Featured Autoline Daily: About EV owners

I like EV's, but I can't help to see some bias here.

At any rate, I will always consider an EV. But to me they are generally either too expensive or too impractical. Before buying the Leaf I had:

1. 1991 Mazda 323. It cost me $250. I got 40 mpg, about $1,000 per year in fuel. The engine only needed a radiator and a shaved head, the head was $50, the radiator was also not that expensive. I owned that for 7 years, and am still kicking myself for selling it.
2. 1985 VW Golf diesel. It cost me $600. I also got over 40 mpg, sometimes up to 60 mpg on the highway. I only had one engine part fail, and it was $5. The car lasted me some 7 years.

So tallying it all up, fuel, vehicle costs, parts, repairs, oil changes, etc: $17,650 for 14 years, or around $1,260 per year for everything. And that's not including insurance, which was dirt cheap liability for around $30/mo, and taxes/tags were dirt cheap too.

Then I got the Leaf. Bought it for $9,000 and sold it a year later for $7,000. I figured I paid around $400 more that year in electrical costs, so $2,400 for a year with an EV, not including the more expensive taxes/tags and insurance that was $180/mo instead of $30/mo.

Then I got the Avalon for $15,000. I've had it for a little over 6 years now. At about 40mpg I'm paying about the same as the 1993 Mazda and 1985 VW Golf in fuel costs. Currently my Avalon is supposedly valued at around $5,000, so that's a $10,000 loss. Plus, insurance has still been expensive, finally settling down to some $130/mo. It has been a nicer car overall, but the interior is starting to fall apart with the seats tearing and armrests tearing and flaking away. So this car has cost me over $3,000 per year total, not including the insurance and astronomically more expensive tires.

So, what EV would cost me the same or less and still work like my other cars have? I'll keep researching this.

 

I’m already looking. Ionique 5 is high on the list
It will come down to hatch size, and what options at what price.
Many people don’t realize that they make great second cars for local driving