After four years of driving either plug-in hybrids or EVs, I now find myself back behind the wheel of a good old-fashioned ICE (internal combustion engine) car. Yes, if you know me personally—you read that right. This post is a fresh look at what it’s like going back.
Range anxiety is real. I never had much of a problem with it when driving electric vehicles, but now, every morning, I stare at the gauge, calculating whether I can get through the day without a trip to the gas station. With my typical monthly distance around 3,000 km, I feel like I’m always filling up. Gone are the days when every morning I had a fully charged battery, ready to roll. And while (what feels like ages ago) I thought about getting a fast charger installed, I settled for a regular 2.4kW home socket, and I never felt the real need for anything more powerful.
Then there’s the big surprise—fuel costs! And boy, it does cost a lot. While my monthly electricity charges (with the occasional fast charge) were around 30-60 EUR, I’m now shelling out almost 80 EUR every single time I fill up. Turns out ICE cars are ridiculously expensive to run. And I haven’t even hit any maintenance costs yet. Seriously, how did I forget this?!
Then there are all the little comforts I miss. While I can get a parking heater, I still miss the simplicity of having the car pre-heated using cheap home electricity every morning. No smell, no burning of dinosaurs (joking here), and it seems like it takes forever to heat up an ICE car. Then there’s braking. Not just the act of braking, but the lack of regenerative capabilities. While I’ve never been a huge fan of one-pedal driving, I now find it annoying having to rely on the brake pedal most of the time.
City driving is another issue. Not only does fuel consumption skyrocket, but it also just feels wrong to drive an ICE car through city traffic. Despite the car being quite nice, there’s always a hint of vibration, and if you open the window, the noise is impossible to ignore.
That said, I still enjoy my car, but it’s funny how much one’s perspective can change. One thing is for sure, next car is definitely going be to pure electric...