Battery-electric vehicles owners can expect to pay more to service their vehicles, including maintenance and repairs, at least during the first year of ownership, according to new research — but the cost quickly tumbles and, by year three, BEVs have a significant cost advantage over conventional gas-powered vehicles.
BEVs cost about 2.3 times more than gas-powered vehicles during the first three months of ownership. Most of that is in the form of repairs and recalls. But costs quickly start to decline for battery-powered cars, while rising for vehicles using internal combustion engines, or ICE.
For the first full year, service runs about 1.6 times higher. Breaking that down by category, maintenance costs an average $7 per vehicle for BEVs compared to $30 for the average gas model. But repairs ran $247, nearly double the $142 the owner of a typical gas model spent. BEVs also ran up $50 in recall costs compared to just $12.
Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.
