SHOPSMART AUTOS – CUSTOMER INFORMATION – DECEMBER 12, 2021 -2
The true cost of owning an electric car
Servicing
EV aficionados often brag about how cheap their cars are to service, but when you take into account the cost of other maintenance items, such as tyres, this isn’t the case with all models according to CAP HPI, which specialises in car valuations and background checks.
Buyers of the ID.3 can expect to shell out £778 in service and maintenance costs over three years, says CAP HPI. That’s 36% more than for a Golf 2.0 TDI Life and 42% more than for a 1.5 petrol Golf. “The difference between the Golf and ID.3 is mostly down to tyre size,” explains Steve Chambers, senior service, maintenance and repair editor at CAP HPI. “The ID.3 has a larger and rarer tyre size than the Golf, which has one of the most common tyre fitments. Electric vehicles also have a slightly higher historic tyre wear profile based on usage. “Vehicles used around town tend to wear out tyres and brakes more quickly than those spending more time on motorways. However, EVs tend not to wear their brakes as much as other cars because of the regenerative energy recuperation (which puts otherwise wasted energy back into the battery under deceleration) and the retardation this provides. That said, the tyres of any urban-driven car will still have to endure lots of acceleration and will most likely encounter a greater number of potholes per travelled mile.” However, in all three of our other comparisons, the EVs proved cheaper to maintain. The Model 3 costs 12% less than the 330e and 17% less than the 320i. In fact, the 330e is the most expensive of all, costing 27% more than the 320i over three years. “The 330e is more than 300kg heavier [than other 3 Series models] and has battery power available, which gives a power boost. The view here is that with the extra available power and weight, the average wear on tyres will be slightly greater than that of the lighter, lower- powered variant,” says Chambers.
Resale values
When EVs were an unknown entity among the majority of used car buyers some years ago, second-hand values were far lower than their conventionally powered counterparts. We heard horror stories from owners of cars that had retained as little as 17% of their original value after three years. However, the predicted values of EVs are now far more comparable with those of other cars, and when compared with increasingly unpopular diesels in some classes, they can be markedly better. Tesla’s tight grip on the market for its used cars in the UK has helped to bolster values. According to CAP HPI, a Model 3 will retain 56% of its original price after three years and 30,000 miles, while owners of comparable 3 Series models can expect to get back only 43-45% of their car’s list price.
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