Not true. No new car is cheap, and electricity is now cheaper than gas or diesel.

My parents just bought a new BYD Dolphin, and it cost 3 EUR to go 150 km, whereas my diesel car costs 15 EUR for the same route.

I don't know how people can say electric cars aren't cheaper. It's a 5x difference!

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jopsen a day ago | parent | next [-]

The initial car is more expensive. You'll typically make it up, but it depends on how much you drive.

And you have to pay interest on larger car loan.

But in practice, yes, when charging at home EVs are dirty cheap to charge.

The total cost of ownership (toc) for an EV is much lower. But you are paying it all upfront.

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stavros a day ago | parent | next [-]

I don't know about that, this car cost 23k EUR which is cheaper than a VW Polo, which is roughly in the same category.

	▲	jopsen a day ago \| parent [-]
		That is cheap.. But there is are lots of people buying a used car for 10k Regardless, I do a agree, EV is absolutely the way to go.

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joquarky a day ago | parent | prev [-]

Electric cars are mechanically simpler.

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zejn a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah, if you're buying a new car, electric makes sense if at all possible. But a lot of people are not buying new cars, because new cars are not cheap. There's a saying that a new car loses half of its value the moment it's driven away from the dealership.

But I agree, operational costs of an EV can be much lower, if you can charge at home rates.

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zeroonetwothree a day ago | parent | prev [-]

I’m sure your specific circumstances apply to everyone else equally

	▲	stavros a day ago \| parent [-]
		Oh you're right, these cars and this fuel pump are made exclusively for me.

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hyperman1 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

We're looking for a new car. I'd love to go electrical, but there are a few problems:

1) I have no garage and no parking space next to my home. I can't charge it.

2) We have no trustworthy garage for repairs. It turns out the garage regulations require a separate space for electrical forcsafety, and nobody has room to expand.

Apart from that, electricity in Belgium is expensive. I did the math on swapping our gas heater for a heat pump, but I'd pay more for energy even of the amount of watts is so much lower.