There’s no doubt at some point that you’ve considered switching to an electric vehicle. Our guess would be when gas prices were rising faster than we could blink and you were watching the dollar amount at the gas pump slowly drain your bank account; that’s when you thought about the switch the most. Is the allure of buying an electric car, simply to save money on fuel costs at gas stations? Whether it is or isn’t, is now the right time to switch from a gas-powered car to one with an electric motor?
Let’s Talk Money
We get it, many ideas fall under the “money” topic, especially when you are considering buying an electric vehicle to replace your gas-powered vehicle. We have seen firsthand the craze for EVs and we understand the frustrations people are going through as they try and get their hands on a new EV, lucky for FFUN Cars’ customers, we carry a pretty sweet inventory of used EVs and used hybrid vehicles.
Incentives
If you’ve been in Canada for any length of time, you probably know the government loves to throw money at things. Well, we like that they are throwing it at people who purchase EVs. That’s right, there are major incentives and rebates for purchasing an electric vehicle, hybrid car, or plug-in hybrid (PHEV). What are those incentives you ask? When you purchase a battery-electric car, hydrogen fuel cell, or long-range PHEV, the federal government will give you $5k back. If you go with a short-range PHEV, you get $2500 back. There are stipulations though. To receive these rebates, if it’s a passenger car, the sticker price has to be under $55k and for a pickup truck, minivan, or SUV, it must be under $60k. In addition, the EV must be on the list of iZEV-approved models.
Provincial Rebates
Not all provinces are created equal. Or the saying goes something like that. Well, in this case, there are provincial rebates for EV drivers in some provinces and not others. We won’t point any out (uh-um) Ontario. On the other side, we will happily call out Quebec and British Columbia for offering some of the best rebates.
The Quebec government is giving up to $8k off new EVs or PHEVs, and there’s a long list of qualifying vehicles. Over to the west coast, BC has the CleanBC Go Electric program aimed at helping climate change that gives up to $3k off electric vehicles and $1500 off PHEVs. In addition, there are up to $350 in incentives for installing a home charger, plus $5k from the federal government. One of the best announcements of 2022 in BC was the tax credits when the provincial government made used electric cars PST exempt.
Other Financial Considerations
It’s obvious that driving an electric vehicle will save you money when it comes to refuelling. But, are those cost savings enough to justify buying an EV? It doesn’t matter which automaker; Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, Mercedes, Audi, and the list goes on, they seem to all have or have in the works their version of an EV. You wouldn’t think since there are lots of options that the idea (or lack of) supply on demand would help to lower the prices. Well, yes and no. Yes, they are cheaper than they used to be, but no, they are not less expensive than their internal combustion engine counterparts. Why is that? Batteries. Yes, the batteries for EVs are the most expensive component of an electric car. But (important but) the price of them is going down. On average battery packs for EVs last around 10 years; however, some automakers offer a lifetime warranty on theirs, so that is definitely worth some consideration.
Maintenance
We can all agree that the upfront cost of an EV is higher than a gas-powered vehicle. There have been many advances in electric vehicles, but when compared to gas vehicles, they are still very much in their infancy. It is only fair that the cost of owning an electric vehicle, whether that’s a Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 3, or BMW i3 goes beyond the purchase price tag. It’s called lifetime ownership costs of a vehicle. Since an EV has fewer moving parts, and well, parts in general, they require less maintenance, resulting in lower maintenance costs. Now, you may not think regular maintenance, such as oil changes is a lot, but throughout owning the vehicle, it adds up.
Travel Distance
Have you ever heard the term, range anxiety? Well, it’s a thing EV drivers deal with. It’s the fear of running out of power between public charging stations. Some could argue the same exists for gas-powered vehicles, the only difference is, there are way more gas stations than there are charging stations. Now, of course, this depends on the type of EV you go with. Some EVs can travel quite far on a single charge, which depending on where you are travelling might be enough to get from one EV charging station to the next. If you love road trips and are worried about your vehicle’s range; you shouldn’t be.
We’re big fans of vehicles; electric and gas-powered, and since we are such big fans, we sell top-of-the-line used cars that suit any lifestyle. If you are truly on the fence between the two, let’s go through some pros and cons of owning an EV.
On the positive side, the driving experience offers a smooth ride, while giving off zero tailpipe emissions. There is a massive saving on fuel, and you don’t even have to leave home to fuel up if you have a home charging station installed. Each year there are more and more options for EVs. On the downside, EVs get a lower range than most gas-powered engine vehicles and the purchase price is significantly higher when comparing the same make and models. As much as we all love the idea of zero emissions, it’s not always easy to charge your EV. Yes, there are options for EVs and increasingly more each year, but there are still way more gas-engine cars available.
We fully admit that we didn’t say yay or nay to whether or not you should buy an electric vehicle. We, like we always do, presented both sides. Whether you want an EV or a gas engine, stop by and see our inventory. When we say stop by, we mean you can visit our website or come see us in-store because we make it convenient for you. Buying a pre-owned vehicle with FFUN Cars is awesome, even the financing, which (by the way), you can qualify for in two minutes. Heck, we’ll even deliver the vehicle to you. It’s car buying that is First, Fast, and FFUN.
