It's true that increased reliability which began in the 90's makes this possible, but the other aspect of this is the "features" which began to be introduced around in the middle of the past decade and those which began to be removed. Auto-engine off was added. Fewer naturally aspirated v6's, more small, underpowered turbo engines which are prone to issues around 90,000 miles. To a certain view, the value proposition of a vehicle peaked around a manufacturing date somewhere near 2012.
My family bought both our current vehicles (Toyota) with >100k miles and they are now around 250k. Average cost (including depreciation!) is <$2k per year, so a little more than $150 per month, each.
Running cars longer is likely to slow down the transition to electric, unfortunately. I really want an EV, but I have never bought a new car and don't ever plan to, so I'm going to be waiting a long time for the market to deliver reasonably priced used EVs. Battery lifetime is also a question.
in your defense, there’s a non-zero carbon footprint just to build new cars and holding on to old ones longer reduces the impact of having a new one built. And the moral impact, battery tech is still way too dependent on inhumane conditions for miners in Africa. I’ve always been a little worried the kids there are getting sucked into it[1].
For older cars, you can get some milage, engine lifetime, and emissions improvements by using a in-fuel cleaning product like Seafoam from the auto parts store.
Funnily enough, just today I’ve decided, or submitted to, running my current non-EV car until the death (it‘s, or mine).
I’ve only got 20 years left on my driving licence and I can’t imagine affording a comparable EV (I drive a 2013 Audi 3.0 Biturbo A6 with ALL the trimmings) and then having to modify the house to get a place to park and charge - just for a car.
The same for me. My current car is a 2014 model, with 42k miles on it. I probably drive less than 2,000 miles a year. The car looks great, drives great, and has plenty of safety features.
Unless there's some life-changing event that requires me to get a larger vehicle, I plan to keep this car until it drops, or I do.
Is that a big deal in the UK? In a lot of states in the US, everyone regardless of age has to renew every 4 years, and nobody considers needing to renew a reason to stop driving instead.
I think that'd be a really odd way of phrasing it if it's the latter. If it's the former, then I'm really curious where that rule exists, because I'm not aware of anywhere that has a maximum driving age like that.
Are there any "bright ideas" "out there" on how to check (i.e. measure) the battery health of a used e-car ? Do most e-cars have some kind of measure built-in, and are they reliable & credible ?
This is a complete mis-read on the situation. Yes, prices are higher and fewer people can afford them. But that has little to do with the growing average age of vehicles.
Cars last longer than they used to. They are better made. People don't send a car to the scrapyard if it still works. They keep it (can't afford a replacement) or sell it (can afford a replacement). Both scenarios have the exact same effect on the measurement of the average age of vehicles on the road.
Rapid trade ins are the best way to improve everyone’s car - the rich guy gets a brand new one, the next gets one better than he had, and so on down the line until an absolute junker is hauled off to the crusher.
Part of the reason is all the new "smart" features. I've got an early 2000s Camry and I love the dang car. If Toyota would re-release a "Camry SE" sort of classic 90s car version, I would line up for that.
One of the reasons is that cars have not only gotten more expensive, but the cost of debt has skyrocketed. Look at the interest rate of a car loan a year or two ago compared to now.
And even if you want to buy a brand new minivan, the only ones they ever have in stock are the top of the line models costing nearly twice as much as baseline.
Yes but an overall interest rate increase drives a decease in prices and an increase in manufacturer incentives and financing. It just takes a
little time to work through the system and it'll be specific to particular models usually.
