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Fear Mongering About Range Anxiety Has To Stop — CT Governor Calls Out EV Opponents
(cleantechnica.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
There’s pretty much just tires, brakes, fluids. That’s it. That’s why they’re so great. Oh and your brakes last a lot longer because most of the braking is done with regen (think electric engine braking).
To expand, the only fluid that needs replacing is the washer fluid. There is no oil needed EVs, and most don't have transmissions, they are direct drive from the motors. The oil in the motor doesn't need to be changed because it's a sealed system.
So that leaves brakes, which aren't used nearly as much due to regenerative braking like you said. And of course tires because that's just normal wear from use. And the cabin air filter every couple years.
EVs have less than half the parts of an ICE vehicle simply because most of the engine and transmission components just aren't there. There is simply less there that can break or wear out.
Battery longevity will depend largely on the battery tech and quality the manufacturer uses, and how good their Battery Management System is. Batteries wear mostly due to high use and how you manage charging. Fast charging all the time will wear them faster than charging overnight at home for instance. I keep my Model 3 battery between 60-80% charge and that's way more than I need for daily driving. When going on a trip I fully charge the night before and there are a ton of chargers on all the long distance trips I've made. It reroutes to account for busy chargers automatically and I rarely need to think about it.
Good points. One note I’ll make is tires. They can wear out faster simply because of how much torque the motor(s) give them. As with anything, if you have a lighter foot off the line then they’ll last longer. If you want that EV power to get out front at every stop then you’ll wear through them 2x as fast. Good news is that tire manufacturers are prototyping new everyday road tires made to handle higher torque for EVs.
Brake fluid is still very hygroscopic and should be replaced every couple of years. Also there's fluid in the transaxle(s) but I'm not sure if it needs to be replaced.