For myself, first and foremost, it was the silent drive, lack of silly vibrations as the car ages, and the instant torque and buttery smooth acceleration and precise control via a single pedal.
And it wasn't a financial question, though for my case, it worked out to be slightly cheaper compared to a full petrol car. I am not sure how it compares to a hybrid, but I guess it would be similar, given that both ICE and Hybrid engine cars will still need regular oil and plugs change, while I literally have no maintenance required on my EV, except for wear and tear items that are common with any other cars.
Now, what about environment?
It's not my top reason for buying an EV, but when I think of it, it does help in significant ways, mainly to create a more pleasant living environment where I live. This comes from lower noise and tailpipe pollution. One great example is Chinese cities like Shanghai, where you are surrounded by EVs and electric scooters but yet it's pleasant due to low noise and clean air.
Someone told me EVs are actually more pollutive to produce. That I cannot agree or disagree since I don't have data to back it up. But intuitively, even if so, I would think over long term, it scales better. My view is that EVs, maybe they are just or more pollutive to make, results in centralisation of the source of pollution, which in turns, allow effective and targeted large scale measures to tackle those sources. Compared this to the distributive nature of ICE cars, where pollution continues to emit from each car as they goes into consumers hands. Not all cars will be maintained at same level once they are in hands of individual owners, and it's up to governments to enforce inspections to ensure regulations are adhered to. But you know right, once the inspection is passed, some owners will just to back to workshop to reinstall their modifications, be it louder pipes or less lean burning or whatever floats their egos. In SG, its not as bad as we are very strict and most cars don't go beyond 10 years of age (which is one of the reasons COE is only 10 years old, to ensure we don't have many old cars that are badly maintained and pollutive on our roads)
Compared this to EVs, which are literally not modifiable except for mostly cosmetics things like body kit and wheels. Yes, some folks will go extreme of making software changes to affect how the motors are powered and moved but even that doesn't change how the EV runs in terms of pollution. So if you have a fleet of 10years old EVs, they are just as clean to operate as when they were new. And just as silent. That's assuming only a small percentage have battery defects that causes random explosions lol.
that's all for my rant.
I certainly enjoy the drive of my EV, it beats, hands down, all my previous petrol cars, whether they were Korean, Japanese, Swedish, German, British, French. And yes, that's how many cars I had cycled over the last 20+ years, so I know my cars.
My EV drives so smooth, is easy to operate, and doesn't generate heat in this hot climate while I chill inside waiting for my food order.
Yes, I do worry about battery issues and fire risks, but I mitigate by buying the more reliable models I can find and afford. Ironically, you see more ICE cars catching fire here in SG. But maybe that's also because we still only have a small % of EVs in total today.
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