• Registration - not higher everywhere

• Opportunity cost - I dont really agree with this one. Of course there are opportunity costs, but that applies to any purchase. I think this just further confuses things.

If you have access to home charging, and EV will definitely save you money in operating costs. If you are looking to justify the cost of the car with these savings though, you won’t. Cost savings is just one factor to consider.

Do you want my spreadsheets that spell it out? I bought mine purely out of financial reasoning not to save the planet. The main reason this was possible was due to the 13k in rebates.

Not all EVs bought are new Teslas. As this point Buying a used EV is a no brainer per the math if you are able to charge at home.

The EV math works much better if you mostly charge at home and have solar panels covering your electricity use. My “fuel” cost for my Bolt is essentially zero.

Others have mentioned new/used as a big factor. The problem there is that if you shop for a 3-4 year old EV, you are limited to the models that were being made 3-4 years ago, and the technology they had. It’s going to take time for manufacturers to build out their offerings and for game-changing technologies like vehicle-to-grid two-way charging to become standard. Then add 3-4 years for all of that to become available in used EVs.

Based on your “personal feelings” and your ability to make 10% on your investments I have to agree that you should never ever buy an electric car.

Depends.

A Bolt is probably one of the cheapest vehicles to own.

I personally have a Rivian truck because I have to have a truck. I need 4x4 and to be able to tow well. After tax rebate, I paid about 67k. Looking up a similarly equipped Tundra, it’s a hair over $60k and based on MPG, by 100000 miles i’ll have paid $15000 in fuel. So that’s $75k total and I didn’t even pick a premium trim.

So yes, it is possible EVs can save you some money - but at worst they are within the same cost. I care about clean air tho so at that point its a choice. I don’t feel very guilty driving an 800 hp 4x4 super truck when I’m charging it off my solar. I would feel a little guilty driving a 20 mpg 4x4 truck everywhere and the fuel costs would kill the fun anyway.

Charging at your home is the key metric imo. If you can’t, then things don’t work out quite as well.

I can charge at home and after 100k+ miles, my Model 3 has pretty consistently been 1/3 the cost to run compared to my last gas car and my maintenance so far (other than tires) has been $300.

So for me, it absolutely has been far less to have an EV.

I don’t think purchasing any new car is a financially god decision which seems to be what you’re struggling with. It’s not an investment it’s a want. For me it works because I got my new EV cheap, I am able to get the tax credit, I needed a truck for side work, I home electrical could support a charger without a full panel upgrade and I can charge at home. All those needed to line up in order for me to get into the EV world. For me personally I’m saving about 200 a month on gas over my ICE with the same car payment so it’s a win for me.

If you’re still not convinced. I leased Niro when they were giving cars away. All the incentives from the state and such added up to $15k off. I plan to buy out the lease. If used prices tank I’ll see if I can negotiate that price. I see leasing as a win - win for the consumer. Cars are terrible assets as they only lose value. Arguing the extent of that loss is mute. Buy the car you want to meets your need and budget. My operating cost are 4x less per mile. My utility offer TOU pricing so the rate is about half at night. My electricity barely increased. My insurance was about the same coming from a Golf. Live in a big city so it is already expensive to insure. Yes, it is possible to save money on an EV.

Charge at home and the answer is yes. By far. Next question.

Do you have a way to charge at home? What are electricity rates, including time of use rates, and what are gas prices in your local area? How many miles are you putting in on average a day? How often would you need to use public charging? What incentives if any do you qualify for? What segment of the automotive market are you looking at? What is your budget?

EVs can save money, they can even save a *lot* of money compared to its closest ICE competitor, but it depends on those factors above and more so without them the question doesn’t make much sense.

Also, if you want to save money, don’t get a car if you can find a way to swing it. Use mass transit, biking, micromobility (electric bike, electric scooter), etc.

Don’t forget, there is basically no where to fix them other than dealers in most locations. And they don’t really know how to fix them either, they just want to replace entire systems for multiple thousands of dollars and it will take weeks if not months. It would be like having your transmission rebuilt every time something went wrong in your ICE. I realize this should abate over time but it is an issue now.

I was paying about $200 per month for gas. Now I pay about $60 for electricity for the same miles. Insurance is higher, but I’m still ahead by $100+ per month. With all the government incentives my EV6 price was comparable to an ICE with the same features.

I didn’t buy a new EV to save money overall, but it is less expensive over 5 years than buying a comparable new ICE.

Cost of living is higher where you are thus the power is more expensive. 10/.20 SC here

Long answer: Yes.

Short answer: No.

(Because No has 1 less letter than Yes)

Actual answer: It depends.

I’ll save you time.

Cars are a bad financial vehicle. They all lose you money. The best decision, financially, is buy the cheapest thing to get you from A-B.

The depreciation curve alone on an EV should quickly dismantle any perceived “savings”. If you qualify for a remaining tax credit, you shouldn’t be buying a new car. You don’t make enough money unless you’ve got an inheritance or something.

Now what’s left is to decide what qualities you value in your new car (if you make enough to responsibly buy one). If you want it to be an EV, cool. If you want something fun to drive, fast, cool, manual, V8. Run the decision tree out.