5 things I learned after driving a pure electric car

Five things I learned after driving a pure electric car

1. I only found out after the tire was punctured. It turns out that new energy vehicles do not have spare tires. Why is this?

I usually use my car around the city. I only drive on the highway when I go back to my hometown during holidays. But to be honest, there are too many uncertain factors when using a pure electric car on the highway. Sometimes it really Hard to guard against.

I remember that I just bought my new car more than half a year ago. Once on the highway, I suddenly saw the tire pressure light on the dashboard flashing, indicating that the tire pressure was insufficient, so I quickly turned on the double flashers and parked the car in emergency mode. In the driveway, after inspection, it was found that the right front tire wall had been punctured by a nail, and the nail was still on it, causing air leakage.

The first reaction at that time was to change the spare tire. I opened the trunk, pulled open the mat, and found that there was only a box of quick repair tools inside. No matter how I looked for it, I couldn’t find the spare tire. Only then did I think that it seemed like it had been replaced before. I have heard that new energy vehicles do not have spare tires.

One side of the tire wall was punctured. Even if the tire was repaired, I did not dare to drive on the highway. I had no choice but to call a tow truck. However, on the highway, neither insurance companies nor 4S stores can provide tow truck rescue. High-speed professional towing is really expensive. It costs 1,300 yuan for 60 kilometers. It saves a year's electricity bill and the car is gone after towing it once.

Later I learned about it online and found out that all new energy vehicles do not have spare tires. The reason is very simple: the batteries of new energy vehicles are generally relatively large, and all power batteries are installed on the trunk chassis. In order to To improve space utilization, there is no room for a spare tire.

Of course, some people say that spare tires are rarely used. Some cars have not been used for several years. Even if they are not used, it will not have any impact. On the contrary, without a spare tire, not only the space utilization will be better At the same time, the vehicle also reduces the weight and saves costs. For this reason, new energy vehicles directly cancel the spare tire.

It sounds like there are quite a lot of advantages, but there are always exceptions to everything. Without a spare tire, I feel a little less "secure". Having a spare tire is better than not having one. A spare tire is always the key. Only then do you realize its importance.

2. Only by taking a trip on the expressway can you understand what "real battery life anxiety" is

During the May Day holiday, tolls are waived on the expressway, so I plan to go back to my hometown. The vehicle's full battery life is about 500 kilometers, and the one-way distance is close to 350 kilometers. Considering that the highway may be congested during holidays, we set off at 7 o'clock in the morning. The whole journey was 90 kilometers on the highway. The road conditions were not bad in the morning, so we drove a bit aggressively.

The average speed is around 100, and I have traveled more than 200 kilometers. I saw that the remaining battery life is only 180 kilometers, so I am going to the service area to charge once. When I arrive at the service area, I see a charging pile next to it. Many new energy vehicles are waiting in line for charging. There are 8 charging piles in the service area. Two of the charging piles have the words "under maintenance" posted on them. There is also a charging pile with a truck parked on it, but and not charging.

There are 5 charging piles left. After counting, there are more than 10 cars waiting. Generally, a car needs to be charged for about 1 hour. Calculated in this way, it is equivalent to waiting for about two hours. , so I was going to charge at the next service area, but the distance was still far away. Seeing that the remaining power was getting less and less, I started to feel a little anxious.

In order to save power, you have to turn off the air conditioner and other power-consuming equipment, then drive into the slow lane on the right and reduce the speed to about 80-90. Driving at a constant speed can save power. When the remaining battery life is less than 80k Every few seconds, I would check the remaining battery life for fear of running out of battery. Breaking down on the highway would not only be embarrassing but also delay things. At that moment, I have to admit that I was really a little anxious.

3. Charging is too arduous and starts from the installation of charging piles.

There are conditions for installing household charging piles. If you are in a city, the residential property generally requires that the parking space must be purchased by yourself, and at the same time, it must meet fire safety and other safety requirements before installation is allowed. However, in fact, How many car owners have purchased parking spaces?

Even if the residential property allows installation, you still need to look at the location of the specific parking spaces. If it is a middle parking space with parking spaces on the front, back, left and right, then it will definitely not be installed on the ground and can only be hung in the air. At this time, it will happen again I found that the dedicated line provided when I bought the car was simply not enough.

You need to spend money to buy a cable. Dedicated cables are expensive. When the charging pile is installed, you will find that hundreds or even thousands of dollars are gone.

4. Only after driving a new energy car did I realize that “it is true that it saves fuel, but it does not necessarily save money.”

The reason why many people buy new energy cars is actually to watch them charge. It's a good deal, but if you calculate the economic accounts in detail, you will find that the overall vehicle cost is not low.

New cars are generally tens of thousands more expensive than fuel-powered cars of the same model, and annual insurance costs hundreds or even thousands more. After a few years, the value retention rate of second-hand cars drops significantly, and second-hand cars sell for tens of thousands less, and new cars cost tens of thousands less. Although energy vehicles are cheap to maintain, once parts and repairs are involved in the later period, the cost will definitely be higher than that of fuel vehicles of the same class.

Calculated in this way, the fuel money saved is probably not as much as the extra money spent, so "saving fuel does not necessarily mean saving money."

5. The originally thought advantages are dispensable in the face of pain points.

We all know that the power performance of new energy vehicles is very good. For a car worth more than 200,000 yuan, it may only take 4-5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 0 to 100 km/h. When starting, overtaking, lightly stepping on the switch, it feels full of push-back. The main thing is that I'm worried about battery life and rarely run at high speeds. If I don't run at high speeds, the power performance doesn't seem to be of much use.

In many models, there are only a few physical buttons in the entire car. They are all operated on a large-screen computer, and voice can also be used. But to be honest, physical buttons are more responsive and faster.

Let’s talk about intelligent assisted driving. Advanced functions generally require additional fees. Common functions such as cruise following, lane changing, active braking, and automatic parking. To be honest, the road conditions are a little more complicated. I don’t dare to use it, but it feels safer to drive manually.

But then again, although the pain points of new energy vehicles are obvious at this stage, the comprehensive advantages are incomparable to those of fuel vehicles. As for how to choose, it still depends on the car usage scenario.