EVs Force Carmakers to Reinvent the Wheel, and Brakes, and Mirrors

[Brad]

>talked myself out

The more I read the less inclined I am to buy an EV anytime soon.  Needs more work and thought. 

[rcjordan]

>talked myself out

Just yesterday, I told Louise that if her beloved Honda gives up the ghost, she should buy a Toyota Prius.

[ergophobe]

Will an Electric Car Save You Money?
We calculated energy costs, tax credits, and hidden discounts, and have the answer.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/hybrids-evs/will-an-electric-car-save-you-money-a9436870083/

Answer: it depends.

For "small car" they pick the Corolla hybrid over the "Tennessee-built Nissan Leaf" (which thus gets rebates) and for small SUV they pick the Tucson hybrid, but for "sports sedan" they pick the Tesla Model 3 over a BMW 330i XDrive.

That latter comparison seems like an odd comparison, though the one neighbor with a Model 3 was previously a BMW owner, so maybe the comparison is apt.

Two caveats.

1. They use $0.25/kwh for California electricity. That is the lower than current rate charts show ($0.26) for off-peak charging and peak-hour charging (4pm to 11pm) can go as high as $0.57 in the summer. Also, if you charge away from home, you pay $0.48-0.50 at commercial charging stations. And they are also factoring in places like Florida at $0.14 per kwh. So I think they are undershooting electric costs for a PGE customer like me. It's still somewhere between way cheaper (off-peak, at home) and somewhat cheaper (commercial charging) than gas. If you have a massive solar array, that changes things again.

2. They do not look at insurance. They find that maintenance costs are lower for EVs, which makes sense. No oil changes. Brakes wear more slowly, etc.

That said, for many of us, the EV is not a purely financial decision. I am willing to pay somewhat more to have a lower footprint. But for me, I find the EV hype was pushing me to look at cars that, in a gas-car world, I would have said were cars for rich people, not middle-class people and, according to most definitions, I'm middle class. And then there are the non-financial practical aspects of having an EV has your principle vehicle when you live in a snowy place far from services.

It also doesn't take account of other places you could direct that money. For example we chose to spend $20,000 on solar panels two years ago rather than a new car. We drive under 10,000 miles total each year so pouring huge amounts of money into a "green" car that mostly sits in the driveway is not necessarily the best choice.

I think there is too little discussion of the opportunity costs of EVs.

As one metric, I plugged in our upcoming flight to Europe and our annual mileage with our two old, not very high mileage cars and found that that single flight has a carbon footprint equivalent to over two years of driving. If we upgraded to a Tucson hybrid, that flight would equal three years of driving.


One thing that has come up for the neighbor with the Tesla, is they got a flat tire and had to flatbed the car to a tire place. But I think RC was saying that's just typical now. Whether ICE or EV, cars usually don't have spares and they are not towable.