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True, but there's at least one really expensive component of electric cars that needs replacement every 8 to 10 years: the battery. I think the current price is

True, but there's at least one really expensive component of electric cars that needs replacement every 8 to 10 years: the battery. I think the current price is about $10000 for the battery if you order from Tesla in advance. Maintenance and repair costs of a gasoline vehicle over 10 years can be less than that.

jessriedel 11y ago
That's not a very good comparison, is it? After 10 years you'd have a nearly-new electric car (from a reliability/repair standpoint) but you'd have a gas car that was vastly more likely to break down and need costly repairs than when you first bought it.
- ams6110 11y ago
  So the electric car doesn't have an interior that will be worn out? Or worn suspension components like ball joints, tie rods, bushings, steering rack? Or air conditioning? Electric cars also have highly sophisticated power control equipment. In 10 years of sysadmin work, the overwhelmingly most common failures I've seen have been power supplies, voltage regulators, and capacitors. Remains to be seen how well these components will hold up in real-world use in electric cars.
stcredzero 11y ago
There was a US govt study cited by the Car Talk guys many years ago that found that the annual repair bill for most cars stabilized at an average of $600/yr, until the car died. (Not counting oil changes and regular maintenance.) I wouldn't be at all surprised if batteries for a car like the Tesla got down to $6000. At that point, the value proposition is already much better than gasoline cars.
- krschultz 11y ago
  $600 a year or $6000 a year? I think just brake pads, tires, and regular maintenance exceeds $600 a year if you amortize it. Every older car I've owned then started having problems. Even if it's just the A/C compressor or the muffler, you are always replacing something every few months.
  - Qwertious 11y ago
    $6000 a decade, so $600 a year. Interesting note: Engine maintenance costs are way higher on ICE cars than on electric cars. If they can get battery costs down, which they're doing at a speed of 10% a year IIRC, then they can decrease that figure to about $200/year a decade from now. Come to think of it, perhaps in a decade we'll finally have a reliable carbon price, rather than it being an unpenalized externality. That'd make ICE cars fairly uncompetitive quickly.

jessriedel 11y ago

That's not a very good comparison, is it? After 10 years you'd have a nearly-new electric car (from a reliability/repair standpoint) but you'd have a gas car that was vastly more likely to break down and need costly repairs than when you first bought it.

ams6110 11y ago
So the electric car doesn't have an interior that will be worn out? Or worn suspension components like ball joints, tie rods, bushings, steering rack? Or air conditioning? Electric cars also have highly sophisticated power control equipment. In 10 years of sysadmin work, the overwhelmingly most common failures I've seen have been power supplies, voltage regulators, and capacitors. Remains to be seen how well these components will hold up in real-world use in electric cars.

stcredzero 11y ago

There was a US govt study cited by the Car Talk guys many years ago that found that the annual repair bill for most cars stabilized at an average of $600/yr, until the car died. (Not counting oil changes and regular maintenance.) I wouldn't be at all surprised if batteries for a car like the Tesla got down to $6000. At that point, the value proposition is already much better than gasoline cars.

krschultz 11y ago
$600 a year or $6000 a year? I think just brake pads, tires, and regular maintenance exceeds $600 a year if you amortize it. Every older car I've owned then started having problems. Even if it's just the A/C compressor or the muffler, you are always replacing something every few months.
- Qwertious 11y ago
  $6000 a decade, so $600 a year. Interesting note: Engine maintenance costs are way higher on ICE cars than on electric cars. If they can get battery costs down, which they're doing at a speed of 10% a year IIRC, then they can decrease that figure to about $200/year a decade from now. Come to think of it, perhaps in a decade we'll finally have a reliable carbon price, rather than it being an unpenalized externality. That'd make ICE cars fairly uncompetitive quickly.