5 ms·

1. Maintenance isn’t just about cost. It’s about the number of things that move and/or need fluids, and can fail/leak. It’s about dealing with service centers t

1. Maintenance isn’t just about cost. It’s about the number of things that move and/or need fluids, and can fail/leak. It’s about dealing with service centers trying to upsell you on every little possible thing that could go wrong. When I take my EV in, it’s for one of two things: I need my tires rotated, or I need new tires. That’s it. There’s no “curtsy inspection” that comes back with literally 40 different things that I could have done to it. 2. Our household has four vehicles: one EV, three ICE vehicles. There’s no way the occasional new tires (rotations are free where we bought our tires) amount to 2/3 the cost of the maintenance needed on our ICE vehicles. It’s probably closer to 1/10. I think you’re overestimating what all needs maintenance on an EV.

devmor 8mo ago
I think you also might be overestimating what the average ICE owner has to take care of. Most Americans don’t keep a car long enough to even pay it off - they’re in an endless loop of trade-ins, meaning that most non-accident damage is covered by warranty. I’ve had my current ICE car for just over 5 years now and finally paid my first out of pocket repair cost: $40 for a new washable air filter. Other than that, my expenditures have been tires and a couple hundred bucks in oil changes that I didn’t want to do myself.
- jader201 8mo ago
  > I think you also might be overestimating what the average ICE owner has to take care of. > Most Americans don’t keep a car long enough to even pay it off - they’re in an endless loop of trade-ins, meaning that most non-accident damage is covered by warranty. No, I think you may be underestimating. According to this article [1] at least, it’s close to 13 years. That’s well into large/costly maintenance items. Maybe on HN, people don’t keep their cars long enough to need new brakes or transmission flush, but that’s not typical. [1] https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/05/average-age-of-vehicle-in-us#:~:text=The%20average%20age%20of%20vehicles%20in%20the%20US%20continues%20to,the%20durability%20of%20modern%20vehicles. https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/0... > I’ve had my current ICE car for just over 5 years now and finally paid my first out of pocket repair cost: $40 for a new washable air filter. Repairs are only a subset of maintenance. Maintenance includes oil changes, brakes, transmission flushes, etc. All of this is part of the maintenance that ICE vehicles need that EVs don’t.
  - devmor 8mo ago
    Vehicle age != ownership duration. The used car market is thriving and aftermarket warranties are a huge part of this. I also clearly mentioned maintenance in my post - you chose to quote the sentence before it, leaving it out and then respond as if I hadn’t. Please don’t engage me with this kind of dishonest conversation. It’s a waste of both our time.
Marsymars 8mo ago
> I think you’re overestimating what all needs maintenance on an EV. I'm not doing any estimating, I kept a detailed spreadsheet of every dollar I put into the car, and am familiar with which items are common to an EV.
- jader201 8mo ago
  > and am familiar with which items are common to an EV. This is the overestimating I was referring to. I think you’re either mistaken in what items are common to EV, or you’re overestimating the cost of those items. There is only one thing that needs maintenance on an EV: tires. Unless you’re saying that tires amount to 2/3 of an ICE vehicles maintenance. In which case you may want to shop around for more reasonably priced tires.
  - socialcommenter 8mo ago
    Not the person you replied to, but I'm not sure how you arrived here. Brakes, coolant, washer fluid, diff oil, gearbox oil, cabin air filter, wiper blades. Did you know EV motors can also require oil changes (at hundreds of thousands of miles, in fairness)? Nice Michelins for my ICE have been something resembling 1/3 of service costs. Not 2/3 but not negligible either.
    - jader201 8mo ago
      > Brakes Maybe at 1/10 the schedule of ICE vehicles, at least for me. I use regenerative braking almost exclusively (probably 95+% of the time). > coolant Yes, I did forget about that one. But frequency is about 50% less often than ICE vehicles. Maybe once every 5-10 years. > washer fluid, cabin air filter, wiper blades Agreed on these as well, but I bucketed these in the trivial category, totaling less than a tank of gas once every 6-12 months, and all DIY things that you don’t need to take to a service center for. At the end of the day, I only care about things I need to take it to the shop for. Which means I only need to take it in for a no-questions-asked tire rotation 1-2 times a year, and new tires every 4-5 years. Everything else I can easily do at home. > diff oil, gearbox oil These are the same thing, but you’re correct. But it’s infrequent (maybe once or twice over the life, and around $150. > Did you know EV motors can also require oil changes Ummm… what? Now you lost me. What EVs need oil?

devmor 8mo ago

I think you also might be overestimating what the average ICE owner has to take care of. Most Americans don’t keep a car long enough to even pay it off - they’re in an endless loop of trade-ins, meaning that most non-accident damage is covered by warranty. I’ve had my current ICE car for just over 5 years now and finally paid my first out of pocket repair cost: $40 for a new washable air filter. Other than that, my expenditures have been tires and a couple hundred bucks in oil changes that I didn’t want to do myself.

jader201 8mo ago
> I think you also might be overestimating what the average ICE owner has to take care of. > Most Americans don’t keep a car long enough to even pay it off - they’re in an endless loop of trade-ins, meaning that most non-accident damage is covered by warranty. No, I think you may be underestimating. According to this article [1] at least, it’s close to 13 years. That’s well into large/costly maintenance items. Maybe on HN, people don’t keep their cars long enough to need new brakes or transmission flush, but that’s not typical. [1] https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/05/average-age-of-vehicle-in-us#:~:text=The%20average%20age%20of%20vehicles%20in%20the%20US%20continues%20to,the%20durability%20of%20modern%20vehicles. https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/0... > I’ve had my current ICE car for just over 5 years now and finally paid my first out of pocket repair cost: $40 for a new washable air filter. Repairs are only a subset of maintenance. Maintenance includes oil changes, brakes, transmission flushes, etc. All of this is part of the maintenance that ICE vehicles need that EVs don’t.
- devmor 8mo ago
  Vehicle age != ownership duration. The used car market is thriving and aftermarket warranties are a huge part of this. I also clearly mentioned maintenance in my post - you chose to quote the sentence before it, leaving it out and then respond as if I hadn’t. Please don’t engage me with this kind of dishonest conversation. It’s a waste of both our time.

Marsymars 8mo ago

> I think you’re overestimating what all needs maintenance on an EV. I'm not doing any estimating, I kept a detailed spreadsheet of every dollar I put into the car, and am familiar with which items are common to an EV.

jader201 8mo ago
> and am familiar with which items are common to an EV. This is the overestimating I was referring to. I think you’re either mistaken in what items are common to EV, or you’re overestimating the cost of those items. There is only one thing that needs maintenance on an EV: tires. Unless you’re saying that tires amount to 2/3 of an ICE vehicles maintenance. In which case you may want to shop around for more reasonably priced tires.
- socialcommenter 8mo ago
  Not the person you replied to, but I'm not sure how you arrived here. Brakes, coolant, washer fluid, diff oil, gearbox oil, cabin air filter, wiper blades. Did you know EV motors can also require oil changes (at hundreds of thousands of miles, in fairness)? Nice Michelins for my ICE have been something resembling 1/3 of service costs. Not 2/3 but not negligible either.
  - jader201 8mo ago
    > Brakes Maybe at 1/10 the schedule of ICE vehicles, at least for me. I use regenerative braking almost exclusively (probably 95+% of the time). > coolant Yes, I did forget about that one. But frequency is about 50% less often than ICE vehicles. Maybe once every 5-10 years. > washer fluid, cabin air filter, wiper blades Agreed on these as well, but I bucketed these in the trivial category, totaling less than a tank of gas once every 6-12 months, and all DIY things that you don’t need to take to a service center for. At the end of the day, I only care about things I need to take it to the shop for. Which means I only need to take it in for a no-questions-asked tire rotation 1-2 times a year, and new tires every 4-5 years. Everything else I can easily do at home. > diff oil, gearbox oil These are the same thing, but you’re correct. But it’s infrequent (maybe once or twice over the life, and around $150. > Did you know EV motors can also require oil changes Ummm… what? Now you lost me. What EVs need oil?