Electric vehicle drivers could save thousands on maintenance, study finds
Illinois is looking to get a million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, and the state is beginning to roll out policies such as rebate offers to encourage residents to reach its goal.
With several factors in the mix when considering an electric car — such as where you'll charge it and whether you can afford the higher upfront cost — maintenance is one area where drivers who make the switch could see some savings.
A 2021 study out of Argonne National Laboratory in DuPage County found that electric vehicles can cost up to 40% less to maintain than regular gasoline cars.
The report looks at the total cost of ownership over the lifetime of a vehicle. When comparing the costs of maintaining gasoline cars and electric cars, the difference boils down to the fact that EVs simply have fewer moving parts to service.
“It really gets down to things that people would be familiar with in the maintaining of their vehicles: you have spark plugs, oil changes and coolants that are going to be required for a gasoline vehicle but will not be required for an electric vehicle,” said co-author Andrew Burnham, the principal environmental scientist at Argonne,.
Over the lifetime of a vehicle, maintenance for a gasoline car will run about $16,300, compared to $8,900 for an all-electric vehicle, according to the report. At about $14,000, the lifetime cost of maintaining a hybrid vehicle is comparable to gasoline cars.
Burnham encourages consumers to think beyond the price tag at the dealership and consider not only maintenance, but also fuel, insurance and personal use, such as how far you drive and how long you'd like to own the car.
“Those get to things that typically the consumer isn't focusing on ... but they are important to consider. They are part of the cost of owning the vehicle, and at least for maintenance we do see the potential for savings,” he said. “The upfront cost is really important for consumers, but the Department of Energy and other folks who are trying to look at alternative fuels often say, 'Let's take the next step.'”
Environmental considerations
In the Chicago area, where air pollution is among the worst in the country, the environmental impact of the vehicle you drive can be one of those steps. Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Burnham recently developed an online tool where users can compare greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutant emissions between types of vehicles. It can be found at afleet.es.anl.gov/afleet.
Electric vehicles don't produce the tailpipe emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone air pollution — more commonly known as smog. The American Lung Association recently ranked the Chicago metro area 16th out of 226 areas in average days per year with high ozone.
Most recently, the Chicago National Weather Service declared an air quality action day on June 24, when most of the area was “unhealthy for sensitive groups” such as children, the elderly and those with respiratory diseases such as asthma.
While EVs don't contribute to local air pollution, vehicles that source their electricity from power plants continue to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Due to the efficiency of the vehicles, however, Burnham said electric vehicles can cut those emissions in half.
“The emissions are happening somewhere, so that gets a little complicated,” he said. “But on average, you'll see emissions benefits as you start moving toward electric vehicles. In Illinois, we're seeing at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to a gasoline vehicle, maybe even larger as the grid gets cleaner.”
Donald Wuebbles, a climate scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said technology needs to improve to make EVs completely emission-free and sustainable, but “in the long run, there's a big, big gain.”
“I think those issues will be overcome in the near future as new technology develops,” he said. “You're not emitting carbon dioxide from the vehicle itself. Air quality will improve, which means people breathe better, you have less deaths associated with air quality, and you're reducing the effect of human activities on the climate system.”
Wuebbles, who co-led a statewide climate change assessment last year, added that the stronger winds in the Chicago region help alleviate the smog issue for the area, but higher temperatures make air quality worse.
“The warming climate is going to make air quality worse because those reactions that form ozone are temperature-dependent,” he said. “If the emissions would remain constant, with the number of vehicles going up and the amount per vehicle remaining constant, then the ozone issue and the particle issue would both get worse because of the changes in climate.”
• Jenny Whidden is a Report For America corps member covering climate change and the environment for the Daily Herald. To help support her work, click here to make a tax-deductible donation.