Should You Buy an Electric Car Now? Or Wait?

Should You Buy an Electric Car Now? Or Wait?

At the start of covid the majority of automakers had committed in some way or another to going electric at some point in the future either by becoming a 100% electric automaker or by increasing the number of plug-in vehicles on their Fleet and while there were some fossil

Fuel addicts who remained AUST at the proposition plenty of people were ready for EVS during the first few months of covid-19 people saw firsthand what the Imp of reducing the number of miles driven by internal combustion engined Vehicles would have on the planet air quality improved people found that the

Den of traffic lessened and people who began working from home noted they didn’t need to travel as far as frequently as they actually thought they needed to fast forward four years and we’ve seen a steady increasing eeve backlash as we’ve noted in other videos recently elect electri vehicle fud

That’s fear uncertainty and doubt is most definitely on the rise people are reluctant to make big purchases at a time when they’re not 100% sure what their future holds and companies that were once portraying their push towards electric as something that was a done deal are now backtracking either

Cancelling new EV plans postponing them or at least scaling them back and given all of this and more we’re hearing from people who want to know one simple question should I wait to buy an EV or get one Now depending on where you are in the world you’re either in the midst of a prissy massive Financial downturn a recession or you’re maybe just maybe recovering from the financial impact of the covid-19 pandemic or you’re living in a country where there’s substantial economic growth and governmental figures

And news reports say that the economy is booming and the stock market is booming but where finding enough money to comfortably pay the bills is still seemingly impossible okay yeah I am talking about the US economy here when your utility company puts the price of electricity up

By 18% in a single year and campaigns to push it even higher next or where the cost of groceries is still going up albeit more slowly than it was a few years ago despite economists claims that everything is great for the average households it still feels like things

Aren’t going well at all and let’s be honest buying a car is a massive Financial commitment for the majority of people around the world at least it is if the car you’re buying has a price tag of more than a few hundred equivalent or you’re not one of

The very very rare individuals out there who is independently wealthy enough to pay for a car with cold Hard Cash something that TV shows and movies like to pretend is a fairly common occurrence but which honestly really isn’t this is doubly true in the EV marketplace where low and

Mid price models are often missing completely from Mark’s all electric lineups triply true in the US where smaller cheaper European and Chinese vehicles just simply aren’t sold and if you’re in the market for a new vehicle I’m guessing you’ve also been seeing the massive amount of fear uncertainty and

Doubt being spread about EVs and perhaps it’s put you off making the switch we’ve covered that topic a fair amount on this channel so I’m not going to rehash it here but if you’re looking at buying your first electric car you’re likely worried about resale value of EES

Further down the line you’re likely worried about the long-term repair costs and lifespan of the vehicle and perhaps you’re worried about everyday ownership issues like where to charge how to charge and what charging station reliability is really like as aide if you want a beginner’s guide to EV ch

Charging keep your peepers peeled next week for a new video that we’ve working on that will focus exactly those queries of course when choosing to buy a new EV the first thing you should be asking yourself is do you actually need it I know this is obvious but it’s all too

Easy to get caught up in the new shiny shiny process of buying something especially if you’re enticed by a special purchase deal a lower interest rate or governmental incentives and I’ve been there in fact back in late 2020 my wife and I put a deposit down on a brand new Ford Mustang

Mark E for her and initiated the ordering process because of the financial incentives available to just do that since it took a few months for the vehicle to actually be produced we changed our mind by the time it was at the dealership and luckily our dealership was more than happy to sell

It to someone else so no harm no foul we should have maybe spent more time deciding if a new car was right for us before we put down the deposit but knowing that there was substantial weight before it would actually be there and that a deposit was not a binding

Contract to buy we were okay making the decision we did in our case we decided that a new electric car wasn’t ultimately the best choice for us because financially we wanted to send the money we’d have been paying on a new car loan somewhere else we decided our

Priorities lay elsewhere and because we already had a perfectly good electric car we skipped on the replacement idea and obviously if you are making that purchas decision of do I need a new car there’s going to be a bunch of different considerations you’ll need to take into account can you afford the monthly

Payments will a new car be better than the current one you have and what if things change change circumstantially further down the line after all a big Financial commitment like a car purchase or even entering a lease is something that’s not always that easy to get out of if circumstances

Change but another consideration I want to discuss is the question of do you actually need a car at all I know I know it might feel weird for a YouTube channel that’s primarily focused on electric vehicles to ask if you actually need a car at all but the answer for

That for many people isn’t what they think it is sure if you live in large suedes of the US where there’s minimal public transit or where you have a commute that can’t easily be serviced by what Transit there is you might rightly scoff at the idea of not owning your own

Car but given that the average commute of most people in the US is under 25 miles it’s unlikely that the majority of people watching this lives somewhere where there is not good public transit we need to use it more because at the end of the day public transit is better

Than Private Car ownership both as a way of tackling congestion and emissions and by proxy accident rates of course I would also be negligent to note those of us who now work from home and don’t use a car at all to commute also don’t really need a car that much I fit in

Into that category and were I still living in a metropolitan area we don’t we live way out in the country I could certainly see an argument for us as a family having one or no car at all but at the same time if you work from home

And you’re in reach of a good reliable affordable public transportation option maybe you could save yourself a lot of time and money by ditching your car completely youd save on maintenance costs insurance and of course fuel or charging feas at this point I know some of you are probably getting frustrated with the

Premise of the video and how I’m not addressing the actual question I posed but here’s the thing you could and should consider buying a non-automotive EV if you’re someone who can live without a car I am of course talking about electric bicycles which are quickly becoming a great way to get into

The world of EVS without spending huge sums of money for the same amount of money money as a few months of car payments you can buy a brand new exceptionally made electric bicycle from a well-known known good bike brand some countries and municipalities even offer incentives for people buying qualifying

Ebikes and some companies even count ebikes under their health and fitness reimbursement programs or their cycle to work programs and as I’ve said before if you’re in the market for an EV it is worth trying out e bicycles as well as you might surprise yourself there are

Also some really great cargo ebikes out there that you can buy that could make your weekly shop entirely possible without a car and if you’ve got kids or dogs you can buy some really great cargo bikes Trikes and quads that provide great Transportation options as long as you live somewhere with a temperate

Climate and good cycle path networks and if you occasionally need a car many major cities have established car clubs you can join to allow you to borrow a car when you need to and even today some Automotive dealerships now offer rental programs for ad hoc use by customers but let’s say that you’re

Someone who absolutely cannot survive without your own wheels and the question again comes to should you wait to buy or buy now and the answer really does depend on your situation both in practical and financial terms if you currently own an internal combustion engine vehicle and you genuinely don’t

Use it all that much I.E you make the occasional longer distance trip and otherwise use public transit or a bicycle you honestly may find it’s just easier to keep the car you have if you use your gasoline car for lots of short trips however yeah you really should consider

Switching to an EV but I’m also going to suggest that you look at the used car market for your first vehicle why is that well not only do you get to try an EV for a lower overall cost but there’s also something to be said for experiencing used EV ownership as a way

Of figuring out exactly what you’d want in a brand new more expensive vehicle the overwhelming majority of people I know who started their EV journey in an older used EV ultimately drove it for a few months or a few years before then upgrading to a newer one and the

Knowledge and Skills they learned from owning an older often lower mileage model help them make informed choices about which car they should ultimately invest in not only that but buying used helps you benefit more quickly from the lower running costs associated with going electric and in today’s rapidly

Evolving EV landscape waiting to hold off on the latest and greatest technology is very much worthwhile which brings me to the question that many people have should I buy now or wait for the new hotness should I wait for next instead of CCS type one the answer really does depend on

Your own circumstances and of course your own budget of course to the latter you should always consult a financial adviser before making a major purchase like a new car and be sure whatever you buy that you have a clear understanding of the costs associated with and contract of the sale but we’re also

Hearing from plenty of people who state they’re not going to buy an EV until X or Y happens usually those two things being until EES can drive a particular distance or until I can use Tesla’s supercharging network if you’re someone who fits into that first category you’re probably among the majority of people

Who believe you need to travel much further than you really need to unless you live hundreds of miles away from a nearby town or make CrossCountry trips every single weekend the chances are that you don’t need more than about 150 M 240 km of real world range on even the

Worst of daily commutes that said if you live somewhere with super cold temperatures in the winter you may want to expand that range upwards by about 50% especially if the vehicle you’re looking at has a resistive heating system instead of a heat pump but it’s still well within the capabilities of

The majority of used EVS on the market today if you have access to off- street parking and charging and admittedly not everyone does you should find that even with that kind of mileage requirements which is very much more than the average person actually needs you should be just

Fine without needing to rely on public charging infrastructure our very own DP M now has the Chevrolet bolt and he has no charging options at home they do use public charging during the week as required but also tend to get a recharge when work working at the studio that

Gives them more than what they need for most daily driving duties and they only really have to top up at the weekends now to the CCS versus KNX debate and if you are outside of North America I’m sorry I’ll keep it brief the CCS type one is currently the charging

Standard you’ll find at most non-tesla charging stations across North America and for the most part while some networks like Electrify America have got some really terrible reliability issues if you live in a major metropolitan area you’re likely to be able to find working CCS type 1 charging without too many

Headaches in some parts of the US as well Tesla already has installed super do equipped superchargers which make it possible for you to use non-tesla vehicles with Tesla superchargers and finally later this year adapters will roll out for non- Teslas to use but I should also point out this switch is not

Going to happen overnight and if you’re waiting for a magic moment to buy an EV at some point in the future after the transition is magically completed I’m afraid you’re going to be waiting for a really long long time while KNX might be a good long-term bet

Making a transition from one standard to another is going to be painful it’s going to take a lot of time and the chances are CCS type 1 charging infrastructure will be around and used for some sign ific time to come additionally this roll out is likely going to be phased based on which

Automakers signed up with Tesla first and which automakers have deals in some cases companies have promised to switch without finalizing deals with Tesla and that could ultimately result in more headaches for customers buying a car today that fits your needs and wants which has a CCS type 1 connector still

Makes sense it’s especially since most companies are promising an adapter in the future this allows for maximum flexibility today without forcing you to wait and in short if you’re waiting for a magic future moment for the perfect EV you’re going to be waiting for a long time making the switch sooner rather

Than later not only helps you save money but it helps you prepare for whatever vehicle you’re lusting after in the future and while gasoline prices are currently much lower in some markets than they were not so long ago it’s inevitable that prices will ultimately go back up again the used EV Market is

Much better today than it once was in terms of affordability and if you add into that plenty of used EVS entering from rental fleets well you’ve probably got more of a chance of nabbing a deal today than you have at any point in the past so should you wait well if you’re

Worried about the financial impact you could survive without a car at all or you’re not sure what lays ahead for you in terms of where you’re going to be or what you’re going to be doing yes you should wait but otherwise it’s probably one of the best

Times to go electric at least if you live in countries where generous incentives are available for both new and used car purchases and if you’re in need of some help why not reach out to us we now offer an EV consultancy service that helps you your business or

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In the last few months, we’ve seen automakers backtrack on some of their commitments to electric vehicles – and we’ve already seen a rise in anti-EV rhetoric from certain political spheres.

Combine this with the announcement last year that automakers were switching from CCS Type 1 to NACS in the U.S., and you might be having second thoughts about buying an EV.

But should you wait – or buy now? We’re about to try and explore that question.

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00:00 – Introduction
01:44 – People are feeling the pinch
04:38 – Do you *really* need a new car?
06:48 – Do you actually need a car at all?
07:48 – Work from home = Less car need?
08:48 – e-Bikes instead of electric cars?
10:25 – Wait or buy now? – It depends on your situation
11:20 – The benefits of going used first
12:05 – Waiting for NACS or Not?
13:28 – A note about charging
17:37 – Thanks, and Goodbye!

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Links:

– Watch last yer’s video on Anti EV FUD – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn6TiPUxoAg&pp=ygUYRlVEIEVWIFRyYW5zcG9ydCBFdm9sdmVk
– Watch Kate’s video on how Oil Companies knew about climate change a long time ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO7KviuUh0Y
– Watch Kate’s video debunking anti-EV FUD from FOX news: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2vpyApk-_I
FUDbusting anti-EV rhetoric:
– https://youtu.be/Xn6TiPUxoAg
– https://youtu.be/R2vpyApk-_I
– Kyle Hill’s frustration with Science misinformation from AI generated content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McM3CfDjGs0
– Watch John Oliver cover Sinclair’s control over news networks – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc

Buy our latest T-shirt: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/157873541
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Script: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Presenter: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Editor, Colorist: Michael Horton
Art and Animation: Erin Carlie
Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield
© Transport Evolved LLC, 2024

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