9. Should your next car purchase be an electric car?

Doug Weiss

Americans have had a love affair with cars for the last century. For most of us car ownership is synonymous with having a gas or diesel-burning internal combustion engine and electric cars seem like a radical new and unproven concept. However, there were more electric cars on the road in America in1900 than there were gas-powered cars. By the 1920’s, there were some compelling reasons to switch to internal combustion vehicles (which we will not discuss here). Now, at the beginning of the twenty first century, there are some reasons to consider switching to electric vehicles.

Today (2021) there are large numbers of electric vehicles (EV’s) to choose from. All major automobile manufacturers produce one or more models. There are three main types of EV’s. Battery EV’s have a large rechargeable battery and an electric motor. Hybrid EV’s have a small battery, an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. Plug-in hybrid EV’s have an electric motor, an internal combustion engine and plug in to recharge the battery. There are about 26 battery EV’s and 29 hybrid EV’s currently available in the U.S. These include sedans, SUVs, minivans, hatchbacks, crossovers and trucks. Prices range from $27,000 to over $100,000. We purchased a battery EV (Chevy Bolt) for $35,000 in 2019 and received a $7,500 federal tax rebate. The battery has a mileage rating of 238 miles/charge. We live 10 miles outside of Pine River, use it as our primary car, and drive it all year around. It performs well even on the coldest days in January.

Lets review some reasons to consider purchasing and EV.

1) Electric vehicles are cheaper to operate than gas vehicles. Many variables are involved that do not permit exact comparisons but, in general, electric vehicles are less expensive to operate. Charging at home and using off-peak charging rates further increase the savings for EV owners.

2) Electric vehicles are more efficient than gas-powered vehicles. EVs are 60-75% efficient at converting energy to power, whereas, gas-powered engines are 10-20% efficient at converting energy to power.

3) Battery EVs have lower maintenance costs. Battery EV’s are very simple cars and have few working parts. Battery EV’s have no oil, oil filter, spark plugs catalytic converter, fuel pump, fuel filter, air filter, or muffler. As a result, they need very little routine maintenance. The first routine maintenance on our Chevy Bolt is at 100,000 miles. Alternatively, Hybrid EV’s and plug-in hybrid EVs are highly complex having both an electric motor and an internal combustion and likely require more maintenance than cars with internal combustion engines.

4) EVs reduce our dependence on oil and gasoline. Approximately 80% of oil consumed in the U.S. is used for transportation in the form of gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel. Those of us who are concerned about the dangers of oil exploration on our pristine wilderness areas and oceans and fracking and pipelines on our land and water can reduce our consumption of gasoline as well as our impact on the environment by driving an EV.

5) Reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution. Automobile exhaust is the major source of CO2 emissions (a major greenhouse gas that is involved in warming the planet). However, electric power plants are the second leading cause of CO2 emissions. Therefore, if you charge your EV with electricity generated by a coal-fired power plant, you do little to reduce CO2 emissions. Our power company, Crow Wing Power, does access electricity primarily from coal-fired plants. However, we charge our car with our solar electric array, therefore, our CO2 emissions are near 0.

These are some of the reasons to consider buying an EV. There are also legitimate questions and concerns that people have about buying EV’s which also need to be considered. In the next article we will consider some of these concerns.