[wood_spirit]

My experience - in the Nordics, but this is transferable - is they are also much nicer to own and drive. I don’t know anyone who went electric and then went back. The generation who went electric a few years ago is now on their second or third electric car. The makes and models in favour is changing (cue tangent on Tesla brand death in Europe) but the power source choice is not. So as more people get one, I expect their market share to just climb and climb.

[plusmax1]

I totally agree, I went electric last year and couldn't be happier. Got a hyundai ioniq 6 which is an amazing car. Charging is simple and cheap and where I live (nw europe) the charging infrastructure is great. Did a couple of long range road trips (germany, france) and fast chargers were easy to find. Take a small break, have a coffee and the car was already full again. I had some anxiety about this before, but this has 100% better than I was expecting.

The best thing is, at least here, there are so many "small" charging spots. If you take them into account when traveling to places (even the grocery store, or the museum, or near whatever relative or friend you are visiting), you can just charge cheaply there. This is the hardest habit for me to break: no, i don't need to visit a "gas station" to fill up, just charge wherever you can find a charger, and it doesnt have to be 100%. Even a short stop on a slower charging spot helps a lot.

[zdragnar]

Depends on who you ask, I suppose. One study in the last year showed only around 1% of EV owners in the US planned to go back to gas for their next car. A different study showed that number was actually 46%. Yet another said it was actually 22%.

I'm inclined to think the number is closer to the higher end, at least in the US. There's still a lot of areas where the charging infrastructure is awful, and if you live in an apartment or are traveling, that's an important consideration. Another is the insurance premium cost, due to the expense of replacing batteries.

I imagine these issues will continue to be less challenging for people over time, as more second hand batteries, recycling and infrastructure continues to expand. Even at current gas prices, though, it didn't make financial sense for my family when we traded in a car two months back.

[seanmcdirmid]

> Depends on who you ask, I suppose. One study in the last year showed only around 1% of EV owners in the US planned to go back to gas for their next car. A different study showed that number was actually 46%. Yet another said it was actually 22%

There is a lot of crap going around on Facebook that takes a highly qualified study, they take a fact like “90% of Tesla owners who get rid of their Tesla after one year go back to gasoline cars.” And they twist into “90% of EV owners go back to gasoline cars”. And you know, it’s Facebook, people read the facts that reinforce their biases, they aren’t actually looking for useful high quality information.

[BoxwoodSeed]

EVs are great in, say, Norway. But the population of the country Norway isn't even half that of the city Tokyo. Less people means less cars on the street which translates to less cars using up charging stations.

Once things get crowded and you have to wait in line to get your vehicle charged, it becomes a bit annoying.

[plusmax1]

Well, I live in one of the most densely populated places, the Netherlands. This is not an issue I've encountered. The solution really is : just add more charging spots everywhere. Electric infrastructure is everywhere, charging spots don't need to be concentrated near a gas station. Here in the Netherlands they are everywhere. You just have to get into the habit of using them more often for smaller periods of time instead of habitually going to a gas station.

[BoxwoodSeed]

It is indeed an infrastructure problem, but the infrastructure has to come first.

[euroderf]

If electric lawnmowers offered the same value, operational convenience, and maintainability (compared to gas-powered mowers) as electric cars do, they'd sell like hotcakes. Two-stroke engines are a PITA.

[ButlerianJihad]

My father originally had a 100% manual lawnmower, and for the size of our property, it wasn't really bad; my father is a physically fit dude, and he could knock out the whole thing in a short period.

Then in the late 80s, he purchased an electric lawnmower! Yep it wasn't battery-powered, but it had a little AC cord that you plugged in... somewhere! So Dad would just run a ginormous snake of an extension cord out across the lawn.

Now, our property wasn't large, but to reach an AC outlet, we really needed a lot of cord, and of course it was a key skill to not run over your own cord, like when you're vacuuming.

Dad never got anything gas-powered. He also had an edger that was electric, IIRC, and he made a lot of use of this edger. It was one of those kinds that used a fishing-line type cutting edge.

But he kept that machine around, and I guess it was fine for a very long time. Dad and Mom are old enough to employ a landscaping team, nowadays.

[ZeroGravitas]

I thought this already happened?

I kept seeing YouTube videos of people reviewing electric chainsaws or snowblowers or whatever and apologizing to their core audience that they weren't woke Democrats, it was just a better tool for many uses.

[hellisothers]

This definitely happened, all my yard/lawn items (mower, chainsaws, hedgers, etc) are all battery. So much better.

[euroderf]

I can see a hedger working - even with a klunky battery making it a bit unwieldy. But chainsaws and mowers need serious torque - don't so don't they need to stay plugged in while you work ?

[maxerickson]

I have an Ego pushmower. It takes like 2/3 of a charge to mow my lawn, with a 4 year old 5 amp hour battery.

I'm not saving money over gas, but I'm not spending a whole lot more and the lack of hassle is fantastic.

If I had a bigger yard I would hesitate to have lots of batteries or whatever.

[PlunderBunny]

I also have an EGO mower, and in addition to the advantages you list, I would add that they’re less noisy and you don’t end up breathing exhaust fumes. I don’t even understand why anyone would use a petrol mower at this point, except for some edge cases like professionals mowing multiple lawns per day.

[rascul]

There are some decent battery electric mowers and chainsaws that can be great as long as you have the batteries to keep them going long enough.

[jjav]

> I don’t know anyone who went electric and then went back.

Seriously?

EVs have many practical advantages. Don't need to list them here, we all know.

But they are so, so, so boring. Zero soul, zero character. Perfect appliance, zero passion.

Sometimes in life, passion matters too.

I like an EV for city commuting because commuting is boring no matter what so it's a good fit.

But for when I want to feel alive and drive (cue up Red Barchetta by Rush), no EV will ever do.

[surgical_fire]

What you are describing for an EV sounds like the perfect car for me. Perhaps I should make the switch. I would have last time I switched cars, but I couldn't find a reliable answer if the resell value of EVs was good.

I drive begrudgingly because where I live the public transportation is subpar, and there's no bike lanes (God I miss the Netherlands).

Owning and driving a car for me is pure utility, I have as much passion for it as I have for my dishwasher. I mean, I like my Toyota, it is comfortable and reliable. But it is really just a means to go from point A to point B. I want my car to be an appliance.

I wonder if many are like me or if most want their cars to be anything else.

[Gys]

Back in the day, in my EU country, everybody drove shift gear. Automatic gear was frowned upon. Nowadays everybody drives automatic. People like ‘boring’ comfort, it shows everywhere.

[RhysU]

The Manual Gearbox Preservation Society (https://tmgps.org/) is a notable counterexample.

I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick. Stick makes driving more engaging then automatic's point-and-go. Engagement breeds attentivity. Texting while driving stick is obviously decreased because both hands are actively required to drive. None of their friends will be able to drive my manual car. I don't know why anyone would hand their kid the keys to an automatic given its downsides.

[jfengel]

I had no trouble managing my mug of coffee while driving stick. (Before cupholders were universal, and before texting).

It required some deft coordination to get out of the parking spot and getting up to speed, but I spent most of my time in fifth gear and staying there. One hand is just as free as it is in an automatic.

Texting while driving remains a bad idea, but I don't think a stick shift would prevent it. I could have managed to text just as well as I managed drinking coffee.

[RhysU]

Which hand dominant are you? My guess is you're a lefty so being offhanded with coffee in the right, which you don't have to look at, is no biggie.

Righties tend to fiddle (not shift) with the shifter or have the right hand on the wheel most of the time. Texting offhanded with the left is miserable.

The truly dedicated can drive one-kneed, heel-toe, drink coffee, and text simultaneously. But manual definitely makes texting more obviously stupid by requiring intermittent use of the second hand.

[jfengel]

I am a righty, and yeah, I mostly held my coffee in my left hand. Texting instead would be very hard. I could probably do it once I'm on the highway (though not while drinking coffee).

I bet a teenager would at least give it the old high school try.

[PlunderBunny]

What downsides for the _average_ driver (who just wants to go from A to B comfortably and safely) does an automatic have? Back when I still drove a non-electric vehicle, I really appreciated an automatic giving me one less thing to think about (which means a little bit more attention to the things that matter like safety).

[jjav]

> What downsides for the _average_ driver (who just wants to go from A to B comfortably and safely) does an automatic have?

No downside really.

But as an analogy closer to HN, is there any advantage to knowing about software and operating systems and networking if all you're going to do is watch netflix on a walled-garden phone?

Same answer, no advantage really.

But knowledge is rewarding, understanding systems is fun.

[jjav]

> I look forward to teaching my kids to drive stick.

Same here, in only a few years!

There might be no long term use for it (but near future use certainly, since all our regular cars are standard, only the truck and EV are not) but having another skillset is always good. And it makes driving so much more engaging.

[dzhiurgis]

Ferarri is going to retrofit some of their cars with fake manuals (completely electronic emulation). Car reviewers soiling their pants over it was hilarious, especially so after the Luce backlash lol.

[wood_spirit]

Likely your kids cars will drive themselves?

[jonathanlydall]

You seem to be in the ICE enthusiast category, which is likely a minority of car owners.

For most people though, if they are buying a car it's because they can't practically get by without one, so things like "soul" and "character" of the car are irrelevant and actually an anti-feature if it makes the car cost more to own than an EV option which does the job perfectly well and is possibly even better in terms of features and comfort at the same TCO.

A bit like the unfortunate decision of Sony deciding to discontinue physical PlayStation discs was likely inevitable based on the market clearly preferring to move away from them [0], I suspect it's inevitable that sales of EVs will ultimately completely dwarf, if not entirely replace, ICE cars. If the range issue is solved (admittedly not a certainty), ICE cars could become relegated to usage only by enthusiasts like yourself and once the last generation who grew up with ICEs dies out, will probably be as common as a horse drawn cart.

[0]: https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mrd...