Would all-electric vehicles have lower maintenance costs?

Question

I'm not talking about hybrids.

Answer 1

Yes, watch the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?" You could very easily argue that that was one of the reasons GM discontinued their electric car was because it didn't really use any conventional car parts, so people were never buying spare parts which hurts the company financially

Answer 2

It is about the same depending on the car and the kind of maintenance you do. Modern cars only need oil changes on a regular basis. Assuming you spend the same amount on fuel as you would on electricity you might spend $1000 a year on maintenance on a gas car and $5000 every 5 years on batteries for an electric car. Plus you also need to buy tires and brakes, for either car. The main reason electric cars are not hot sellers is because they are not very safe (battery acid), they have limited range, and they are not very fast. If you can only park one car you really can't justify an electric car. If you can have more than one car then I think a second electric car would be great for running errands.

Answer 3

NO. The batteries are very expensive and do not last very long. The battery cost is much higher than a normal cars maintenance.

Besides, electric cars are not good for the environment because the power they use to charge is comes from power plants that are not very energy efficient (25-30%). This just pollutes more, only in the power plant area and not in your city.

Answer 4

yes,
far fewer parts,
high torque motor = simple transmission, solid-state control systems.

no liquids, oil filters, pumps, valves, chains, exaust & emmission control systems ...

Modern batteries are maintenance free, should last 15-20 years+, http://www.altairnano.com/markets.html,

and lower maintenance in the supply chain - choice of fuels, less refining, no road tanker & petrol station system, delivery direct to refuel at home or office by the existing efficient & reliable grid network ...
(evs could also help the efficency of the grid or provide a back up system http://www.acpropulsion.com/technology/v2g.htm)

Batteries of all types will be inherently safer than petrol or hydrogen. None are illegal provided they are properly designed & tested. There are patent issues (owned by an oil co) which currently seem to restrict the size of NiMH in hybrids - as used in the GM EV1.

Answer 5

I thought most electric cars used nickel-metal-hydride batteries because if they used lead-acid it might be illegal. The batteries would be expensive but they could be revived if they quit working so this would bring the cost down. Some electric cars use li-ion batteries, like Telsa motors, but with the problems they had with the li-ions exploding, in laptops, might again be illegal.

Answer 6

No. The batteries will need to be replaced at an enormous cost. And the charging of the batteries will take electricity made in dirty coal fired power plants. Bad news all around.

Answer 7

Not only lower costs, but MUCH lower maintenance costs. They don't simply have fewer moving parts, they also don't have nearly the number of hoses for moving liquids around (gasoline and antifreeze, specifically). And, the engine will run at a cooler temperature.

Answer 8

Yes, electric engines rely on fewer moving parts than internal combustion engines, and thus have less chance of breaking down and therefore would have lower maintenance costs.

Answer 9

Yes except for battery replacement. Depending on the life of the batteries, you may have to replace them during the life of the car.