Electric Cars Are Better for the Planet - and Often Your Budget, Too

[Zorro]

Electric vehicles are better for the climate than gas-powered cars, but many Americans are still reluctant to buy them. One reason: The larger upfront cost.

New data published Thursday shows that despite the higher sticker price, electric cars may actually save drivers money in the long-run.

To reach this conclusion, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology calculated both the carbon dioxide emissions and full lifetime cost — including purchase price, maintenance and fuel — for nearly every new car model on the market.

They found electric cars were easily more climate friendly than gas-burning ones. Over a lifetime, they were often cheaper, too.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/15/climate/electric-car-cost.html

[CanonRay]

1. Bought a Toyota Prius Prime a tear ago

mostly for driving around doing errands. Averaging 209.3 mpg since purchase.

[WA-03 Democrat]

6. You must have a feather foot

Light touch on acceleration is great. I have a 2019 Camry hybrid and a 2015 Leaf. The Camry gets 50 mpg I am surprised to see any hybrid much over that.

All three drivers in our family want the Leaf. Used Leafs are a bargain. $11k under 30k miles and you fuel cost (batteries) are covered. Our monthly electric went up $7. Had it for 2 years and only maintenance cost were replacement wipers. I love the direct drive and no gear box, etc. it’s a great town car. Long trips take a lot of time but every Walmart has rechargers so it’s easier for sure.

[CanonRay]

33. I run mostly on battery

I've only put gas in it 3 times in a year. I can get 25-30 miles on a charge, and that gets me through a couple of days errands.

[MurrayDelph]

24. When I bought my latest Prius, 15 months ago

I was torn between the Prime and the AWD-e models. Because it does occasionally snow where i live, I went with the AWD version. Then the world shut down, and I went from driving 18,000 miles a year, last year I only drove 7500. According to the built-in fuel log, I haven't put gas I the car since December 1. If I'd gone with the Prime it might not have been since October.

Up-front costs is what kept me away from a Tesla. Normally, there are several drives between the northern Oregon coast and Los Angeles by way of Reno. Once, we drove from Oregon to Miami by way of Los Angeles (for a funeral), Yellowstone, Chicago, St Louis, and Orlando. And electric cars with long-range batteries and all-wheel drive age still pretty pricey. Hopefully that'll change when we have to replace the seven-year-old CR-V which currently has 118,000 miles.

[fishwax]

36. I've got a prime as my primary car and have been getting 100mpg over two years

My employer has a charging station that is free (other than what we already pay for parking) and that covers my daily commute. So during the work week I don't use any gas at all.

Weekend adventures and long trips are a different story. Since I've been largely working from home (where it isn't as easy for me to charge) since last March, I've been down to about 85 mpg since the pandemic started (but of course I haven't driven nearly as much).

I love the car!

[Aristus]

2. Last week, there was an intense confabulation in GD

about how electric cars are worse for the environment than gas cars, and we’re all fooling ourselves, blah, blah, blah...

Don’t know where that came from, but there’s always going to be some pushback...

[Miguelito Loveless]

13. We have a pro-nuke, anti-EV

On the site and posts LONG stories pushing this myth. He uses the firehose technique when you call out his lies and distortion, writing a 5,000+ words to argue against the, claiming to be scientist, but never addresses the refutation, just keeps cranking up the word hose.

[tinrobot]

3. Higher upfront costs? Right now, you can get a new Chevy Bolt for about $22k

GM is clearing out last year's models, which means there are some really great deals out there.

[Miguelito Loveless]

14. You can get a Leaf for under $10K

Which is a perfect daily driver for commutes up to 40-50 miles

[NNadir]

4. Oh goody. "Science" from the New York Times.

As usual, drivel.

My standard joke is that one cannot get a degree in journalism if one has passed a college level science course. I'm often thinking of the science reporting at the New York Times when I say it.

[Zorro]

7. I knew you'd appreciate the article!

[NNadir]

8. Yeah, as we all know, all the electricity in the world comes out a magic extension cord...

...extending across the space, using "renewable copper" plugged into the sun.

[Miguelito Loveless]

15. New you'd show up.

Was just talking about.

[msongs]

5. shortage of charging locations. where's the electric pickups and small vans? nt

[Kablooie]

10. Tesla has a pickup in the works.

But it's one of the strangest looking things ever made.
Tesla has a ton of charging stations, only for Teala.
Use Google map and search for Tesla superchargers.
They are working on an electric big rig too.

[Miguelito Loveless]

12. People love or hate the look

[tinrobot]

21. Put me down as "no"

Glad Tesla is doing a truck, but I'm more of a Rivian guy...

[Miguelito Loveless]

23. My friend,

as long as it is electric, I am all for it.

[tinrobot]

25. Exactly. The more EVs the better.

[Miguelito Loveless]

27. Also, for people with high

range anxiety, used Chevy Volts are a good deal, and the 2016 model and up with 53 miles electric range (350 gasoline) will cover 80% or more of a daily drive. We closed out 2020 on a single tank of gas for the tear.

[JCMach1]

29. Ironically my 2011 is worth than I paid 4 years ago

Love that car though!

And yes, almost all drives are electric. Nice to have 0 range anxiety. You just get in and go.

[Rstrstx]

30. LOVE IT!!!

This is why Tesla is winning, they have no qualms about breaking from the past if the past is broken.

[Miguelito Loveless]

11. Vans are still MIA in the US

Easy to get in EU.

Charging infrastructure has been growing by double digits % for years. I charge at home and work.

Looking at the Tesla network, We two in my state. We now have 20, and will double that in next two years.

if you are an non-apartment dweller charging at home is cheap, easy, using a 110v outlet, a 220v dryer socket, or you can install your own charger from $500 to $1200

(Technically the charger is in the EV, a dedicated charge point is an electrical vehicle service equipment, EVSE for short.

Haven’t been in a gas station since 2016.

[tinrobot]

20. Ford is releasing some later this year

Here's the link:

https://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/e-transit/2022/

[Miguelito Loveless]

22. Yes, and a smaller companies

Like Rivian and Lordstown Motors. Ford is in a self-created bind. They can make an electric F-150, but it doesn’t want to make a lot of them as it could crash their lucrative gas/diesel powered models.

[Rstrstx]

31. VW's love van looks cool

Hope it makes it into production.

[Miguelito Loveless]

32. They've been promising since 2017

And we’ve just been told it is delayed yet again.

https://electrek.co/2021/01/15/vw-id-buzz-electric-minivan-delayed/

[Initech]

17. There's lots of EV trucks in the works - Rivian, Bollinger, Hummer, Lordstown, Nikola...

But they aren't exactly what one would call "affordable". If I could afford one of these I'd do it in half a second!

https://insideevs.com/car-lists/electric-trucks/

[tinrobot]

19. Be patient, things are ramping up quickly.

We've doubled the amount of fast charging in the past 18 months and it's accelerating. Coverage is getting quite good, particularly on the coasts. You can also drive coast to coast using a number of interstates.

GM announced a separate company just for electric vans last week. Ford is doing small commercial vans and box trucks starting this year.

Tesla, Rivian, and GM have already shown production pickups. Ford has an F-150 EV set for debut this year.

[Miguelito Loveless]

9. Own 2

And would never go back.

[Initech]

16. I wanted to get an EV but couldn't afford one.

I wanted to get a Tesla Model 3 but the cheapest one was $52K. Then I looked at other electrics like the Nissan Leaf and Honda Clarity and those weren't practical for how much I drive. And even the cheapest hybrid I could get (Honda Accord) was a bit outside of my budget. But I do know that this car that I just bought will be my last gas-powered vehicle. My next car will be a hybrid or a full electric, I know that for sure!

[Ron Green]

18. The best thing to do is leave the car at home and take a bicycle.

If you drive too much for that, change your life. Move. Switch your job. Most people can do it if they really believe in it.

[Silent3]

28. I have a 95% electric car

I bought a 2019 Chevy Volt (sadly, that was the last model year for the Volt) and 95% of my driving or more is electric. I was doing so little gas-powered driving that at one point, when it had been over a year since my last fill-up, I had to deliberately run the car on gas just to drain what was still left in the tank and refill it before the gas got too stale.

I still don't feel comfortable going all-electric. I like the security of knowing I can always extend my range by running on gas. Where I live in the northeast winter weather cuts into the the all-electric range a lot compared to summer driving.

I hope by time I'm ready for a new car something affordable with a 200+ mile range (even in winter) will be available. At that point, I'd being willing to go all-electric instead of a plug-in hybrid.

[hunter]

34. No cars would be even better.

We need to restructure our cities such that car ownership is unnecessary.

This planet cannot support car ownership, electric or not, for every adult human.

There are simply too many of us.

I don't think car ownership is an essential component of human happiness. Indeed cars are a source of great misery to people who can't really afford them but must have them to get to work. And for some reason we seem to ignore people who are killed or maimed by cars every day.

My greatest hypocrisy as an environmentalist is that I own a car.

Fortunately I work at home and don't have to drive most days, especially during this covid-19 crisis.

[Generic Brad]

35. They currently take too long to recharge

If you could go to a fuel station and snap in a replacement fuel cell and be on your way in less than 5 minutes, I'm in. I need the option of being able to drive beyond the vehicle's single charge range on the same day.

[hardluck]

37. Yeah, no thanks

My power has been shut off for 24-48 hours 5 times since Thanksgiving because of high winds in SoCal. Last thing I want is a car that is reliant on an unreliable electrical system.