Blue View – Buying an EV? Some Things to Consider

A Tesla Being Charged

We’ve been contemplating buying an EV. We’re not sure yet which type of EV would best suit our needs, which particular make and model would be optimal for us, or even, for that matter, whether buying an EV now is a good idea. I plan to do some research on the topic, and I thought I’d devote the next few blogs to my conclusions and how I got there. If you are also thinking about an EV, you may want to follow along. I’d be quite interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.

First, what are all those acronyms - BEV vs HEV vs PHEV vs …

Battery Electric Vehicles or BEVs, are all-electric, battery-powered vehicles. They are recharged from an external power source and are propelled by one or more electric motors. With a few exceptions, BEVs have a range of at least 100 miles on a charge, and many of the newer models have a range of 300+ miles… and a few as much as 500 miles. Driving range is dependent on the battery capacity, and since batteries are heavy and expensive, the vehicles with the greater range are typically the bigger and more expensive models.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) have both an electric motor and a small internal combustion engine – usually gasoline. The electric motor can propel the vehicle for short distances, and/or assist the engine during acceleration. The battery is recharged via the engine alternator and through regenerative braking, which recoups braking energy that is otherwise lost as heat in the brake pads and rotors. HEVs cannot plug into an external source for recharging.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are much like HEVs, but can also be plugged into the grid to charge the batteries. They usually have larger battery banks than HEVs, providing longer electric driving ranges, typically 50-100 miles. Since the majority of miles driven by most people are around town and trips are short, this range is usually adequate to travel in electric mode only, greatly reducing gasoline use and emissions. When the batteries are low, the vehicle can continue traveling using the internal combustion engine.

Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) use an electrochemical process to convert hydrogen to electricity, which in turn, powers an electric motor. The only emissions are water vapor and heat. Like a typical gas-powered car, the hydrogen is stored in a tank on the vehicle which can be refueled in just minutes and these vehicles typically have a driving range of more than 300 miles. While several automobile manufacturers now offer production FCEVs, the fueling stations are currently non-existent in most of the country, limiting their practicality. It’s a Catch-22 dilemma – no one wants to invest in the hydrogen fueling station infrastructure until there are more FCEVs on the road, and buyers won’t buy an FCEV until there are places to refuel. Currently, there are only a handful of publicly-accessible hydrogen refueling stations in southern and central California.

Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) are the traditional gas or diesel engines we’re all used to. With the advances in fuel efficiency and emission controls, ICEs are continually reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

BEV Considerations

A totally electric vehicle has the most allure for me. Depending on your needs, you can buy a BEV that can haul or tow anything or go four-wheeling anywhere a 4x4 truck can, i.e. the Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer or Ford F150 Lightning. If you plan to use it for commuting around town, there are a host of lower cost options that are well suited for just this purpose. And if you want more luxury and/or plan on the occasional long distance road trip, there are a number of options that, along with all the features you expect in a luxury car, also have a reasonable driving range, 300-500 miles, and extremely fast charging times. There are some negatives with BEVs as well, and I’ve come up with some of the pros and cons to owning one.

Environmental Concerns

BEVs contribute no greenhouse gas emissions while driving down the road, but what about the carbon footprint due to the manufacturing and disposal of a typical BEV, especially the batteries? Then there are the emissions generated by the power company while recharging those batteries. A study done by the University of Michigan had some interesting conclusions. It showed that while the carbon footprint to manufacture a BEV and later dispose of the aging batteries was higher than that of an internal combustion engine (ICE), the difference was soon canceled out. For example, an electric SUV that was driven 15,000 miles per year would offset the difference in its carbon footprint with that of an equivalent gas-powered SUV in about 1.75 years. Over its lifetime, using the average carbon emissions throughout the U.S. electrical grid, and taking into account the manufacturing and disposal of a BEV, other studies have concluded that a BEV contributes between 34% and 41% of the carbon footprint contributed by an ICE over a 200,000-mile lifetime*. This is a higher number than I expected – after all, you’d think that a purely electric vehicle would have almost no carbon footprint, but since 60% of the power produced in the U.S. comes coal-fired plants, maybe those statistics aren’t too surprising.

Bear in mind that switching from a gas-powered ICE to a BEV doesn’t necessarily mean you’d cut your auto-related carbon footprint by 60%-65%. Much depends on which BEV you choose. The electric Hummer, for example, is huge – the battery alone weighs more than 2900 pounds. That’s more than the total weight of a gas-powered Ford Fiesta or Honda Civic and only slightly less than the curb weight of a Ford Mustang. That same gas-powered Mustang, not the most fuel-efficient car in the world, produces almost 20% less CO2 per mile than the Hummer. On the other hand, if you traded your gas-powered Mustang for a Mustang Mach-E, you’d significantly reduce the amount of CO2 produced per mile.

The Electric Hummer Is Huge - just under 10,000 Lbs!

* I wonder about the “200,000-mile lifetime” used to calculate the relative carbon footprint. Since most BEV manufacturers warrant their battery banks for 60,000-100,000 miles, do these calculations take into account the full replacement and recycling of the original batteries once or twice during those 200,000 miles? I don’t have access to the full study, so I can only assume the authors of the study factored this into their calculations… maybe.

Gas Powered Mustang

Electric Mustang Mach e

Initial Cost

The cost of BEVs has been coming down. Not too long ago, the price difference between a gas-powered vehicle and an equivalent BEV averaged about $10,000, but the difference now is around $8000. Industry analysts expect that as the sales of BEVs increase and the number of available models increase, the cost difference will continue to drop, eventually reaching par in the next few years.

These price differences are for the base model BEVs, with driving ranges between 150 to 270 miles, however. If your goal is to take long road trips, you’ll want the extended-range packages, meaning you’ll need larger batteries. Batteries are expensive, and getting the extended range will add thousands to the cost of the vehicle.

Tax Credit

Currently, the government is offering a $7500 tax credit for the purchase of a new electric vehicle, whether it’s a BEV, HEV, PHEV or even a hydrogen-powered FCEV. This tax credit pretty much offsets the current price differential between a gas and an equivalent BEV vehicle. There are a couple of caveats: the vehicle must be assembled in North America and cannot exceed an MSRP of $80,000 for vans, SUVs and pickups, or $55,000 for other vehicles. In the short term, many overseas auto manufacturers won’t qualify for the tax credit, but the hope is that the tax credit will incentivize those automakers to move their plants to the U.S. Hyundai, for example, has announced they are building a $5.5 billion dollar plant in Georgia that will begin building their electric vehicles and batteries as early as 2024 making the Hyundai electric vehicles eligible for the tax credit.

In addition to the $7500 federal tax credit, the Federal Inflation Reduction Act also provides a 30% tax credit towards the installation of a home EV charging system. Also, many states and/or local power companies also have incentives that offset the cost of an electric vehicle. Unfortunately for us, Nevada doesn’t have any incentives, but the nearby states of Colorado and California both have incentives that can save thousands toward a new EV.

The New Maxwell Electric Van. We’ll Wait until Driving Range Increases

Whew – this is turning into a real tome, and I have still a lot more research to do on BEVs. Stay tuned to next week’s blog when I’ll talk about the impact BEVs have on our already overloaded electrical grid, the cost to operate and maintain a BEV, range anxiety issues and other things to consider when contemplating buying an electric vehicle...