviewers seem to think range is the single most important thing of an electric car.

Which brings me to charging speeds. For that there is a real dividing line for its importance:

• People like us who have a charger at home. It fills up the car over night - whether it finished at 3 or 6 in the morning is of little importance. And as for fast charging stations the car charges slow, but since we rarely use fast charging stations in the first place it has little real life impact.
• Then there are people who can't charge at home. For those fast charging is a key factor. Fair enough.

Anyway, rantism over. I would just like to see reviews of electric cars actually focusing more on the car itself, as a car, rather than being so lost in the newish factors like range and charging speeds. Those are just parts of the overall picture of what makes a car, and not the most important parts at that.

[Farmer X]

What factors did they put weight on before electric cars came about??

was designed to help salesmen sell the 1940 Ford (such a beautiful car). It makes mention of the ash trays in the dashboard...twice. My, how things have changed.

I can understand why range and rate of charge are mentioned, as EV technology is changing at a good clip. The focus on acceleration isn't as easy to understand. It reminds me a little of a quote attributed to Ettore Bugatti (allegedly when the shameful braking abilities of his cars was criticized): "I build my cars to go, not to stop." You might think these road testers would make some mention of braking and how well the cars do in winter driving conditions.

The overnight charging thing has me curious: do these EVs have some sort of protection against overcurrent and/or overcharge? I've seen firsthand what happens to batteries when they're connected to a charger for an unnecessarily long time. That could result in a very expensive repair bill with an EV.

Though the technology is improving, it still has a long way to go. Gas pumps here in the States are limited to 10 gallons (~40 liters) per minute:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline_pump#:~:text=Light%20passenger%20vehicles%20pump%20up,150%20litres)%20in%20the%20US.

My 1993 Ford F-150 had two fuel tanks. The front held 16.5 gallons, and the rear held 18.2 gallons. Suppose I was on sailboat fuel and had to fill both tanks. Assuming I pulled up to a gas pump right away, and didn't buy any snacks or make a head call, I could have been back in the road (and ready to drive about another 600 miles) within 15 minutes. Somehow I doubt EV technology will ever get to the point that their batteries charge so fast and so fully.

The last job I had while living in California had me driving within 150 miles of home. My estimated annual mileage was 50,000. Time driving to and from various sites (2.5 hours from Fresno to San Jose if I was extremely lucky) was paid. I doubt an EV would have been terribly practical in such a situation.

Though that was an interestin post, it's awl a moot point for me...I've never bought a brand-new car, and that ain't gonna change.

[aicolainen]

I just read another electric car review. And once again the focus and judgement was based around three metrics; acceleration, range and charging speeds. But there is so much more to a car, and those metrics are hardly the most important ones for a car.

I haven’t read EV reviews or other car reviews since I bought my current EV.
And while you’re right about “there is so much more to a car”, the range and charging speeds in particular are important filtering metrics. It doesn’t matter much how comfortably it drives if it doesn’t handle your typical driving pattern in a practical way.

I bought a small EV as a secondary car, though in terms of actual time on the road it’s our primary, so I wanted a compact sized EV with easy handling and good fuel economy for all the day to day short trips around the city and suburbs.
For that use case it doesn’t make sense to drag along a huge battery pack that you’ll typically never drain more than 10%. However, if I need to take it for a longer trip, the charging speed becomes very important.

So, in conclusion, I agree somewhat. The reviews should be more in depth, but as filtering metrics I believe the EV category of cars will be stuck with those for a long time. Though I would replace acceleration with fuel economy as a more important metric.

.

The overnight charging thing has me curious: do these EVs have some sort of protection against overcurrent and/or overcharge? I've seen firsthand what happens to batteries when they're connected to a charger for an unnecessarily long time. That could result in a very expensive repair bill with an EV.

The batteries aren’t an issue as far as overnight charging goes. The process is very intelligent with ample protection measures in place.
What’s typically the biggest problem is that lots of EV owners charge from their regular wall sockets. So while these are rated as 10A or 16A or whatever, that appear as sufficient but they were never designed to constantly be pushed to their limits for hours on end. And if your wall socket catches on fire in the middle of the night, that’s obviously no smaller problem than your EV going up in smoke.

To be honest though, I do that myself. Kind of. I charge my EV in a dedicated garage that’s some distance away from the main building. I have ample fire protection and detection measures in place and I’ve dimensioned all cables and everything to support 63A load and and only charge at 6A (just not bit the bullet and installed a wall charger yet) to so I feel pretty confident it’s not a health and safety risk.

[Etherealicer]

It's not that Range and Charging speed are not interesting, I think what Vidar is pointing out that they are not the only metrics. And it is true, it feels like that is all people talk about when it comes to EVs. Most people drive less than 60km per day, especially on a small compact second car.
If you live in Europe and have to go into a historic city with narrow corners, then turning radius becomes a far more important metric.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fpu2qM8pWo&ab_channel=carwow

And there is more
Off-road capability is nice and dandy, but they becomes uncomfortable at speed and on very curvy roads.
Super sporty car? Try get over a curb

[Vidar]

I can understand why range and rate of charge are mentioned, as EV technology is changing at a good clip.

I certainly understand and agree that it is a key metric. I just think there are other metrics equally or more important once you exceed your normal use requirements. Thus, after reading tests before buying our first electric car my impression was that these were really critical factors - after having had the car some time now they aren't that critical at all.

Most electric cars these days go easily over 300km while average daily use according to insurance companies is 20-40km daily. I understand and agree they are important factors as some do drive long range often. But I also do think many reviewers weight and put focus on these factors way out of proportion to everything else that makes a car, and often declaring cars good or bad simply on these metrics alone.

The overnight charging thing has me curious: do these EVs have some sort of protection against overcurrent and/or overcharge?

Yes, they do for their built in chargers, and the fast chargers have that too.

Somehow I doubt EV technology will ever get to the point that their batteries charge so fast and so fully.

There are those experimenting with fluid batteries (thus tank and fill), and those which just change the battery, but disregarding that I don't think charging will be as quick either. Or at least not for a long time still. That said, to my surprise that is hardly a factor for us with home charging.

Though that was an interestin post, it's awl a moot point for me...I've never bought a brand-new car, and that ain't gonna change.

We bought ours used when 2 years old. Nice age - low milage, almost as new, still guaranteed, and with lots of depreciation already done. Wouldn't have bought it new, but made sense a bit used.

[Vidar]

I haven’t read EV reviews or other car reviews since I bought my current EV.
And while you’re right about “there is so much more to a car”, the range and charging speeds in particular are important filtering metrics. It doesn’t matter much how comfortably it drives if it doesn’t handle your typical driving pattern in a practical way.

That is kind of my point - most electric cars these day do handle most peoples typical driving pattern. Thus after exceeding that the importance often diminishes to just become a question of how many days between each charge. And that would not be a key purchasing factor for me.

[Farmer X]

Do any of these road tests/reviews factor in long-term cost of ownership?

There is one metric that's hugely important to me: ease of servicing by owner. With an ICE vehicle, a photo or two of the engine compartment can give me an idea of how easy that'll be. I'd suspect that EVs aren't really designed with maintenance by owner in mind.

A couple of other things occurred to me: what is one supposed to do if one's EV must be charged during a long power outage? (That could be very problematic, especially if one doesn't have a whole house generator.) And how many EV owners have had to get wiring added to their house to be able to charge?

[Vidar]

Do any of these road tests/reviews factor in long-term cost of ownership?

No, and that is one the things that would be interesting in reviews one would think? Depreciation seems to be about the same as ICE cars in normal years. (For the last year used electric cars have increased in price, but that is clearly exceptional circumstances).

I'd suspect that EVs aren't really designed with maintenance by owner in mind.

I think that depends on which system/ part of the car you look at? Engine and battery is off limits for good reason - high electrical power.  Around here I don't think normal car mechanics will get anywhere near them either. So replace the broken part, or the car, seems to be the current status. (Which goes against the claimed environmental side of this). At some point there will be mechanics/ electricians around to do repair work there too I assume.

That said the motor and battery systems doesn't seem to have many issues. Time will tell how this goes when the cars get 15-20 years old - but by then they are likely replaced anyway I assume.

A couple of other things occurred to me: what is one supposed to do if one's EV must be charged during a long power outage? (That could be very problematic, especially if one doesn't have a whole house generator.) And how many EV owners have had to get wiring added to their house to be able to charge?

The power outage is of course an issue. Interestingly an electric car can also be of help. Some car models lets you reverse the power and basically have the car supply your house during outages. It is a huge battery on wheels after all. But if you have regular issues with outages an electric car is likely not for you unless you can charge it somewhere else.

Home chargers doesn't really draw all that much power, so normally powered houses should just need to add a new outlet with dedicated safety. Home chargers are usually between 7 KW to 22 KW.  (7KW is about the same as your kitchen hob).  The "emergency chargers" that comes with the car are made to work on most outlets and thus are as low as 2-3 KW.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'd also like to point out that an electric car requires significantly less regular maintenance- there is no oil to change, no radiator to flush, no transmission, no distributor, no plugs, carb, fuel injectors, no fuel filter... and due to regenerative braking, the brake pads tend to last a heck of a lot longer since you don't actually use them as much.

About the only consumable that you use up faster from my research is tires as the increased weight tends to wear them more.

Def

[Aloha]

Good post.  While I am no where near buying another vehicle I would agree with the OP assessments.  Range, acceleration, charge speeds are part of an overall picture however they are not in and of themselves more important that the other things mentioned. 

[Etherealicer]

A couple of other things occurred to me: what is one supposed to do if one's EV must be charged during a long power outage? (That could be very problematic, especially if one doesn't have a whole house generator.) And how many EV owners have had to get wiring added to their house to be able to charge?

Part one, power outage. True, but it also goes the other way. At least some EV can power your house. That of course mostly makes sense if the power outage is limited in time.
Power outages of course pose many problems, I mean a gas pump won't work without power and neither do payment system. And gasoline has poor shelf life.
I think the combination of EV + solar cells + house battery will be a better solution in the near future (and it is kinda apocalypse proof ).

Part two, house installation. I'm guessing that is strongly depending on your geographical location. Here, pretty much every house has already 3-phase 380V, so it is a matter of adding a plug to your parking space (and new buildings they already do that). And in a fairly near future (again, probably depending on where you live, how near that is), many/most houses will have an appropriate power outlet where cars get parked.