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There is no doubt that electric vehicles are the future, especially with the fossil fuels nearing their expiry date in terms of reserves. As of now, the car market does have a few electric vehicles. The question is, are they really economical as city cars for them to be ranked above the regular cars on your choice list. Here are a few criteria that need to be pondered upon.
Despite the efforts by car makers and governments to subsidise electric vehicles, we have to agree that EVs are, as of today, a bit expensive to buy. And that is because, even though the technology is advancing, the economies of scale haven’t kicked in. As the number of EVs sold go higher, the research and development costs might get spread across, bringing the costs lower.
But despite the slightly higher costs to start with, it has been proven that running an EV is extremely cheap. Except for the regular servicing of moving parts, there are no oils or liquids to be replaced which do contribute to a major chunk of running costs. Also, running cost on electricity is pegged at 70 paisa per km for Mahindra Electric’s latest product – e2oPlus. To put things in perspective, the running cost of the most efficient diesel car is not less than Rs 3 per km and it is higher for petrol cars.
While the savings in maintenance and running costs is currently offset by the higher price tag, the question mark of battery pack renewal is difficult to answer. Adding to the woes is the resale price of EVs. But these questions will certainly stand for as long as it takes for the advances in technology and government initiatives are bound to take their sheen off.
