I keep seeing this argument but I think about whats broken in my ice over the years: brakes, control arms, struts, suspension springs. You get a pass on gearbox but as a genuine question, do these usual mechanical problems that have nothing to do with the engine jist not happen on EVs?

Bushings and suspension parts will likely have similar (or possibly worse) wear than an IC based car due to the extra weight. Brakes a bit less possibly since you can use the regenerative braking but this also depends largely on the driver and situation.

*This is an assumption based on my experience with cars in general and doing my own repairs/maintenance not a slam on EVs.

My increasing fear is that EVs just have mechanics' eyes on them a lot less frequently, so preventative maintenance on brakes and the other mechanical parts doesn't get done. Which means, on a heavier vehicle as well, more risk of catastrophic failures during use and vehicles on the used market being junk.

A heavier vehicle also will wear tires faster, and my observation of other cars on the street is that people as a whole are very bad about not replacing tires on time.

My Model Y had to have its front control arms replaced after 4 years, it was squeaking really loud when turning. That's the only part that needed to be fixed so far, and at $250 it didn't exactly break the bank. There's the other stuff like wiper replacement and rotating/replacing tires which still have to be done. Much better than the regular $500+ annual maintenance with occasional $1000+ repair that my Honda Civic required. And that was a relatively cheap ICE to maintain.

If you look at an evs maintenance schedule it’s basically inspect stuff from time to time until 150k+ miles. Brakes don’t get changed as you almost never use them. Parts might break but not really anything maintenance wise.