Well, I highly doubt this post will be able to advise you on if an electric car is right for you. But hopefully, this can helps a little if it's all a bit strange for you.
One of our installers who we've worked with for years, Aaron, has one. He loves it! Charges it during the day from his work shed, and in the evenings from his home, where he has a battery no less (though that's an LG chem). Pretty much free motoring if you take out the $25k or so he's spent on the solar systems.
They are extremely fast, yes, even though his one isn't the totally psycho P100d, and inside are super spacious and sexy in a modern car way. It does take a little while to adjust to how far, and how you drive it. Unlike a normal car which has a fuel gauge, they have percentages and estimated distance left. A bit of a thing to get your head around, but manageable, and to be honest, not that dissimilar from adjusting to a smartphone.
However, there is a catch. You can't just go to the local servo when necessary. And, as he and many others have explained, often the electric charging stations are busy when you get to the shopping center.
Another major issue though is the power supply. For example, last week we spoke with a large commercial builder who'd just finished a huge, 50-plus story tower. And scarily, they could only supply 6 charging stations as the building just couldn't be supplied with any more power from the local grid. It had left him very angry that we're moving towards an all-electric car future, and we simply don't have anything close to the infrastructure to support this. After all, people who live in units and even townhouses or homes with small roofs won't be able to power their vehicles.
And yes, you do have to retrofit a charger, but that's only on average $2500 to $3000 per install which isn't nice, but once it's done it's done.
So, in summary, are electric cars the future? Well, I don't think we have any control over that, now that many parts of the world have banned petrol cars moving forward after certain grace periods end, we will have a choice. If you have a home that can support solar, particularly a large system then you are laughing. If however, you are like this author and have limited roof space, then it presents a lot of challenges.
The future is electric and green, yes, but there will be a lot of bumps along the way. We will hopefully get it right, and come out better for it. But it won't be easy...
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