Are Electric Cars Worth It? Here's A 3-Year Cost Analysis (lease, vehicle)
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Based on purchase price, fuel, maintenance costs, and depreciation over a three-year period, here's what we've found for the cost-of-ownership of our subject vehicles:
Mini Hardtop: $41,454
Mini Electric: $49,312
Hyundai Kona: $39,817
Hyundai Kona Electric: $55,311
As you can see, the gas cars in both cases come out cheaper than the EVs. Owning a Mini Hardtop rather than the Mini Electric might save you about $7,858 over the course of three years, or approximately $2,619 per year. Likewise, owning a Hyundai Kona rather than its electric counterpart might save you as much as $15,494 over three years, or $5,165 per year.
So presuming you keep the vehicle longer than 3 years which isn't that odd, it becomes cheaper which is pretty much what's been stated in the past with higher purchase price but longer operating costs.
The calculations are also a bit weird in terms of trim levels. The Mini Cooper SE (the electric one) base trim figure they listed come with has powertrain specs, performance, and features that are about equivalent to the Mini Cooper S and the Mini Cooper S starts at $29,100 or about $4,900 higher than the standard Mini Cooper they used as a base price. The Mini Cooper S is also a tad less fuel efficient than the standard Mini Cooper so operating prices also go up. The Hyundai Kona Electric is in a similar boat where the features and powertrain specs are more in line with the Hyundai Kona Limited which starts at $28,950 or about $7,510 higher than the base Hyundai Kona they used for comparison and is also less fuel efficient than the base trim. So if you can get the $7,500 federal tax credit rolled in, the Mini Electric SE is cheaper from the start versus the equivalent Mini Cooper S, and the Hyundai Kona Electric is cheaper in about the third year of ownership when squared against the similar Hyundai Kona Limited trim.
the maximum $7,500 "tax credit" it is a bit more complex than what marketing makes it look - see link above
Yea, for these two vehicles specifically, it needs to be rolled into a lease or oftentimes a "lease" which sidesteps the requirements. Not all places will do that for you. Going with the roughly equivalent trim levels, the federal tax credit means that the Mini Electric *starts* off cheaper already before operational costs, but would take five years for parity by their calculations without it. The Hyundai Kona Electric is in a tougher spot where it reaches parity with the federal tax credit at about the three year mark, but takes about a decade without it.
The problem here is the initial cost of the EVs are just not ideal at this time. It is the reason why I haven't considered one. Some of these EVs are closing up on almost 1.5x the cost of the equivalent gas vehicle. The less miles you drive (length of ownership) the more that the initial cost of the vehicle is going to factor in.
Putting the initial cost of purchase aside, the EVs are cheaper to maintain and cheaper to power than the gasoline counterparts as per the article. So the technology itself is proven to be far cheaper to actually run the vehicles. Over the long run, you get more for your buck driving an EV.
However, those savings are a wash considering the initial purchase price.
The main hurdle here to make cost savings a reality for the typical consumer is the initial purchase of the EV vehicle. Just like with most technologies, they are expensive in the beginning. Hopefully, they will drop in price sooner rather than later. I personally won't consider one until that happens.
The problem here is the initial cost of the EVs are just not ideal at this time. It is the reason why I haven't considered one. Some of these EVs are closing up on almost 1.5x the cost of the equivalent gas vehicle. The less miles you drive (length of ownership) the more that the initial cost of the vehicle is going to factor in.
Putting the initial cost of purchase aside, the EVs are cheaper to maintain and cheaper to power than the gasoline counterparts as per the article. So the technology itself is proven to be far cheaper to actually run the vehicles. Over the long run, you get more for your buck driving an EV.
However, those savings are a wash considering the initial purchase price.
The main hurdle here to make cost savings a reality for the typical consumer is the initial purchase of the EV vehicle. Just like with most technologies, they are expensive in the beginning. Hopefully, they will drop in price sooner rather than later. I personally won't consider one until that happens.
With the notable exception of the Bolt and especially with the federal tax credit where the Bolt effectively becomes cheaper than its main contenders, purchase price parity exists only in the premium market for the US. That's probably still a few years away.
Hybrid continue to be the better choice. You can get $4k rebate for used hybrid and if it's a plug-in then you can take advantage of cheap electricity or use gas if you can't charge.
The problem here is the initial cost of the EVs are just not ideal at this time. It is the reason why I haven't considered one. Some of these EVs are closing up on almost 1.5x the cost of the equivalent gas vehicle. The less miles you drive (length of ownership) the more that the initial cost of the vehicle is going to factor in.
Putting the initial cost of purchase aside, the EVs are cheaper to maintain and cheaper to power than the gasoline counterparts as per the article. So the technology itself is proven to be far cheaper to actually run the vehicles. Over the long run, you get more for your buck driving an EV.
However, those savings are a wash considering the initial purchase price.
The main hurdle here to make cost savings a reality for the typical consumer is the initial purchase of the EV vehicle. Just like with most technologies, they are expensive in the beginning. Hopefully, they will drop in price sooner rather than later. I personally won't consider one until that happens.
Not really true - for example, the BMW Series 3 is about $5K more than a similar Tesla Model 3 and with the rebate, the Tesla becomes much cheaper even though comes with more standard features that are optional on the BMW and has a bigger interior - the EV does have shorter range.
Currently the Tesla Model 3 starts at $40.2K while the BMW starts at $45.5K but need to add at least $1.5K to get somewhat similar features. So Tesla comes in at $32.7K after rebate vs the BMWs $47K with similar contents - the BMW ICE vehicle is almost 1.5x more than a similar EV.
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