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:
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Costs relatively more to insure
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Registration cost every year is higher
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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).
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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.
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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!!!
The main benefit for us is charging at home every night. Every morning I have 200+ miles of range (ok, less in the winter but still plenty) and never have to go to a gas station.
Second, in the winter I can get heat out of my car almost instantaneously because there’s no engine to warm up. That’s nice when I’m leaving work and it’s 11 degrees out.
Third, we lease a Kia. It’s not impressing the neighbors, but it’s only $350 a month and I save probably $125 a month on energy costs and probably $30 on maintenance costs. Insurance costs are no different for me compared to an ICE car.
If you can’t charge at home and insist on buying an expensive EV vs leasing a less expensive one, then your experience will be different.
Based on your “personal feelings” and your ability to make 10% on your investments I have to agree that you should never ever buy an electric car.
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.
Yes.
OP you are the only one not seeing the long term savings. Sadly you are missing out. Something else you’re missing out on is there is free charging. And that if you have an EV you get a lower rate on your electric bill. I”m saving over $700 per year. Being a California resident you could have gotten a $15,000 in cash rebates and tax credits for buying a new EV like I did. Sadly your waiting means you just missed out on a $!,500 from the government. If you keep waiting you will lose out on thousands more.