More efficient manufacturing, falling battery costs and intense competition are lowering sticker prices for battery-powered models to within striking distance of gasoline cars.
More efficient manufacturing, falling battery costs and intense competition are lowering sticker prices for battery-powered models to within striking distance of gasoline cars.
I paid too much for my EV, but am glad to see the prices come down for future buyers. When the price is competitive with ICE vehicles, I think we’ll see rapid adoption.
I got my EV used, and in three years I've already saved more on gas than I paid for it.
EVs are so much cheaper to maintain and operate; no gas, no oil changes, no transmission, no sparkplugs or timing belts. If the sale prices are close, the total cost of ownership will be massively in favor of the EV.
Rotate/change the tires about as often as you normally would. That's just about it. They have far less moving parts that get far less hot and don't have tiny explosions in them almost ever.
Most of the complexity in a combustion vehicle is in the engine and transmission, both things that an EV hasn't got. A lot of mechanical compromises are made to allow converting gasoline explosions into forward momentum.
An EV will still require brakes and tires, and eventually it'll need replacement suspension components and probably wheel bearings just the same as any other car. And at some point it will surely need a coolant flush if the battery pack is liquid cooled, which it probably is.
But it will not require engine oil changes, air filter replacements, spark plugs, transmission flushes, a replacement clutch, or transmission rebuild; nor will it ever need a belt replacement, pulleys, tensioners, or idlers; nor a timing belt replacement, emissions system repairs, and thieves will never steal its catalytic converter.
An EV will, however, eventually require a battery pack replacement. Which is guaranteed not to be cheap.
Modern cars in general are cheaper to operate. Have had a hybrid for 7 or 8 years. Other than annual oil changes and one change of tires, it has been zero maintenance. Still on the original brake pads thanks to regen braking (which EVs also benefit from, but the extra weight forces more frequent use of friction brakes.)
I happen to live next to a free charger provided by the state, and not far from a free fast charger provided by the dealership, so it's essentially free for me.
Electricity here usually costs about $0.12 per kwh, which can charge the car for 4-5 miles of range. That's $0.84 to go 28 miles.
Most people charge at home just by plugging the car into an outlet, so I have no idea how that would be taxed. With EVs we pay the road tax during vehicle registration, which is an extra $100 each year.
My utility company alleges that they charge a different -- and higher, no surprise -- rate for EV charging. I concur that I have absolutely no idea how they would know, unless you were dumb enough to volunteer to them that's what you were doing and allowed them to install the charger themselves with its own attached meter. Especially if you're using an L1 charger, plugging in your car would be indistinguishable from any other constant load like a heater.
and they're winning. the bonkers high tariffs on brand new $10k EV'S have guaranteed that americans and western europeans will never get affordable EV's and only the rich will have them.
When the price is competitive with ICE vehicles, I think we’ll see rapid adoption.
they already cost $10k outside the united states so the price is already beyond competitive; the real barrier to adoption will be once/if the united states removes the 100% tariff they've placed on chinese ev's.