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WEEKLY TIP: Are electric vehicles really more expensive?

Purchase price is only part of a car's cost; studies show, over long-term, EVs are cheaper - and help reduce the toll on our environment

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Are electric vehicles more expensive If you just look at the sticker price, yes.

But in reality the purchase price is only part of any car’s cost. Corporate Knights did an article to compare some EVs with comparable gas-powered vehicles.

Their findings regarding total cost of ownership (TCO) included making a number of reasonable assumptions that included gasoline and electricity prices, kilometres driven per year, keeping the vehicle for 10 years, financing costs, and maintenance costs. 

Two sets of vehicles were compared. The first set compared a 2019 Honda Civic LX and a 2019 Nissan Leaf S. After all the calculations were done, even though the Nissan was $13,028 more to buy, at the end of 10 years the Nissan made up the difference and then some – it was $2,205 cheaper than the Honda.

In another comparison of two small SUVs, a gas-powered Toyota RAV4 and a Hyundai Kona (EV), the $11,909 premium the purchaser would pay when buying the Kona disappeared. At the end of 10 years the Kona owner was ahead by $4,985.

Another older, fact-based study—published in Applied Energy January, 2018—compared gas, diesel, battery electric and hybrid vehicles from 1997-2015 in the US, UK and Japan.

The study calculated TCO using an average annual mileage for each region, and an average annual maintenance cost. “Costs were found to be cheaper for electric vehicles due to less wear on the brakes and fewer moving parts,” wrote the study’s authors.

Today’s electric vehicles are even cheaper than in this study. With each year the TCO differential between EVs and internal combustion engines (ICE) vehicles will only improve.

Even today, incentives or not, economics should be helping you decide in favour of buying an EV, without even considering the other clear benefits of an EV — no greenhouse gas emissions and better performance.


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