An EV Will Have to Wait

Filling a tank is easy, charging a Tesla needs parking instructions.

Buying an electric car has been the medium-term plan, but lately I've been having second thoughts that have nothing to do with range anxiety.

Operating an electric car means learning a new way of performing basic functions, like opening the door, turning on the "engine," and braking. [bold added]

On the Ford Mustang, you press a circular button on the door and it pops open.

On the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5, the handle is flush with the car and pops out when the car is unlocked. With the Tesla Model Y, you need to push in the wide part of the handle then pull the longer skinnier part toward you. Thankfully, there’s a GIF for that...

Instead of a physical key fob, Tesla provides a hotel-style keycard. You can also use Tesla’s smartphone app as a key. As soon as you open the Model Y’s door, the touch screen powers on and you can operate all controls...Ford, Hyundai and Kia stick to start/stop push buttons. There are key fobs, but you can also set up the apps as keys...

OK, you know how traditional automatic-transmission cars creep forward when you take your foot off the brake? That generally isn’t the case with EVs. To move, you tap the accelerator. (Even in reverse, which can be a little unnerving.) As soon as you take your foot off the accelerator, the car slows and brakes on its own. You only hit the brake pedal itself if the car isn’t slowing quickly enough. Most EVs let you do “one-pedal driving”—that is, driving with only the accelerator.

In our three-car non-EV family it's already crucial to be aware of which car I'm driving. The oldest, a 2004 Camry, doesn't have infrared sensors that trigger beeps when the car gets too close to a stationary object or pulsing sounds when a vehicle or pedestrian approaches. I've caught myself counting on a warning light in the side view mirror, then remembering to turn my head to check the blind spot in the old car.

If I got used to driving an EV, I'd have to remember that our ICE (internal combustion engine) cars won't automatically brake when I take my foot off the gas pedal. The variation would be extensive if we got an EV, so for safety's sake, we'll wait until more user-friendly and standardized controls are developed.

[Side note: why don't we at least get rid of the pre-sensor pre-GPS 2004 Camry? We need an old car to drive into and park in San Francisco, where windows are smashed and catalytic converters are cut off with impunity.]