Overview of Clean Technica’s Article on Buying a Used Electric Vehicle
Clean Technica is a publication that does a very good job covering environmental issues, especially electric vehicles. In this article, they ask a question: should you never buy a used EV, or should you never buy a used EV? It’s a really good and honest article about what is important to consider when purchasing a used electric vehicle.
Key Considerations When Buying a Used EV
I think the two biggest takeaways from this are buying a vehicle that has at least 250 miles of range as the original criteria, and that is their first recommendation. The first thing I’d recommend is looking for an EV that was rated for at least 250 miles of range when it was new. It says this weeds out nearly all the junk that car companies built before they were serious about building EVs, so don’t buy any of these EVs that had 100-110 miles range.
Importance of Liquid Cooling for EV Batteries
The second thing they talk about, which not a lot of people realize, is to make sure it has liquid cooling for the main battery. Some EVs still have air cooling, and the problem with air cooling is if it’s hot out, it’s not going to cool it that much, right? If you drive it in hot weather, which most of the country now has hot weather at least part of the year, so…
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Benefits of Liquid Cooling in Modern EVs
Electric vehicles built now have a liquid cooling circuit for the main drive battery, and that will, just like the radiator and liquid cooling on gas engines, keep that battery cool even in hot weather. So you want to make sure that you’re buying a vehicle that has that. Most people don’t know what vehicles do or don’t have it. You can ask or look it up online, but if you follow these two steps — making sure it has at least 250 miles of range when it was new (it may not have that now because it degrades a little) and that it has liquid cooling — then you’re going to be more likely to have good success with that used electric vehicle.
Depreciation and Affordability of Used EVs
Now, as we’ve said before, used electric vehicles could be a good deal right now. The depreciation on them is huge. The price level has fallen dramatically on used EVs, to where especially for a second vehicle, a backup vehicle, or a commuter vehicle, it could be a great consideration for a family that just needs another car to zoom around town, or maybe somebody at college on their college campus. Long trips? Yeah, you’re going to have the range and charging problem to deal with, but if you at least do those two steps, you’re going to be less likely to run into problems where you’re going to hate that vehicle down the road.
