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180575444
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Posted
by
msmash
ary 13, 2026 @03:44PM
from the encouraging-signs dept.
Electric vehicles are more likely to be fixed at the roadside than petrol or diesel cars despite public fears to the contrary, according to new breakdown data from the AA. From a report: New research from Autotrader and the AA, carried out in December among more than 2,000 consumers, found 44% of respondents are concerned about the risk of breakdowns or roadside repairs when considering switching to an EV. Concern was highest among drivers aged 75 and over, with 56% saying they were worried.
The North East recorded the highest level of concern at 52%, while women were slightly more likely to express reservations than men - 46% versus 41%. Even so, AA call-out data indicates EVs are more likely to be successfully repaired at the roadside than a 12-volt battery in a petrol or diesel car.
Separately, industry data continues to indicate growing readiness to service electric cars. A recent Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) survey of aftermarket businesses found 81.2% of UK workshops are already equipped to work on EVs, according to the campaign partners.
You may like to read:
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
bynealric ( 3647765 ) writes:
Other than putting on a spare for a flat tire, what sort of "roadside repairs" are people performing in 2026? There's not much on any modern car (gas or electric) that can be fixed by the side of the road. It's not 1965 and you aren't fiddling with a carburetor anymore.
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byThurstonMoore ( 605470 ) writes:
I thought the same thing, what a bullshit article.
bytimeOday ( 582209 ) writes:
First guess is this is another way of saying, "EV's run out of battery a lot, but can be charged roadside to get you going." But that isn't it:
Edmund King, AA president, said: "The AA has the biggest database of EV breakdowns in the UK and our data shows EVs running out of charge is a tiny proportion of EV breakdowns and has fallen dramatically since 2015..
Huh. So what is it? Not addressing obvious questions causes speculation.
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bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
Typically people don't run out of charge on the battery. Other than Teslas (which had the stupid habit of not properly powering down and draining the main battery - something which they FINALLY fixed in a software update) cars can happily stand for months on end without losing any charge.
The problem is people run out of charge on the battery... the 12V battery. Some cars for some reason only charge the utility battery from the main battery while the car is driven. I've only witnessed a roadside callout for
bysinij ( 911942 ) writes:
[EV] cars can happily stand for months on end without losing any charge.
Citation? Because my understanding that unless you live in a perfect climate battery still has to be cooled or heated even when the car is parked. That is, generally you can't leave EV parked and not plugged for any length of time and expect it to still drive when you get back.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
Your understanding is wrong. Lithium batteries do not work when cold, but they don't simply loose charge irreversibly at rest. Battery being warm is important when you are charging or discharging them, not when they are standing around. Modern EVs take care of this just fine.
My own personal experience, I didn't drive my car for 3 whole months last year (I was in India, Australia, Jakarta and America on a long business trip with a holiday in between). I arrived back home with the exact same level of charge greeting me when I left.
Want more? Over the Christmas holidays my car was parked outside at Schiphol Airport for 5 weeks. I parked it with 62% charge, I picked it up 6 weeks later with 61% charge. The day I got back to that airport it up it was -7C. When I got into the car I was greeted with an indicator on my dash showing the power train was power limited. It took a good 10min of highway driving before the the limit was released (at that point the battery was warmed up). And when I got home and looked at the trend, the trend showed that after 2min of driving my battery charge actually reported 62% again (before rapidly dropping thanks to me screaming down the highway).
I don't blame you for your misconception though. America's most popular car was not able to do that. But that's mostly because it's so loaded with software rubbish like sentry mode, and keeping USB ports active, and systems that maintain cabin temperature when the car isn't in use, and waiting for users to use the summon mode, that the car is infamously bad at phantom draining. They are however quite unique in the industry loading up their car with such pointless features, and they FINALLY in 2025 after over a decade of people asking for it, introduced a "low power standby" mode that disables all that crap so people don't return to their empty cars. Teslas very much have phantom power drain issues, most other EVs do not.
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bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
*5 weeks later. Typo.
bysinij ( 911942 ) writes:
I have someone at work parking Tesla next to my spot. Every time I walk past it, I can see it wake up. I know it activates its cameras and uploads recorded footage. That cannot be good for the battery charge.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
Yeah it is objectively bad. Typical phantom drain (or vampire drain) for Teslas is 1-2% overnight. But if something is constantly moving enough to keep the sentry mode active then I've seen people say it's as high as 5%.
I replied to you above about an Opel Corsa. That belonged to a friend and was parked on our street for 2 months (her street was in the city and she didn't have a parking permit). The reason was that she bought a Tesla but had 2 months left on the Corsa lease. The 12V battery on the Corsa was
byswillden ( 191260 ) writes:
[EV] cars can happily stand for months on end without losing any charge.
Citation? Because my understanding that unless you live in a perfect climate battery still has to be cooled or heated even when the car is parked. That is, generally you can't leave EV parked and not plugged for any length of time and expect it to still drive when you get back.
It depends on the temperature. It's harmful for batteries to be over 50C (120F) for long periods of time, so if it's very hot out (Phoenix hot) you might see as much as 3-5% of the battery being consumed per day by the thermal management system, to keep the battery cool. If the battery gets depleted the battery management system should stop trying to cool the battery rather than draw it dangerously low. Nothing immediately bad will happen, but if the battery stays this way for a long time it will suffer permanent degradation.
Unlike lead-acid batteries, low temperatures don't harm Li-ion or LFP batteries, so the thermal management system won't kick on in cold weather... but the battery itself will lose performance and capacity if cold, which means that if you leave it unplugged then get in and drive, you're going to have reduced power and reduced range. Of course once you turn the car on and start driving it will warm up, but the heat to warm it comes from the battery, further depleting it.
Also, one way cold really affects LFP and Li-ion batteries is that they won't charge if they're below 0C, because charging a cold battery will damage it. So if your car is parked in cold weather with a low state of charge you won't be able to recharge it, not until it's been plugged in for long enough to warm itself up with a trickle of power from the charger.
So if you live in a very hot or a very cold place it's a good idea to keep it plugged in while parked. If an egg broken on the sidewalk won't freeze or cook, you're fine. And it's only in the hot case that you're risking damage, and then only capacity degradation.
That said, what's most convenient is just to always keep it plugged in while parked, if at all possible. That way it's always ready to go and you never need to think about it.
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bysinij ( 911942 ) writes:
Thank you for informative response.
byblastard ( 816262 ) writes:
I just got back home after almost a month of leaving my 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV (over 200k miles) in the dead of the northern USA winter. I was shocked even I hopped in it and drove off with over 170 miles of range. The brakes all clunked when I started to move because they sat so long, but the battery had not discharged by much. The range was less than 200 miles because there is a small loss in range, but mostly because winter driving will use more kWh for the same distance.
So thereâ(TM)s a real wor
bymccalli ( 323026 ) writes:
Information is here [autotrader.co.uk]:
(一)Wheels and tyres
(二)High Voltage Drive and Charge
(三)12v battery
(四)Locks, Alarms and Immobilisers
(五)Electrical and Wiring
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byPsychoSlashDot ( 207849 ) writes:
Other than putting on a spare for a flat tire, what sort of "roadside repairs" are people performing in 2026? There's not much on any modern car (gas or electric) that can be fixed by the side of the road. It's not 1965 and you aren't fiddling with a carburetor anymore.
The summary suggests it's 12V battery replacement/service.
Most tow trucks are equipped to handle basic things like giving a jump and/or replacing a 12V battery, and topping up an empty fuel tank but that's about it. With an ICE vehicle, that's the easy stuff and may work. But if an alternator belt has broken, it's not getting repaired at road-side. If a gasket has leaked, nope. Basically a whole bunch of mechanical stuff... nope.
But EVs... a large portion of failures are 12V batteries dying. EVs tend to run all the stuff in the car off that, and charge the 12V from the high-voltage battery. If your 12V battery dies, more often than not the car is utterly disabled. You don't run support stuff off the high-voltage battery. So... having a replacement or a jump rescues a lot of stuck EVs.
Point is... complex repairs aren't happening for ICE, but EVs don't need as many complex repairs so the rudimentary ones are proportionally more successful.
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byGameboyRMH ( 1153867 ) writes:
But if an alternator belt has broken, it's not getting repaired at road-side.
Depends, If the car has a longitudinal engine layout it can be very easy to change an alternator belt, which is usually a single serpentine belt that runs all the engine accessories these days. If it's a lateral engine layout and there's barely enough room between the pulleys and the side of the engine bay to slip the belt through, it can be a lot more difficult but I wouldn't say impossible as a roadside repair.
Powertrain internals are where you get closer to roadside repairs being categorically impossible
bybradley13 ( 1118935 ) writes:
Yup. Had this. I find it really strange that a car running off a high-tech battery still relies on an old-fashioned lead-acud battery. Why?
byPsychoSlashDot ( 207849 ) writes:
Yup. Had this. I find it really strange that a car running off a high-tech battery still relies on an old-fashioned lead-acud battery. Why?
I suspect there are a few reasons, including safety. When the vehicle isn't being driven, you want as little as necessary energized. The battery has the energy its SoC is storing, but you don't want some massive inverter running all the time to provide things like the clock and remote door locks the 12V, low-amp supply they need 7/24. Basically, you want to shut down the vast, vast majority of the vehicle but not all of it, and the circuits required to step down the HV battery to tiny tickle demand is wa
bymagzteel ( 5013587 ) writes:
Other than putting on a spare for a flat tire, what sort of "roadside repairs" are people performing in 2026? There's not much on any modern car (gas or electric) that can be fixed by the side of the road. It's not 1965 and you aren't fiddling with a carburetor anymore.
I agree, this makes zero sense. I'm pretty skilled as an auto mechanic and other than the spare & jack I don't even bring tools in the car. I only keep an OBD2 scanner so I can read and clear codes if necessary. With respect to this EV vs ICE comparison, in the USA EV's on average are about 3.7 years old, while the average age of all cars is almost 13 years. So they are comparing roadside issues for relatively new vehicles against much older ones.
bymister_hoberman_to_y ( 1120933 ) writes:
I own a 2020 Chevy Bolt and keep one repair tool in it: a 10mm wrench.
The Bolt forums recommend carrying a wrench on board because of a common repair procedure that apparently resolves a whole range of odd symptoms. It's called a "10mm reset", and involves disconnecting the 12 volt battery for a few seconds.
Most of the systems - engine and high voltage control, heat, air conditioning, radio, headlights, etc - run off the 12 volt battery. The most common problems on the Bolt are glitches in one of those low-
byMachineShedFred ( 621896 ) writes:
Oh there's still lots of things that can go to shit in an ICE car that can be fixed on the roadside:
timing belt / serpentine belt
alternator belt
alternator
fuel lines
clogged fuel filter
clogged fuel injectors
vacuum leaks
clogged air filter
failed mass airflow sensor causing bad inputs to the ECU
failed O2 exhaust / emissions sensor causing bad inputs to the ECU
failed thermostat not opening / failing to close
ruptured radiator hoses
dead water pump
failed ignition coils
dead battery
I'm sure you can think of a few more
byValgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) writes:
And you carry all those parts and tools to affect these repairs?
byPowercntrl ( 458442 ) writes:
And you carry all those parts and tools to affect these repairs?
I've swapped the alternator on my work van in the parking lot of a 7-11. Had all the tools with me because... it's a work van. Of course, the issue is that you still need someone to bring you the new part. I've joked before that I should keep my e-scooter in my van, so when it breaks down I can take the scooter to the nearest auto parts store.
byfahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) writes:
I've joked before that I should keep my e-scooter in my van, so when it breaks down I can take the scooter to the nearest auto parts store.
Ya, but then you'll need to carry an e-skateboard on your e-scooter in case that breaks down... It'll be turtles all the way down. :-)
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byMachineShedFred ( 621896 ) writes:
I'm sorry, did you time warp here from 1930 and you haven't heard of roadside assistance that you can call with a wireless telephone?
byValgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) writes:
I'm sorry. I just don't believe you people that claim to be changing timing belts and alternators and head gaskets "on the side of the road". For that type of repair, you tow the car to a garage.
byMachineShedFred ( 621896 ) writes:
Yes, heaven forbid someone could walk to an auto parts store that they can see from the elevated roadway they broke down on, buy the part, and then come back and use a rudimentary tool kit to effect a repair.
You know that replacing an alternator is usually just a few bolts, yeah? Maybe you need a pry bar to get the belt tensioned?
Who said anything about tearing the top of the engine apart on the side of the road to replace a head gasket besides you?
byshilly ( 142940 ) writes:
This is an article about the UK, and specifically about the repairs carried out by the Automobile Association's mobile engineers at the roadside.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
Can doesn't mean is. Many roadside assistance cars are only setup to handle a few of the basics. No one is replacing an alternator or a timing belt on the roadside, the odds of them having the one your specific model needs on hand when they get there is slim.
A few clogs can be fixed, but most of the things on your list will be diagnosed roadside followed by a tow to a garage.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
Yep. The whole slew of mobile mechanics that are in pretty much all areas with populations per sq. mile larger than Montana neither exist, nor do any work.
Mobile mechanics and roadside assistance are not the same thing and do not serve the same purpose. I used to use mobile mechanics, they did not come in 15min to fix my car, they came in several days.
bylucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) writes:
Almost zero of these things are something a roadside assistance driver can do or would have the parts to do. Your post is diy-guy fantasy.
I've replaced plenty of things on the side of the road. Including water pumps. That's not what's being discussed and nobody cares that you can do any of that. In fact some of them are pretty unbelievable because they would just be stupid to attempt on most vehicles. At some point you put on your big boy pants and call for a tow, even if that's back to your own house to do the work properly.
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bychmod a+x mojo ( 965286 ) writes:
Other than O2 sensor and timing belt ( WTF, you aren't going to take the whole front of the engine, AND likely the oil pan off on the side of the road ), I've done literally ALL of those things on the side of the road at one time or another. Both on my own vehicles and on others.
None of it is hard. Most parts stores stock parts for vehicles that were made in the last 30-40 years or so. Even the small towns everywhere around me have their own auto parts stores, and they will ferry parts to the closest one to
by93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) writes:
Hazard Fart
Okay, I know that "Wally World" is Walmart... but what is "Hazard Fart"?
bysamwichse ( 1056268 ) writes:
Harbor Freight. I always called it Hazard Frought, though
bylucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) writes:
You've missed the point to brag/tell war stories.
I will repeat is so you can maybe understand: Almost zero of these things are something a roadside assistance driver can do or would have the parts to do.
byichthus ( 72442 ) writes:
Crank position sensor (CPS). Jeepers know what I'm talking about.
bygroobly ( 6155920 ) writes:
Oh, ok, a broken fan belt/serpentine belt. Nope, not a timing belt. Also, probably not really a serpentine belt without a lot of tools. Yes to water pump belt if it's separate. But not the water pump. It's devilishly hard on most modern cars, and even was back in 1965, since I had to do it multiple times.
byPowercntrl ( 458442 ) writes:
Other than putting on a spare for a flat tire
Which many modern cars, EV or otherwise, no longer include a spare. Most people are just going to end up getting towed if they get a flat.
I decided on buying a junkyard wheel from a Chevy Sonic to use as a spare for the two Bolts that we have. There's really no room to keep a full-size spare in the car all the time, so I just leave it in my shed. I figure worst case if we're both riding in the car and get a flat, an Uber ride back home to retrieve the tire and head back out in one of my other vehicles is
byfahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) writes:
Back when I owned only ICE vehicles, I've always just gotten a jump and driven to the nearest Walmart, and changed out the battery in the parking lot.
All my cars have, and have had, manual transmissions so they can be push-started - which I've done a few times over the many years.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
The ability to push start is also dependent on vehicle. It's insanely difficult to push start certain cars with certain transmissions on a flat terrain even with multiple people helping. The same goes for jump starting. Some engines need quite a lot of juice to jump and if someone comes up to you with an econo-box you'll be out of luck.
There's no manual or not. Everything is always dependent on design and situation.
byfrdmfghtr ( 603968 ) writes:
Jumping a big beast with an econobox is possible with a bit of patience. I used a tiny Ford Festiva to jump start a Chevy 454SS once...after allowing the Ford to charge the Chevy's battery for about 15 minutes then revved the hell out of it while cranking the Chevy. The Chevy barely cranked, but it was enough.
byfahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) writes:
The ability to push start is also dependent on vehicle. It's insanely difficult to push start certain cars with certain transmissions on a flat terrain even with multiple people helping. The same goes for jump starting. Some engines need quite a lot of juice to jump and if someone comes up to you with an econo-box you'll be out of luck.
There's no manual or not. Everything is always dependent on design and situation.
Agreed. All our vehicles have been relatively small over the years, with 4 cylinder engines -- VW Beetle; Toyota Celica; Honda Prelude ('87), and currently 2001 Civic, 2002 CR-V. I haven't had to push start all of them, but know I could, even by myself. I have been able to jump-start larger vehicles with these though.
byshilly ( 142940 ) writes:
Don't you have mobile tyre replacement services in the US? I had to use one a few weeks back here in the UK. Had to wait about an hour for them to arrive, but they replaced the tyre then and there.
byfluffernutter ( 1411889 ) writes:
But that's just got to be a spare tyre that you give back eventually? It's not safe to have three half worn Tyres and one new one. That's meant to get to the garage to fix the tyre. So you wouldn't want to buy a tyre from then because that would be a waste after yours is fixed. Unless the tyre couldn't be fixed, but then you would have to buy three tyres to match the one you got from the service.
byhey! ( 33014 ) writes:
Had one last year -- a 12 v battery died and needed roadside replacement. Jump starts are still pretty common. So is overheating in the summer -- requiring coolant top-ups, even hose replacement can be done roadside. Some modern cars can go into "limp" mode because of faulty gas caps and you might have to reset the ECU in some cases to get home or to a shop. Those are just the ICE specific problems.
But yeah; ICE cars since 2000 have reached a level of reliability that would be unheard of when I started
bylucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) writes:
Please specify exactly which car or manufacturer will put a vehicle into "limp mode" for an evap leak. The very worst I'm aware of is subaru not letting you use cruise control anymore (which is the cae for any DTC that will set a MIL on them).
byfluffernutter ( 1411889 ) writes:
I have personal experience with a 2007 Camry that would constantly shut the engine down hard from an evap leak. Like literally you would be driving along at 100km and it would be lugging because the engine was shutting down. We fixed that, but the engine light is still on permanently.
bylucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) writes:
It was not put in limp mopde by the ECU. You had a legitimate issue that happened to be evap that was actually preventing the car from running properly. That's not what I was asking about or describing. There is a very big difference.
byfluffernutter ( 1411889 ) writes:
No it was the ECU throttling the engine. There's no reason for an evap leak to be that much of a problem.
bySique ( 173459 ) writes:
The old Opel Zafira of my wife would limit the engine to 3000 rpm when the lambda probe was not answering.
bylucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) writes:
No not from an evap code. Got it.
byshilly ( 142940 ) writes:
Besides tyres, starter battery and running out of fuel, the main roadside repairs are: timing belts, turbochargers, and automatic gearbox failures plus engine cooling issues. Remember that running out of fuel can damage eg the fuel pump, which can also require a repair. Not true for an EV
bymjwx ( 966435 ) writes:
Other than putting on a spare for a flat tire, what sort of "roadside repairs" are people performing in 2026? There's not much on any modern car (gas or electric) that can be fixed by the side of the road. It's not 1965 and you aren't fiddling with a carburetor anymore.
With ICE engines, quite a bit can be done to get them started again, usually when an engine doesn't start its down to the battery not having enough juice (particularly with big engines) or the starter motor malfunctioning (or not functioning). If an engine overheats you can usually put some more coolant into it to get it started and the owner home (if your engine has overheated mid journey, the damage is likely done already, as me about the SR20DET I blew up sometime). Outside of things like tyres, you're u
bygroobly ( 6155920 ) writes:
I did a lot of roadside repairs in 1965, usually on my own vehicles. It never had to do with the carburetor. The most common problem for me was overheating and/or burst radiator hose. These were fixable at roadside, especially if you always had a spare radiator hose and some tools. The other most common roadside repair was trashed wiper blade in the rain. Other problems I came across among others were seized engine because never changed oil, cracked cylinder head to hyper overheat (roadside = add water
bynealric ( 3647765 ) writes:
Fires in gas vehicles are far more likely than in EVs. All it takes is a fuel leak in the wrong place. EVs usually only ignite in the case of significant physical damage to the vehicle (which can also cause a gas car to explode in some cases). In any case, extinguishing a vehicle fire is never a "roadside repair."
byjenningsthecat ( 1525947 ) writes:
I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of people reading this are located in the US, with a small chunk of us from Canada as well. And TFA is clearly British, where the market forces, logistics, and demographics are vastly different from those here.
Also, the article is long on claims and short on actual stats and other key details. It strikes me as more of a lazy propaganda piece than a news article.
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byh33t l4x0r ( 4107715 ) writes:
Well I did notice that the AA was missing an A.
by93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) writes:
I dunno... perhaps Alcoholic Anonymous is adding a 13th step involving auto repair?
byfluffernutter ( 1411889 ) writes:
That's way more likely to drive you back into drinking.
byISoldat53 ( 977164 ) writes:
AAAAA -Driving club for alcoholics
byrta ( 559125 ) writes:
Well looking into the AA it's a for profit insurance, financing, and roadside assistance company.
formerly owned by Private Capital firms, loaded up with debt, then floated on the market, then taken private again by other private equity firms.
https://www.theguardian.com/bu... [theguardian.com]
and it's also now part of some government plus industry EV marketing effort along with the car dealers industry association and others:
The AA has also been announced as a new champion of the cross-industry “Electric Cars: The Facts” initiative, a campaign created by Autotrader, ChargeUK and the SMMT and endorsed by the Department for Transport.
so that somewhat explains the marketing / advertorial vibe of TFA...
but yeah would've liked to see a
byrsilvergun ( 571051 ) writes:
It's looking like electric cars or more expensive to maintain than gas cars. Even without including the battery since surprisingly it looks like the batteries will last it's the rest of the vehicle that's the problem.
Also there's one other major problem with electric cars we don't talk about, if you get in a fender bender it's not uncommon for the whole car to be totaled because the cost of recertifying the battery pack so that you know it's not going to blow up on you is more than the car is worth in a
bydunkelfalke ( 91624 ) writes:
I had two fender benders with two different electric cars. One required a paint job, the other a new fender. Neither had to be recertified.
byrsilvergun ( 571051 ) writes:
Just Google fender bender EV causes car to be totaled. You will find several articles detailing cases where it has happened. To be fair it does seem to be much more likely with the cybertruck but regardless it happens with other electric cars too.
Keep in mind I'm using the phrase fender bender loosely. We're not talking a little bit of paint. We're talking in actual fender bender with a fender itself gets well, bent. Enough of a hit that the insurance company is deciding whether they're going to Total t
bydunkelfalke ( 91624 ) writes:
As I said, in that one case the fender of my car - Citroen eC4, to be specific - had to be replaced because it was literally bent. And I drove around with a bent fender for several months because the insurance took their sweet time to process everything. Basically, if the car doesn't throw any errors, it's fine.
bymccalli ( 323026 ) writes:
There's literally no evidence for what the hell you're talking about. Smog is mostly derived from emissions [wikipedia.org], assuming you're American your vehicles aren't zero emissions [bts.gov] (I'm in the UK, I can tell you ours aren't either by the fact there's an emissions standard test as part of the annual vehicle check, the MOT, which you need to allow your vehicle on the road here), EVs aren't heavier in most cases [ferribysus...lity.co.uk] and EVs aren't worse on tyres than ICE [stopburningstuff.org].
It truly is an impressive amount of wrong to come to the right concl
byAnonymous Coward writes:
It's looking like electric cars or more expensive to maintain than gas cars. Even without including the battery since surprisingly it looks like the batteries will last it's the rest of the vehicle that's the problem.
Genuinely trying to figure out how you jumped from an article about how it's easier to repair an EV than ICE on the roadside and made the determination that they're more expensive to maintain. Just about everything in the article is indicative of EVs being more reliable, not less.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
It's looking like electric cars or more expensive to maintain than gas cars.
Based on what, some anti-EV bullshit you pulled from your arse? The actual data shows the opposite. Consumer reports have largely confirmed that the vast majority of problems experienced by EVs are manufacturing defects which are usually resolved at no cost to the customer. There are the occasional really stupid car designs that give truly boneheadded problems (e.g. the Ford Mustang Mach-E can with minor damage to the undercarriage result in a repair bill in the many thousands due to loss of coolant in the
byjacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) writes:
I also feel like there has to be a selection bias happening right now also where so many electric vehicles are in the luxury class and luxury vehicles have always been expensive to repair.
And you're spot on with the self inflicted issues, there was a recent story about a Rivian getting dented and the repair was like $30k but it was due to the fact they built something the entire rear half as a single body panel and that had to come off along with a ton of other shit had to get taken apart to get to the prob
byrsilvergun ( 571051 ) writes:
I think it's just as likely that EVS are in the luxury class because they cost more to produce and putting them in the luxury class covers up for some of those costs.
It's like if you're buying a graphics card and you're buying a mid-range card an extra 20 bucks you're damn well going to notice it but if you're buying a $2,000 video card then the manufacturer can pretty easily tack on an extra 100 bucks and you're not going to notice it.
Or another more close to home example, when gasoline prices Spik
byjacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) writes:
For sure and that's a result of high prices for battery packs still.
I'm still holding to my prediction, which is pretty well accepted, that by 2030 we should have way, way, way more cell production which should drop the price of battery packs and will enable way more cars in that 20-40K price range with good driving distances. Then we can really see the reliability vs petrol cars shake out, like if Toyota finally ever decides to just do "Camry but with EV drive train" I would expect it to be as if not more
bySique ( 173459 ) writes:
Replace 2030 with 2024, and you are right. In the U.S., the average new car costs more than $40,000. For that price, you can get a quite decent EV with quite the range. Right now. Like an Kia EV4. Or a Toyota bZ4X.
byjacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) writes:
Sure that's the average but if i wanted a new car for under $30k i still have options: Corolla, Civic, Sentra, Mazda 3 whereas even that EV4 while quite nice is starting at $39.9k and bZ at like $37k and the bZ was pretty widely panned all around up until maybe this years model release? I've been checking out used EV's even and outside of some Model 3's there's very slim pickings under $30k
They're getting closer every year but there is no competition in those spaces quite yet. We're getting there
bySique ( 173459 ) writes:
Maybe Stellantis will sell the Leapmotor B10 in the U.S.. It's a sub-$30k compact SUV with a spacious interior and a long list of nice to have features.
byjacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) writes:
One big problem I have with that; it's made by Stellantis, probably the last company I would want to purchase a vehicle from no matter what drivetrain it's using. .
bySique ( 173459 ) writes:
My experience with Stellantis is quite positive, but I am not driving their U.S. offerings (except as rentals), so there is that.
byjacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) writes:
Ahh ok that makes sense then, our Stellantis brand is Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler which are consistently ranked amongst the least reliable and poorly built vehicles, they're just shitty, the Jeep name is only thing keeping it afloat and people are coming around on the fact that new Jeeps are also money pits. The Fiat models we have are also considered flaky and expensive to work on.
byrsilvergun ( 571051 ) writes:
You can easily find articles from reliable news sources talking about electric cars totaled in situations where a gas car would have just been repaired.
And consumer reports has covered the increased cost of electric cars versus gas cars. The fact is that it didn't turn out that the maintenance was less costly. Maybe that will be the case for some cars someday but right now it's not the case, electric cars cost more to maintain than gas powered cars
Don't get me wrong I don't have a dog in this fight.
byPowercntrl ( 458442 ) writes:
electric cars cost more to maintain than gas powered cars
EVs are extremely cheap to maintain if you manage not to crash them. Just sayin'.
I think we should do away with cars and switch to walkable cities and frankly we're going to do that whether you like it or not
Nah, we're heading towards a cars as a service future, where if you're not wealthy enough to own your own car, you'll summon a robotaxi using an app.
byBert64 ( 520050 ) writes:
EVs are extremely cheap to maintain if you manage not to crash them. Just sayin'.
You can be the best driver in the world, but that doesn't help if someone else causes a crash. I've had two cars that were hit while parked, one of which was written off.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
And you can find articles talking about the opposite.
And consumer reports has covered the increased cost of electric cars versus gas cars.
Consumer reports disagrees with what you think you read from consumer reports. They have concluded that EVs had a cheaper maintenance burden. We discussed this on Slashdot the last time it was posted as well. YOU WERE THERE. You were in the discussion. Stop gaslighting.
byPowercntrl ( 458442 ) writes:
Also there's one other major problem with electric cars we don't talk about, if you get in a fender bender it's not uncommon for the whole car to be totaled because the cost of recertifying the battery pack so that you know it's not going to blow up on you is more than the car is worth in a lot of cases.
You're half right. Minor body damage ends up totaling EVs not because "the battery has to be recertified", but because body shops willing to work on EVs tend to be expensive, parts tend to be expensive, and if the damage extends to the mechanical parts of the car, those repairs are also going to be extremely expensive. Mostly this is because there isn't a whole lot of competition in the realm of shops that'll work on EVs.
Now, this isn't an EV exclusive phenomenon. If you're driving around in a vintage IC
bySethra ( 55187 ) writes:
And what qualifies as a roadside repair. Were hybrids included in the EV category?
The article mentions that the AA, which produced the report, has been announced as a new champion of the cross-industry "Electric Cars: The Facts" initiative, a campaign created by Autotrader, ChargeUK and the SMMT. So there is reasonable potential for bias here. The car industry is not known for being above board and honest with the public.
The phrasing of the central claim seems super odd to me as well:
"AA call-out data indicates EVs are more likely to be successfully repaired at the roadside than a 12-volt battery in a petrol or diesel car"
Why call out the 12V battery specifically if they're already going to quantify it as referring to a petrol or diesel car? Are they saying there are more successful EV roadside repairs than dead battery calls for an ICE?
I think it's reasonable to want to see the data before accepting the articles conclusion.
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bymjwx ( 966435 ) writes:
And what qualifies as a roadside repair. Were hybrids included in the EV category?
The article mentions that the AA, which produced the report, has been announced as a new champion of the cross-industry "Electric Cars: The Facts" initiative, a campaign created by Autotrader, ChargeUK and the SMMT. So there is reasonable potential for bias here. The car industry is not known for being above board and honest with the public.
The phrasing of the central claim seems super odd to me as well:
"AA call-out data indicates EVs are more likely to be successfully repaired at the roadside than a 12-volt battery in a petrol or diesel car"
Why call out the 12V battery specifically if they're already going to quantify it as referring to a petrol or diesel car? Are they saying there are more successful EV roadside repairs than dead battery calls for an ICE?
I think it's reasonable to want to see the data before accepting the articles conclusion.
Because a car is designed to use a 12V battery... We've had that as a standard for decades.
The big problem with starting cars isn't the voltage in as much as the ameperage. My 3L Merc will have trouble starting on a depleted battery even though it's still putting out 12V because the starter motor draws a lot of A's.
bySethra ( 55187 ) writes:
> Because a car is designed to use a 12V battery... We've had that as a standard for decades.
The point I'm making, and the reason I highlighted it, is that it doesn't make sense to specifically point at the car battery itself rather than the car itself. Of course all ICE vehicles use a 12V battery, so why call out ONLY a dead battery for roadside repair rather than all cases? It reads like they are deliberately obfuscating the data.
byWimBo ( 124634 ) writes:
There are only two things I can think of as roadside repair issues. A flat tire. Running the battery down on a road trip.
The second is only a worry if I ignore the cars prompts to stop at a charging location. Even then, itâ(TM)s supposedly got a reduced power limping mode if the battery was really low. Iâ(TM)ve yet to experience it.
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
The biggest issue other than a flat tire is the accessory battery. Many cars do not charge their accessory battery properly when not in use. Opel Corsa for example is one of them. It's one of the two reasons I've ever had to call roadside assistance for an EV, we had a friend's Corsa parked in the street for 2 months (she was waiting for the lease to expire but lived in a parking permit zone so she just abandoned here car near us). When she came to pick it up the car was unresponsive. The 12V battery was de
bydunkelfalke ( 91624 ) writes:
Stellantis electric cars are shit. I had three of them (fool me twice - shame on me, I know), never again.
byPPH ( 736903 ) writes:
... sounds good [youtube.com] to me.
bysinij ( 911942 ) writes:
EVs tend to be newer because they weren't sold in large numbers up until very recently. So this is not apples to apples comparison. More so, this is actively misleading - as EVs are generally less repairable than ICE due to vendor part lock in on all electronics. It only very recently businesses figured out how to, for example, repair batteries or even swap parts. Unlike ICE, where if you have an old car and a set of wrenches you can usually go to a junk yard and pick up parts on the cheap to swap and get
bycrow ( 16139 ) writes:
Most of the repairs I've needed on my 2015 Tesla Model S are done at home. Things like replacing faulty door handles (they finally have a design that doesn't fail) and other minor but weird things are done at home--Tesla drives out to me. Same with window replacement.
The only real roadside repairs we've had have been for flat tires or a broken axle (massive pothole). Those usually involve a tow, though we did have Tesla stop by and install a spare replacement wheel and tire for a flat once, which was nic
bylucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) writes:
The only real roadside repairs we've had have been for flat tires or a broken axle (massive pothole). Those usually involve a tow
In no reality is a tow a roadside repair. Those are very distinctly two different things. You did not have an axle replaced as a roadside repair.
bymethano ( 519830 ) writes:
The article states "Even so, AA call-out data indicates EVs are more likely to be successfully repaired at the roadside than a 12-volt battery in a petrol or diesel car."
What the hell does that even mean?
Why try to even wade through gibberish like this?
byTheFerretman ( 6672292 ) writes:
The designs are generally simpler with fewer moving parts, so there's generally less to wear out.
Makes sense.
Ferret
bygweihir ( 88907 ) writes:
EVs have a lot less components and are conceptually a lot simpler on the mechanical and electrical side. In many cases "roadside" defects will be things were the software was overly cautious and just wants a human to look at it.
byrossdee ( 243626 ) writes:
The first thing I think of when I see a dead car on the side of the highway is a coolant leak (Or worse, a hose blowout so you have no coolant left and your cylinder head is cooked.)
Of course that isn't going to happen in a BEV
bybsdetector101 ( 6345122 ) writes:
Sounds like the survey was more for the concerns about the risk of breakdowns or roadside repairs. Need more background data as to actual breakdowns, fixes and costs !
byISoldat53 ( 977164 ) writes:
Those of us over 75 worry about most things.
byDERoss ( 1919496 ) writes:
I was already over 80 when I bought my Nissan Leaf EV.
The only time I needed roadside repair was when I misjudged a driveway and hit a curb at speed; that destroyed a tire. The Leaf does not come with a spare tire or even with space for one. So I needed a tow.
I recently had a minor collision. The paint was scraped on the left front. That part of the body shifted about 1/2 inch or less, causing a "click" when I opened the driver's door. All that was repaired in less than a week.
My wife (also over 80) re
bythegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes:
I'm aware of literally everything with the ability to recharge a dead EV. You can do that off one of those mobile electric tool batteries you find on worksites. Literally every roadside assistance in western Europe has the ability to get an EV online and fill it with enough charge to get you to a charging station. It's a matter of time and equipment. If they have a small battery charger that runs from 240V then you'll be there for an hour. But in many countries if you call and tell them your breakdown issue
byBarsteward ( 969998 ) writes:
Don't forget some EVs have V2L so you can charge off an EV
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