Reasons for buying EVs

green painting on asphalt of a car with electric plug around it signifying electric vehicle parking

Basic facts about electric vehicles

  • A hybrid electric vehicle, like a conventional Prius, does not have a plug and uses gasoline in the combustion engine to recharge the battery.
  • A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle takes gasoline, but also has a plug for recharging.
  • A battery electric vehicle does not take gasoline and only recharges with a plug. A Tesla is a battery electric vehicle.

Reasons for buying an electric vehicle

  • The electricity for recharging an electric car is cheaper than the cost for gasoline.
  • If an electric car recharges at home overnight, time and money are not wasted driving to get gas, or charging at a more expensive and less-convenient public charging station.
  • Solar and wind power electricity is getting lower in cost and will be greatly lower than the cost for gasoline in the near future.
  • More electricity is produced using renewable resources each year. Most consumers have an option to buy completely “green power.”

Reasons for buying a secondhand electric vehicle

  • Now, secondhand electric cars can be cheaper than secondhand gasoline engine vehicles.
  • The maintenance cost of a secondhand electric car is about 1/3 of that for a gasoline engine car unless the battery in the electric vehicle is very old.
  • Car dealers prefer that customers buy the gasoline engine vehicle because the dealer’s profit is from selling the car and from the car repairs and maintenance.
  • Costs for parts and maintenance on an old secondhand gasoline engine car can be extremely high and breakdowns a surprise. Electric cars have fewer moving parts and thus fewer repairs.