Most Electric cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas

I have a 2012 Fiat 500 that comes pretty darn close. I’ve owned it for all 11 years of its life. 64K miles and counting. Just had new brakes,pads and rotors all around installed a month and a half ago,plus a new wheel bearing. Aside from regularly scheduled oil changes and tire rotations (on only its 3rd set of tires), the car is on its 2nd battery,2nd timing belt and water pump and 2nd set of spark plugs (iridium). It still gets 33-40 mpg,a pretty good ROI considering the car costed $23,500 when new.

 

Yes that is a pretty good investment... But my 72 still beats it... $2000 in 1993, on its 4th battery, 3rd set of tires, new body from the rear window forward, engine rebuild, and approximately 110k miles traveled. Total investment: well under $10k... Probably about $6500 to $7000 if I include all the oil and filters.

Granted I cant even compete with your mpg....

 

The scary part is the fact that my car has survived 11 winters in Massachusetts with little to no rust. Best of all,it was paid for since brand new-no financing or associated charges or interest whatsoever!
Now the Fiat 500 was discontinued for the US back in 2020 so it puts me in a difficult position when it’ll come time to replace it. Stellantis plans to bring the 500 back but only as a EV,which will only have about a 200 mile range.
I can go 330-400 miles on 93 octane in my Fiat if I don’t leadfoot it!

 

Its crazy the amount of salt damage vehicles back there generally take just through regular use. I dont think I'll ever get rid of my 72... Unless it simply becomes impossible to repair due to lack of part.

 

OK not too bad of an amount to amortized into the average milage cost, but full the battery replacement at 100k miles or so is a major beat down to the pocketbook. But even if the cost is equivalent Tesla has a lot of driver benefits that owners seem to really like and make it well worth it.

 

The batteries last significantly longer than 100k. They are rated at 500k plus to maintain 70% life. Yes there will be some failures out there. But the batteries themselves are not proving an issue. (Let me say as mentioned in a previous post this is assuming it is thermally protected if not they are having some issues.)

 

That’s for the Tesla. The Prius they are good for 12-15 years typically miles does not appear to have a negative impact. In fact more miles appear to last longer.

 

When does the electric truck show up that can tow my 7,000 lb trailer 500 miles in a day with only 20 minutes of recharging time?

Actually, where do you even charge these things? I can't even recall seeing a charging station anywhere near me. They generally don't exist in rural areas. If they do, they're running off a diesel genset. Kind of defeats the whole purpose.

 

Any homeowner would have their own charging station I would think. To me that is what makes owning an electric vehicle intriguing. Never having to buy gas and always having a full charge every day. Perfect for local driving.

But the cold weather...below zero electric vehicles are concerning.

 

Last winter was -35°C here for a couple weeks and temperature hovered around -25°C on average for the majority of winter. I wonder how much juice would be used up just heating up the cab 2 or 3 times a day? Not to mention keeping it a comfortable temperature while driving.

On top of that, the batteries won't charge in the cold. Seems like a pain when I can just turn the key and have 8 cylinders start firing off almost immediately.