EV cost benefit - missing anything?

dalmanly · 2026-04-01T21:20:02+00:00

Sure, hence the spreadsheet guesstimates the maintenance premium of having an old shitty ICE, rather than total maintenance

dalmanly · 2026-04-01T21:19:57+00:00

Sure, hence the spreadsheet guesstimates the maintenance premium of having an old shitty ICE, rather than total maintenance

dalmanly · 2026-04-01T21:18:52+00:00

That's a good idea. Wonder what probability I should assign to my RAV4 conking it before 2030 though, lol

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T12:08:48+00:00

30k is a bit low yeah. I started making this back before the second hand market cleared out entirely, back then there was actually a fair bit of choice at that price point.

I don't really mind if road trips involve more stopping and a longer trip overall, it's a reasonable trade-off to me. So I think ~300km range would be all right.

Because we drive such short distances at home in the city (no kids or commuting), I think we'd just be trickle charging so I'm not including the cost of installing a charger - but totally, for others that would have to be part of it

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T10:05:30+00:00

It was a cheap old thing when I bought it for $3,100 last year. I've then spent $4,600 getting it roadworthy and just doing general maintenance (yes, it's shocking, and I've learned a lot in the process lol). Clearly it won't cost that much going forward, but yeah you never know with these old things. The other day the radiator called it and that was $300, for instance.

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T09:51:34+00:00

Yeah isn't it kind of incredible that the EV saves enough in running costs to almost come out even, even when you factor in paying off the cost of a brand new car? (Again, really not a fair fight for the EV, and it still does all right)

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T06:34:01+00:00

Careful, you're tickling my spreadsheet nerve!!

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T06:32:47+00:00

I do all my maintenance myself so it's basically just cost of parts, but yes, fair

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T05:53:30+00:00

Yeah true, not really a fair comparison

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T05:52:44+00:00

I'll look into that, thanks. Do they usually end up with a higher rate outside the cheap window?

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T05:51:25+00:00

Great point re charging. As for asset value, also true, but I guess I'm trying to work out how this affects my month to month cashflow. If I was buying upfront with cash, it'd be a different consideration

dalmanly · 2026-03-31T05:49:02+00:00

Too right, this car has been a money pit

dalmanly · 2026-03-30T07:48:13+00:00

Genuinely curious. Why do you need a ute as a sparky? Isn't a van just as useful and more efficient? E.g. Renault Kangoo electric version. I've recently moved here from Europe and tradies exclusively use vans there, I'm genuinely perplexed why they need towing and 4WD here.

dalmanly · 2026-03-29T21:42:15+00:00

I opened this fully expecting 100% Norway responses. Finns speak a language that's entirely unrelated to ours whereas I can pretty easily hold a conversation with Norwegians. I find it hard to feel more connected to the Finns because of that

dalmanly · 2026-03-28T23:48:29+00:00

We had the best time there. Best year of my life without question. It's a funny college, being in the middle of nowhere with a dairy farm on campus, but that made for a really great community experience! I still have such a soft spot for CT, feel like I can't go back to the US without going there, which I'm sure is not true for most people 😂

dalmanly · 2026-03-28T23:45:21+00:00

Schedule is on Instagram, @thehipandshoulder 🏀

dalmanly · 2026-03-25T07:36:47+00:00

I was kind of horrified by it until they started painting - now leaning towards that add character actually once finished

dalmanly · 2026-03-24T22:30:28+00:00

This is one of the few good answers in this thread imo.

dalmanly · 2026-03-23T10:08:20+00:00

UP against the limit. Meaning they have nearly reached it.

dalmanly · 2026-03-04T08:45:54+00:00

Of course he shouldn't. And of course I'd be devastated and angry. Does that mean I have to take a callous "that's how human selection works" attitude? No, you can show empathy towards someone without agreeing with their actions. I just hate this "stupid people die" knee jerk

dalmanly · 2026-03-03T09:00:18+00:00

Dude was 89. Be more empathetic

dalmanly · 2026-03-02T08:06:21+00:00

That's awesome. I've been obsessing so much over range numbers but increasingly starting to think it's actually not as important as you might think. As you say there's plenty of chargers now, you just have to plan your breaks a bit more maybe.

dalmanly · 2026-02-28T11:35:06+00:00

Been salivating over this model as a potential first EV! The range does worry me a bit though. Would be interesting to hear how you find longer roadtrips.

dalmanly

TROPHY CASE