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However, a gasoline powered car also takes engine oil and transmission fluid if it's an automatic. It will also require regular servicing of the engine and even

However, a gasoline powered car also takes engine oil and transmission fluid if it's an automatic. It will also require regular servicing of the engine and eventual replacement of worn seals etc. If the fuel cost per mile is the same the electric car could still be cheaper. I can't say how much though, because that depends on the servicing cost per year vs the battery replacement cost and that depends on your local service department.

kharms 10y ago
The battery in a Tesla costs $12k-40k to replace, though it's under warranty for 8 years.
- sremani 10y ago
  The battery decay is going to be gradual, even though noticeable in a Model S, given its huge battery, it would still be a drivable vehicle even if it loses 50% of the battery capacity. So that 14-20K expenditure will not kick in till 15 years or so with a patient owner, which is pretty much lifetime of many cars in US.
  - tempestn 10y ago
    And in 15 years the batteries will inevitably be much less expensive than they are today.
    - _asummers 10y ago
      And hopefully much more powerful, extending THAT purchase even further.
      - Roboprog 10y ago
        I wouldn't count on getting much more kWh into lithium. But the batteries probably will degrade slower in the future.
expression 10y ago
Luckily you don't need to maintain electric cars at all.
- outworlder 10y ago
  You do. But keep in mind they have way less parts, moving or otherwise. Spark plugs, cables, the entire engine cooling system, fuel pumps, all of that is missing. It boils down to: battery (big unknown, but seem to be holding up surprisingly well), engine (incredibly simple!), no transmission or a very simple one (Nissan Leaf has a single gear), inverter, charger, brakes, and the standard 12V battery you find in all cars (which doesn't have to drive a starter motor, so should last longer).
  - dennyis 10y ago
    FYI Generally an electric "engine" is referred to as a motor.
  - lorenzhs 10y ago
    Battery cooling is also a factor that you shouldn't ignore
  - evgen 10y ago
    Wow, electirc cars are so simple it is surprising that so few companies make them! The moving parts in a car are pieces that 1) have multiple manufacturers and are relatively cheap to replace, and 2) can be replaced by a wide range of repair shops so that competition can keep a check on the overall replacement costs. What you left out of your electric car list are all of the specialized electronics and only-for-this-car equipment that are all very expensive to replace and will all only be supplied by the manufacturer. The idea that you can just go online and shop around for an inverter for your Tesla or run down to the auto parts store to pick up the right 12V battery is laughable.
    - Grishnakh 10y ago
      False comparison. Your gas car also has specialized electronics, namely the ECU, the ABS system, the SRS system, which are all needed for the car to be operational. Good luck finding an aftermarket ECU for your car. There's no more "only-for-this-car" equipment in an EV than in any other car; the main difference is that with so many models of gas cars made by each maker, they reuse a lot of parts between models, so there's economies of scale. In an EV future, the same would be true for EVs. You're not going to swap an axle from a Chevy into a Honda, or from a Honda Civic into a Honda Ridgeline, so even here it's limited. And you're not going to swap a door panel from a 2017 Civic into any other car at all, or from any other car into that one; those are only-for-this-car items; every car has those.

kharms 10y ago

The battery in a Tesla costs $12k-40k to replace, though it's under warranty for 8 years.

sremani 10y ago
The battery decay is going to be gradual, even though noticeable in a Model S, given its huge battery, it would still be a drivable vehicle even if it loses 50% of the battery capacity. So that 14-20K expenditure will not kick in till 15 years or so with a patient owner, which is pretty much lifetime of many cars in US.
- tempestn 10y ago
  And in 15 years the batteries will inevitably be much less expensive than they are today.
  - _asummers 10y ago
    And hopefully much more powerful, extending THAT purchase even further.
    - Roboprog 10y ago
      I wouldn't count on getting much more kWh into lithium. But the batteries probably will degrade slower in the future.

expression 10y ago

Luckily you don't need to maintain electric cars at all.

outworlder 10y ago
You do. But keep in mind they have way less parts, moving or otherwise. Spark plugs, cables, the entire engine cooling system, fuel pumps, all of that is missing. It boils down to: battery (big unknown, but seem to be holding up surprisingly well), engine (incredibly simple!), no transmission or a very simple one (Nissan Leaf has a single gear), inverter, charger, brakes, and the standard 12V battery you find in all cars (which doesn't have to drive a starter motor, so should last longer).
- dennyis 10y ago
  FYI Generally an electric "engine" is referred to as a motor.
- lorenzhs 10y ago
  Battery cooling is also a factor that you shouldn't ignore
- evgen 10y ago
  Wow, electirc cars are so simple it is surprising that so few companies make them! The moving parts in a car are pieces that 1) have multiple manufacturers and are relatively cheap to replace, and 2) can be replaced by a wide range of repair shops so that competition can keep a check on the overall replacement costs. What you left out of your electric car list are all of the specialized electronics and only-for-this-car equipment that are all very expensive to replace and will all only be supplied by the manufacturer. The idea that you can just go online and shop around for an inverter for your Tesla or run down to the auto parts store to pick up the right 12V battery is laughable.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    False comparison. Your gas car also has specialized electronics, namely the ECU, the ABS system, the SRS system, which are all needed for the car to be operational. Good luck finding an aftermarket ECU for your car. There's no more "only-for-this-car" equipment in an EV than in any other car; the main difference is that with so many models of gas cars made by each maker, they reuse a lot of parts between models, so there's economies of scale. In an EV future, the same would be true for EVs. You're not going to swap an axle from a Chevy into a Honda, or from a Honda Civic into a Honda Ridgeline, so even here it's limited. And you're not going to swap a door panel from a 2017 Civic into any other car at all, or from any other car into that one; those are only-for-this-car items; every car has those.