Our tips on electric car maintenance and what is the cost factor you should consider

Not everyone has an electric car. We are not really there yet. They are just too expensive for the average individual. Recharging stations are not a common sight as yet. But we strongly believe we are slowly but surely getting there. The batteries and fuel-cells for these science marvels are improving every year. Already, manufacturers can give you a warranty with statements assuring you that the battery life will be guaranteed for 5 to 7 years. But the fact is, it will last much longer than you think. Our best guess is that these cars will last you anywhere from about 10 years to about 20 years or about an equivalent of driving 12000 miles per year. Given that you are usually driving your electric vehicle (EV) on paved roads. Of course rough driving your electric car is going to have faster wear and tear effects and a harder rush and surge of power from the battery packs.

So, how much maintenance will you be needing for your marvel? The all-important question for us all is, even for those who have never seen or touch such a machine, what is the cost for maintaining an EV? Not that much. Yeah! Surprised? We are going to do some comparing with our normal internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. EV’s electric motors with battery or fuel cell components work in a different and more complicated way. So why its maintenance is not more expensive?

But before we answer that question, let’s compare normal cars to electric cars, which one costs more to maintain per year? Our answer is that normal gasoline guzzling cars will cost you more that is around $1190 a year. And mind you, forget the extra repairs that also costs more. Moreover, a normal car is also more prone to break downs due to internal parts getting wore off or damaged faster. There are a lot of moving parts in a normal auto mobile.

Now, the average price tag for maintaining an EV will cost around $950 per year. And yet another major difference is that it does not require much repairing per year either.

Okay, now let’s jump into to the particulars of the maintenance and cost of an electric car. Here goes.

Determine which type of electric car you have

There are two types of electric cars out there. AEVs and PHEVs. AEVs are all electric cars and have again two types; BEVs, that’s battery electric cars and FCEVs that’s fuel cell electric cars. PHEVs stand for plug-in electric cars. You have to know which type or sub type you have or want.

Maintenance for AEVs

AEVs are easy to maintain. They don’t have moving parts. No need for oil changes or transmission fluids to deal with, no spark plugs replacements or pistons to repair. But scheduled stops at service stations for maintenance must be made to check the battery, electric motor, bulbs and other lightings of the vehicle and all the other associated electronic components that make up the powertrain parts of your electric car and the outer chassis body of the car.

All metal parts have to be checked for any kind of corrosions, especially if you are driving around or residing near the seaside, as salty water vapors are very corrosive to metal, cloth, leather and wood. As these materials will make up your car, it will be affected and will have to be serviced.

And of course the grooves of the tires, the tubes of the tires or any kind of breaks or punctures or sharp metallic objects stuck in the tires, have to all be checked repaired or replaced, like a normal car.

Now due to all EVs having regenerative braking, brake systems, which is an energy recovery mechanism system, slows the vehicle by converting the vehicle’s kinetic energy into power that is used immediately or stored to be used later on. How does it help the car? It’s economical for the battery power output. The energy of the battery slowing down the car is not wasted, its stored, and then used again, thus you are not, initially when starting your vehicle or accelerating again, utilizing your battery power. It’s a system that’s preserving your battery power.

Brake repairs and maintenance will be low due to the regenerative braking system.

Maintenance for PHEVs

Now, PHEVs are different. PHEVs also have gasoline engines and maintaining this type of vehicle will be similar to conventional vehicles. Of course they are battery driven machines too but they have two types of ways by which their batteries are recharged. Either by plugging into a power source or by the internal combustion engine. They use both sources of power, electrical and combustion force. So the maintenance for such a vehicle will have to be lengthier because both types of engines will have to be checked and maintained. All the electronic parts and all the mechanical parts will have to be inspected and serviced. An EV maintenance and an ICE vehicle maintenance both have to be done. Yes, the cost for this type of service will be much more since you are also dealing with a traditional type of engine and transmission components. But the cost price is not high. Only the oils and the fluids will have to be regularly checked and refilled and of course the gasoline fillings.

But we really want to deal with only EVs. So let’s discuss the battery power packs of these machines.

The battery life of an AEV

When these batteries were getting developed, the manufacturers of course knew that these batteries will have to match the internal combustion engines of traditional vehicles. That is, it had to have a long life span. It was not the case in the initial stages of their development, the engineers worked hard to give us these types of powerful batteries that can last for about 20 years of service. Now manufacturers can give you an 8 years/100,000 miles of driving warranty for their batteries. Now that’s a good deal. What do you think?

Nissan provides an additional guarantee to cover 5 years more or about 60.000 miles for additional driving. That’s a warranty for 13 years.

In states that have adopted the California emissions warranty coverage that covers at least a 10-year period, manufacturers are giving such warranties that their batteries will have a partial zero-emissions affect for their vehicles for the 10-year period.

Why do you need any maintenance?

Generally, all owners need to have a scheduled maintenance plan per year, there is no getting around that. But sometimes, it’s the way you handle your vehicle that forces you to get it checked more often. Your vehicle will need maintenance according to the way you use the vehicle. if you are skipping scheduled maintenance check-ups, driving over rough terrains, not making sure the tires are filled up with air, then additional repairs and extra maintenance work will naturally be needed. And of course you will have to pay a lot more yearly. Another way your vehicle can get damaged is this way. For some reason or the other, you have not recharged your vehicle properly, that might damage the battery. Perhaps you suddenly ran out of power and call a wrong maintenance provider that sends a tow truck or a fork lifter to deal with your car, both methods for moving your vehicle will damage it. And if you can’t prove the provider caused the damage, you are stuck with again paying for the damage to your car.

Our conclusion

We are sure this article has been informative about the maintenance and cost. Additionally, how to avoid needing repairs and extra maintenance for your EV. Overall I hope this article helps you. You just have to know what kind of EV you have or are deciding to buy and follow the advice in this article.