I am a California resident.

I am going into analysis paralysis and it’s making me crazy when I sit down to decide if I should go with an ICE car or an EV. HELPPPPPP!!!

Sure ICE vehicles cost more in fuel and maintenance, but EVs have some other costs as well:

  • Costs relatively more to insure

  • Registration cost every year is higher

  • Opportunity cost: a $40k EV is generally compared to a $30k ICE car in terms of break even in 5-6 years. But people rarely mention the opportunity cost of spending the extra $10000. That $10k can make you around $1k each year if invested (subject to market risk ofcourse).

  • Supercharging is still not cheap: while still being 50% cheaper than gas, its not cheap. I see 50c/kwh near my area. And not everyone has a home to charge.

  • Rate of depreciation: All cars depreciate. But some loose value faster than others. My personal feeling is EVs depreciate faster than ICE. Simply because the tech is growing so fast. The argument for ICE is that there will be less demand for ICE in future due to increasing EV market share. So, little conflicted on the right answer here

I don’t know if am the only one who is unable to see the savings in EV (long term). Am I missing something?? Can eV owners share their perspective?? HELP ME come out of this shit and just book a carrr!!!

  • ChicoutimiBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Do you have a way to charge at home? What are electricity rates, including time of use rates, and what are gas prices in your local area? How many miles are you putting in on average a day? How often would you need to use public charging? What incentives if any do you qualify for? What segment of the automotive market are you looking at? What is your budget?

    EVs can save money, they can even save a *lot* of money compared to its closest ICE competitor, but it depends on those factors above and more so without them the question doesn’t make much sense.

    Also, if you want to save money, don’t get a car if you can find a way to swing it. Use mass transit, biking, micromobility (electric bike, electric scooter), etc.