However I want to be fair about the pro's of maintenance with an EV. Pure electric does indeed have many fewer parts than ICE (internal combustion engine)- but there are drawbacks dependent on model. Let get the problem areas out of the way first.
Battery.
This swings wildly with model and year and you really need to research manufactures. My personal experience is with three EV's and different use cases.EnerDel batteries in the 2011 Think City have degraded very little over time - although with light usage - about 15K miles. They got 65 miles new and 7 years later mine gets very close to new despite being kept outside. Most users with higher miles tend to develop other issues than the batteries because, simply the Think City was not best engineered or protected electronics. A problem I have NOT seen in other EV's.
Nissan Leaf - My 2012 SL delivered Dec 2011 was fine for a couple of years but dropped quickly. I used it for commuting and put 60K miles over 6years and three months. The battery started with a 70 mile range but by year four was down to 50 and at the end could deliver 35 miles - not acceptable in my opinion. Nissan has claimed improved batteries but I know of other issues including charging issues and lack of thermal management which keep me skeptical. I hope Nissan's new gen with thermal management prove better - Nissan is a strong international brand with overall good quality.
Tesla - From the early Roadster, Tesla has been famous for long battery life. My TM3 has excellent battery life management hardware and software and so I'm hoping it continues the Tesla experience of quality battery durability. Here's a link to a youtube article documenting long Tesla battery life:
Teslanomics - Tesla batteries last forever
I guess my point is buy carefully and research your manufacturer's track record and this doesn't have to be a problem. I tend to keep a car ten years or longer if I can so this is important to me.
Tires.
Yep if you are used to running a Honda Civic you will be replacing tires faster. If you are more a Mercedes or Audi type you will find the weight of the performance engines is a wash with the weight of batteries. Plus at least in my Tesla the bigger tires themselves are more expensive. I generally have not been able to get more than 40K out of my Leaf tires and with the jack rabbit acceleration of my TM3 I doubt I will do better.
Ok so those are the possible cost areas, how about where EV's rule:
Emissions control.
My Honda Civic was near 180k miles when I sold and was signaling it wanted it's fourth catalytic converter at $1500 each. Full of rare metals platinum (Pt), along with palladium (Pd), and rhodium (Rh). This is in addition to an O2 sensor and a new muffler at about 120K miles. I lead with this because it was the most expensive maintenance overall.Pure EV's have no emission's control parts. My solar panel sourced energy also has no emissions. None.
Brakes.
The regenerative braking systems on EVs tend to keep brake jobs to a minimum as they do 80% of your braking putting kinetic energy back into the batteries rather than burning up brake pads. I find this tends to balance the tire cost (although all the performance cars have the tire cost issue).Engine Oil, Filters, and Filtration system.
Short term you will always be paying for oil changes - or you will not have your car very long. Long term the system is complex enough to have plenty of issues such as gaskets, pumps, pans, drain plugs etc. Plus recycling that nasty oil. Yes there are parts on all cars that need to be lubed but eliminating the infernal combustion engine (ICE) gets rid of the lion's share of a very serious contaminant to ground water.Engine and associated support.
The 2000 moving parts in the engine. Coolant and radiator, belts, spark plugs, and many pieces you and I don't even see or know to name. You name it, I've seen it break.Electric vehicles come out way ahead. They still need maintenance but let's face it - way less.
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