Quote:
Originally Posted by urbandreamer
I don't understand why Truenorth doesn't own an EV. It could simply be because like myself, he's unable to justify the expense? It's like eating in restaurants, I can't justify spending $50-100 on food I know costs $10.
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I think a LOT of factors have to line up for an EV to end up cheaper than keeping an already paid off car. You aren't going to replace it until it's either at end-of-life, or it no longer suits your needs, and when you do replace it, most people will expect their "new" car to be new
er, have the same or better features, etc.
My 22 year old truck had a transmission leak. I spent $1300 fixing it, probably 25% of the value of the truck. Some people would baulk at that, but what are the other options?
1. Sell it, for less than it would be worth without the leak, buy another one just like it (~$5500), and.... have that one need a similar repair within a year? I'm out $5500 and am in the same situation
2. Sell it, use that as a downpayment on something newer, and have payments going forward? Even if it's cheap, like $250/month, after 6 months I've spent more money, and that only gets worse the longer I have that payment.
2.b) Buy an electric car so I save on gas, to offset my payments:
https://www.timetoelectrify.ca/elect...-charge-price/ gives a range of $407 to $712 to drive 20,000km in various electrics. To burn gas in my truck that would be 20,000km * 14 L/100 * $1.50/L = $4,200. $4,200 - $407 = $3,793, or
$316 per month fuel savings. Hey, that's pretty good!
Using
https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/per...alculator.html, if I sell my leaking truck for $4,200 to use as a downpayment, and pay 7.5% interest for 5 years, I can buy a
$17,500 car, just with my fuel savings. Not bad!
...Whoops,
problem #1. The cheapest Tesla Model Y (the car with the $407 annual cost) on Autotrader.ca is
$42,800! Over double! I'd pay $885 on that loan, or be spending
$568 more than I was, every month!
Okay, okay, there are cheaper electric vehicles. How about a Nissan Leaf? Much better, I can get a 2018 model for my $17,500 budget. (I could even spend way less, but we don't want a 12 year old battery). Alright!
.... Whoops,
problem #2. Now I have a Nissan Leaf instead of a GMC Sierra. Much, much harder to do dump runs, Home Depot trips, etc. Same cost for worse capability. We've lost again, just not in money.
Okay, not the case for everyone though. Hmm, that Leaf looks a lot like my wife's Honda 2017 Fit, though, how does that compare? I think it could sell for 15k, which is a solid down payment. But, the fuel savings will be a LOT less. 20,000km * 7 L/100 * $1.50/L = $2,100 per year, compared to a Leaf's $445. Savings of $1655, or
$138 per month.
Back to the payment calculator: Okay, my budget is
$19,000.... same ballpark as before, maybe get something a higher trim, less miles, the colour you want, etc. But, it's going to be roughly the same age as the current car - meaning, we'll need to replace it again at roughly the same time. In this breakeven proposition, we're ultimately no farther ahead financially, but had to go through the hassle of selling then buying a new car. I also don't know the new car's history, vs the Fit we've owned since new.
Your desire to drive an EV has to overcome both of those.
But if your current car isn't worth 15k, or if you already do better than 7 L/100, or (a biggie) don't drive 20k a year, if you leave near a reserve or the border and pay $1.20 for gas instead of $1.50, if you can't get that 7.5% interest rate, or you don't want to be seen in a Leaf, or don't believe in Nissan quality vs Honda....
It's
really easy to keep you have.
Quote:
I can't justify spending $50-100 on food I know costs $10.
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It's not about the food cost. It's the cost of someone else cooking it for you, someone else bringing it to you while you chill and drink in a cool environment, someone else doing the dishes. You pay a lot more and
get a lot more.
It's a terrible comparison for this EV analysis. A better comparison would be paying for taxis everywhere vs owning your own car. In such a comparison, the relevant difference is cooking at home with gas vs electric stove, not home cooked vs restaurant.