The current wave of enthusiasm for electric vehicles only really kicked off in 2011, but inventors have toyed with battery-powered automobiles for almost 200 years. Concerns about carbon emissions have fuelled this rise.
I don’t want my next car to be a petrol one. So I’ve been flirting with the idea of buying an electric vehicle, or as the cool people say, an EV. I want to do more for the environment, to fix our planet, but is an EV a reality for me with the places I want to go to, or is it just too soon to take this carbon-free step into the unknown?
The next time you go shopping for a car, especially if it’s a new car, you will seriously consider an electric vehicle. Why? Because you’re a logical person, and an EV will be the logical choice–less expensive to buy, less expensive to own, better for the environment, and way more fun to drive.
One of the biggest reasons car buyers choose a gas car over an electric one is simple economics. Electric cars cost considerably more to buy (or lease) than gas ones. Consider the 2018 Ford Focus. But that price difference is going away, and sooner than you think. A Bloomberg analyst reported last week that the “crossover point” at which electric vehicles will become less expensive to buy than gas ones will come in three years, in 2022. A couple of years ago, analysts thought that day wouldn’t come until 2026. What’s changed since then is battery technology–batteries are getting smaller and less expensive all the time. If that trend continues, the crossover point could come even sooner.
If a gas car and electric car cost about the same to buy, then the EV is the obvious choice if you’re looking to manage expenses. That’s because an electric car costs dramatically less to own and operate than a gas one.
Then there’s routine maintenance. An electric car doesn’t need any, unless you count rotating the tires. In two years of driving electric, the only thing I’ve had to replace is a covering underneath the battery that was torn when I foolishly drove over a curb. Electric cars have motors not engines, and don’t need to shift gears, so they don’t need engine oil, spark plugs, air filters, coolant, or transmission fluid.
