Here’s a couple examples from my life:
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Safety Razor. I get a better shave and it’s like $15 for 100 razor blades, which lasts me a couple years. Way way way better than the disposable multi-blade Gillette things, which sell 5 heads for $20.
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Handkerchiefs. I am prone to allergies, so instead of constantly buying disposable tissues, we now have a stack of handkerchiefs that can just be used a few times and then thrown in the wash. This has also saved me loads.
What about you?
I wouldnt dream of swapping out a gas tank, or a combustion engine, but I did a diy battery swap on my gen 1 Leaf, and it was surprisingly easy (well, physically it was hell, but engineering-wise it was a piece of cake).
My attitude to fixing anything is “well, it doesn’t work now, it’s not like I could break it more”. Swapped out a 3 euro rubber ring on a 400 euro coffee machine last week, and feeling pretty good about it.
The leaf is quite doable, because it has a small battery and a small range. Most evs though, and the ranges that are needed to be a full on vehicle replacement without the need of a 2nd ice vehicle for trips out of town are far beyond the 85 mile range of a subcompact car like the leaf. The batteries are over 1,000 pounds and run the length of the vehicles underside.
I can swap out a 4 cylinder ice at my house (sure, that is beyond your average do it yourselfer). In no way could I swap out a 1,060 pound battery in a tesla model 3.
For the record, swapping out a gas tank is not very hard.
