When you are looking to buy a car, you must put many things into consideration. The biggest concern for most people is the cost of the car. Although some definitely care about aesthetics, speed and drivability, if two cars are similar, the one that saves the most money, especially over the car’s life,will be the one that ends up in the driveway.
Recently, people have been thinking of shifting from regular, petrol and diesel cars to electric cars. However, the mystery surrounding the cost of electric cars deters many from buying one. Apart from the initial cost, an electric car has various other costs that you might want to know about. According to car experts, these costs can outweigh the saving and petrol cost in the long run, although individual driving behavior and circumstances can change this figure dramatically.
For people who buy an electric car, the financial cost of the car is not the only factor, for many the environmental cost is a great concern. When you consider the environmental factors, cheap electricity comes from burning cheap coal, oil and natural gas; these sources of cheap electricity are not necessarily clean or carbon-emission-free, however they are more efficient than a standard car’s engine. This has elicited greater environmental concerns about building additional electric power plants and the push for electric cars. For many people, the drive for a more efficient car is far more important than the drive for an electric car the equivalent to a super car. And of course, with more efficient cars, the cost of driving is naturally reduced as you spend much less money on energy and fuel.
Some places, such as California in the US and many countries in the EU, have tried to offer more incentives for people to buy electric cars. Such incentives could help to cut the price of electric cars by thousands of dollars. These are often tax rebates or even exemptions from emissions taxes and motor taxes. This is one of the primary methods of saving when you buy an electric car. While the up-front cost of electric cars is much higher, the running costs and tax levels are often much lower than with a standard motor car.
Another expense that people have to contend with is if there needs to be a special charging system installed in the home. Depending on how your house was wired you may need to run a special, higher charge line to where you store your car.
Electric car batteries are also expensive. Based on American prices you need between $4,000 (American Dollars) and $12,000 to replace a battery pack. The amount depends on the car model. Battery replacement for a $70,000 Tesla luxury electric car is believed to be the most expensive. You might get a reprieve if you use the warranty for the battery. However, the warranty for these batteries often only last about 150,000km. And people are well used to running cars for much longer than the 150,000km a battery is protected for.
The final aspect you need to take into account when you’re looking at an electric car is the resale value, this is especially important if you are planning on using car finance. Electric cars depreciate in value much faster than a standard car. Part of this may be because of the new factor of electric cars. Their long term reliability is as yet unknown as each new model brings in big leaps in technology.