No, electric vehicles are not too expensive. In many cases, electric vehicles are cheaper to buy, they are always cheaper to fuel, and they are also cheaper to maintain.
However, this myth about electric vehicles being “too expensive” persists! š It continues to be one of the top reasons that many consumers still refuse to even consider electric vehicles.
I just saw it repeated on a Facebook thread where a woman was complaining about how “expensive” the new Ford F150 EV Lightning is, a car that most people within the EV community are describing as amazingly affordable with an entry level price of around $40,000, or considerably less than any other car maker is, so far, planning to offer a comparable EV pick-up truck. And the F150 Lightning comes with many great standard features, including all-wheel drive and the capacity to power one’s home for up to two or three days during a power outage.
I have spent more than a decade educating people about electric vehicles and confronting myths about EVs. Many (most?) people are creatures of habit and they are very reluctant to let go of “knowledge” they have about new things they are afraid to try, though this “knowledge” is so often grounded in myths, inaccuracies and outright un-truths.
Doesn’t matter! If “knowledge” feeds people’s existing worldview, many of them grab a hold of it and hang on.
That’s why, once again, I am writing an entry here trying to deconstruct the myth of the “too expensive” electric car. I’ve already written on the false myth of the “too expensive” electric car here, and here, and here.
But … here I go again on this š ==>
EV vs. gasoline vehicle purchasing cost comparison
- According to LendingTree.Com, the average monthly car payment for a new car in the United States = $563. Yes, that’s right, more than $500 per month!
- The average monthly lease payment for a new car = $450.
- The average monthly payment for a used car = $397
- You can buy, or lease, a new EV for less than these averages, often far less: I, myself, lease a 2020 Chevy Bolt for $289/month and I get 12,000 miles per year. There are countless other examples of EV drivers who are paying what I am, or who are paying less, per month to drive an EV.
EV vs. gasoline vehicle fueling cost comparison
- The average American spends somewhere between $1,500 and $2,500 per year on gasoline, depending on a variety of variables, including fuel economy, cost of gasoline in different regions, whether one lives in a rural or urban area, etc.
- Most reliable studies/analyses show that the average cost to fuel an EV is one-third the cost, or less, of the $1,500 that marks the typical minimum average that most Americans spend on gasoline per year. I, myself, pay $300 per year to fuel my Bolt 12,000 miles per year.
EV vs. gasoline vehicle maintenance cost comparison
- According to multiple reputable sources (AAA, Consumer Reports), maintenance costs for electric vehicles are anywhere from two to three times LESS than those for a comparable gasoline vehicle.
So, no, electric vehicles are not “too expensive.”
Indeed, every time I hear this mantra repeated, what I actually hear is: “I’m too stuck in my ways to open my mind to see the reality that EVs are not too expensive. Instead, I am going to continue to buy into the myth of electric cars being too expensive so that I can continue to justify, in my own head, not buying, and not even considering buying, an electric vehicle.”
Yes, that is exactly what I hear from people, most of whom clearly are not willing to do the real research to disabuse themselves of their inaccurate, pre-conceived notions about electric vehicles being “too expensive” for them.
Oh well, it’s their loss, their pocket-book loss, actually! š