Last Friday night, while driving back to the community, I met Uncle Xu and his family who were driving out at the entrance. How can I drive an electric car? "I deliberately rolled down the window and joked to my uncle who was driving. After all, at the beginning of the year, he publicly declared in the building's WeChat group that he would never buy a tram.

Picture | Let's not guess the mystery. Uncle Xu bought an electric car that was "pretty good, pretty good... this trip makes sense. The scene that really happened above, to some extent, resembles the metaphor of a car market - when the public opinion field is still arguing about whether pure electricity is a fake demand, the refueling gun in reality has already silently been replaced by a charging gun. Looking through social media platforms, especially the comment section of the commune's push notifications, whenever there are articles related to new energy vehicles, whether discussing the market or technology, there are always a bunch of opposing voices in the comment section. Range anxiety, winter discounts, and plummeting resale value... In the eyes of many people, choosing pure electricity seems like a risky gamble.

I didn't mean to hang someone, so I coded everything from profile picture to ID. The author is just thinking that even if you open your eyes and look on the street, you will understand. Is it possible to use the cyber comment section as a wishing pool? However, leaving the drooling comment section to take a look at the actual data is completely different: the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China has firmly stood at 50%, and in the newly added market, the proportion of pure electric vehicle models has quietly exceeded the sum of plug-in hybrid and range extender models. This is no longer a 'future is coming', but a present continuous tense that is truly happening. But as this new chapter begins, all the busy characters on stage, even though following roughly the same trajectory, still have many differences when heading towards their respective paths.

01 "Pure Electric Era" from the Perspective of Microscope

The residential area where the author resides is located in the southern suburbs of Shanghai and is not large in scale. There are a total of ten buildings and less than 600 residential units, with a total of 16700 permanent residents. At the same time, there is also an underground garage in the community, which has a parking space of less than 600 on the ground, roughly in proportion to the number of residential units. However, due to its location in the southern suburbs, the proportion of elderly and children among residents is relatively high. Although there are some tenants, the overall population mobility is not high, so roughly 40% of parking spaces are still idle. And for the author, this situation also has an obvious benefit, which is that every morning and night, they go around the basement and the community to enter and exit the gate, and over time, they have a clear understanding of what kind of cars they have added here.

Especially after 2020, local communities began to implement the building group leader model and set up corresponding building groups and community WeChat groups. The communication between residents in the same building and community has been increasingly strengthened. In addition to various family matters and convenient service scheduling information provided by the neighborhood committee, buying a car and what kind of car to buy can be considered a hot topic of neighborhood communication. From October last year until the end of May 2026 at the time of writing this article, based on the author's observations and information obtained from security and property management, a total of 9 new rental cars were added to the community in less than six months. Except for one old Panamera with Anhui A license plate (not intentionally noticed by the author, but the fixed parking space of this car is near the entrance of the basement, and it is difficult not to see it every day when entering and exiting), the rest have Shanghai A green license plates.

In the past six months, the only car with an engine in the new growth rental car market is this one... And this article will be included in the "Pure Electric Era" series. I believe everyone can guess the "quality" of the green license plate - except for one extended range version of the WENJIE M7, the rest of the 8 models are pure electric. The models are Xiaopeng X9, NIO ES8, Yuan UP, Firefly, Elf # 1 Model 3， Plus one YU7. The one who purchased the X9 had a second child at the end of last year, and they already have an old model P7 at home, which belongs to the senior "Peng You" category. ES8 is a dowry brought by the wife of a newlywed couple. Yuan UP belongs to a Zhejiang girl who moved here for a long-term lease at the beginning of the year. However, she is unable to install charging piles, so she can only use the public piles on the ground of the community to replenish energy. As for the YU7, it belongs to a couple who also rent here. Firefly and Elf # 1 both belong to the category of adding a new "grocery cart" to the home. According to the information I have learned, these two individuals already have cars, namely the Tiguan L and Highlander. The main drivers of the newly purchased pure electric vehicles are the wife and daughter. So under this premise, the vehicle needs to have a "better appearance" while meeting the condition of the lowest possible usage cost. And that Model 3 is none other than Uncle Xu mentioned earlier.

The current art style of the basement in this community is as follows. Note that the one nearby is the Hongqi H9, which is temporarily parked for visitors to the house of Mr. Xu and his family in mid-2024. Due to the Shanghai urban renewal project moving from Hongkou District, they are neighbors of my building. Probably at the end of last year, as his only son graduated from college and found a good job, he began to scramble to replace the old Tiguan that had been running without an L for 11 years. And because I know that I work in the automotive media industry, I have repeatedly asked for my 'advice' during this period. It's interesting that Uncle Xu initially had no taboos in terms of car models and even choices, but he only didn't recognize pure electric car models. And his reason is also direct - he doesn't trust cars without engines. In January of this year, while a group of neighbors in the building group were chatting about cars, several other neighbors who drove electric cars teased him, which led to the saying "I would rather die than buy pure electricity". Of course, his persistence quickly collapsed after global oil prices took off in early March this year. However, this is not a bad thing, because in his original plan, he had prepared "forty" (ten thousand) to fit into an Audi Q5L. And now, with the same amount of money, besides buying the current Model 3, the remaining tens of thousands and Shanghai's top brand quota can also solve the problem of "little red guys clamoring for a domestic hybrid".

02Tear off the 'account' in your heart from now on

As the saying goes, if someone teaches someone, they won't be able to teach, but if something teaches someone, they will be able to teach it. With 92 charging directly to 8.5 yuan and 95 charging directly above 9 yuan, Uncle Xu quickly mastered his ideological work. In his own words, he said, "I used to be used to driving gasoline cars. Whether the oil price rose or fell, I always felt that this car had to be driven, so it was just that." And including the author, the charging and energy consumption data shared by several neighbors during their dispute with him also became a key factor in promoting his transformation. The saying 'once the tram is put on, everything can never go back' can be fully established, at least in terms of energy consumption costs. For example, taking the extreme fuel consumption of 3.6 liters per 100 kilometers seen in my previous car (7.5 generation Golf 1.4T flagship) as an example, according to the current oil price (9.29 yuan/liter), the fuel cost per kilometer is slightly higher than 0.33 yuan. Even if the oil price drops to the "fracture" level of 6 yuan per liter, the cost per kilometer still needs to be 0.22 yuan. But if you have a private charging station for changing electric cars and use the price of night valley electricity to charge, even if the electricity consumption is 25kWh per hundred kilometers, the cost per kilometer is only 0.085 yuan.

The image posted by my neighbor in the group involves someone else's privacy, so I won't post it. Please put my own data on it. The total distance traveled by the author in 25 years is about 26000 kilometers. Of course, the electricity consumption can reach 25 kWh per 100 kilometers. Therefore, at least the electric car must be a medium to large pure electric square box or a model with a wind resistance coefficient that is explosive. Comparing it with an A-class fuel two door sedan is actually extremely inappropriate. Based on the existing examples provided by the author, the newly added large pure electric vehicle models ES8 and Xiaopeng X9 in the community in the past six months, according to the actual energy consumption data of the two car owners after a period of practice, have a power consumption of around 18kWh and 20kWh per 100 kilometers, respectively. According to the conversion of nighttime valley electricity usage cost, the usage cost per kilometer is only a little over six cents. At this point, it is clear which one is better or worse in terms of vehicle usage costs. Some people may say that the energy consumption of electric cars on highways becomes very high, but conversely, gasoline cars cannot have the wonderful performance of 3.6 liters per 100 kilometers in urban areas. No matter how excellent the fuel economy of the A-class hatchback sedan is, with first-class traffic lights and electric bicycles giving way, it will immediately increase to 6-7 liters. In such working conditions, it seems too unethical to bring out fireflies, Yuan UP, and Elf # 1 to compete in the arena

In fact, since switching to new energy sources, many car owners, including myself, have greatly healed their once shared "fuel money" spirit of internal friction. At least in terms of energy consumption cost, pure electric vehicles have unparalleled advantages over traditional fuel vehicles, which even Japanese hybrid vehicles cannot match. "In the past, when driving an oil car, I always instinctively looked at the fuel consumption and mileage to calculate the fuel money. It's not just a little short of fuel money, but I have formed a habit for a long time. After changing the new energy, the habit will disappear directly in place for at most two weeks." In a recent exchange among the owners of the community, the little brother who drove YU7 complained like this roast. The male owner of X9, a senior "Peng You", agrees with this: "Even with the 110 degree battery of X9, the charging cost from zero to full at home is less than 40 yuan. When driving on the highway to the State Grid fast charging station in Shanghai, the cost is around 1.68 yuan, which is less than 200 yuan. It's interesting how much extra electricity is used this time? Now parking fees and highway fees are the main ones. ”And maintenance costs are a significantly reduced hidden expense. When driving a gasoline powered car, I am accustomed to maintaining intervals of 7500km and using fully synthetic engine oil every time. Due to the distance between the workplace and the daily commuting distance exceeding 70km, as well as weekend outings and occasional self driving trips to nearby cities for activities, it is not uncommon to receive two or even three guarantees a year. After replacing the plug-in hybrid, the maintenance interval has been changed to once every 10000 kilometers for the engine, otherwise it would be maintained once a year. As for those who drive electric cars in the community, they basically come to the store once a year to check and replace the air conditioning filter, and change the brake oil, motor coolant, etc. every two years.

03The leap from 'useful' to 'easy to use'

The changes in the situation of a nearby community within six months may not be a universal phenomenon to explain from a statistical survey perspective, but it is highly informative in some aspects.

Using this as a "grocery cart" to compare the cost of use with a gasoline powered vehicle does have a bit of a punch in Nanshan Elderly Care Home... Firstly, it is about the range anxiety problem that has existed since the birth of pure electric vehicles. From the situations listed by the author, it appears that they do not actually exist. The "grocery cart" for urban families is essentially a "specialized" vehicle that is frequently used in daily commuting, driving to the neighborhood, turning left to go to the supermarket, but does not require long-distance travel. Pure electric vehicles chosen based on this demand operate around their own homes and within the radius of the city they reside in. Home charging is an essential element in order to minimize usage costs. Correspondingly, the fast charging function becomes optional as it is unlikely to cross regional driving. In fact, unless in extreme special circumstances, these vehicles may not even use public charging stations a few times throughout their entire lifespan. Even for many inexperienced drivers, pure electric cars have a natural advantage of being easy to drive. Firstly, there is no gearbox jerking, and the acceleration is very linear. The instantaneous maximum torque of the electric motor, starting at green light, merging into the ramp, giving a little electricity and leaving. In addition, as the current generation of rolled out models, most of them are equipped with high-end features from the basic model, such as reversing cameras, which are standard, and some even come standard with 360 ° surround view. Very friendly for people who struggle with side parking and reversing into the garage.

The author has carefully counted that there are as many as 5 Model 3/Y units in the community. But this is not that Shanghai car owners particularly like this car, but there are local challenges - firstly, giving a green license plate can bypass the problem of "the most expensive sheet metal in the world"; secondly, even if buying a vegetable car, they cannot afford to buy a too cheap one. The battery pack located in the middle of the car even brings additional advantages to pure electric cars - even if the suspension is soft, the heaviness of cornering and tilting will be less than that of fuel cars of the same size. Therefore, in the limited scenario of "buying a grocery car", most of the disadvantages of pure electric vehicles will not be affected, on the contrary, their advantages will be further highlighted. In the past, this track was once used by Volkswagen Golf Polo、 Dominated by classic models such as the Lavida, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sylphy, etc. But now, domestic consumers clearly have a better solution. For families who only plan to purchase one car, from the perspective of mid-2026, choosing a pure electric car is actually not a problem. At present, the relaxation and encouragement policies for home charging installation in domestic cities, combined with the popularization of fast charging piles in the high-speed road network service area system, have basically solved the problem of cross regional travel of pure electric vehicles in most periods from point to surface. If we have to say that there are still any problems at present, at best, during the three most popular long holidays of May Day, National Day, and Spring Festival every year, it may be difficult to catch up on the energy when the tram runs on the highway. However, the problem is that if you don't drive on the highway in a timely manner during these periods, you will still have to experience what it means to be in dire straits, whether it's a gasoline or hybrid car.

What is the actual difference between oil and electricity in this situation? In summary, compared to five years ago, pure electric vehicles are gradually moving towards the direction of "ease of use" from the positioning of "compatibility". And with so many successful demonstration cases in the community, more people are planning to eliminate old cars that have been driven for many years and replace them with pure electric cars - before all subsidies for pure electric cars are fully withdrawn. When will the "tram" be subject to road maintenance fees? This has been a topic that has been raised from time to time in the past two to three years, and has also become a topic for many "cyber anti tram" accounts to freely switch between ghost stories and tragic sales when targeting new energy users. Speaking of which, "once road maintenance fees are collected, the advantages of electric vehicles are completely lost", and asking is like "oil vehicles shoulder everything". Uncle Xu recently calculated the details in the new energy car owner group built by his neighbors in the community. His 1.8T old Tiguan has an annual fuel consumption of 9.5L. According to this calculation, the cost per kilometer exceeds 0.88 yuan. Due to an average annual mileage of approximately 15000 kilometers, the cost of fuel alone is around 13000 yuan. If we include the cost of one year's two guarantees, as well as occasional replacement of small parts and vehicle and vessel taxes for an 11 year old car with nearly 200000 kilometers, the annual cost of 16000 to 17000 yuan is still not enough. Its only advantage is that the premium has been reduced to just over 3000 yuan per year.

What about the mischievous tastes of the children in "Peng You"'s family now? Even if calculated based on an energy consumption of 20kWh per 100 kilometers, using all the valley electricity for 15000 kilometers per year would result in an electricity bill of just over 1000 yuan. After actuarial calculations, Uncle Xu stated that even if the maintenance fee for "electric vehicles" is calculated at 0.12 yuan per kilometer for light vehicles like in Hainan Province, it will only be an additional 1800 yuan per year. Including the annual in store inspection, filter replacement, and the 2000 yuan increase in insurance premiums. Including possible road maintenance fees, the annual cost is just over 5000 yuan, which is less than the cost of driving a gasoline truck. Uncle Xu's account not only accounted for his concerns about "road maintenance fees", but also a general ledger of Chinese family car usage concepts. The so-called 'oil powered vehicles carry everything' is actually untenable in the face of real arithmetic - road maintenance fees have never disappeared, they have only been secretly collected from oil prices and become a discussion on how to smoothly transition to the new energy era. Under an unstoppable trend, emotions have no meaning unless one wants to harvest traffic. The deeper change lies in the fact that electric cars have shifted from being precision machinery to being durable consumer goods. When maintenance is no longer about regular major repairs and minor repairs, and when fuel gauge anxiety is naturally replaced by charging habits, people suddenly realize that they don't have to settle accounts every day when driving. What they can't go back to is not a certain brand, but the "relaxation feeling" of certain groups in the previous era - it's not for car owners anyway.

To be fair, the 8 new green license plate cars added to the community in the past six months are just a part of millions of Chinese families, and in a sense, they are not worthy of being called a microcosm. However, they, along with their owners, are the 'silent majority' that truly exist and drive the functioning of society day and night. These people did not loudly call for it in the headlines of the news, or use the so-called KOL identity to dominate social media. Instead, they quietly straightened the question mark of "whether pure electricity is reliable" into exclamation marks in their daily commuting from the community to the workplace, from home to the supermarket. On the night when Uncle Xu kicked the door towards Wanda Plaza, the streetlights stretched the car shadows for a long time. This is not a story of a retired old man in Shanghai who is forced to bow down to new things, but a story of an ordinary family catching up with this happening future in the simplest way possible.