Awesome Tips You May Not Save Money by Driving an EV
It all depends on a handful of personal factors you need to consider before you make the plunge to buy your first electric car, hoping to laugh at gas stations. It may not work out that way.
It all depends on a handful of personal factors you need to consider before you make the plunge to buy your first electric car, hoping to laugh at gas stations. It may not work out that way.
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Follow @briancooley on Twitter:
Subscribe to CNET:
Like us on Facebook:
Follow us on Twitter:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on TikTok:
0:00 Intro
0:26 Buying an EV
1:47 Depreciation
3:22 The Battery
4:51 Daily Costs
7:15 Close
Deals for Days. Big home savings are happening now.
You get 10 year 100k warranty on the battery. These ev battery's are meant to outlast the car.
Thats why I'm buying hybrid.
Many governments are introducing a tax per mile/km on EVs to cover road maintenance. EV owners will be slugged so hard they'll wish they'd never bought an EV. I'm not anti-EV, but the math has to stack up, and once you account for these taxes it won't. What scares me is everyday income people going out and buying Teslas with the good intention to save the planet. What they are buying is a luxury vehicle at a price point they would never have considered otherwise, and expecting to break even after x-many years. It's a debt trap and a tragedy.
Not my tank! I drive very little and rarely buy gas.
Child slave labour is involved in the hazardous processes of mining the highly toxic materials that are used in the production of EV batteries, for this single reason alone I would not feel comfortable with having an EV.
The amount of smug on these leftist channels is insufferable 🤣 hope leccy prices balloon
Honestly one of the least educated educational videos I’ve ever watched.
$30K EV designed for short(ish) trips, 20kWh solar, charge at home. You are right. Planets need to be aligned.
Just about wrong on all counts. Of course, EV's are more costly to buy, but it's all about your weekly running costs. The battery life thing, from what I have read, people are getting over 150,000 miles in the EV's and the battery is still going strong, may have slightly less range, but for most people makes very little difference.
There is one big one you missed, servicing, I have heard of many people with 100,000 miles on their Tesla, only changed tires and cabin filter, there is very little that needs to be serviced. No oil & filter in the engine, on trans oil, no diff oil. So, over a 10 year period big savings in servicing costs.
Also, what if you have solar panels on the home roof, free power.
It’ll eventually become cost competitive
Depreciation is extremely low for Tesla’s currently. The life of a Tesla is over a million miles now. A gas car goes a little over 300k on average. I don’t stop to fill my car day to day. It’s fully charged every morning. Also gas variation can differ that much from Hawaii to California to Idaho just as much as electricity. Oil changes. Transmission going out belts and gas filters. There is so few components on an ev. To replace your engine if you want to continue driving your gas car is 6 to 10 thousand so I’m replacing a battery instead of an engine.
Not only will you not save money, considering the subscriptive nature of ownership, you'll be locked into a regular yearly update 'fleecing' by the manufacturer, alongside a souless, limited, and boring driving experience.
I’m a real estate photographer. I drive a total of 3-4 hours a day in between shoots, on average which is about 32,000 – 34,000 miles per year. I had a Nissan Maxima up until two and a half years ago, and I was spending $550-$600 a month on gasoline, with the price of gas on average was $2.30 – $2.40 per gallon in Chicago. I decided to buy a 2019 Nissan Leaf extended version, which I charge at home and now use that for commute. If I had that maxima, with todays gas prices, I’d spend about $1,000 – $1,200 a month on gasoline, since the price of a gallon of gas have doubled where I’m at, compared to two years ago. That $1,000-$1200 a month I’m saving on gasoline, is paying my leaf car payment, my auto insurance for my leaf, wife’s mini van and my 1949 Cadillac antique vehicle insurance, paying my electric bill at home plus I have some money left over. So yea, it’s saving me a bit of money. If you think about it, I’m getting paid to drive an ev car. On top of all that, I don’t have to worry about oil changes, tune ups, spark plugs etc.
No body talks about the process to destroy the old battery. It takes more harmful products to destroy the lithium ion battery.
LOL My 2014 Prius went up in value from what I bought it for used.
So your conclusion is ambiguous at best, and most will find confusing. Moreover, what price do you put on the environment, and can you even put a price on the environment?
So you're saying by not saying, that if I drive a particular EV such as a Tesla versus a GM product or some other auto manufacturers product, and I get my Energy from solar panels, and storage batteries, selling the access energy back to the grid, participating in Teslas virtual power plant strategy, that somehow gasoline powered vehicles that don't have that kind of diversity or flexibility, can somehow compete with an electric vehicle?
So the smell of gasoline alone it's enough to make me wanna drive an EV, and oh btw, I can actually camp out in my Tesla, and not worry about dying of carbon monoxide poisoning, and soon, I will be able to summon my car to pick me up or send it to pick up someone else.
So I won't ever have to touch the steering wheel, and in the future there won’t be a need to have a steering wheel or petals and maybe, who knows, some genius me figure out a way to charge the battery while I'm driving it, how many future gasoline cars will be able to do that?
So not to pile on here, but with all the advantages, and flexibilities of owning an EV over an ICE vehicle, not to mention but governments, and add municipalities all converting to EV’s, and in the case of California, Washington state, Oregon, and Massachusetts, and now I understand New York state has joined with California and these other states to prohibit the sale of these vehicles by 2035, you won't even be able to drive your vehicle in these state unless it's a zero emission vehicle.
So in conclusion, I do appreciate you breaking down some of these issues, and I do like horses, but I'm not trying to own one.
So here's my conclusion, in a couple of years buying a gasoline powered car will be like owning a horse, and I don't know what the market is for the resale of horses, and that would be a problem. Comphrende! Cheers!🥂
If we continue to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by using vehicles that burn fossil fuel, the amount of money we may (or may not) save today will be insignificant compared to the very real near-future costs of worsening climate change. It's this simple: climate change will make inflation rates soar in every sector of the economy. Practically speaking, we can't afford NOT to invest in vehicles that utilize sustainable, renewable energy. It's possible that we might save a few bucks today by choosing to buy an internal combustion vehicle, but the costs down the road will be much higher for us all. I'm surprised that CNET is engaging in such short-sighted thinking.
From what Ive seen a used EV is currently more expensive than a used one
Electricity doesn't come from thin air … ( like most EV car owners think ) … it is made at the cost of even more pollution to our environment ! …… Wise-up people !!
Don't fool yourself, buying an electric car will come back and bite you in the A$$ …. as it did my family ! … Forget Batteries ! … an lets move on to a newer energy source that won't poison everybody on earth !!
I am i get 2 free yrs of charges plus a discount at the home night charging. You Alaso get a free home charger. I got $9500k with states and federal incentives. Now that has is going to so much and no cars available electric car value can be sold for me than you purchased it. No oil changes, breaks last longer since i bearly use them due to regen brakes. No going to dealer for maintenance is also a value of time. So I'm making out like a king. Problem is there's no cars right now so I would put an order in for one. Another advantage is the fact that you don't have to hassle that price.
I worry about my 18kw car battery not being available after 10 years. I am driving a Toyota RAV4 prime which is a plug-in hybrid. Toyota said they give a 10 year warranty on the battery. The battery gives me 50 miles and the gas tank gives me 450 miles. All the grocery stores, parks, and movie theaters are nearby so 90% of the time I only use batter and do not burn any gas. If I go for a long drive then once the battery runs out it switches to hybrid and I get 39 miles per gallon. If I have to drive from state to state which is going to be 75 miles then 50 mi goes on the battery and the rest 25 miles and goes on the gas. And since it's 39 miles per gallon I end up not even burning a full gallon of gas. The best part is I'm getting 40 solar panels for my house so charging the car is not going to cost me anything. My second worry is sometimes the gas in my tank sits there for 6 months since I don't drive that far. Does gas go bad if it is sitting in the tank for a long period of time? Toyota has told me that I have not break in my new car engine yet since it's not being used almost most of the time and it's been a year.
Also $12 to fill your EV, sure, maybe if you're only using public charging. the vast majority of EV owners just charge at home. This can save you a ton of money especially if you charge during off peak hours, or already have a home outfitted with solar panels.
Not to mention theres lots of EV's that are cost roughly the same or are actually more affordable than their gas counterparts. Such as the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt, and of course the Aptera which starts at just 26k AND is the most efficient electric vehicle ever designed. Production starts in December 2022.
It looks like most of the people commenting here are already sold on the idea of EV ownership. Great for them! But if you read the head statement "It all depends on a handful of personal factors you need to consider before you make the plunge to buy your first electric car, hoping to laugh at gas stations. It may not work out that way." Yep, if you live in downtown "crazyville", you've done the math on your cost to debt ratio and you factor in the "Joy" value then an EV works for you. But not everyone lives in your world. The infrastructure still isn't there in the rural areas regardless if you charge at home and still have to travel long distances. And let's not forget in some states (mostly California) there are rolling blackouts during the summer that can last for days. You can't move your house just so you can charge overnight but you can find a gas station just a couple of miles away that still has power to pump. Bottom line, again, "It all depends on a handful of personal factors you need to consider before you make the plunge to buy your first electric car, hoping to laugh at gas stations. It may not work out that way." Good Video and very informative!
Broadly speaking, while he did not address some facts like some comments are pointing out, unless you can readily afford it. Like that buying a new car isn’t something you sweat. You’re better off buying an ice. They are just less expensive in the long run even factoring gas, and basic maintenance (oil, coolant etc) the cheapest working beater will be cheaper than the the cheapest old ev. Ev batteries are just too expensive
You don't ever break even with a stinking ice car. Plenty electric cars are priced well now. The Tesla is great. All car depreciate no car is a good asset.
most EVs come with a ten year battery warranty though
There’s a lot of “well, sorta” here, but your final summary is reasonable: “It depends.”
In my case, I can charge at home at ~13c per KWh. Our Prius Prime (plug-in hybrid), even when gas was $2.20/ gallon cost about 40% less per mile than driving it on gas (in town — it doesn’t go very far on battery out on the highway).
For me though, the main thing that makes me drive on electric as much as possible is not the economics as much as that EVs are, more responsive, quieter, and lower-maintenance.
Frankly, driving on gas has gotten to fell just plain disgusting for me! Eeew!
You save thousands on maintenance with a ev. It's still cheaper than a gas car.
EV fans are freaking out over this vid. Love how he is just stating facts and ppl can’t handle the truth.
When the ICV are lawn ornaments and relics …how’s that for depreciation? Further, our budgets pale in comparison to the issue that we actually want a tolerable climate left for our children and grandchildren!
you could get a nice ebike for a max of 10 grand and almost no maintenance. hopefully biking around you can be done
not blowing exhaust into pedestrian faces is kinda nice
Hi Buddy
I'm here in the UK, if you use your head, you can buy a secondhand EV, just as I did, 10,000 miles on the clock for £13,000, great for around town, people here aren't really buying new cars, because the Government are banning ICE vehicles in the future, so won't get their monies worth out of an ICE.
So my advice, get a secondhand EV to test the water & start to understand your needs, then choose another vehicle that suits you & your personal use ..
As for the difference in charging, choose the cheapest provider, because others are greedy & set higher rates .. enough said.
Drive safe my US cousins & breath cleaner air. Your choice changes your child's future 😉🇬🇧✌🏻🇺🇸
I find this to be a very biased or misinformed article. Why are you comparing a regular car manufacture to a luxury car manufacture. How about doing an Apples to Apples comparison. Does CNET have something against Tesla? How about UNBIASED reporting.
There's also the pleasure of not smelling exhaust, not having to go to a dirty gas station, less dealing with shady mechanics for costly repairs. Huge set of peace-of-mind benefits.
No, 65usd to fill up my CRV.
And I gey 385 miles from that tank. And I could do better with an ICE car.
"Currently" EV's ONLY make great second city cars. You charge them at night, drive them all day. Easy and cheap(er) than a second gas car. BUT you can't take an ev on road trips. Nor can you tow. Nor go camping. etc eetc… Thus your first car should be gas….
Even at $5/gallon, it takes YEARS to make up buying a more fuel efficent car. It's NEVER worth it just to same money on gas. Only consider it if your current car is worn out and you are getting a new car anyways. Math: you drive 15,000 miles a year. Your car gets 20mpg. That's 750 gallons. Gas cost $3/gallon. You will spend $2,250/year on gas. If gas is $5/gallon, you will spend $3,750/year. (Or $1,500 a year more on gas with the low mpg car). Now if you can find a car that gets $40mph (twice the mpg), you will use 375 gallons. At $3/gallon that's $1,125/year. At $5/gallon that's $1,875/year. A relative savings of $1,125 or $1,875/year.
–
Enough math, let's say you'll save $2,000/year is fuel costs if you bump up to a 40mph car. Average new cars cost $40,000. That means it will take 20 years to recoup your investment.
–
Just not worth it.
Yea what about smog check for regular cars, oil changes, oil filters, oil leaks, thousand dollar radiators blowing out, head gaskets, tube replacements, etc?