Plug-In Electric Vehicle Maintenance Costs

At first glance owing an electric car seems like a great way to help the planet and save some money on the seemingly ever increasing gas prices at the same time. However, you may be surprised to find out that while an electric car will definitely save you money on gas it will most likely cost you more money over the lifetime of the vehicle. Here is a very basic breakdown for 5 year operating costs between a Chevy Volt compared to a Chevy Cruze LS for a period of five years.

5 Year Operating Cost of Chevy Volt

The Chevy Volt is listed at $40,280. Assuming you are one of the first 200, 000 people in the U.S. to purchase one you will get a $7,500 Federal Tax Credit. This will put your price at "as low as" $32,780. Assuming you maximize your gas saving potential and never drive over 40 miles a day thus only using electric power it will cost you about $2,000 in "electric fuel costs" over a five year period (based on 10,000 miles a year and the current average electricity costs posted on the EIA website). Since the battery comes with a 8yr/100,000 mile warranty you should not have to get a new one in the five year period but you will have to pay for traditional basic car maintenance (like tire rotation, wiper blades, oil changes, brake fluid etc - this doesn't include repairs). Most of these costs will be comparable to your typical gas-fueled car. However, there will be a big difference in the amount of times you need to change your oil. Chevy estimates that in a five year period you will only need to change your oil about 2 times (opposed to 20 times in a gas-fueled vehicle).

Initial MFSR $40,280

Tax Credit ($7,500)

"Fuel Cost" $1,300

Basic Maintenance $1,000

Total $35,080

Using a comparable set of "costs" a new Chevy Cruze 2LS would cost about $21,500 over a five year period.

Initial MFSR $16,275

Fuel Cost $5,500

Basic Maintenance $1,900

Total $23,675

In this simple model the Chevy Volt while saving you over $4,000 in fuel costs would ultimately end up costing you over $10,000 more in the long run. This, un-coincidently, is about how much the 16-kwh Lithium-ion battery costs by itself. So, while maybe the Volt isn't the best "strictly dollars" choice at the moment as battery technology improves and the price goes down that $4000 savings in fuel costs will look sweeter and sweeter.

Sources:

Chevrolet.com

http://www.chevrolet.com/volt/features-specs/
http://www.chevrolet.com/cruze/?cmp=OLA_INMKT

U.S. Energy Information Administration

http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelelectric.html