Electric vehicles offer many advantages, from helping the environment to creating quality autoworker and construction jobs. Furthermore, EVs may help save on long-term fuel and maintenance expenses.
Electric vehicles (EVs) feature few moving parts and require less maintenance than their conventional counterparts, producing zero tailpipe emissions and helping reduce air pollution which causes thousands of premature deaths each year in the US.
Benefits
Electric Vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions, dramatically reducing air pollution and health concerns associated with it. Furthermore, eliminating oil extraction, refining and transportation reduces environmental hazards including catastrophic oil spills.
Electric vehicles (EVs) have batteries designed and constructed to be safe, with multiple safety cutoffs in case of an accident. Their batteries are fully enclosed and protected to meet rigorous testing standards to resist fires, shocks, extreme temperatures, humidity, collisions and more. In many EVs, battery packs are situated so as to create a lower center of gravity making them less likely to roll over during driving.
As electric vehicles operate silently, their quiet operation poses a potential threat to pedestrian safety as it is difficult for them to detect when one approaches. To address this concern, manufacturers are now developing pedestrian alert systems which emit noise when running at low speeds as well as regenerative braking systems that help avoid accidents by automatically slowing the car down.
Costs
Price can often be the primary deciding factor when purchasing an electric vehicle (EV). Thankfully, they’re becoming increasingly affordable and could save car buyers thousands annually in fuel costs compared to gasoline internal combustion engine vehicles.
An electric vehicle’s main cost driver is its battery, as its production requires rare minerals like lithium and cobalt that are costly to produce. Furthermore, due to more complex technology compared with their gas counterparts, EVs tend to be more costly in engineering and building terms.
Electric Vehicles may cost more to insure due to their higher repair costs, yet some car insurance companies may offer reduced premiums for drivers with safe driving records who drive EVs. Furthermore, night charging helps lower overall costs.
Chargers
The landscape of electric vehicle (EV) charging can be somewhat confusing. There are multiple levels of charge available, cables and plugs with different specifications, battery capacity options and battery size variants to consider – not to mention multiple standards across EV industry standards that must all work in concert together.
Most electric vehicle (EV) drivers charge their car overnight at home, but many also make use of public chargers located around work, shopping malls, highways or in highway rest stops. Some public chargers even support DC fast charging – an impressive 31% of current EV drivers regularly utilize these stations!
If you plan to buy an electric vehicle (EV), the first step should be having a charger installed at home. A licensed electrician can assist in setting it up quickly and affordably while taking advantage of state or federal tax credits or rebates from utility providers to keep costs to a minimum.
Maintenance
Just like traditional cars, electric cars require regular service as part of routine upkeep. This may involve inspecting and servicing electrical systems, HVAC units, power steering components, brakes and mechanical parts such as those found on electric brakes – using regenerative braking to slow them can reduce brake pad wear considerably.
Conventional gasoline engines contain many moving parts that need inspection or repair, such as spark plugs, drive belts and coolant flushes. Electric vehicles (EVs) typically feature significantly fewer mechanical components that need attention – meaning you can check off more items on your maintenance to-do list with relative ease.
As electric vehicles age and their batteries degrade, maintenance costs could increase rapidly. Therefore, potential owners should carefully consider the cost of replacing their battery when making their decision about purchasing an EV. In the meantime, Consumer Reports advises EV drivers to follow their vehicle manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule; including regularly checking and maintaining tire pressure to maximize mileage and safety as well as inspecting and recharging battery power as required for warranty maintenance of an EV.