| Want to talk about conversions? Look at the complexity in ICE vehicles vs. electric. Let’s just look at fluids:
Oil
Cooling
Brake
Transmission
Differential
Power steering (although more and more ICE cars are coming with electric, so this is waning). Many of those must be changed on a routine basis. Changed. That means old has to be drained and disposed of and new fluids have to be made to be used for replacement. Look at all the parts in ICE vehicles that need replacement/maintenance - spark plugs, air filters, PCV Valves, accessory and timing belts - those are pretty common, but there are just more moving parts so more to potentially break beyond that stuff. By comparison, electric cars are extremely simple. Brake fluid and windshield washer fluid are generally all they have. There are far fewer moving parts. If there is a transmission, they are dramatically simpler/less complex. Yes the battery packs are liquid cooled but it’s a sealed, non-serviceable system. The lead acid batteries in my ICE cars are sealed too. This is one of the biggest reasons electric cars aren’t popular with dealers. Car dealers survive on maintenance, not new car sales. Fleecing people on used cars (buying or selling - most people suck at dealing with used vehicles) can be a significant source of revenue, but nothing beats steady service revenue. Hell just try to get a modern car that doesn’t flog you to see your dealer for routine service - whether it’s really needed or not. Electric cars have dramatically fewer service requirements and this has a substantially positive environmental impact - has to. If you don’t have to create a bunch of stuff on a routine basis x millions of vehicles then there isn’t much of an environmental impact, eh? That said, I still think current battery tech isn’t practical enough to totally supplant ICE vehicles. Electric cars make great commuter vehicles - except with the pandemic most people are teleworking :) Maybe the new Samsung solid state batteries will finally tilt things where electrics are a no-brainer. |