Saturday 3 December 2016

The ‘Everything Else’ Argument: Incentives and Costs

Let’s talk about money. 


I think I’ve outlined a pretty good case for EVs so far and it seems that a lot of governments and authorities agree with me. For example, in the UK, if you purchase an electric car you get a grant of 35% of the vehicle’s cost up to £4,500. Furthermore, you’ll be exempt from paying the congestion charge in London and can effectively get preferential parking within the city.

When thinking about the cost of car ownership, it’s not just the capital expenditure but also the running costs and other ongoing costs that must be considered. To this end, EVs are an attractive proposition as the price-per-mile tends to be lower than that of ICE vehicles. 

To put it another way, in the main, it costs less to recharge a day’s electric driving than it does refill a day’s petrol or diesel driving. 

Whilst the cost of new batteries is significant, general maintenance on an electric motor is less costly than a traditional engine vehicle as there are fewer moving parts, less heat is generated and fewer fluids (such as oil and coolant) are required for EVs.


So as far as reasons to buy an EV go, it’s clear that there are financial benefits to doing so!

 It should be noted that if EVs ever do become the norm, it’s likely that there will be fewer reward-type incentives as these are generally aimed at early-adopters for whom it is recognised that there is perhaps increased uncertainty and a greater sense of financial risk as buyers are dealing with a new technology and must place faith more faith in the assertions of others than their own experience. 

So if you’re in the market, buy one now before the early-adopter rewards go away!  

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