Will it still be maintainable in 30-40yr? Just the other day I pulled my 80 series Land Cruiser's windshield wiper motor to epoxy one of the permanent magnets back on (it had come loose from the housing and was making a horrible grinding noise). That part is made to be rebuilt, it's every bit as simple and straightforward as the century old Westinghouse motor in my drill press. I'm confident with nothing more than my lathe I could manufacture the parts necessary to keep that thing working indefinitely.

The problem with modern cars in my view, in no particular order:

1. Too much proprietary software. 2. Proprietary interfaces--no way to swap computers between cars. They're universal computers for fuck's sake, why can't we just replace them? If my 1995 Toyota had sensibly designed, open interfaces I'd be easily able to replace any computer on it with off the shelf components. 3. Too much complexity. The hardware and software has gotten so intricately intertwined that reverse engineering it is pretty hopeless, at least from the perspective of someone just trying to keep their vehicles going. Even if point (2) above were addressed and we started talking seriously about building stuff that's meant to last we'd still have to face how damnably complicated these systems have become.

The problem in my view is nobody is trying to make an EV that I'd still want to own in 30-40yr. I'm confident if I watch the market and stockpile enough parts, and learn how to rebuild the ones that are getting rare or NLA, that I'll be able to make this 1995 Cruiser go indefinitely. If I have to make my own transmission control unit or engine controller I'm pretty sure I could do that, or hack some cob job together well enough to get me down the road. I have no such confidence about "modern" vehicles.

If someone makes an EV that looks like I'll still be able to keep it going 30+yr from now I'll buy it on the spot, but so far they all look like 5yr lifespan landfill bait.