evee Central

I’ve Been Driving an EV for a Year. I Have Only One Regret.

Range anxiety isn’t a thing, leasing can be a gamble, and other lessons our columnist learned after driving an EV for the past year

My electric vehicle and I are about to celebrate our first anniversary. Please send a 150-kilowatt cake and your finest bottle of car wax.

Yes, last summer I tested five EVs under $60,000. I ended up leasing a Ford Mustang Mach-E, and have continued documenting my ad-EV-ntures.

While you hear a lot about electric vehicles these days—They aren’t selling! They’re dragging down profits! They’re destroying our country!—life has been pretty great for my EV and me. 

Like any couple in the honeymoon phase, we often stare longingly at each other, wondering what all the worry is about. Range anxiety? Not a thing—definitely not when it’s warm out. Missing the rumble of an internal combustion engine? Nope. Regrets about skipping the Tesla? Not since March, when I was able to start charging at Tesla stations.

“Have any of these people driven these vehicles before they say they love them or hate them?” Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley told me in a recent interview. “Here I am, this petrol person who just loves getting in his electric truck.”

Farley would say that. He’s got some EVs to sell. I don’t. I’m also not pushing personal politics or macroeconomic theories. I’m just a tech fan, here to tell you there’s a lot to love about these battery-powered, cutting-edge cars. 

There are also some things to not love. If you’re considering the EV jump, here are my five biggest surprises and lessons from the past year.

1. Public charging is a fringe scenario.

Before I drove EVs, my nightmares were vivid. I’d be stuck on the side of a highway with a dead battery, frantically googling “how to hitchhike without looking suspicious.”

Now, I mostly charge in my garage. In fact, most EV owners—83%—regularly charge at home, according to data-analytics company J.D. Power. Getting the right electrical outlet and charger can be pricey, but over time it costs less than gas, especially if you charge at night or on weekends with off-peak electricity pricing. (Read my column on this all here.)

The game-changer was when Tesla opened up its charging network to Ford, Rivian and other EV makers. On longer road trips, I now pull into one of the many reliable Tesla stations, attach a dongle and start fast charging. Granted, I’m driving mostly in the Northeast where there are plenty of stations.

2. Driving and maintenance are different—good different. 

Every time I go back to driving a gas-powered car, I feel like I’m going back in time. “What?! Speak up, kids! I can’t hear you over the engine!”  

Beyond the silent-movie ride of an EV, there’s the crazy acceleration and super smooth drive. I’ve also gotten so used to one-pedal driving—speeding and slowing with only the accelerator. I have to remember to hit the brakes when I’m not in an EV.

No oil light here. Or ever. Photo: Kenny Wassus/WSJ

Even more surprising was how little maintenance my Mach-E has needed. No oil change or check-engine light. Our first service is this week, to rotate tires, check brakes, top off wiper fluid and give the whole car and its battery a once-over.

Not all EV owners I speak to have been as lucky as me. I often hear about tire issues, specifically frequent flats caused by the extra weight of a battery. 

3. Software matters.  

One of the promises of the r-EV-olution was cars that work like our phones. With big built-in screens and wireless connectivity, an over-the-air software update could change not only the interface but how you drive it—or how it drives itself. 

The divide, though, is between the new EV companies and the legacy automakers. In April, for example, Rivian released a feature that routes you to the most reliable charger based on reviews and other information collected from Rivians on the road. And it seems like Teslas get a new tweak every week.

According to Ford, my Mach-E has received over 24 software updates since September 2023. One enabled access to more than 15,000 Tesla Superchargers. The company also updated its iPhone and Apple Watch app with features. But the majority of the updates were unnoticeable to me.

I haven’t experienced any terrible software glitches. (Ahem, Chevy Blazers!) Most of the time I rely on Apple CarPlay, yet more and more I want software that’s deeply integrated with the car data. And Ford’s own software just doesn’t compare to what the EV newcomers offer.

Farley acknowledged the drawback, citing the drain on resources and the vastness of the Ford lineup. “It requires a lot of work to write software for the whole fleet, not just our EV fleet,” he said.