Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
You are comparing the wrong cars. The Fit is an economy car. The Bolt is a hot hatch that runs the 1/4 mile 0.3 seconds slower than a Golf GTI even handicapped with crappy LLR economy tires. That is the beauty of EVs, you can have great performance and still get 100 MPGe. If we compare hot hatch's the cars start out costing the same.
If we are talking about economy hatchbacks then we can compare the 2018 Fit to a 2018 Leaf ($30K - $10K tax credits) The EV starts out cheaper than gas car and is still quicker.
Some nitpicks. - EVs are exempt from DEQ
- Your gas car maintenance is low. (I averaged $160 a year for my Prius and did all the work myself. If a shop does the work you can double it at least)
- Your EV maintenance is high. My Spark (and the Bolt) only require the coolant to be changed at 120K miles and a cabin air filter every 30K. In 5 years we are looking at 1 set of tires and a cabin filter or about $80 a year.
Either way, the EV purchase price is the same as a comparable gas car and the running costs much lower. |
I don't know what cars Bolt owners cross-shop. My awareness of new cars is pretty limited. Just thought they were similar size or have similar utility and features.
Gas maintenance likely is low. I do all my own maintenance, so that skews things. My Prius has only cost about $20/year in maintenance so far, but the category also includes tire replacement cost, which can be expensive for the Bolt. To some degree, delayed maintenance can be reflected in depreciation, since many buyers would want a discount if the timing belt had not been changed, for instance.
My overall point is that EVs have a higher rate of depreciation, and that hits new car buyers hard. Depreciation is the single largest cost of ownership for most people, especially for newer vehicles.
We can find examples of ways that an EV or gasser is cheapest to own, but in general I still consider new EV prices to be a bit off putting for most consumers.