Here at InsideEVs, we know that it's one thing to argue over charging curves and max kilowatt-hour speeds and the pros and cons of cylindrical, prismatic and pouch battery cells on social media—but another thing entirely for ordinary families to live the electric life when they're constantly pressed for time. By this, I mean that the EV world can be an esoteric one to understand. And when you've got things to and have places to be, you may be afraid of long charging times or even running out of juice at the worst possible moment.
So what's the EV life really like? Ask YouTube musician, comedian and dad Craig Benzine, aka WheezyWaiter, who put together this great video recapping the highs and lows of three years of 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 ownership. I love his perspective here because it's a realistic one: it's not about wild charging experiments or naked clout-chasing, but just what it's like to live with one of these cars for years if you need to do everyday car things.
"Do you like having an electric vehicle?", Craig asks his wife early on in the video. "I do, almost 100% of the time," she says, which I think is a very fair answer as well.
He runs down what's made it work for them: they have home charging with solar panels, which he estimates is a one-time cost around $200 to $1,000 depending on installation costs. That's great, but as he admits, not available to everyone. "Maintenance" has basically been wiper fluid replacements and tire rotations for them, the car is super quiet and the instant torque is awesome. They have nice things to say about the ID.4 as well.
The biggest problem? This won't shock you: "We need more chargers," Craig says. His wife Chyna adds: "If there were even half as many fast-chargers as gas stations, we'd be set."
As we've covered here before, America's fast-charging network is growing more quickly than people think, and all of us need to shift our thinking away from the idea that DC fast chargers are essentially gas station replacements; these cars should be plugged in as much as possible, even into ordinary wall outlets. But that doesn't cover every situation. Sometimes you need to juice up and go, even if road trips don't happen all that often. And if you're "unlucky" with charging stops, as they have sometimes been, it can add hours to the drive. Still, this has led to unexpected adventures while charging, like finding new towns and restaurants while they recharge that they otherwise would not have expected.
"It is improving and eventually, I assume, the dam is going to break," Craig says. "Despite some inconvenience on longer trips, we've owned the car almost three years, had very little problem and, for the most part, it is convenient."
Neither of them regret making the purchase, they say. "I love the car and will continue driving the car, and my next one will be an electric vehicle," Craig says.
Until, of course, we get robust high-speed rail and cheap flying robotaxis everywhere. But one thing at a time, right?
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
