Considerations to Make Before Buying an EV

We aren’t going to tell you whether or not you should buy an electric car because it’s completely subjective. Some people love it and some don’t, we’re just here to make your decision easier by going over all of the considerations you might want to make.

Environmental factors: This is a big reason to make the switch to EVs for some people. EVs are significantly more environmentally friendly to produce and drive than gas powered vehicles. While not completely carbon neutral, they are emission free which means they don’t generate any carbon dioxide directly.

Indirectly, there is still carbon dioxide emitted when the car is being produced, and the power that generates the vehicle also emits Co2.

Range concerns: This is another common fear people have when considering buying an electric car. You need to either charge the car at home, or rely on the place you’re going to have a charging station. Even though the number of EV charging stations in Canada is quickly increasing, they are still somewhat hard to come by.

Electric cars have come a very long way in a short amount of time. In the past 5-10 years electric car ranges have gotten a lot larger on average, and more EV charging stations are being produced in Brantford and all across Ontario. You might not want to take your car on a day-long road trip, but it will get you from point A to point B with no problem at all.

Lack of Noise: For some, the lack of noise is a non-issue. For others though, it’s a big concern and almost a main reason as to why they wouldn’t buy an electric car.

Aside from people simply enjoying the sound of a gas-powered engine, many people also believe the lack of sound will lead to more road accidents. However, this concern seems to have no basis in fact as of yet.

The Economics of Buying an Electric Car in Brantford

Initial cost: You’re probably already familiar with this if you’ve been shopping around; electric cars cost more than regular cars by a fairly significant amount. On average an electric car will cost around $5,000 – $10,000 more than it’s gas powered counterpart depending on the manufacturer.

The good news is that electric cars have been steadily decreasing over the past years now that the market is getting more saturated. So eventually we hope to see some much more affordable electric car options in the market. However, if you’re looking to buy an electric car in 2022, prepare to pay more.

Tax rebates: There are some ways to mitigate these high initial costs in Canada with the help of federal tax rebates and incentives. Depending on the make, model, and price of the electric vehicle, you can claim tax incentives worth up to $5,000. This will take the brunt of those extra costs.

Learn more about incentives for purchasing zero-emission vehicles here.

Fuel costs: This is a big and unarguable money saver that electric cars have over traditional cars. Electric cars do not use fuel and therefore you don’t ever have to fill up the car with gas. This will save you thousands of dollars every year.

EVs are not completely free to charge at home, they will usually increase your electricity bill by around 30%, but saving 70% on fuel every single month adds up, fast (especially with incredibly high gas costs in 2022).

Maintenance costs: Electric motors are actually much simpler than gas powered engines because the have much less moving parts, they don’t need as many components like oil and spark plugs, and the require much less changing of fluids.

When buying an electric car, you’ll be saving on maintenance costs. Not as significantly as what you’ll save on gas, but it’s a decrease nonetheless.

How to Electric Cars Handle Canadian Winters?

Cold morning starts: As a general rule, machinery doesn’t like being too cold, and as you know, Canadian winters get pretty cold! When a machine is cold it gets slower, less efficient, and the moving parts of the machine get heavier which makes the require more energy to move. That’s why cars sometimes struggle when first turned on.

Electric cars don’t have to worry about this issue. There is no ignition to spark, you simply hit a button and the battery turns on, much like your phone. This is a huge advantage electric cars have over traditional in Canada in winter.

Reduced range: Aside from the car’s battery not having issues in the cold, many other parts of the car still do. The axles of the wheels and the car itself become heavier as the molecules clam up in the cold. Therefore the vehicles requires more power to move, which will reduce the efficiency of the battery giving you shorter range.

This also happens with traditional cars but when we compare the two, it’s considerably worse for EVs. Traditional engines lose around 20-25% of fuel efficiency in the cold. EVs on the other hand drop by roughly a 40-50% reduction. Hopefully as technology advances this becomes less of an issue.

The range of electric vehicles is quite reduced in the winter, which could be a problem if you work far away from home and can’t charge your car at the office.

Will Electric Cars Replace Gas Cars Completely?

It’s becoming more clear to everyone that the world of automotive is going through a massive change from gas powered engines to electric. The big question everyone is asking is “will gas cars be replaced completely by EVs?”.

Cost of electric cars: Currently, the cost of EVs is too high for them to take over and is the primary reasons for consumers not buying an EV. Especially for lower income households, the initial cost of buying an electric car in Brantford cannot be justified.

It follows then that electric cars will replace gas cars completely when electric cars become more affordable to the general public. We’re already starting to see prices of EVs come down and experts are predicting that by 2025 electric car prices in Canada will be on par with their gas-powered counterparts.

New Policies: New government policies will push this process in happening faster. Canada is no exception when it comes to companies pushing electric cars for a cleaner environmental impact.

The federal government have promised to ban the production of gas cars by 2035. This is a definitive date for when this switch will happen, but it might happen even before then!

Car culture: Just 5 years ago electric cars were seen as gimmicky and weak fads compared to traditional cars. This is no longer the case and more people are supporting the idea of buying an electric car than ever.

Gearheads all around the world are changing their minds on electric cars and as they do, demand is increasing. So, will electric cars replace gas cars completely? When it comes to car sales; yes. But old gas powered cars will be on the road for quite some time still.

We hope this helps you make your decision of buying an electric car in Brantford. Clearly we are still in the early stages of EVs but we’ve seen significant improvements over the past 5 years or so.

If you’d like to buy an electric car now, we’d love to help you with that! Fill in our online pre-approval form and we’ll get back to you within minutes with options.