It is a very very expensive toy. When 50% of the population does not have 500 bucks cash to pay for a car repair, you clearly are a 1%, and nothing wrong with that
I have 1 ev and 3 ice cars. Each one provides a specific function. Just do not understand why I am being judged as to what works for my family, I sure am not judging folks that can make one EV work. But in todays world, ....
I suppose that you can make an argument that ownership of
any car is a luxury, albeit the way that transportation options work (or don't work) in North America, it is an obligatory luxury for many people in the U.S. and Canada, even those who have trouble affording it. I would note also that aside from a few bargain-basement vehicles, even ICE cars are pretty damn expensive these days. From a comparative perspective, the price of our Model 3 was reasonable, based on total cost of ownership. And as I said, it is our only car. Perhaps with your three ICE vehicles, you consider your EV to be a toy, but that is not the situation for me.
But I have an even more fundamental point to make. For a while, and especially over the past year, I have been hearing a lot of commentary on various media sources, even other than just from right-wing sources, where auto analysts are suggesting that EVs are 'just not ready yet' other than
maybe for local commuting, and even then only if you have another non-EV as your main vehicle. As an example, I remember listening to one auto analyst recently on a major media platform who, while admitting that he did not drive an EV himself, said that he had 'heard from a guy' who owned a Tesla who had 'tried' to take a road trip and would never, ever try it again. What was funny was that my wife and I were listening to this on the radio while coming back from a totally painless road trip in our Model 3, something that we do
all the time. Cleary there is a disconnect between the commentary and reality, at least as I have experienced it. Is it just ignorance, or is active, concerted, anti-EV disinformation? One way or the other, a lot of people are listening to this and believing it and I think that it is influencing purchasing decisions. The analyst on the radio program suggested that if people felt that they 'had to' go electric, they should limit themselves to hybrids. I looked up the auto analyst after getting back from the trip, and (surprise, surprise) he works for a publication with ties to the oil industry and legacy auto manufacturers, and regularly writes articles sowing doubts about EVs.
I will give an example of my own experience of a road trip I did just yesterday, albeit not a super long one. I drove from Ottawa to Toronto, a trip that I do back and forth very regularly in our Model 3 and that takes 4-5 hours, depending on traffic (traffic delays in and around Toronto can be quite bad). For yesterday's trip, I did have to take a 15 minute stop during which I topped up the battery. I might not have taken that stop if I had taken the trip in an ICE car. But so what? A 15 minute stop during a 4-5 hour trip is not exactly the end of the world and is certainly not something that would inspire me 'never again' take my Tesla on a trip. And here's the thing, I might not have 'had to' stop in an ICE vehicle, but I probably would have anyway. I had the dog with me who benefitted from a pee break and I grabbed a very quick snack. By the time I got back to Model 3 it had more than enough juice for the top up - I actually could have stopped for even shorter than 15 minutes from a strict recharging perspective, but that would not have given me enough time for the dog and the snack. Regardless, the brief stop was not a hardship. And even if I 'maybe' lost 15 minutes to recharging, I gain time in 'refuelling' my Tesla in other ways. I live in an urban environment where I am not near a gas station and the roads are regularly clogged. With an ICE vehicle (and I have owned them in the past), if I have to make a specific trip to refuel, it can take 20-30 minutes. With my Tesla, I just plug it in at home.
So yes, owning a Tesla - even as an only vehicle - is a practical choice for many applications. Maybe not yet for all people, and for all applications, but EVs are still developing.