Tim
New member
Three Years with an EV - Would I Go Back to Gas?
Three years is long enough that you’re no longer “trying out” a technology. You’re living with it. Every day. The good, the bad, and the annoying little compromises that come with it. And owning an EV is exactly that.
Over the past weeks I’ve talked a lot about chargers, software updates, bugs, apps, range, broken DC stations and all the stuff only daily EV drivers really deal with. Not the marketing version the real one. The kind where you’re sitting in a parking lot at 20% battery while the charger throws a “communication error” and you start calculating your plan B.
And yet, when I honestly sat down and asked myself whether I’d buy a gas or diesel car again… the answer surprised even me: no.
Not because EVs are perfect. They’re not. But because they ruin one thing for you in a way you can’t undo: how a drivetrain should feel.
Anyone who’s driven an electric car for a while knows what I mean. The silence. The instant, perfectly linear response. No revs, no shifting, no vibration, no mechanical struggle. You press the pedal and the car just goes. Smoothly, immediately, exactly as much as you ask.
Then you get back into an ICE car, even a good one, and the first few miles feel weird. Noise. Vibration. Delay. Gear changes. An engine that has to spin up before anything happens. What used to feel “sporty” now just feels… busy and tiring.
Yes, EVs are annoying sometimes. Charging logistics, winter range loss, unreliable public chargers, software updates that introduce new bugs. All of that is real. Anyone saying otherwise is lying.
But those are logistical problems. The driving experience is emotional. And that goes much deeper.
That’s why I’m curious: has anyone here actually gone back to gas after owning an EV? Not just temporarily, but for real. What made you do it? Was it the tech? The charging? The range? Or was it simply the convenience of never thinking about cables and apps again?
Because right now, even with all the headaches, a gas car just feels… more primitive to me. And I don’t think I can un-feel that anymore.
Three years is long enough that you’re no longer “trying out” a technology. You’re living with it. Every day. The good, the bad, and the annoying little compromises that come with it. And owning an EV is exactly that.
Over the past weeks I’ve talked a lot about chargers, software updates, bugs, apps, range, broken DC stations and all the stuff only daily EV drivers really deal with. Not the marketing version the real one. The kind where you’re sitting in a parking lot at 20% battery while the charger throws a “communication error” and you start calculating your plan B.
And yet, when I honestly sat down and asked myself whether I’d buy a gas or diesel car again… the answer surprised even me: no.
Not because EVs are perfect. They’re not. But because they ruin one thing for you in a way you can’t undo: how a drivetrain should feel.
Anyone who’s driven an electric car for a while knows what I mean. The silence. The instant, perfectly linear response. No revs, no shifting, no vibration, no mechanical struggle. You press the pedal and the car just goes. Smoothly, immediately, exactly as much as you ask.
Then you get back into an ICE car, even a good one, and the first few miles feel weird. Noise. Vibration. Delay. Gear changes. An engine that has to spin up before anything happens. What used to feel “sporty” now just feels… busy and tiring.
Yes, EVs are annoying sometimes. Charging logistics, winter range loss, unreliable public chargers, software updates that introduce new bugs. All of that is real. Anyone saying otherwise is lying.
But those are logistical problems. The driving experience is emotional. And that goes much deeper.
That’s why I’m curious: has anyone here actually gone back to gas after owning an EV? Not just temporarily, but for real. What made you do it? Was it the tech? The charging? The range? Or was it simply the convenience of never thinking about cables and apps again?
Because right now, even with all the headaches, a gas car just feels… more primitive to me. And I don’t think I can un-feel that anymore.