Electric vehicles (EVs) have some great advantages over traditional diesel or petrol cars.
Less Expensive To Run
EV owners have the advantage of lower running costs, as the electricity required to power these vehicles is much cheaper than conventional fuel. The running cost is around one third as petrol for a similar vehicle.
You can use a calculator to see your potential savings. Give a try to this calculator on the My Electric Car site to see how it goes.
Less Expensive To Maintain
A battery electric vehicle (BEV) doesn’t have as many moving parts as a conventional car. This translates into less wear and tear, and therefore less maintenance works required. As you won’t have to deal with expensive repairs to the fuel injection systems, radiators, starter motors and exhaust systems, your maintenance costs will be way lower.
The rotor is actually the only moving part of a BEV. This means you’ll only need to take care of your tyres, brakes, suspensions and other small things to have your car running smoothly at any given time.
Batteries wear out, so you’ll eventually need to buy a replacement. However, most manufacturers give their clients 8-years warranty for their batteries.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) have also a petrol engine, so their maintenance costs a bit more. Nonetheless, since the electrical motor barely requires any maintenance at all, you’ll experience less wear and tear, and therefore lower maintenance costs in comparison with petrol or diesel vehicles.
Other Savings
Some Australian states encourage their residents to buy electric vehicles by giving them the opportunity of further savings. EVs registered in Victoria, for instance, are eligible to receive a $100 reduction in registration costs every year. According to nPower it’s a growing industry.
Environment-Friendly
These cars don’t contribute as much as traditional ones to the general pollution that poisons our planet. By switching to an EV, you can contribute to protecting the environment from harmful exhaust emissions. an EV has no exhaust emissions, as it is fully electric.
Renewable Energy
You can choose to use renewable energy to charge your EV, in order to contribute to environmental protection even more. You can use your solar PV system to charge your car during the day, rather than using power from the grid. You may also want to buy Green Power from your electricity supplier. Like this, your carbon footprint will be much smaller.
Eco-Friendly Materials
More and more car manufacturers switch towards the use of eco-friendly materials for their new EVs. The Ford Focus Electric, for instance, is made from bio based materials. Likewise, Nissan’s Leaf features an interior made from green materials such as recycled plastic bottles, plastic bags, and old car parts.
Health Benefits
The less harmful exhaust emissions in the air, the better for our health. Better air quality will lead to fewer health problems, hence decreasing the medical care costs and increasing the quality of life. EVs make less noise, so they generate less noise pollution.
Better Safety
According to some recent findings, some of the EV features can improve safety. The gravity center of these vehicles is lower, so they are less likely to roll over. They also have a lower risk of explosion in case of collision.