So who will be first with an electric pickup. And when.

John & Angela wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

drsteve wrote:
Electric vehicles will eventually send internal combustion to the scrapyard. Aside from the environmental advantages, less required scheduled maintenance and less likelihood of expensive repairs will be the difference makers.

I do not know anyone who owns an EV and hates it.

I think the maintenance savings are a myth. Other than oil changes about once a year, I haven't had engine work on a vehicle in years. It's mostly brakes, tires, suspension...all of which EV's have.

Yeah, there are occasional motor problems but I'm betting those are offset by electrical problems.

As far as early adopters, I would take that with a huge grain of salt. To spend far more on an EV only to admit it was a mistake means most unsatisfied EV owners, quietly dispose of them and never speak of it again. It won't be until we see large scale production with average people buying them that we can start to get good results from polls.

Brakes not so much. EV's don't really use brakes much as much of the speed reduction is done with regenerative braking. Still have brake fluid though. Reduced fuel costs have to be considered...depending on which country or region you live in your savings can be substantial especially for those who put on a lot of miles. Not our case as we seem to drive only about 12 to 16 K per year but it still is a reasonable savings in fuel. Not to mention the convenience of fueling at home.

But I agree it can be a myth depending on the car. Hi end EV's like Tesla are like high end Audis or Mercedes or BMW's and come with 300 dollar annual maintenance schedules with includes a late and a schone. Cheaper cars like a 30 thousand dollar leaf not so much. Many people have had their leafs for 7 years and never brought it in for a single check. If you drop 80 grand on a Tesla S though you better expect a pricier maintenence schedule. Wether you follow it or not or do it yourself is up to you.

Since when is fuel or plugging in to recharge considered "maintenance". That's usually considered fueling. As long as the electric car has sufficient functionality, yes electric is cheaper to fuel but that wasn't the point of my comment. Also expect that to change. Many states are looking at options to recoup lost fuel taxes which can run 25-40% of the cost of a gallon of gas (depends on the current price). That will eat up a lot of the fuel savings. Electric will still probably come out cheaper (fueling specific) but it will result in much more time to recoup the up front cost.

I've usually had a stick and would get 30-40k out of a set of brakes, so every 3-4yrs as I would downshift coming up to a stop sign rather than jamming on the brakes at the last second.

Again other than an oil change around once a year, I don't take vehicles in for maintenance. Transmission and radiator are usual good for 4-5yrs with normal use...after that not much regular maintenance recommended and I know lots of people who never do the transmission or radiator, similar to your Leaf example.

Again, the maintenance claim might have some truth to it but if it averages $100/yr difference, I would be surprised. It's certainly not the big selling point some make it out to be.