What You Need to Know About Going Electric on the Road
Electric Vehicles are the choice transportation means for many millennials. Sustainability is a key value in 2022 and electric cars are just one of the ways to show your support for sustainability.
Not to mention the fact that with fuel prices rising, you might want to look for alternative and cheaper options for travel. Scarily enough, the prices in oil have been rising week on week for the last couple of months due to the situation in Ukraine. On the estimates of industry players for the last week, the price of diesel products will soar by addition P4.20 to P4.40 per liter; and kerosene will incur cost hikes of P4.70 to P4.90 per liter.
Finally convinced to pick up an electric vehicle rather than the conventional gasoline or diesel vehicles? Here’s everything you should know:
Electric car charging at home
What You Need to Know Before You Buy an Electric Car
- Figure Out The Finances
It’s easy to look at the list prices of electric cars and then dismiss it as affordable and entirely convenient. Unfortunately, there are other factors that should always go into consideration when you’re trying to figure out the finances.
Here are three things to think about when you’re trying to figure out the finances of your car purchase: Financing, Fuel, Servicing.
Financing
Most people will buy cars using some sorm of finance vehicles - such as alease, contract purchase or salary sacrifice. If this is the type of purchase that your looking to take advantage of, it’s best to compare the cost of the electric version plus a conventional alternative.
If you’re looking to sell your car later on, make sure to take that into account as well. Buying an asset is a huge step for anyone. Take whatever savings you can and factor that into your purchase.
Fuel
This is the big one. When we say fuel, it’s important to remember that electric cars don’t use up any gasoline or diesel. With an electric car, you’ll never need to visit a gas station again. Unfortunately, you will still have to spend on charging. Otherwise, how do you expect your car to run? Charging your car overnight at your house and lot for sale will cost you around 250php and take you around 150 miles or more according to industry averages.
Servicing
Finally, you should take into account how much servicing you car will cost you on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Firstly, you need to figure out how many miles or kilometers you travel for every week. From here, you can figure out just how much and how often you’ll probably need to take care and service your vehicle.
Other than that, you should know that electric cars are very simple to maintain. There’s no exhaust pipe, clutch, or a lot of moving parts to make the car go. All this means that all-in-all, you’ll probably spend less on your electric motors than on a diesel engine.
- Work Out Your Charging
We touched a little bit on charging in previous sections but we simply covered the cost. What we want to highlight here is that you need to figure out the logistics of charging your car. One of the money advantages of owning an electric car, after all, is that you can refuel from the comfort of your own house and lot for sale.
Unfortunately, because we lack the infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging across all major arterial thoroughfares, you’ll probably need to constantly plan your trips around being able to go home and charge your vehicle.
- Picking Out The Model
Finally, it’s time to pick out the car that you’ll be driving for the next couple years of your life. You’ll first have to pick the type of electric vehicle that you’re looking to buy prior to then picking out the actual car. We’ll cover the different types of electric vehicles in the next section.
From here, you’ll need to figure out the brand that you’ll buy and its availability. Hard to believe as it may be, there are actually brands available in the Philippines that have already begun offering hybrid and electric cars for local sale since even before the pandemic. Though, they definitely won’t be cheap - most of these cars go well into the multimillions.
Charging sign
The 4 Types of Electric Vehicles
When picking out a car, you’ll want to make sure that you’re buying the vehicle that fits well into your needs. Here are the four types of electric vehicles available on the market today:
Battery Electric Vehicle
These cars are fully powered by electricity and are more efficient compared to hybrid and plug-in hybrids. Unlike conventional gasoline vehicles, there are zero emissions from this type of vehicle. It runs entirely on a battery and electric drive train while storing a large battery pack that is charged by plugging it into the electricity grid. The battery pack provides power to all sections and motors to run the electric car.
Some examples of Battery Electric Vehicles include the Volkswagen E-Gold, Tesla Model 3, and the BMW i3.
Hybrid Electric Vehicle
The first of two types of hybrid electric vehicles, this type si often called as the standard hybrid or the parallel hybrid. In these types of cars, the internal combustion engine gets energy from fuel while the motor gets electricity from lithium-ion batteries. The difference between this and the Battery Electric Vehicle is that the batters in the HEV can only be charged by the ICE or the motion of the wheels. This means that there is no charging port and that the battery cannot be recharged from external charging sources.
Examples of Hybrid Electric Vehicles include the Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Prius Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, and Toyota Camry Hybrid.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Often called the series hybrid, these types of electric cars offers a choice of fuel. It could easily be powered by a conventional, alternative fuel source, or even by a rechargeable battery pack. The battery can be charged up with electricity by either plugging it into an electrical outlet or more usually through electric vehicle charging stations. These types of cars combine an electric motor along with a traditional engine.
Fuel Cell Electric vehicle
Finally, we have fuel cell electric vehicles, which many consider to be the most advanced type of electric vehicle available on the market. Why? Because they literally cause zero carbon emissions. They employ fuel cell technology to generate the electricity required to run the vehicles as the FCEV generates the electricity required to run this vehicle within the body of the automotive itself.
Examples of Fuel Cell electric vehicles include the Toyota Mirai, Riversimple Rasa, Hyundai Tucson, and Hyundai Nexo.
Electric Vehicle charging
The Pros and Cons of Electric Vehicles
Now that you’ve learned about the different types of electric cars available for sale, let’s talk about the pros and cons of owning one.
Pros of electric vehicles
Zero Emissions
Perhaps the biggest attraction of an electric vehicle is the fact that you are driving emission-free. Because of the closed-loop of the system, there aren’t any materials wasted. The only technical time when an electric vehicle pollutes is when it’s either being scrapped or being charged because, if you didn’t know, even electricity creates gas.
But here’s the thing: even if power sources from nuclear, gas, or coal sources, the level produced for charging your car will be a mere fraction of the power station’s overall pollution output.
Low Running Costs
Once you’ve bought an EV, the day-to-day running costs are significantly lower than they are for conventional vehicles. It’s common for an EV to be charged overnight ready for a day’s use and in doing so, you will be using electricity at a lower unit rate than you would during the day.
Comfort
Comfort is probably one of the main selling point of electric vehicles. You really only have to content with tire, wind, and road noise on the move though all three will be pretty minimal depending on the model you buy. Sound and a great interior were the primary selling points of these EVS because it’s difficult to sell it as a speedy car, so manufacturers decided to sell people on the great town ride that is.
Acceleration
Because of the type of engine that runs in the car, most EVs are not only quiet but they are also quick to sprint. While the driving range may take a hit too, the smooth acceleration of EVs is a great pro for the car.
Cons of electric vehicles
Charging Points
Because of the lack of infrastructure to support electric vehicles here in the Philippines, you’ll have a hard time looking for charging points. While there are fast wall-boxes that are capable of charging your car for free, it’s very unlikely for them to be available in most points. The best bet you have will always be at home.
Charging Frequency
Aside from where you charge your car, another drawback is how often you’ll have to do it. If you’re someone who drives a lot and likes to get around, electric vehicles will be a difficult option to pick. The battery range of most electric vehicles is pretty poor so you’ll have to make sure that you’re able to cover a few hundred miles between charges for it to be feasible.
Purchase Price
Finally, electric cars are still relatively expensive, so don’t forget to take that into account when you’re trying to buy a new car. Many EV models will lose significant chunks of value when the time comes to sell mostly because of deteriorating machinery or even advancing technology, rendering some of the tech that you have in your car obsolete over the next couple of years.