Proper care and maintenance of your electric car mean it will remain in top condition and last longer.
Electric vehicles are cheaper to maintain than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles due to the fewer moving part; moreover, there are so many things that the electric vehicle owner need not pay for.
Oil changes, spark plugs, tuning, replacing filters are just some of the services which an electric car does not require, but a conventional vehicle owner must regularly fix these things for better performance of their car.
Electric car maintenance
An electric vehicle might be more expensive to purchase, but its maintenance is quite light in your pocket.
You can easily divide electric car maintenance into three groups:
- Preventative maintenance.
To perform routine and regular tests, adjustments, cleaning, and parts replacement to stop faults from occurring and avoid untimely breakdowns.
This maintenance helps determine the existing condition of your electric vehicle and helps estimate when maintenance should be performed. It saves costs and prevents unexpected failures.
- Corrective maintenance.
This type of maintenance takes place when a part of your electric vehicle breaks down or starts malfunctioning. This is the most expensive kind of maintenance.
Some of the maintenance you will have to take care of for your electric vehicles are:
Battery Maintenance
One of the main worries of potential customers of electric vehicles is the life of the battery.
Many people believe that the battery in an electric automobile is the same as the battery in a mobile phone or laptop and are concerned that it will degrade in the same way.
Electric vehicles have a finite number of charging cycles available for the sophisticated batteries utilized in these automobiles (the number of times the battery can be charged and discharged, also called “cycle life”).
Consult the dealer for information on battery life and warranties, and look into the policy of the battery manufacturer.
Liquid coolant is used in some vehicle battery systems to keep the batteries from overheating. These systems need regular and routine check-up maintenance.
Most newer electric car models guarantee a battery life of over 100,000 miles, which means a life of almost 12 years for the average driver!
Check out, How to Wash an Electric Car
Tires and brakes
Like a petrol or diesel car, your electric car still has tires, brakes, and thus brake discs. Both these components require some sort of maintenance, just like you would on a regular or conventional car.
Tires
The pressure in your tires should be kept at the proper level at all times (you can find out your car’s required pressure levels online or on the inside of the door frame).
Home or gas station pumps work just as well for this. When your tires are lower than the required pressure, your car’s efficiency and, therefore, its range is reduced, and tires running with a pressure that is over the recommended level have a shorter lifespan.
Tire wear
As electric vehicles tend to be heavier than their gas-powered counterparts, their tires can get worn down much faster.
It is critical that tires are inspected for wear on a regular basis and that they are replaced when the tire wear indications are worn down.
The cost of a tire varies depending on the size of the wheel and how prevalent that size is. Smaller, more common tires tend to be less expensive.
Read Will Electric Cars Be More Affordable Without Batteries?
Brakes
Even though electric vehicles feature conventional disc brakes, these are only used in an emergency since regenerative braking is more commonly used.
This is now considerably simpler, thanks to regenerative braking. When a car stops normally, it loses a lot of energy.
With regenerative braking, that loss is minimized. To put it another way, pressing the brake pedal in an EV causes the motor to reverse, which reduces the speed of the wheels while also generating energy that can be stored in the battery pack.
This also reduces the strain your brake pads are going through daily, which means less breakage and lower needs for replacements and fixes!
Fluids
Electric automobiles have significantly fewer fluids to maintain than a standard car. These are generally contained inside the car’s infrastructure and cannot be accessed by the driver.
Coolant, brake fluid, and windshield washer fluid are the only three fluids that must be replaced regularly in electric cars for the most part. There are some exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, this is true.
Transmission fluid, for example, is present in the Tesla Model S gearbox and must be replaced on a regular basis.
The thermal management system of the electric car also necessitates the use of coolant fluid, which must be replenished regularly.
Fuel costs for electric cars vs. gas-powered cars
Cars with internal combustion engines use gasoline, whereas electric vehicles are powered by electricity. A gallon of energy costs about half as much as a gallon of gasoline to power the same car.
Plug-in EVs save you a lot of money by cutting your fuel expenditures in half compared to traditional cars with internal combustion engines.
Furthermore, the actual cost varies depending on your location, the current energy price, and the sort of vehicle you drive.
Some reasons why electric car maintenance is cheaper:
- Regular upkeep of the battery, motor, and other electronic components is not necessary.
- Regular maintenance is required for fewer fluids, such as engine oil, than internal combustion engine cars.
- Regenerative braking drastically reduces brake wear.
- Compared to a traditional gasoline engine, this one has a lot fewer moving components.
EVs are not, however, maintenance-free. To keep the vehicle’s warranty valid, all automakers require owners to perform a series of routine inspections and servicing. Your automobile may not be insured if it needs repairs if you don’t follow the prescribed timetable.
The government’s subsidies and incentives are other compelling arguments to choose an electric vehicle. Electric car incentives come in a variety of forms, and it’s vital to understand which ones are available to you.
Different states offer different incentives and tax breaks to make purchasing an electric vehicle easier.
While both types of vehicles require regular maintenance, electric vehicles are frequently easier, less demanding, and more convenient to maintain.
Why not drive green to alleviate the load of traditional maintenance and help the environment get back on track? Forget the greasy rags; electric vehicles make life much easier for their owners.
You may like the following electric car articles:
- Electric Car Battery Capacity
- Why Is Tesla Better Than Other Electric Cars?
- How Long Does It Take To Charge An Electric Car
- What Would Happen if Everyone Switched to an Electric Car
- How Much Power Does an Electric Car Consume?
- Best Portable Electric Car Heaters
Conclusion
Though electric vehicles may still be more expensive to buy than their gasoline-powered counterparts, they are often less expensive to maintain and run because of the low-cost home charging.
Studies suggest that the cost of electric car maintenance is 20-35 percent lower than that of a comparable combustion-powered automobile, for which repairs, oil changes, and servicing can raise the costs of maintenance.
As electric vehicles have no wear parts that need to be replaced regularly, and major engine repairs are not required, these noticeable disparities in maintenance costs can be explained.
My name is Matthew, staying in Seattle, Washington. Electric Vehicles (Electric Cars & Electric bikes) caught my attention for the last few years and my love for electric cars and bikes is everlasting. I spend many of my weekends traveling to various places all over various cities with my electric vehicle (e-bike and electric car). Here I am sharing my expertise, experience, and invaluable information about electric cars and electric bikes. Check out more.