The initial costs of buying a car vary quite considerably regardless of the fuel it uses to run on. However, both the electric and hybrid vehicles are more expensive to buy, up to 20 per cent in some cases, with the full electric car at the higher end of the scale. This gap is very slowly closing; as they become cheaper to manufacture and will eventually match the price of gas engine cars. The government offers subsidies for those wishing to buy electric vehicles, but the prices are still way above any gas powered equivalent.
Running Costs
A gas engine car is quite expensive to run. Forever at the mercy of the ever increasing prices of oil, even cars with a good miles-to-the-gallon figure can be a wallet drainer. Electric vehicles, however, don’t require any petrol or diesel to run. This way, they cost less and drastically reduce the amount of CO2 that is released into the atmosphere. Instead they use a standard plug-in to charge the battery, so you therefore need to take into account the price of your electricity, the time it takes to charge the battery and how often you need to charge it. Electric cars can only run for, at the most, two hours before it needs recharging. It can also take a long time for them to charge to full battery again. They are therefore only good if you use your car for short trips or for people who use their cars infrequently.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers, among others, state that at best, the typical cost of electricity to charge an electric vehicle is about 3p per mile, compared with the average of 16p per mile for petrol and diesel engines. They also have lower maintenance costs.
A hybrid car, then, is the car of choice for those who wish to be more environmentally and wallet-friendly. Hybrids, whilst referring to a wide variety of different forms, are generally less fuel efficient than electric cars, but more so than gas powered engines. With hybrids you do still have to fill them up at the gas station, but less often. Many hybrid models also have regenerative processes, such as charging the battery through the friction caused by braking. They have low CO2 outputs, cutting emissions by approximately 25 per cent and other harmful emissions by up to 90 per cent.
If you’re looking for an eco friendly or hybrid car, then check out www.carshop.co.uk.
