The Good Life

What do electric cars have to do with the resilient and calm state of mind I have centered this website on? The answer is contentment and integrity. Contentment because well built electric cars like Tesla have now traveled over 600,000 KM proving their value and reliability. Overall electric vehicles are now rivaling the best Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars for reliability. Plus, no oil changes, no timing belts, etc. that go along with an ICE vehicle. Integrity for much the same reasons. Longer lived cars, less waste, less consumeristic drive to upgrade and spend more, over and over. This lines up with my values and personality.

This series of posts will explore the advantages and disadvantages of electric cars for a middle class individual living in Western Canada, as well as the realities and trends with the current cars available here. Cars make life efficient, convenient and fun. For me, a big factor in “the good life” is the freedom to come and go easily to the places I need to go.

A Word about Gas

I believe that fossil fuels are a valuable and convenient source of energy. I’m a big fan of gas powered cars. They are perfected technology that I can rely on.

But fossil fuels are a dwindling resource. We still have a lot of some fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, but others such as oil, will run out eventually. “In 1999, the American Petroleum Institute estimated that we’d run out of oil between 2062 and 2094; however, in 2006, the Cambridge Energy Research Associates estimated that we actually had three times the amount of oil on Earth than was believed in 1999, according to ZME science. Not to mention, the current theory, according to EME, is that there is more oil to be gotten than was previously thought.” ¹

So, even as extraction becomes more challenging, it is likely that we will not run out of gas in my lifetime, and not in my children’s lifetime, but perhaps in my grandchildren’s lifetime.

The problems with gas are pretty clear. It is getting more expensive, and regardless of catalytic converters and similar efforts to reduce emissions, internal combustion vehicles produce lots of pollutants.

So why the rush to electric cars?

For me, electricity has three main advantages over gas:

1. Electricity can be generated from multiple sources (including fossil fuels). The list includes Geo-thermal plants, solar panels, wind turbines, mirror solar farms, wave generators, and nuclear generators.
2. Electricity is easier to transport. Pipelines, Freight ships, and tanker trucks are expensive to build, maintain, and run, not to mention the cost of refineries.
3. Battery technology is developing in leaps and bounds, and battery manufacturing is getting cleaner and cheaper.

The disadvantages of Electric are also three:

1. Less extensive supper-charging network compared to gas stations.
2. Less density of energy in batteries compared to gas.
3. Longer “re-fueling” times than gas.

These three disadvantages lead to range anxiety.

Battery Costs

I have a lot to learn about batteries, but I believe the key to adoption of electric cars lies in the development of cheap and efficient batteries. This development is underway.

So when will I buy an Electric Vehicle?

This question comes down to availability and cost.

Wait, how many?

According to Wikipedia, there are 284 models of electric cars currently for sale and of those 166 are made in China, leaving 118 made elsewhere.

How many are available in Canada? According to the CAA buyers guide there are around 50 cars available in 2023 or 2024 and with all the versions and options it works out to a total of 98 total choices.

How many in my price range? Well, for a new car I am prepared to pay between 30K and maybe 70K, counting on a 7 to 9K rebate. To estimate your rebate, BC Hydro has a handy page that list all the cars in BC that qualify. https://electricvehicles.bchydro.com/buying/EV-models-in-BC

Of the cars currently available in BC the following are of some interest to me:

1. Tesla Model 3 RWD (MSRP $61,980)
2. Volvo XC40 (and C40) Recharge Twin Pure Electric (MSRP $59,950)
3. Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor (MSRP $53,950)
4. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range (MSRP $51,999)
5. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Standard Range RWD (MSRP $44,999)
6. Hyundai Kona (MSRP $43,699)

Even with the rebates these are not compelling. While I do like the Ioniq 5, it’s very complex battery heating and cooling system gives me pause. So much to go wrong.

Everything else is either too expensive, or lacking in some way. For example, Volkswagen’s reputation for fixing their EVs gives me pause. I believe they will sort it out but until they do, I will wait on that company. In addition, our last few encounters with the KIA dealer were so bad we will not buy KIA again even though we own 2 currently. The Ford Lightning, at the top end of my budget has a long waiting list and wait time, so not worth considering. Lastly, the issue of dealer sales is for another post, but it is becoming very clear to me that dealers do not provide enough value for the cut they take. I had a particularly painful purchase at a Toyota dealer when I wanted to pay cash for a car. Hours being shuffled from the sale rep to the lease specialist to the manager was exhausting and I felt manipulated.

Chinese Cars

But what about those 166 vehicles made in China? Many of these are very attractive both in their price and performance. Several Chinese-made cars would be of interest if they were available in Canada. These include the:

The SGMW Yep

Manufactured by SAIC-GM-Wuling. While SGMW says it is having a hard time just meeting demand in China, it has built the YEP on the “SGMW Global Small Electric Vehicle” platform. The term Global in that name suggests they plan to ramp up production world wide at some point.

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The BYD Atto 3

BYD has electric taxis and busses in Canada already but has made no hint of consumer cars coming any time soon. Likely because of USA antipathy towards all Chinese cars.

https://www.byd.com/au/car/atto3

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The Geely Zeekr X

Geely is the parent company for Volvo and Lotus among others, and given that Volvo is already selling in Canada, can the Zeekr be far behind?

https://www.zeekrlife.com/home

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The SAIC MG 4

Selling on the MG brand recognition in Europe, early reviews have been good and this is one of the best value for dollar vehicles out there.

Availability

There are no announced plans to introduce the MG to Canada that I can find.

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The Great Wall Motors Company Ora Funky Cat

By some estimates the largest producer of SUVs in China, the GWMC claims it is going global. I particularly like the look of the Funky Cat

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1. https://www.greenmatters.com/p/when-will-world-run-out-of-oil