Upgrades being crazy expensive is a good thing though.
You're going to make enough money to buy them all eventually...and then where do you go with it? Better to keep that goal set so high you're able to keep chasing it for longer and have more time to enjoy the game before it feels like you've peaked.
I do agree that basic maintenance needs more ways to substitute time with money so you can keep everything working by just investing more work into them rather than the solution being expensive replacements, but The current build isn't as bad as it's felt to everyone who's played the previous versions. A lot of our frustrations are more in not understanding the new way things work (Like misusing the ATV battery as you said) and just not adapting yet.
I sank 400 points into an orange kerfur early thinking I'd need him for server maintenance once everything started falling apart on me and fixing the dishes was too many balls to juggle, now I realize that's barely an issue now and I could have used that 400 on other things I needed.