[Arsenic]

This is something I have pondered about for a very long time. Coincidentally, I'm working on a school project about electric vehicles.

So, I'm curious - to all the EV owners on the forum, what made you switch to electric?

Here are a few factors I could think of:
- Lower running costs (as low as Rs. 1/km!)
- No tailpipe emissions (definite appeal with the environmentally conscious)
- Quicker acceleration and newer powertrain tech (many on the forum were excited about the Tata Punch EV due to the Punch's anemic engine)

And I'm sure there are more, so feel free to put your own reasons below!

[Aakash118]

I think in most of the cases, it’s the running cost. My sister recently upgraded from a Nano Twist to Tiago EV. And the main reason was that Nano was a fuel guzzler, a daily urban commute of 20-30 kms would cost 200-300 rs which will be 20-30 rs in an EV. It’s a huge difference and the saved money can be used for the EMI of ev.

[electric_eel]

I have voted environment appeal because that was my primary motivation. From my background in engineering (not electrical though) I knew that the electric drive train is far far superior to the ICE drive train. So I was quite clear that an EV would be there for us to do at least city and office commutes. The only thing that was preventing me was the lack of knowledge on the battery technology. Then the EV scene exploded on Kerala roads starting with the MVD Nexons EVs. Many houses in Kerala are single houses and hence getting home charging set up was not a big thing for most users.

[speedmiester]

Lower running costs was the primary driver for my decision. I do around 25-30K kms in a year and most of it between Bangalore-Mysore, so it was a no brainer to opt for an EV.

I was anyway in the market for a new car and though an EV was more expensive than other ICE models, the added advantage of a silent cabin, zero NVH and lower maintenance was the clincher.

[fordfreak]

Added an EV to my garage with a view to reduce my running costs.

Would like to believe they are more environmentally friendly (which they are in terms of daily emissions), but we still don't fully understand the long term environmental impacts of manufacturing, using and scrapping / recycling an EV.

With my usage pattern (100% start-stop city traffic, not exceeding 30-50 km/hr), an EV made more sense. My petrol Altis was costing me about Rs. 13 - 15 / Km (based on the figures from the Fuelio app), whereas my new MG ZS is working out to around Rs. 1.85 - 2.30 / Km. The Altis was giving me about 6 - 7 Km/L vs the MG's 5.2 - 8.2 Km/KWh.

If I bought a new ICE car, I would have been looking at a similar price bracket, hence did not mind the slightly inflated price tag of an EV vs the savings in running & servicing costs.

[GTO]

Lower running costs & going "green" will continue to be big motivators, but for many people, an EV is also the superior choice (regardless of cost savings):

- Extremely refined drive. No ICE car can match it.

- Smooth & seamless AT experience (smoother than even a CVT).

- Instant torque & fast acceleration. As an example, the Nexon EV can do 0 - 100 in 8.9 seconds.

- Convenience of a fuel station at your own house.

- Lower maintenance, oil changes etc.

- No annual PUC ritual.

- The pride in driving a green number-plate. No guilt of polluting the air while you're just idling away in traffic.

- Superior packaging & space, when it's a dedicated EV platform. Just look at the Ioniq 5.

- No 10-year (diesel) or 15-year (petrol) lifespan caps in Delhi-NCR.

EVs are superior for city usage, although for highway runs, ICE is still king.

[SoumenD]

Am not yet an EV owner but as my next upgrade am slowly gravitating towards them for these reasons:

+ They are F-A-S-T. Having entire torque right from the word go is very very enticing. Kinda addictive.

+ Being single drive, no headache of choosing AT type(CVT/TC/DCT). Ultra smooth & silent drive.

+Lower running cost. No matter how much I harp about being an enthusiast, the eternal question ‘kitna deti hai’ remains & EVs are brilliant in that regard.

+Lesser moving parts which makes me believe we will face lesser issues than ICE counterparts.

But if they’re so nice why don’t I own one already? Well :

- Being a one car garage, range anxiety will keep haunting me till our infrastructure improves. Unless we get 500kms real world range in a 15-20L car, I don’t think one car garage folks (majority in India) would take the plunge.

- I am not 100% sure how mature & reliable our current offerings are. Tata is doing great but they seem to be the only one serious with EV adoption. Would wait for a few years before going for it.

Am not too sure how green it is to manufacture, run & scrap an EV, so don’t really buy the whole environment friendly clause. Never the less, as government continues to experiment with E10/20/27/FlexFuel etc, the hope for upgrading to pure ICE vehicle is diminishing by the day and EVs are becoming more and more relevant

[EV Fan]

Cost savings + possibility to go completely self-sufficient in terms of fuel with rooftop solar(Zero running cost)

Originally Posted by GTO

Lower running costs & going "green" will continue to be big motivators, but for many people, an EV is also the superior choice (regardless of cost savings):

All as @GTO said, plus one more point:
- Regen capability, no ICE or Hybrid can do the level of regen a BEV/PHEV can do over extended downhill in ghat sections

[StarrySky]

I considered an EV for all the reasons mentioned in the poll, i.e., new powertrain, lower running costs, environmental factor in that order but I switched because it fit my usage and I felt that I would not have to make any significant compromises. As I mentioned in my ownership report (Volkswagen ID.4 GTX Business | Ownership Report):

Would an EV be practical as an only car?
My impression was that Finland severely lacked fast charging infrastructure. But I discovered that there was pretty decent coverage using 50kW chargers, except in the northernmost parts. Faster chargers were coming up. I expected the situation to keep improving. Keep in mind that this was in early 2021. The situation has already improved. I went to ABRP (www.abetterrouteplanner.com) and planned several road trips within Finland. I found that using an EV did not add much extra time on most trips. I checked our actual travel time from day 1 of our July 2020 summer trip, where we covered about 850km and found that with an ID.4, we may have taken about 30 minutes more. It wasn't a huge compromise. For my normal use, I was sure that a modern EV could go about a week without charging. So range was not an issue for everyday use.

Questions about some scenarios remained:
* What if I needed to make an emergency trip and SOC was low? With 11kW home charging potentially available, I could always make sure I have at least 100-150km of range.
* How would I reach some place 800-1000 km away as fast as possible? I would've been more worried if I was in India using an EV as the only car - simply because some relatives/friends live far away. This is not the situation for me in Finland, so I didn't consider this as a possible scenario.

[dhanushs]

I havent made the switch over yet, and not seeing myself getting an EV as a primary car anywhere in the near future.

But, if at all it happens, it would be because of

• Cost of running
• Refinement
• Power Delivery.
• Tech

[Mik]

While the Nexon EV we have is a second car in the garage, the biggest reason for buying it was having the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde character to it.

On one hand it is just too refined a drive with zero fuss which the best of DCTs cannot match and on the other hand it is this frantic maniac in sport mode with the instant torque making you feel like one of those chhapri KTM 390 riders darting in and out of traffic.

Frankly, its addictive and my other car, the Compass, plays second fiddle to it - only being invoked when we have to go more than 200kms.

Did i mention its super cheap on the pocket too.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by Arsenic

.....
And I'm sure there are more, so feel free to put your own reasons below!

I don't own a EV presently. But if I do get one soon, it will be to be 'mukt' of the weekly/monthly scare thrown by Hon'ble Minister of Road Transport regarding E20 etc fuels replacing existing E10 fuel

God knows if the ICE vehicle that are on sale today will have compatible fuels available in a few years time

[JitendraW]

My primary reason to buy ZS EV was fast acceleration. I was sold in my first test drive itself.

[ferrarirules]

I was driving a diesel car (Rapid Diesel AT) before this. As i reside in NCR, the depreciation of resale value is exponential. Hence I was on a look out to replace my car after 5.5 yrs of use.

The reasons that tipped scales to buy an EV were (in the order of importance)-

1. Govt. Subsidies - Subsidies are not permanent so one should take advantage while they last. I got a benefit of 15% refund on ex-showroom price from Haryana govt.
2. Lower running cost - "A penny saved is a penny earned"
3. Environmental benefits - Though they have vast benefits. But the basic minimum positive of not polluting the city, my family and I breathe in was enough for me.
4. Refinement - Coming from a diesel car, you feel a huge difference
5. Power delivery - Instant torque is something ICE cars can never give but I never disliked my ICE car for this.

NCR specific advantage - No worry of banned ICE vehicles in the winter months (ill famed odd even rule or BS4 vehicle ban or anything new the govt will come up with) or 10 year diesel car ban.

[d_payne]

Instant torque, total refinement!
My EV may have one of the lowest range among the lot but the lightweight body (relatively) makes up for the lack in range.