I have been driving a fuel car for more than 10 years, with a total mileage of over 150,000 kilometers. A rough estimate is that 1 kilometer costs about 80 cents, and the fuel cost is at least 120,000 yuan. However, my friends who drive electric cars say that it costs less than 10 cents per kilometer. In the first five years, I disdained such a gap, but five years later, I have a completely different view of new energy vehicles.
During this May Day holiday, my friend was planning a self-driving tour. After considering the concerns about the battery life and charging of electric cars, my friend and I switched to a gasoline car. After a few days of getting along, there are some real car-using experiences that I must talk about. The four major advantages of electric cars are obvious, but the three pain points are the flaws. This may be the common voice of many new energy vehicle owners!
First, those car owners who say they don’t have range anxiety are definitely not telling the truth.
Taking a car model with a manufacturer’s nominal range of 550 kilometers as an example, I originally thought that it could run at least 400 kilometers, but I almost called a tow truck. On the highway, when the speed exceeds 100 kilometers per hour, the power consumption almost doubles, and with the air conditioner, music and other equipment on, especially in the low temperature winter weather, the actual range is about 50%-70% off.
In other words, a full charge can only allow the car to travel about 300 kilometers. If you want to travel 250 kilometers one way, you need to plan charging in advance, because there are many uncertain factors in charging, such as some charging piles are broken, some are incompatible, and some may already be charged by the owner. Especially during holidays, it is common to queue for 2 hours and charge for 1 hour.
Whenever the battery level is lower than 50%, I always think about finding a charging station to fully charge the battery so that I can feel safe. When the battery level is lower than 20%, I have to check the remaining power every once in a while, for fear that the battery will suddenly run out while driving, which is not only dangerous on the highway but also very expensive to tow.
In fact, it is not because the electric car itself has a short battery life, but because the charging is slow. If it only takes more than 10 minutes to fully charge a battery like a gasoline car, then there will naturally be no concerns about battery life.
Second, if you cannot install a personal charging station, you should think twice!
We all know that charging new energy vehicles saves money. Indeed, at night, a home charging station costs less than 0.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour. The power consumption is 15 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometers. In this way, the cost of 1 kilometer is less than 0.1 yuan. The cost of a gasoline car is almost 6 times that of an electric car, so there is no doubt that it saves money.
However, if you don’t have a personal charging station, you can only go to a public charging station outside to charge, which is not only troublesome and time-consuming, but also increases the overall cost of using the car.
According to the current electricity price + service fee + parking fee, etc. of third-party charging piles, it is basically between 1.2 yuan and 2 yuan. Taking 1.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour as an example, it costs about 0.23 yuan per kilometer.
Just looking at charging, it is still more cost-effective than gasoline cars. However, if you calculate the second-hand car value retention rate, annual insurance premiums, subsequent maintenance costs, etc., the advantages of electric cars are not that obvious.
Third, the annual mileage is less than 10,000 kilometers, and the advantages of electric vehicles are not as good as those of gasoline vehicles of the same level.
For most family cars, the average annual mileage is between 10,000 and 20,000 kilometers. If you do the math, if the annual mileage exceeds 20,000 kilometers, or the greater the mileage, the more money an electric car will save in terms of economic cost.
However, there are also many people who drive less than 10,000 kilometers a year. The fuel cost of a gasoline car is 8,000 yuan, and the electricity cost of an electric car is 2,000 yuan when it is charged outside. Taking two cars worth 200,000 yuan as an example, both have been driven for 8 years. The electric car saves 48,000 yuan compared to the gasoline car. However, a gasoline car can still be sold for more than 80,000 yuan when sold as a used car, while no one may be willing to buy an electric car even at 50,000 yuan.
If you do some calculations, the annual premium is 1,000 yuan more, which means 8,000 yuan in 8 years. This does not include the cost of battery degradation or even battery replacement and maintenance after a few years. With this comprehensive calculation, the gap between gasoline cars and electric cars is getting smaller and smaller. So, would you rather choose a gasoline car or an electric car? The conclusion is clear at a glance.
The above mainly talks about some of the current shortcomings of electric vehicles, but then again, electricity has obvious advantages in power performance, NVH comfort, appearance, interior, intelligence, green license plates, etc. This is why in just a few years, the penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles in a single week has exceeded 50%.
In fact, many people don’t think too much when buying an electric car. For most car owners, they use the car around the city most of the year, and occasionally go back to their hometown or drive on the highway during holidays. They can also be particular about the electric car. Many families even have two cars. In this case, they may choose an electric car based on the appearance, sense of technology, intelligence, travel cost and other aspects.
Therefore, with the development of new energy vehicle technology, the future may be electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, or even hydrogen energy vehicles. These new energy sources may surpass current oil vehicles. It is just a matter of time.
It’s just that, at the current stage, new energy vehicles still have some shortcomings that need to be improved, and the choice should be made based on personal car usage scenarios and personal preferences. For example, if it is convenient to install a personal charging pile, and there is already a gasoline car at home with a high mileage each year, or if you are driving in a city with license plate or number restrictions, then the advantages of new energy vehicles are still very obvious. On the contrary, gasoline cars are more worry-free and time-saving.