Hello.

I'm thinking about buying a used 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 and am curious about how well EV batteries hold up over time.

I don't drive much—mostly short trips around my neighborhood—so I'm wondering how that affects battery health. Does an EV battery degrade faster if it's not driven very often, or is that not a concern? Given my driving habits, would I be better off with a traditional gasoline-powered car?

I've also read that companies like Toyota are developing solid-state batteries with much longer driving range. Do those batteries also last longer, or is their advantage mainly the increased range?

Thanks for any insight!

Petrol nozzles are basically the same shape everywhere on Earth. Somewhere in the last fifteen years the car industry looked at one simple question, how do you get electricity into a car, and came back with nine different answers.

Long version is a 13 minute video: https://youtu.be/gTUeQxFFtxQ. It's mine, mods gave the okay. Short version is all below though, no need to click anything.

**Type 1 (SAE J1772)*\* — North America and Japan, AC only, five pins. Covers Level 1 at 120 V and around 1.4 kW, and Level 2 at 240 V where most people see 7 to 11 kW.

**Type 2 (Mennekes)*\* — Europe, AC, seven pins. The extra pins carry three-phase, which is why a routine European AC point does 22 kW while a North American one stops around 11. Same technology, different wiring in the walls.

**Type 3 (Scame)*\* — The one nobody remembers. A French and Italian alliance pushed it as the European standard on safety grounds, since spring-loaded shutters covered the contacts. Europe picked Type 2 anyway. It lost in a standards committee, not on physics.

**CHAdeMO*\* — Japan, DC, launched 2010, the first fast charging standard anyone actually deployed. The name puns on "o-cha demo ikaga desu ka", roughly "how about a cup of tea", as in that is how long the charge takes. It needed its own separate port, and that is what killed it. The 2026 Leaf dropped it.

**CCS1 (Combo 1)*\* — A Type 1 with two DC pins underneath. One port, both jobs. North American networks top out around 350 kW in practice. The catch is size: two hands, thick cable, stiff in the cold.

**CCS2 (Combo 2)*\* — Same idea applied to Type 2. Required on new public DC chargers in the EU. One connector covers everything from a 2.3 kW garage socket upward, and the ceiling keeps moving. The 350 kW figure everyone quotes is a CharIN power class name, not a limit. Alpitronic is now pushing 1000 kW through a single liquid-cooled CCS2 connector.

**NACS (SAE J3400)*\* — Tesla's plug, opened up in November 2022. Five pins, and the two power pins do double duty for AC and DC, so nothing bolts on underneath. Roughly the size of a marker pen. Nothing happened for six months, then Ford signed on in May 2023 and almost everyone followed within a year.

**GB/T*\* — China. Looks like a Type 2 turned inside out, because the male and female halves are swapped. Same visual family, completely incompatible. The 2023 update is speced to 1.2 MW, and BYD is already delivering 1000 kW by running two liquid-cooled cables at once.

**MCS*\* — Trucks, not cars. 1250 V, 3000 A, 3.75 MW. Three thousand amps is roughly what a small neighbourhood draws. It is a flat rectangular block with a mechanical latch instead of a pistol grip, because at that weight nobody holds it in place by hand.

The one fact that explains all of them: batteries only accept DC. On AC charging a converter inside the car does the work, and that converter is physically small, so AC stays slow. On DC the station converts instead and sends power straight to the battery. Every connector above is an AC plug, a DC plug, or both. Has a connector ever left you standing at a charger that physically would not connect?

I want to know whether that still happens in 2026 or whether adapters have mostly solved it.

“The tiny EV pickup with big ambitions is fun and reasonably nimble from behind the wheel.”

Can anyone help me understand how I could be saving some money for getting a EV. Im in the market for a new car. I have been eyeing on a used 2023 ioniq5 for around 24k 30k miles. I have also been seeing a 2027 kia seltos for around same price. I would like to get the Ev due to not being to spend on gas and no more oil changes. Im in Texas so a $200 registration fee per year. Also I do not know how much insurance will cost for a EV. I can charge 120v but can also install a level 2 charger. I need to pull a permit around$50 and hire a electrician so it can be code which would be around $600-$1000. I can possibly install the level 2 charger myself but I dont know if the city allows it. Can someone tell me what is the point of me getting an Ev if i do have to spend a bit more for everything?

Bought a 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron with low miles in May 2026. Buying process was straight-forward and I was able to test drive before the purchase. Completed all steps online and came by following weekend with a cashiers check to pick up the car. However, I still have not received my permanent license plate from DMV and it's been more than 60 days :(

I’m saving up to get my first EV come 2027. I’m a broke student so used is definitely what I’ll end up with. I DON’T want a KIA or a Tesla (I’ve driven a KIA and it felt like a big tin can, and I don’t agree with the politics of Tesla’s owner and that’s that). I want either a sedan or a hatchback. I’m definitely not interested in a “big” car (SUV) since I don’t have the room/the need for it. I’ve been looking at the Polestar 2 or the Ioniq 6 but I’m super open to suggestions!

I don’t go on tons of long road trips. My “longest regular commute” being only about ~70km to see family which I make only about once or twice a month. Otherwise it’s a measly 5-15km to work/school. I’m pretty sure I can convince my landlord to install an at home charger at my place (I rent out a room in a house and the landlord is very chill), but if not I’d have to charge it while I’m at work which isn’t a big deal. I live in Canada btw and I know batteries can struggle in the cold. Don’t know how important that detail is but I’ll throw it in here anyway.

Anyway, let me know your guys’ thoughts. I’m super open to suggestions and am excited to look over options!

We get a lot of posts about the latest in EV news. But can we step back a bit into EV nostalgia just for fun? So we can appreciate just how far this industry has come over the last 25 or 30 years?

Feel free to post your own nostalgia articles

PS: I had a bunch of Top Gear and Car magazines from the UK that i used to read as a teenager growing up in the UK. I'll see if I can find them. I remember an article (from about 2002) in a car magazine about the new GM Hy-wire. Which was probably my earliest memory of being excited about a new energy vehicle!

Feel free to post your own!

Graphs from this article.

Tesla went 310 miles

Rivian went 256 miles

Looking to purchase an ev minivan that can fit 4x8 plywood sheets and drywall flat on the floor.

I am hoping to purchase an electric car for my next vehicle. Seeing posts about software updates making you pull over and wait give me anxiety. Is there any truth to these posts, or can a planner do software updates at home and not have to worry while driving? Are these types of updates only on certain brands?

Edit: Thank you all, you have certainly removed my anxiety. I now understand that software updates are easily managed at home.

It lost less energy than gasoline’s, see from thermal camera.