U.S. DoE study puts EV maintenance costs much lower than gas
Finds just 6 cents per mile for operating an EV
Electric Vehicles will cost you around 40 percent less in maintenance than a gas-powered one. That’s the findings of a new study from the U.S. Department of Energy that looked at the differences in ownerships between the types of vehicles.
The study, done by the Argonne National Laboratory, put the cost per mile of driving an internal combustion light vehicle (a normal passenger car or crossover) at just over 10 cents per mile driven. Researchers looked at a complete maintenance schedule for the vehicles, with service items ranging from transmission service all the way to wiper blades.
Electric vehicles lack entire categories of the service schedule including oil and fuel filters, oxygen sensors, and other similar services. They do still require brake service and coolant changes, which lead to a finding of a maintenance cost of around six cents per mile.
U.S. Department of Energy
Hybrid and PHEV models both also fared slightly better than straight-ICE vehicles, and 9.4 and 9.0 cents per mile respectively, largely related to requiring less frequent brake services.
This data could play a large role in helping large fleets of vehicles make the transition to electric. Where maintenance costs are one of the most crucial parts of the fleet’s buying decisions. It could also be useful for individual buyers, who will need to make fewer and less costly trips to the dealership’s service department in addition to savings on the cost of gasoline versus electricity.
