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Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

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Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#11

Post by samtho »

throw83485 wrote: post #7

In my country electricity is more expensive. Cheapest by far is LNG. EVs also have much higher costs in repairs, maintenance and car insurance.

> EVs also have much higher costs in repairs, maintenance and car insurance.

Not sure about the maintenance cost being higher here. The only things that need regular service are brake and tires as all of the moving parts of an EV are contained within an electric motor assembly that are very reliable across manufacturers.

By contrast, an ICE vehicle is loaded with moving parts, all of which need lubrication, have wear profiles that demand replacement occasionally, need to pass emissions testing, etc.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#12

Post by thomasmg »

throw83485 wrote: post #7

In my country electricity is more expensive. Cheapest by far is LNG. EVs also have much higher costs in repairs, maintenance and car insurance.

From what I know, EVs have lower cost of maintenance and car insurance, and same cost for repairs.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#13

Post by mglz »

throw83485 wrote: post #7

In my country electricity is more expensive. Cheapest by far is LNG. EVs also have much higher costs in repairs, maintenance and car insurance.

What kind of repairs and maintenance costs did you encounter? So far I paid much less for my EV than a comparable gas car.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#14

Post by jwr »

So much wrong information in the comments here (or, rather, lack of information, because most comments are ill-informed).

See for example https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-... for a good debunking of many common myths (good showing here).

Yes, one should not accept the all-rosy picture of EVs being all-clean and ideal. But my EV a) is 4-5 times more efficient overall in converting energy into motion than a car that burns gasoline, b) has significantly fewer parts, c) of the energy I use, at least a portion comes from non-CO2-emitting sources (nuclear, solar, wind), d) when I brake or go downhill in the mountains, I recover some of the energy, while purely gasoline-powered cars recover none, and finally d) we seriously need to stop burning dinosaurs, or we'll cook ourselves.

BTW, as a datapoint from someone who has done some calculations in real-world scenarios: when charging at home (EU), my ongoing cost-per-km is roughly half that of a gasoline-powered car.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#15

Post by mglz »

nlstitch wrote: post #9

BS article, lots of frameing; You have to look at the full picture, doesnt make sense to just zoom in on one part of the equation. E.g. doesn't take into account the energy that you have to invest to charge your car (as the charge gets higher, the amount of energy needed to keep filling rises as well), Solar panels are NOT free, EVs need to charge more and it would be fair to include extra miles that are made to find…

> It is said only 25% works

It is said wrong then. I drive my EV all ov er Europe and most chargers work most of the time. In three years of driving I encountered three broken stations that were shown as functional in the app.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#16

Post by bwanab »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #2

Only if you do this weird unrealistic math. Usually you need to install some infrastructure or deal with overnight slow charging. Thats if you even have a spot at home for this. Factor in your time hunting for a charger or waiting around for the car, depending on how you value your time, and maybe filling up the gas car for $40 in 3 minutes really is cheaper when you’ve accounted for all the inconvenience you might b…

I charged my Tesla on US 110 volts for several years just plugging into an outlet. Overnight, it got me plenty of charge for a normal day of driving. You're building a case based on faulty assumptions.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#18

Post by throw83485 »

samtho wrote: post #11
throw83485 wrote: post #7

In my country electricity is more expensive. Cheapest by far is LNG. EVs also have much higher costs in repairs, maintenance and car insurance.

> EVs also have much higher costs in repairs, maintenance and car insurance. Not sure about the maintenance cost being higher here. The only things that need regular service are brake and tires as all of the moving parts of an EV are contained within an electric motor assembly that are very reliable across manufacturers. By contrast, an ICE vehicle is loaded with moving parts, all of which need lubrication, have wear…

EVs need general battery repair or replacement after minor accidents.

And spare parts are VERY expensive, like $5000 for LCD screen!

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#19

Post by mglz »

jwr wrote: post #14

So much wrong information in the comments here (or, rather, lack of information, because most comments are ill-informed). See for example https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-... for a good debunking of many common myths (good showing here). Yes, one should not accept the all-rosy picture of EVs being all-clean and ideal. But my EV a) is 4-5 times more efficient overall in converting energy int…

*Thank you*

So much hearsay from people who never really used an EV. Yes, there are drawbacks. But except for extreme long range trips EVs are perfectly usable while being more energy efficient and less prone to breaking down.

Re: Gasoline is cheap – but charging an EV is still cheaper

#20

Post by jwr »

mglz wrote: post #19
jwr wrote: post #14

So much wrong information in the comments here (or, rather, lack of information, because most comments are ill-informed). See for example https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-how-electric-vehicles-... for a good debunking of many common myths (good showing here). Yes, one should not accept the all-rosy picture of EVs being all-clean and ideal. But my EV a) is 4-5 times more efficient overall in converting energy int…

*Thank you* So much hearsay from people who never really used an EV. Yes, there are drawbacks. But except for extreme long range trips EVs are perfectly usable while being more energy efficient and less prone to breaking down.

> except for extreme long range trips

I'm writing this comment having just driven about 2000km-long trip with an EV :-) In cold climate (-5C).

It's not my first long trip, either. My key observations (some were surprising to me):

1. You should expect to travel slower, as you will need to make breaks for charging, and the EV world presents an overly-rosy view of ranges. In a long trip, you use the battery from 10% to around 85%, so only 70-75% of your full "range" is usable. In my case rough estimates are a stop every 2h or 250km.

2. It's not a big deal. Especially if you can find a place to charge where you will also eat or drink.

3. I feel significantly better after a trip with those additional stops, than after a trip with uninterrupted several hours of driving.

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