"Cost of Vehicle Ownership" dilemma...

There seems to be a bit of a crossroads, when it comes to picking a car currently. Alongside a lot of other questions, probably one of the main ones is “Does one go for a petrol, or diesel?”. This is a hard one to answer if your mileage is around the 10 – 12k mileage that most people tend to recognise as the cut off currently that is the economic switch from petrol to diesel fuelled vehicles.

There are other questions also, such as “Which is now going to be

demonised by the current government, and legislature, and what additional costs will there be in the future?”. This can affect people depending on where they live, as in, the need to be able to access low and ultra-low emission zones within a conurbation, and whether a nearby town or city will introduce such emission restrictions on private transport.

With the above comes an additional choice now, in the form of electric vehicles (E.V.). New vehicles, currently, cost quite a bit more to initially purchase, even with the government assistance of a monetary grant towards this cost. There is also the problem of range anxiety, the general unknown of such a change in the actual make-up of the vehicle itself (although becoming far more common now), and where can one charge it if off street parking is not available?

With some vehicle manufactures providing charge points for their own models, this assists

in the uptake of that companies’ vehicles quicker than those not provided with a solid infrastructure for charging. This is further incentivised by offering the opportunity for free charging, rather than paying via various apps on mobile phones, or registering cards prior to being able to charge (sometimes by many days).

This inability to charge easily, compounded by the ‘range anxiety’ is one of the current detractors for purchasing an E.V.. Arguments for purchasing one is that the initial higher cost in contrast to a comparably equipped I.C.E. (Internal Combustion Engine) legacy vehicle is affected by the offset of fuel and running costs, alongside the tax incentives provided by some governments. This is termed as the total cost of ownership (T.C.O.).

There is also the ulterior motive of it being conceived as better for the environment (this can be another ramble, with the impact of resources etc.). There is now a trend for comparisons to calculate the TCO’s of I.C.E., hybrid (whether petrol or diesel electric), plug in hybrid and pure electric.

First off, similarities:

Tyres are required for all vehicles, so will generally be roughly the same cost. Servicing of three types of the four will still require fluids, such as oil, transmission. Coolant maybe required by a pure E.V., but it is dependant on the manufacturer.

Brakes are required, by all. The cost of regenerative brakes is roughly the same as standard brakes, as it are the electronics of the vehicle itself, and not the actual pads and callipers that convert the energy. It has been shown that E.V. driving reduces the amount of times the brakes are used, and therefore visits to the garage will be reduced.

Plugs, wires and belts and clutches. This is where the E.V. does separate itself out, where there are no timing belts, spark plugs, injectors or clutches are required. These are, alongside some of the fluids, the more environmentally damaging ‘consumables’ for any vehicle with an I.C.E. They are, however, not required by the E.V.. So, along with the cost of those parts, as well as the time taken to replace them, things are starting to improve in T.C.O. terms.

Battery. This is a minor issue for the I.C.E., as only a comparatively small one is required, usually (unless there are auxiliary items also being powered by a leisure system). The other three types currently require a replacement after around 100,000 miles, due to loss of range, through lack of being able to maintain charge. For many, this can be well after having sold a vehicle. For others, this can be within the period of ownership, or a determining factor when

considering the cost of a pre-owned vehicle. Some powerpacks for vehicles are a significant cost, proportionately, to the initial cost of the vehicle itself, making it uneconomic. This can lead to only a few of these vehicles containing large batteries, to retain a good proportion of their original value compared to an I.C.E., where residual costs are usually a known quantity. The cost per kilowatt Hour (KWh), the term used to denote capacities of batteries for hybrids, and E.V.’s is starting to appreciably drop, alongside the technology allowing density and reliability to increase. This is leading to vehicles in the not-so-distant future, to have far larger ranges, significantly quicker charge times, and considerably longer reliability to withhold charge.

E.V.s are also able to have changes tailored to them through over-the-air servicing. The ‘garage’ and technician are able to contact with the vehicle, through a mobile connection, and change the software, meaning a trip to the mechanic is not required. Having said all that, E.V.s can also break without maintenance. Where there are electrical systems, inverters and rectifiers, all will require some sort of upkeep. Throughout the whole vehicle, however, the amount of moving parts is very few.

The warranties of a lot of vehicles are relatively the same, so with the fewer moving parts to have to ability to go wrong, E.V.s tend to have the financial longer-term benefit, up to the cell replacement. If tax incentives were taken out of the equation, the T.C.O. would be similar. With battery technology advancing in the manner that it is, the cost of an E.V. is going to start to make financial sense soon, especially if advanced batteries can be retrofitted to older E.V.s, and some older I.C.E. vehicles can be converted using these new cells also.