this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2026
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One of the largest issues is the American mindset when it comes to buying vehicles. Many people consider all of their needs, even those that might be yearly. Most EVs have the range to handle 99% of most peoples trips, but they consider that last 1% of a yearly road trip when thinking about range. It's one of the reasons that Trucks and SUVs are so popular with their higher capability.
Trucks and SUVs are popular because they can be made cheaper due to government subsidies and lax emissions laws that exempt them.
That's on top of the massive tariff in place for any truck imported into the US. Its a main reason the Big 3 basically stopped making sedans.
How can you not consider your all of your needs when buying a vehicle?
"Consider", yes. But buy based on every need, no.
I go skiing once per year. Should I buy a vehicle with all-wheel drive just to satisfy that one need? Of course not.
Why not?
Its your money.
Because much of the stated reason for EVs is the money you'll save on fuel and maintenance costs, so spending extra money on something you'll use once per year doesn't fit the money saving narrative.
Ultimately, what I and the other commenter is saying is a once a year "need" really isn't a need at all. To further my example, if I lived in the snow or traveled there regularly, then AWD is likely a reasonable expense, but if very rarely used it would make more sense to rent/borrow. Same goes for a truck (for hauling), or gasoline car for the range.
I drive an EV now and my next car will likely be an ICE AWD vehicle. But I'm also aware that it's not the most economically sound decision and I'd be buying it for fun. Under no circumstances would I be justifying it by the longer range (which I very seldom need) or to travel to the snow.
Its your life man, fee, free to sell yourself short at will.
I am genuinely confused at this statement. How am I selling myself short and what is "at will" meant to mean?
You can rent a truck, but owning a truck means you have to pay more to haul around a bunch of stuff you don't need. That's why you shouldn't be worried about every possible thing you might need a vehicle for.
If you haul multiple times a month, perfectly understandable. If you haul things once or twice a year, the $20 rental from your local hardware store is probably more than sufficient for the task. And significantly cheaper, too.
This is a good point. I've watched a lot of idiots ruining their vehicles hauling stuff from Home Depot when a truck is only $20.
Home Depot is pro-Trump. I wouldn't spend a dime there.
What $20 rental?
Those do not exist anymore.
Truck rentals start at $50 now, when all fees are in.
How the hell are truck rentals so cheap in the US? Vans start at 70 euros here and I have to go the other side of the country because that's where the airport is.
I get most of my needs done with the much more easily available rental trailers instead. My wagon has a tow hitch for that.
I am, however, considering an SUV and buying a bigger trailer of my own so I could put more than ~500 kilos on it as that's the limit or the brake less rental trailers. I expect to do a bunch of hauling next few years, major home repairs are in order and I ain't paying other people to do all of it for me. I'll bring my own materials home from the shop and DHL my own work.
Its largely because of volume. They can keep every truck for moving pretty much on the road, all the time.
Especially around the 1st of the month. You need to reserve at least a month out for a 1st of the month rental.
Also, we accumulate loads of crap here. I surmise that's less common in your area.
Home Depot charges 29.99+ a charge per mile. Otherwise I was going to agree with you.
they do not charge per mile, only time. 75 minutes is $20 or $30 depending on the type of vehicle. A whole day is like $150.
eg: https://www.homedepot.com/p/rental/load-n-go-truck-rental/316822131
It's actually a bargain.
Damn, it’s been a minute since I looked into it but that’s a lot more than it used to be and even furthers the point.
It's literally less than you just said. $20 for a truck and no mileage charge.
You're missing the forest for the trees anyway. The point is it's a lot less to pay $20 a few times per year than it is to pay thousands more for a full sized truck instead of a car.
How is $150 for a day less than $30 + (60miles x .50¢ a mile)??? You would need to go 240 miles for that to be more which even in my state is further than the next nearest Home Depot.
Since when are we talking about an entire day's worth of hauling? People need a truck to pick up a TV or couch from Costco that takes well under 75 minutes.
Also, you don't have to go to home depot, I was just correcting what you said about their pricing.
You didn’t answer my question. It doesn’t matter how long you have it that’s still more expensive than it used to be unless you can get your hauling done in less time than it takes to watch The Lion King. I’m not even sure what you’re trying to argue at this point.
Home Depot fucking sucks, then. Menard's has a $0.50 per mile charge, $19 for 75 minutes, $6 for each additional 15 min
The difference in price between a sedan and a truck is like $400-500 annually
I can’t say I have heard of Menards but they sound the same as Home Depot, or worse maybe since Home Depot charges for the whole day last I checked.
OMG, this is ludicrous! $60+ for a couple of hauls a year!!! How dare they!!!
If you live right next-door to the Home Depot then sure, if you live in a town like the one I grew up in and it has no Lowe’s or Home Depot or other car rental place even though it has 16,000 people and a college in it then no not at all.
True. I often forget that people are living in vastly different environments even within the same country
It's more over-weighting rare long road trips compared to everyday use. People are terrified of having to spend an extra 30 minutes charging an EV on a road trip, but don't think about all the time they can save on a weekly basis by never having to go to a gas station, or never having to get oil changes, etc.
¿Por qué no los dos? I own an EV for city driving, but I also own a gas car for road trips.
I've taken the EV on road trips a hand full of times and sometimes it was just 30 minutes. Other times, it was waaay longer than that because there were 5 charging stations, but, surprise, 2 of them are broken and the rest have long lines of cars waiting.
Personally, I find those situations pretty stressful, so I don't take the EV for road trips now.
Newer EVs use NACS, which opens up a huge number of fast DC chargers all across the interstate system. Unfortunately those chargers are almost all Tesla superchargers, and we all wish there was a less musky alternative out there.
I've taken a road trip in the new NIssan Leaf, which has NACS. It wasn't bad; we had to stop for ~30 minutes every ~300 miles, which lines up with just about how often my aging body needs to go pee these days...
One of the needs was not driving a huge ass truck for the 99% of trips where a smaller, more efficient car works so much better.
You don't need more than 200 miles of range if you are using roads in the United States.
So, 260 advertised.
You just don't.