Study: Less than 1% of EV owners would go back to full gas-powered vehicles... would you?

[whitex]

When we had our RAV4 Prime as our DD before our iX, while we always charged it to full at home, on days when a round trip was quite a bit longer than its max 42 miles range, over the course of typically a month or two, we needed to refill the gas tank.

Ah, I see what confused me. By "EV" you mean PHEV, rather than BEV. Most people don't refer to their hybrids, or plug-in hybrids, as EVs, since they do in fact require gasoline to run (AFAIK PHEV will not run with an empty gas tank, if you kept it bone dry and only charged the battery every 40 miles or whatever their range is). There are EV's which have gas powered range extenders (e.g. i3Rex) which will run with an empty gas tank all its life if needed).

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[pedroleumjelly]

My 2 year lease will be over in 4 months.

I’m deciding between the AMG GT 55 or a 992.2 911.

I love the Taycan, but the facelift made it look uglier and at that price range I might as well get something different. I also don’t have kids.

Definitely curious what the proper next gen Taycan will look like.

 

[Ipercool]

Well in principle you may have a point.

But technology, implemented as lousy as Porsche has done, is not effective. And I have no idea on what you are talking about that an ICE driver needs to concentrate on anything apart from driving. I deeply, deeply regret selling my M5 and am trying to get a decent deal on this Trashcan now. It is a great car when it works, but so much time spent to bring it to a lousy service centre and with a 90 minutes drive, it is trash!

Peter,
I am truly sorry for your bad experience.
However, I would not generalise this speech.
I think I had something similar with the Delta Integrale evoluzione, a car with enormous charm but it was always wrecked, for example for months as soon as I put it in reverse it would turn off and I had to push it.
I think it was a different case, the Delta was a car built in small series with the typical defects of the case but it was the point of arrival of a long technological refinement.
The Taycan is a large series car, but it is the initiator of a new technological course.
Some of these cars may have problems, or even serious problems.
I also realise that those who get one of those that don't work can be quite angry.

However, I would not define Taycan as a project to be thrown away, chassis and powertrain are top notch, problems emerge where the Germans are most behind, electronics and software.
Anyway, good luck for the future at Porsche or elsewhere.

P.S. I loved my Delta Integrale very much even if I often had to push it out of the parking lot, but I was young and these things were absorbed better.

 

[laua]

100% can’t go back to ICE for a daily driver. I only drive my Taycan locally and have a dealer nearby so the recalls and lack of charging isn’t too painful for me, not enough to offset the pros of EV. Even more evident was after having a Macan for a few days, getting back into the Taycan felt like heaven.

That said, if I can do this all over again, I might have gone for something like an EQS or Lucid Air as a daily driver and a 997 for fun.

 

[f1eng]

I have had at leat one PHEV since 2012 and went EV with the Taycan.
I got small mechanically simple relatively light PHEVs ie Toyota rather than the Panamera Sport Turismo PHEV which was too big heavy and complicated for me to find acceptable.
Anyway I use the Toyota locally because it is narrow enough and the Taycan on longer trips because it is comfortable.

 

[FlyingPoint]

While somewhat off topic - Its not just the Taycan. PCNA & PAG is not the OEM it used to be. My GT3 has been in the workshop to have all fuel injectors replaced. It is 4 months now. This brand is in trouble at every level. Parts are unavailable, techs inundated with Taycan problems. Only the best techs, with credential can work on Taycan or GT3. There are not enough of them to meet the need.

 

[f1eng]

While somewhat off topic - Its not just the Taycan. PCNA & PAG is not the OEM it used to be. My GT3 has been in the workshop to have all fuel injectors replaced. It is 4 months now. This brand is in trouble at every level. Parts are unavailable, techs inundated with Taycan problems. Only the best techs, with credential can work on Taycan or GT3. There are not enough of them to meet the need.

I don't know if the same is the case in the US but here in the UK there is a shortage of skilled technicians in almost every trade due to changes in the social and education system.

Company run apprenticeships was the big source when I was training but it costs the company a lot to train their furure employees and a proliferation of new companies with no training schools poaching newly trained people in the 70s lead to most scemes stopping.

Then there was a government policy to increase University training and most of the training colleges became Universities and University places went from around 4% in 1970 to over 40% now.

Pay is good for all trades but the training isn't easy and few people want to do them.

 

[whitex]

I don't know if the same is the case in the US but here in the UK there is a shortage of skilled technicians in almost every trade due to changes in the social and education system.

Company run apprenticeships was the big source when I was training but it costs the company a lot to train their furure employees and a proliferation of new companies with no training schools poaching newly trained people in the 70s lead to most scemes stopping.

Then there was a government policy to increase University training and most of the training colleges became Universities and University places went from around 4% in 1970 to over 40% now.

Pay is good for all trades but the training isn't easy and few people want to do them.

Similarly in the US. There is a shortage of all kinds of skilled workers. For engineering the gap is somewhat filled with immigration. Unfortunately such fill does not exist for trades. Some companies tried apprentice contracts which required repayment if they trained someone and that worker left before x years - but governments got involved, called it exploitation, so companies stopped (well, some got creative by having trainees take a loan for training and the employer would pay the loan off completely over x years, unless the worked quits, at which point they'd have to pay the remaining balance themselves, but cancel culture of the last decade took care of those too calling it slavery - too much controversy around such programs, so companies stopped). Colleges and universities hiked their prices multi-fold over the past couple of decades while they stopped producing employable graduates (too complex of a topic for this forum).

End result is a generation which thinks they need $600K a year to live comfortably, but have no useful skills to sell. They do know how to get offended, are ready to protest the latest trendy cause at a moments notice, consume social media around the clock, and strongly believe in "need for self-care time" willing quit any job on the spot which might interfere with said need - things higher education is teaching with a passion lately. Sure, there are exceptions, but will there be enough of them to keep the world going?

 

[f1eng]

Similarly in the US. There is a shortage of all kinds of skilled workers. For engineering the gap is somewhat filled with immigration. Unfortunately such fill does not exist for trades. Some companies tried apprentice contracts which required repayment if they trained someone and that worker left before x years - but governments got involved, called it exploitation, so companies stopped (well, some got creative by having trainees take a loan for training and the employer would pay the loan off completely over x years, unless the worked quits, at which point they'd have to pay the remaining balance themselves, but cancel culture of the last decade took care of those too calling it slavery - too much controversy around such programs, so companies stopped). Colleges and universities hiked their prices multi-fold over the past couple of decades while they stopped producing employable graduates (too complex of a topic for this forum).

End result is a generation which thinks they need $600K a year to live comfortably, but have no useful skills to sell. They do know how to get offended, are ready to protest the latest trendy cause at a moments notice, consume social media around the clock, and strongly believe in "need for self-care time" willing quit any job on the spot which might interfere with said need - things higher education is teaching with a passion lately. Sure, there are exceptions, but will there be enough of them to keep the world going?

There was a letter to the newspaper by a 23 year old recently complaining that now she had a job she had no "me time".
She listed her daily hours and it wasn't even a job with long hours. Pathetic.

 

[Genau]

I don't know if the same is the case in the US

This South Park episode pretty accurately tells the whole story of the handyman apocalypse in the US.

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[whitex]

This South Park episode pretty accurately tells the whole story of the handyman apocalypse in the US.

​

This would be funny if it wasn't so close to reality.

 

[bigkraig]

In what scenario in today's environment could or would ever justify flying 200 to 400 miles.

these short range flights are where EV planes fit in

 

[feye]

For me it's the sluggishness.

That, too, for sure! Having always full power under your foot is a much better driving experience!

 

[PCFishman]

First few hours driving a 2025 Panamera 4 as a loaner while my GTS ST is getting recalls done.

I notice major differences and below things I miss about my Taycan and wouldn’t go back to a ICE vehicle (unless it’s a GT3RS or hyper car):

1 - Auto Start
Taycan makes it so easy, get in and go

2 - Faux Buttons vs Screen (Haptic)
I much prefer my screen and haptic vs the faux button where the whole module moves and depresses when clicked. IMO it feels worse than pushing a screen and getting haptic feedback.

3 - No lag, linear acceleration
I miss the immediate no lag, smooth acceleration of the Taycan. I am sure a higher trim level Panamera may be less laggy, but still would not be as immediate as an EV.

4 - Handling
Panamera takes a corner like a champ, but not as smooth as my Taycan, which feels like a hot knife slicing through butter. The Panamera losses a lot of momentum and speed into the turn, which you to throttle through. The Taycan flows seamlessly through the turn without adding more speed. I miss that planted, running on rails feel that comes with having a lower center of gravity due to the battery in the Taycan.

5 - Driving position
Panamera is a much sportier seating position than a Macan or Cayenne, but it doesn’t have that sunk in feeling you get with a 911 or another sport car. The Taycan gets you closer to that sport car seating position.

6 - Brakes
I miss the smoothness of engaging regen with light to moderate brake pressure on my Taycan. The Panamera physical brakes while more than sufficient to stop disrupt the ride quality and reduce smoothness during deceleration, down hill or going into and out of a turn.

7 - Engine Sound
I find I like my fake EV sound on my GTS far better than the muted real sound in a Panamera. I love a car growlin and spittin fire and would any day take the sounds made by a GT3RS over that of the fake EV sounds in my Taycan. However, a muted, subdued roar of a luxury, estate care just doesn’t make me miss not having real engine sound.

8 - Suspension
The loaner came with air suspension and even in Normal mode my GTS was much more smooth and absorbed many minor bumps and road imperfections. In SPORT or SPORT Plus the Taycan becomes a full on sport car where all road sense are heightened providing the full sport experience. For a luxury cruiser the Taycan actually provides a smoother ride than the Panamera, which in design concept should not be true as the Panamera is the luxury estate vehicle.

I’ll have this car for at least a week due to the holiday, so I’ll post more of my observations. Both cars are fantastic to drive, this is really first world problems from someone who is particular about their car. Happy Holidays!!!

Found some other thing I miss about my Taycan,

9 - Technology
While the Panamera has many more instrument cluster setup options, none of them seem particularly easy to customize if they can be at all. The screen icons seem to be redesigned, but is even more laggy than the J1 Taycan. The Taycan you can customize many of the instrument cluster setups. Park camera and sensor is not easily selectable as it is in the Taycan. You have to go 2 menus in while trying not to hit the curb or even see around the vehicle when sensors are not automatically triggered by the environment. On the Panamera, Homelink is connected to the mirror like prior models. The taycan senses as you are approaching a homelink site and presents the options to you in the name(s) you have given those locations in the form of button on the screen to activate. A subtle but cool feature.

10 - Annoying Trunk
Opens super high, to a point where if you don’t set the point correctly it will hit your garage door. Also I can’t find the trunk open button on the exterior for the life of me.

11 - Dumb Spoiler
It retracts after reversing which I cannot understand.

 

[whitex]

10 - Annoying Trunk
Opens super high, to a point where if you don’t set the point correctly it will hit your garage door. Also I can’t find the trunk open button on the exterior for the life of me.

My Taycan is spending holidays in service, waiting on Germany to thaw after the holidays to send a new onboard charger, so I'm driving an ICE Macan. In the Macan, I also cannot find the way to open the trunk from the outside besides the fob, but even the fob does not work if the engine is ON. If you find a way, let me know - I'll probably be driving the Macan for a bit longer.

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