The first introduction of electric vehicles suggested an exciting future ahead, but it’s still not a reality for most drivers. That might soon change however, with global electric car sales gaining traction, prices on the way down and major manufacturers ramping up production of electric and hybrid models.
There are definitely financial and environmental benefits to electric vehicles, and to take advantage, drivers will need to need to school up on new areas, including battery charging and electric vehicle parts.
The lowdown on electric vehicles
Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s 2018 Electrical Vehicle Outlook predicted global sales of electric vehicles would surge from 1.1 million in 2017 to 11 million by 2025, and 30 million by 2030. Australia has been one of the least responsive nations, but both the NRMA and RACV are leading advocates for a transition to electric motoring.
Currently there are a small number of vehicle charging stations in place, but the NRMA has committed $10 million to a national network of charging stations and the RACV has said it will have stations in eight locations across Victoria by the end of this year.
Benefits for drivers
The two major impediments to electric transition have been vehicle cost and lack of charging stations. With charging station construction powering ahead and prices lowering, drivers are likely to start thinking electric. Environmental impact is a major benefit of course, as is the potential saving in fuel consumption. The NRMA quotes a potential reduction of up to $2,000 a year in fuel costs, which is significant. The main outlay after purchase is going to be maintenance, which will mean a few changes from current vehicles.
Electric vehicles parts versus combustion engines
So what’s new? Overall, electric cars have less engine parts than traditional vehicles, so there’ll be fewer things to monitor.
The heart of any electric car is the battery. Battery life will vary per vehicle, but may last several years (you’ll need to check specific model stats). The other change is in the use of regenerative braking which transfers energy to the battery. This puts much less pressure on the brake pads so they’ll last a lot longer. There’ll also be no need for an oil change, spark plugs, transmission fluid and radiator fluid.
And what stays the same? That will be the traditional maintenance costs of things like tyres and wiper blades.
The future of motoring
The future of motoring will be electric. When you make the change, we’ll be here, and we’ll still provide a range of traditional and electric vehicle parts so you can keep your car in perfect shape.
