The Expert Podcast

So, are used electric vehicles the wave of the future, or is it a dud waiting to happen? Well, according to a lot of recent market reports, the prices on used EVs are dropping dramatically. Automotive News says used EVs, both new and used, are becoming more affordable. InsideEVs takes it a step further, stating that used electric vehicle prices are plummeting, and there are more of those being sold than new cars. It could be that the new electric vehicles are getting so expensive that people are looking at used electric vehicles as an alternative.

Is it an opportunity to buy and get a good deal, or is it because EVs are just bad news to begin with? I know you have an opinion about this. Let us know in the comments what you think about EVs as the wave of the future. One new car manufacturer is finding out that maybe people don’t want new ones as much as they thought. Mercedes, according to the article, is discovering that customers aren’t as excited about new EVs as the company hoped. Dealers say they need an EV that people want, and the EQS is not it.

Thoughts? Also, this person says, "I bought my EV when people said it's the future, but I have to lose miles of range if I don’t want to freeze to death." This is because when you run the heater in an electric vehicle, it sucks up a lot of battery. Think about it—if you have a little portable electric heater or microwave, anything that heats things in your house uses the most electricity. Consider the three most prominent heating devices in your house: your hot water heater, your stove, and your dryer. These are the things that generate the most heat, not counting the heater in your house if it’s propane. Those three appliances have big 220 plugs and suck a lot of electricity, so heating anything requires electricity.

If you want heat inside your car, you have to use a lot of electricity. Why isn’t this a problem with gasoline vehicles? Well, because they use the engine to generate heat. The engine is already generating heat—a gasoline engine is called an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine). Combustion, meaning gasoline is burning inside that engine, creating a lot of heat. They just route some of that heat inside your car so you’re nice and toasty warm. An electric vehicle does not have that luxury. You have to drain the battery to get heat. That might be one of the reasons why electric vehicles aren’t as exciting as some manufacturers want them to be. What do you think?