Dear Car Talk:
Electric motors have been around a long time. They are simple devices with few moving parts. They have no complicated valve trains, no head gaskets to blow, no piston rings, no oil to change and no coolant to leak out. I am an old man, tired of car maintenance and in need of a low-maintenance, reliable vehicle. It would seem that an all-electric car is the solution to my problem, but life has many ugly surprises. Are there excessive maintenance issues with e-cars? Serious reliability problems? Am I missing anything that I need to know? — John
I don’t think you’re missing anything, John. You’re right. Electric motors are simple. Much simpler than internal combustion engines. And they’re pretty bulletproof. While we’re still in the relatively early stages of the electric-car revolution, hybrid electric cars have been around for decades now. And the electric motors in hybrid cars have been pretty trouble free. We’ve seen them run for hundreds of thousands of miles without failure.
The bigger issue is battery failure. But most electric cars come with eight- or 10-year warranties on the battery. So even that’s not a big deal. And presumably, eight to 10 years from now, replacement batteries will be even cheaper.
There are still things that can go wrong with electric cars, though. They are cars, after all. So they have electronic components, like computers, screens, safety systems and sensors that can fail. They also have mechanical parts that will wear out — like tires, shocks and wiper blades. Just because the car is electric doesn’t mean that someday you won’t need an air conditioning compressor, or a door handle.
But you’ll never have to replace a hose, weld an exhaust system or fix an oil leak. And by the way, your brake pads will last much longer, because regenerative braking (which uses the moving wheels as a generator when you slow down) cuts down on your use of your brake pads. So if you’re looking for a lower-maintenance car, and you can make do with a couple of hundred miles of range before recharging, an EV is for you.
For good, basic transportation, we like the Chevy Bolt, the Nissan Leaf, the Hyundai Kona and the Kia Niro. All four should get you more than 200 miles on a charge. As an added benefit, you’ll be able to “refuel” your car in your own driveway. So you’ll
Ray Elliott has been a tow truck driver in the Silicon Valley for more than 20 years. He witnesses stupidity daily.
Elliott, who drives in Mountain View and Sunnyvale and lives in Los Gatos, has arrived on the scene of every kind of accident imaginable. He sometimes arrives at accidents before law enforcement personnel or first responders. He has seen fender benders and death.
A former paramedic and firefighter, Elliott has helped saved lives at accidents. He’s seen so much go wrong, he decided to document much of his daily work life on a website called idiotsontheinterstate.com.
“After eight years as a paramedic and also working as a firefighter, this is a far more dangerous job than either of those jobs,” Elliott said. “There’s a reason I drive a 26,000-pound truck. There’s a buffer between me and the morons who want to kill me.”
Elliott’s site, which began about six years ago, features dozens of videos taken with a smartphone secured to the dash.
“The big reason I started it is because I drive a very large tow truck and I have people literally trying to commit suicide in front of me every day,” he said. “They will drive in front of me and slam on their brakes. People just don’t have regard for their safety around trucks.”
Elliott, who works for Fortes Bros. Towing & Auto Repair, originally considered writing a book about his tow truck experiences. He hoped to supplement his day job income, but he changed his mind.