Re:Electric cars are coming fast – is the nation’s grid up t...
by jjav on Sunday January 31, 2021 @02:56AM
(#25977015)
Hard to say long term since EVs are so new. What might be the lifetime maintenance cost of a 30 year old EV with several battery pack changes? No stats exist on that yet.
While EVs are unarguably simpler, the gas cars do have 100+ years of effort into making them reliable. Gas cars today (and even back into the 90s) are so extremely reliable that basically no drivetrain work at all is needed well into the 200K mile range unless you get unlucky with a lemon.
The things that do tend to generate repair work are shared between the platforms. Electronics & wiring, controls, seats, power windows are in my experience the worst offenders. EVs have all that.
Our Fiat 500e's (two) have spent a lot more days in the dealer shop than any of my gas cars ever, FWIW.
It is kind of nice to not have to worry about oil changes! But a ~$50 oil change twice a year won't ever make up for the large cost difference of an EV.
So purely from a cost perspective (not talking about climate impact!), the EVs are not cheaper to own.
While EVs are unarguably simpler, the gas cars do have 100+ years of effort into making them reliable. Gas cars today (and even back into the 90s) are so extremely reliable that basically no drivetrain work at all is needed well into the 200K mile range unless you get unlucky with a lemon.
The things that do tend to generate repair work are shared between the platforms. Electronics & wiring, controls, seats, power windows are in my experience the worst offenders. EVs have all that.
Our Fiat 500e's (two) have spent a lot more days in the dealer shop than any of my gas cars ever, FWIW.
It is kind of nice to not have to worry about oil changes! But a ~$50 oil change twice a year won't ever make up for the large cost difference of an EV.
So purely from a cost perspective (not talking about climate impact!), the EVs are not cheaper to own.