More expensive upfront, negating all of the benefit of lower power costs for years. And huge expense on the horizon with an uncertain timing for battery replacement that negates secondary market value at some point.
All that extra expense up front usually needs to be financed. This also cuts into the long-term benefits via interest.
Edit: ex., I went to car and driver to find a comparable ICE and BEV. The Genesis Electric G80 is $21,225 more expensive than its ICE counterpart. Offered 4.9% interest on that amount only is an extra $3k over a five year term.
This brings the [financed period] monthly BEV premium to $400/mo, in just one example. I personally don’t use anywhere near that much gas, and my break even in this case would be closer to ten years. The entry level electric Hyundai Kona is only $10K more and will get you down the road about 190 miles before needing a charge.
The sad thing is that for lots of people charging can wind up being more expensive than gas. Especially if you don’t have the ability to charge at home.
We experienced this testing an EV on a road trip. We took it and our Prius and ended up paying over 4x more for charging than we paid for fuel for the Prius. My wife, driving the Prius, also made it to and from our destination about 1.5 hours earlier each way as I had to wait for charging each time.
We might get an EV for my daily commute, but there’s no way in hell we’re getting rid of that Prius for longer trips.
Yup. In the current market, EVs are for people living in single family homes in the suburbs and commute a significant distance daily or people who want to spend money on a status symbol.
More expensive upfront, negating all of the benefit of lower power costs for years. And huge expense on the horizon with an uncertain timing for battery replacement that negates secondary market value at some point.
All that extra expense up front usually needs to be financed. This also cuts into the long-term benefits via interest.
Edit: ex., I went to car and driver to find a comparable ICE and BEV. The Genesis Electric G80 is $21,225 more expensive than its ICE counterpart. Offered 4.9% interest on that amount only is an extra $3k over a five year term.
This brings the [financed period] monthly BEV premium to $400/mo, in just one example. I personally don’t use anywhere near that much gas, and my break even in this case would be closer to ten years. The entry level electric Hyundai Kona is only $10K more and will get you down the road about 190 miles before needing a charge.
Exactly.
The sad thing is that for lots of people charging can wind up being more expensive than gas. Especially if you don’t have the ability to charge at home.
We experienced this testing an EV on a road trip. We took it and our Prius and ended up paying over 4x more for charging than we paid for fuel for the Prius. My wife, driving the Prius, also made it to and from our destination about 1.5 hours earlier each way as I had to wait for charging each time.
We might get an EV for my daily commute, but there’s no way in hell we’re getting rid of that Prius for longer trips.
Yup. In the current market, EVs are for people living in single family homes in the suburbs and commute a significant distance daily or people who want to spend money on a status symbol.