Running costs of electric cars vs petrol cars according to size

Arran Cameron:

15 year old 7 series BMWs sell for pocket money prices because of the low demand for such cars. Anybody who can afford to run one can probably afford to buy a much younger 7 series. However, its easy to find a buyer who will pay a handsome amount of money for a 15 year old VW Polo in good nick due to the low running costs of this car.


How does the difference in running costs between a large electric car and a small electric car compare with the difference in running costs between a large petrol car and a small petrol car?

Slightly off topic here. I know an owner of a hybrid car. He never charges it up at an E.V.  charging point. He says that it just charges itself up when he drives it. Efficiency? Very low.


Just what can we say?


Z.

Arran Cameron:

15 year old 7 series BMWs sell for pocket money prices because of the low demand for such cars. Anybody who can afford to run one can probably afford to buy a much younger 7 series. However, its easy to find a buyer who will pay a handsome amount of money for a 15 year old VW Polo in good nick due to the low running costs of this car.


How does the difference in running costs between a large electric car and a small electric car compare with the difference in running costs between a large petrol car and a small petrol car?

It's not just the size that matters.  The manufacturer makes a lot of difference.  Spare parts for a luxury car are still expensive even if it's an old luxury car.

Simon Barker:

It's not just the size that matters.  The manufacturer makes a lot of difference.  Spare parts for a luxury car are still expensive even if it's an old luxury car.

 

Arran Cameron:

Simon Barker:

It's not just the size that matters.  The manufacturer makes a lot of difference.  Spare parts for a luxury car are still expensive even if it's an old luxury car.

 

What spare parts are required for electric cars apart from tyres, brake pads, and suspension components?

I think you will find a spare battery will be required before the current EV vehicles get to fifteen years old for sure in fact a lot sooner especially those that use fast chargers, but nobody appears to factor those costs in.

GTB:

I think you will find a spare battery will be required before the current EV vehicles get to fifteen years old for sure in fact a lot sooner especially those that use fast chargers, but nobody appears to factor those costs in.

Slightly off topic here. I know an owner of a hybrid car. He never charges it up at an E.V.  charging point. He says that it just charges itself up when he drives it. Efficiency? Very low.

Why is the efficiency very low? Our little Yaris hybrid exceeds most cars on the road for efficiency. A little electrical storage overcomes a lot of shortcomings in a conventional ICE car.

Arran Cameron:

GTB:

I think you will find a spare battery will be required before the current EV vehicles get to fifteen years old for sure in fact a lot sooner especially those that use fast chargers, but nobody appears to factor those costs in.

That is potentially the Achilles Heel of electric cars. Do you think that owners will experience battery obsolescence and situations where it becomes unviable to buy a new battery for an old car?


Could a situation be reached in the future where it's impossible to buy a replacement battery that fits a 40 year old electric car?

So far, nobody really knows how long the batteries last, because so few of them have failed yet.  In practice the batteries slowly deteriorate, so an old EV may be relegated to duties as a second car, where it's only used for local journeys.


The average life of a vehicle in the UK is only about 13 years.  So if batteries last 15 years, that's not a great problem.  There aren't many people who drive 40 year old cars.


Early Nissan Leafs are known for having rather poor thermal management of the batteries, so a few of the early ones are now starting to fail.  A cottage industry has sprung up to refurbish them.  Garages are buying the battery packs from scrapped Leafs, opening them up and testing the cells inside.  If a poorly Leaf is brought in, the mechanic can swap out individual cells that are failing for good second-hand ones.  The car won't be as good as new, but it will be usable for a few more years.

Alex Barrett:

Slightly off topic here. I know an owner of a hybrid car. He never charges it up at an E.V.  charging point. He says that it just charges itself up when he drives it. Efficiency? Very low.

Why is the efficiency very low? Our little Yaris hybrid exceeds most cars on the road for efficiency. A little electrical storage overcomes a lot of shortcomings in a conventional ICE car.

it's far more efficient to plug the hybrid in and charge overnight on cheap electricity than to charge it from the petrol engine as you're driving along. 

Also means the battery probably spends a lot of its life in a very low state of charge, depending on the battery technology that could reduce the life/capacity of the battery.