EVs Need To Compete Better With Old Cars

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Last Updated on: 19th March 2025, 03:26 am

I recently came across a video on YouTube that made an important point: there are HUGE advantages to driving an old car around.

While you don’t get the latest technology (but can get most of it, more on that in a bit), don’t have the latest style, and often don’t have a very efficient vehicle, driving older vehicles around can save you a lot of money. Driving newer vehicles is often very expensive. If you’re getting a loan like most people to drive a new car or one that’s 2–3 years old, you pay a lot in interest. Even cash buyers have to contend with depreciation, maintenance costs at dealer rates, fueling/charging, and the higher insurance that comes with more valuable cars.

Even worse, you just don’t have that much control of a newer car with a payment. Lose your job? You might have to sell the car or watch it get repossessed. Want to switch cars? You might be upside down and either pay a big down payment or pay a higher payment to cover a car you owe more on than it’s worth. Newer “nanny” features and subscription services tie you to the automaker and control your driving in sometimes unpleasant ways.

With an older car, maintenance and downtime headaches can plague you, but that’s only half the story. If you carefully buy an older car and either fix it up yourself or pay a mechanic to go through it, there’s a big upfront cost. But, you can come out the other side of that with a car that’s about as reliable as a new one. After that, YouTube gives you the ability to do many small DIY fixes and upgrades. You can go to a “pick and pull” salvage yard or order parts on eBay to replace damaged and worn interior components and trim. Over time, it’s possible to make an older car look almost like new a bit at a time.

If you’re a technology addict, there are still some great options to upgrade an older car. I have an older Chevrolet Suburban that I put an Android head unit into. It now has bluetooth, Android Auto/CarPlay, a touchscreen, GPS, and the ability to pop in a SIM card and get cellular data if I choose to do so. If you shop around, you can get large screens that can almost give you that Tesla experience. Companies like Comma are working on kits to even add autonomous driving features to older cars.

Yes, I know, I know! This is CleanTechnica! We should be driving EVs around and not old Jeeps and Suburbans getting 10–15 MPG!

I think it’s high time the EV industry take a hard look at the advantages of older cars and think things over a bit more. Instead of assuming everyone wants a huge car payment for an iPad with wheels, manufacturers really need to give cheaper options a serious look. Mini EVs, three-wheelers, and motorcycles are seriously neglected in the United States and Europe, but are thriving in China. That these options aren’t available to US and most European buyers is a real ripoff.

Other things like improving bike infrastructure so people can ride e-bikes more safely, improving availability of loans for professional EV conversions, and improving the ability to keep older EVs on the road should all be considered. We really need more outside-the-box thinking here.

Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba.