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.