My new EV cost me < $50k all in: here’s how
Not buying what typical owners probably don’t need saved me at least $17,000 (part 1) See also Part 2
For all that you can see I was pleased to take delivery of my new car, I am not actually a “car guy” — at least not in the traditional “wax my car regularly, bore friends about its acceleration and handling” sense. I decided to cover EVs because they are no longer simply pricey fashion statements or toys for environmentalists. They are rapidly becoming mainstream, and here in Canada I am not seeing much coverage that would help readers who, like me, see cars mainly as a tool to get around in, as comfortably, cheaply and safely as possible. Unfortunately, as I will outline below, the way EVs are sold and discussed, even by advocates, can often cause people to exaggerate what they need to spend, and might put them off altogether.
The two questions I pose this week and will help you to answer for yourself are, “is getting the car I want worth missing out on government subsidies?” and, “how much range do I need?”. Next week I discuss all-wheel drive, dealer extras and, most importantly, home charging.
Like, I suspect, a lot of other Canadians, when I went looking for a new car I looked for one that was “good enough” for what I needed and (because a well-made EV should last longer than a gas car) one I could see myself using for at least ten years. But there were plenty of things I felt comfortable doing without, and which saved me a fortune. It’s true I would have bought an EV even if it didn’t make overall financial sense, but I am hopeful that mine will turn out cheaper to own in the end than an equivalent gas powered car (see the backgrounder at the bottom).
A note before I start — all of the compromises I made have potential downsides, and if you don’t mind paying extra the things I decided not to pay for may give you pleasure, more peace of mind or both. But the car industry and dealers have a vested interest in talking up their value and importance. I am only sharing the choices I made for my own vehicle, but of course I hope they can be food for thought for your own purchasing decisions.
Do you really need a car that is too costly to qualify for government subsidy?
Not to say that Teslas aren’t good cars in many ways — I nearly bought a Series 3 myself before the prices shot out of sight. And there are clear advantages to buying from a company which has big research resources, its own charging infrastructure and years of EV-making experience. But the recent federal budget raised the price threshold for new EV purchase subsidies to $55,000 or more and traditional carmakers are starting to seriously ‘up their game’ in response. It should go without saying that a more expensive car has to offer something pretty special to make it worth leaving a $5,000 federal subsidy (and as much as $8,000 in provincial subsidy) on the table. And most of us don’t need a luxury(ish) car like a Model 3 or Y to get around.
How much range do you really need?
This is the biggest place to make savings— as the biggest single cost of any EV is its batteries. When fast chargers were rarer and the range of typical EVs was a lot smaller, a certain amount of range-based competition made sense, but I drove 2017 Nissan Leaf with a 160Km range for two years and once I got into the habit of ensuring it was fully charged at home it was seldom an issue.
When I got a replacement I could have bought the long range 77KWh Ioniq 5 (rated 488km) instead of the 58KWh/352km version I chose, but it would have cost an extra $5,000. Most Canadians drive 60km or less a day, and even on my winter journey from St John’s to Ontario and back (cold weather reduces battery range), my “short” range only proved an issue once during the trip — on the last leg of my journey off the island of Newfoundland itself where I miscalculated and was counting on a charging station that was not there!
As EV owners never cease to repeat (accurately), you should bear in mind you will generally be leaving your home (and possibly your workplace if you can charge there) with 80%-100% charge, so you will seldom need to charge anywhere else unless you are making a round trip (or several shorter trips close together) that is longer than 80% of your car’s range. Note though that range could be almost halved in winter, depending on how warm you keep the car and how fast you drive.
To help you figure out the minimum range for you here are some good tools:
- You can use Google Maps Timeline or other tools to look back at the distances you actually travel in a given day.
- You could use A Better Route Planner to plan out some typical long distance journeys you might want to take, telling it the EV you expect to own, and it will give you a rough idea of where and how often you might stop. If there is a particular trip you expect to take often and it looks like there are gaps in the charging network it might be because ABRP doesn’t always know about all the chargers — you can double-check what’s along the route with a more inclusive tool like Plugshare.
- If you expect to go fairly frequently where chargers might be sparse (and keep in mind the fast charging network grew by 39% in 2021 alone) here’s a conservative rule of thumb to calculate a safe battery electric range to purchase — the “official” range of your car should be four times the range between charging stations in those areas — that would give you enough range even in winter and at highway speeds to get to a charger, and if it wasn’t working or available, get to the one after that without running out of juice.
If you’re still worried about range… hybrid isn’t your only option
Many people who are range-nervous have been encouraged to buy hybrid cars instead, but for what it’s worth I think this is unnecessary and short-sighted for most. You are losing a lot of battery range to pay for a gas powered engine you hope not to use most of the time (but which will still require regular maintenance).
Obviously, if you have to have two or more cars, you might keep one hybrid or gas-powered one for the moment as a “backup” for occasional long journeys, or put a toe in the EV water by replacing the one that tends to get used for shorter trips. Or depending on your circumstances you could rent or borrow a gas car for road trips — you might find this is needed less often than you think.
Next week: $12,000 more I could have spent on my car… and didn’t.
Backgrounder: EVs are cheaper than they look
True, electric cars are inherently pricier “up front” than comparable gas-powered ones. However, a recent Clean Energy Canada study suggests that they are already significantly cheaper for most drivers overall, thanks to lower running costs and maintenance (I’ll be unpacking some of the assumptions of that study in a future post). That price difference is set to drop further in the coming years, both because of the reduced cost of batteries and because of economies of scale as EVs become mass market, even if inflation and supply chain issues are complicating things at the moment.
