I Bought an Electric Vehicle! Here’s Why:

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Last weekend I sold my SUV and purchased a beautiful (used) EV SUV, and joined the ranks of the electric vehicle world.

Why Did I Buy An Electric Vehicle?

Well, the short answer is…I wanted it.

The long answer is the rest of this blog post. I’ve wanted an electric vehicle for a long time. I looked into purchasing one last year before the federal tax credits expired, but at the time it didn’t make financial sense. Side note: I’m glad it didn’t work at that time because I did end up choosing a different vehicle than the one I was interested in last year.

Now with rising oil prices and being $1550 away from paying off my SUV, I had enough equity in the car to make the transaction make financial sense. I sold my car and put the profit down as my down payment.

I want to preface this by stating that I am not a proponent of a lifestyle of constant car payments. Originally I had planned on running the gas SUV into the ground, or maybe even passing it along to one of my kids (even though I have a goal of saving $10,000 by their 16th birthdays to help them buy their own cars, and am making slow but steady progress on that goal).

The thing that made me start looking into EVs again was that I was given some money for my birthday last month, and I put it in my vacation fund to use it for my upcoming road trip next month. After filling up my gas tank a few weeks ago as gas prices started climbing, I realized that I will have to spend the entire amount of birthday money on just the gas to get there and back. Nothing left over for fun, or food, or souvenirs. With two busy kids, I didn’t want skyrocketing gas prices to start cutting into our “fun” money that we use to go out to eat, see a movie, or go on weekend adventures.

I started doing research into every kind of EV – every make and model (except Teslas because I can’t stand Elon Musk). I looked at their reliability ratings, the battery range, the battery warranties, common maintenance that is needed and how often. I leaned towards SUVs because I do feel safer in a larger vehicle. I read lots of “official” reports from dealers and car journalists, but I found my most helpful information on Reddit boards.

My research helped me find the perfect SUV for our family, with the price point I wanted and the battery range that met my needs (i.e. the longest range for the size of the vehicle).

Next, I downloaded the free PlugShare app and looked around my area for where charging stations would be and how much they cost (measured in cents/kilowatt-hour). I made sure that I knew approximately how much it would cost for me to charge my vehicle enough throughout the week – spoiler alert: it’s a lot cheaper than gas. I even learned that a local library has free charging stations during library hours, as if I needed another excuse to spend more time in the library.

The Math of EVs vs Gas Cars

On the surface, yes EVs can have a more expensive price point than standard gas vehicles. However, the savings happen very quickly. Even with a more expensive car payment than I am used to, I will still be saving money, especially with gas prices over $4/gallon right now.

I ran every number I could think of when I was trying to decide if I could afford this or not. I entered my car into Kelly Blue Book to determine an average amount I could expect for my current vehicle. I used the early car payoff calculator to get estimated monthly costs. I looked up the cost of every charging station I would likely be regularly using to learn how much it would cost to charge, since I can’t install a charger at my apartment complex. I checked out insurance rates on Zebra to find out how much my insurance would change.

My Cost Breakdown:

Gas car monthly

Payment: $300 (this includes a one-year extended warranty that has already expired)

Insurance: $131

Gas: $240 (my monthly average for the past few months, which was also the average back in 2022 when I bought the car)

Oil changes every 2 months (which is the average time I have between changes): $80

Annual cost: $8532

EV monthly

Car payment: $410 (this includes a very extended warranty that will outlive my car payments)

Insurance: $127

Charging: $40

Annual cost: $6924

I will continue to put money in my car maintenance sinking fund every month like normal, but the difference is that I will actually get to watch it accumulate instead of pulling most of it out every couple months for oil changes. I will still need to do things like replace the tires, but it shouldn’t really require maintenance outside of that. I did purchase an extended bumper-to-bumper warranty for an additional 7 years/75,000 miles (that doesn’t start until after the 12 month certified used warranty ends) entirely for peace of mind in case of any big car emergencies or things that need replacement. It might not be worth it for some people, but it was to me. I also got a great interest rate on my loan, so the additional payments for the warranty were still in the affordable range for me. I will continue to pay a half payment every two weeks, which will shave months off my loan and save hundreds in interest.

If I didn’t purchase the EV, I would have paid off my gas SUV in October, which admittedly would lower the car costs. However, I think more long-term than that. Any major repairs would come out of my bank account from now until the end of the life of the car. I would continue to be tied to gas prices, making budgeting harder and more inconsistent. Now, I have a warranty that will outlive the car payments by years, giving me even more time to save up for anything that might happen. Once I pay off the car, I will only have to pay for insurance and the minuscule amount of electricity used to charge it.

But What About the Battery?

You might have heard that replacing batteries on electric vehicles is expensive. It is. Depending on the vehicle and the battery, it could be upwards of $15,000 to get the battery replaced. The good news is that the make I chose covers every EV battery with an 8 year/100,000 mile warranty, and I can save for that in my car maintenance fund so I am prepared.

I learned on Reddit that EV batteries are in “capsules” and often only one or two capsules will fail and require replacement, making repairs much cheaper than replacing the entire system.

The battery life is also in large part up to how you care for your vehicle. For instance, regular charging (not letting the battery get too low before charging) and not racing down the highways will help the batteries last longer. I also read that using the super powered charging stations to charge it very quickly are harder on the battery as well, so I will be avoiding those as much as possible, except on road trips. The batteries are somewhat regenerating, meaning they can charge while you drive IF you drive carefully. I took my parents on a test drive in the car I ended up buying, and we went about 8-10 miles but the battery showed we had only used 3 “miles” of battery because of how I drove.

The Ethical Dilemma of Electric Vehicles

I have always had a goal of living more sustainably, and that includes cutting ties with oil companies as much as I can. Fracking is terrible for the environment and the surrounding wildlife. Gas is a non-renewable resource, so that any time we need more, we need to drill, transport, and process more oil. This destroys ecosystems and harms people who live in the surrounding area (example: the Dakota Access Pipeline). Not to mention the emissions produced by gas vehicles, which pollute the air. Yes, electric chargers might rely on gas power grids to generate the energy to charge the car, but the EPA says that that amount is much lower of a footprint than a gas car.

At the same time, mining for the minerals to make the batteries is also terrible. Children are used for labor and the work conditions are deplorable. It is exploitative at best, sheer cruel abuse at worst. These minerals are used for smart phones as well, which is one reason why I do not upgrade my phones unless it stops working.

A report conducted by the University of Technology Sydney’s Institute for Sustainable Futures shows significant incentives to recycle old batteries to limit the need for new. The reporters found that responsible recycling of batteries was a good source of the minerals needed to create new ones: copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt.

In a world of overconsumption, where we have enough clothes already on this planet to dress the next six generations, it is important to know that we have the minerals already mined. I have no doubts that (if allowed the resources to continue the research and tech growth) by the time I need a new battery in my car, there will be a much more ethical option.

What I Think So Far

I love driving this EV. It is smooth and quiet, and it feels sturdy. Do you remember being little, and when the driver would take a hard turn, your whole body would tilt a little from the centrifugal force? This does not happen in this car. The car is solid and I feel very safe.

I also love driving past a gas station, now unfazed by gas prices.

After working so hard for so many years to financially recover after divorce, it is a huge gift to myself to do something big just because I wanted it and know it will make my life better. To me, this car is proof that I have worked hard and that the hard work has paid off. This is the first car I’ve ever purchased without a partner or with my dad as a co-signer. Six years ago, my credit tanked after a series of divorce-induced financial stressors. When my paid-off car was totaled in an ice storm in 2022 and I needed to purchase my SUV, my dad had to co-sign because my credit was too low to qualify for anything. I worked hard to get it up to where I didn’t need any co-signers on this loan. It makes me so proud to see it and know I did this all on my own.

I will be going on my first road trip with it in a few weeks and will report back on my thoughts!