Operating Costs Of Electric Cars

By Author: Peter Clarck
Total Articles: 19
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Electric cars are generally more expensive than combustion engine cars. However, there are a few exceptions to this. In general, an electric car has a minimum of 25 percent cost premium over other types of cars, though this added cost can be easily offset by the high resale value of most electric cars. Many countries also offer tax offsets and financial incentives when you buy an electric car, further reducing the overall cost.
Leasing Plans
There are a few manufacturers that only offer leasing plans for their electric cars; they do not allow the outright purchase of their cars. Examples of these companies are MINI, Smart and Mitsubishi, who only offer fixed lease terms for their electric cars. After the specified term, you will have to return the car to them.
The leasing cost for an electric car is generally more expensive than the cost for leasing a combustion engine car. However, there are great advantages to leasing, as the cost covers servicing, insurance, car breakdown and warranty. And keep in mind ...
... that even as the cost for leasing is higher for an electric car than for a combustion engine car, you will be saving a lot of money that would have gone to gasoline.
Fuel Costs
Outside of the environmental friendliness of an electric car, the most important advantage of driving one is the savings in fuel cost. The fact is, you will no longer be paying for fuel. All you have to do is plug your car in at night and charge it with off-peak electricity.
Let’s consider the electric power you will need to charge your car. An uncharged electric car uses 8-20 kWh for a complete charge. One kWh is equal to one unit of electricity in your electricity bill. Off-peak electricity costs about 4-6 cents. If an electric car travels 30 miles per day, it adds up to 900 miles per month – this is estimated, depending on whether you travel every day. The charge needed for thirty miles worth of travel in an electric car such as the MINI E, Aixam City, REVA or Mitsubishi i-MiEV would be 6kWh of off-peak electricity.
Cost Savings
In the U.S. it will cost about 24 cents per night to charge an electric car. This calculation is based von a cost of 4 cents per unit. The total cost for a month would be $7.
A conventional car will give you 30 mpg. An estimated use of 35 gallons of fuel each month at a cost of $3.89 per gallon would bring the cost to $136.
Again, looking at the figures above, it can be concluded that the cost of recharging an electric car is lower by 8 percent, compared to the cost of filling a conventional car with fuel.
Apart from the cost of recharging an electric car, there is also another expense that you should know about. This additional expense is the cost for replacing the batteries when they are no longer able to hold a charge. Batteries do not last a lifetime, of course. They need to be replaced after a period of time.
The cost for replacing batteries can be expensive. It can cost about $1,600. This is just the cost for the type of batteries that power a basic electric car. The batteries that are made to power the more powerful electric cars can cost several thousand dollars to replace.
The cost of battery replacement can still be offset by the exorbitant cost of fueling a conventional car, and you also have the option to amortize the cost for several years rather than paying it in full.

About the Author

Peter Clark is an energy and water management specialist guiding others to save energy and water. Check Solar365.com if you like to know more about electric cars.