Tesla Model 3 was included in findings.
Credit: Tesla
A Department of Energy report shows that electric cars are less costly to maintain, confirming similar reports.
“Electric and electrified powertrains have lower maintenance and repair costs than internal combustion engine (ICE) powertrains for all vehicle sizes, relative to vehicle price,” the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory said (PDF) in a report.
Pure electric vehicles, or BEVs, fared the best.
The reduction in maintenance cost per mile for HEVs, PHEVs, and BEVs as compared to ICEVs were 7%, 11%, and 41%, respectively, the report said.
For example, for items such as engine engine oil and transmission service, BEVs had zero costs because of the inherent difference in the power train.
(HEV refers to Hybrid Electric Vehicles, PHEV to Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles and BEV to Battery Electric Vehicles, aka, pure EVs. ICE refers to Internal Combustion Engine or gas cars.)
The cars covered by the report include Tesla Model 3, Model S, Toyota Prius Prime, Chevy Volt and Bolt, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, and VW Golf and e-Golf, among others.
This reflects findings from Consumer Reports showing “big savings” for EVs over traditional gas cars.
Hybrids had lowest cost
Hybrid electric vehicles (think: Prius) had the lowest total 15-year per-mile cost of driving in the Small SUV category beating BEVs, which were high because of the initial purchase price.
One finding confirms a common problem for EV charging
Commercial EV charging can be costly because of the time it takes to charge an electric vehicle, the report said.
“BEV charging can be time consuming; labor rates can cause this cost to dominate [Total Cost of Ownership] TCO.”
And the additional battery weight for commercial EVs is (or will be) a problem.
“Many vehicles would be affected by additional battery weight, reducing the available payload capacity, and this cost can be substantial.”
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