Are electric cars expensive to maintain?

Electric cars now a days have become a central part of our mobility system. Within 3-4 years of time Electric cars are able to gain the confidence among the buyer. But at the same time when the electric cars are making its place in the market the long term maintenance becomes more important. So we here came to answer are electric cars expensive to maintain. Lets have a look with the practical reality

Is an electric car high maintenance?

The electric car sales has been on the higher side as per the growth graph says. So long term reliability and infrastructure should have a focused criteria for calculating the maintenance. Here we will try to go deeper about the maintenance of an electric car. We will discuss first about the

component of an electric car that do not need the maintenance.

• No Engine but a Drive Motor instead which runs on electricity and which powers the wheels.
• Electric cars do no have clutch and exhaust system, so less repair and less wear and tear.
• Electric cars do not have engine oil so less cost of replacing it. Similarly no oil filter/fuel filter is needed.
• No carbon generation because no fuel burning. So no need to have filters like DPF.
• Similarly No spark plug needed.
• No Timing Belts and no piston valves.
• Basically for Electric Cars service is required but the mostly it needs attention and regular checking and monitoring.

Read: DPF ISSUE

component of an electric car that need the maintenance.

• The Drive motor sends the power which ultimately require Drive shaft for wheel to move.
• The Electric cars have Gears also.
• Another component is breaking system that include break pad repair
• Electric cars have small batteries too for powering the internal system like headlight, cabin light, horn, driver mid lights and other electronics to work similarly as ICE cars.
• It contains the alternator to charge the small battery.
• EVs have coolant and radiator to bypass the heat generated.
• Electric cars also have AC cooling system so a condenser is also there.
• Electric cars have an extra module installed to create vacuum for breaking system to work.
• The suspension set up required to focus more because it carry battery and which is very heavy.
• 60% cost in an EV belongs to its battery so battery health is important. It degrades slowly with time.
• Battery releases heat during charging and power generation. So it needs attention too.
• Tyre wear and tear cost is more due to heavy friction and heavy load.

So by focusing on the above points we can say that there are some components which are not present in an Electric Car but at the same time there are some other components which required to be installed.

Maintenance cost of electric cars in India

To calculate maintenance cost of an electric car we have to focus on the long term maintenance vs short term maintenance. Like we have already discussed there are modules in the electric cars that will need servicing and monitoring. Similarly the points include that in long term what maintenance will it cause like

• The parts of EVs are costly because of the availability.
• The service environment is costly because it needs extra attention as there are electric current involved.
• Battery cost is higher and it is degrading in nature over the time.
• Electric cars have different tyre which are designed particularly for them to reduce tyre noise. It contains polyurethane foam inside to reduce humming sound. So they can be costly.
• The system of the Electric car is current based so wirings are involved and fear of short circuiting is also a concern. it needs extra attention.
• There are inverters and converters involved which converts AC to DC. They also need repairing.
• The ECU unit which is considered the nervous system for a car which may also get damaged and need repairing.
• Everything is software controlled so on time updation is required during servicing.
• Only trained staff can repair the system because high technicalities involved.
• Wear and tear issues like denting and minor scratches cost will be different because we have to get it done by the trained staff.
• Electric circuit based system is there so any tampering may cause disturbance for the system.
• Charger installation cost is also there.

So by going with the calculations. In early stages of the car’s life Electric car costs less than the ICE cars. But in long term is will need repairing of the components.

Maintenance cost of electric cars vs Petrol

Talking about the maintenance cost of an electric cars within 4-5 years of buying will be very less. Because there is no engine servicing involved. The ICE cars (petrol or diesel) have system of burning fuels inside and that produces carbon is its accumulation. This system is not present in the electric cars. So The repairing and servicing cost will be less as compared to ICE cars. But at the same time the parts cost can be on the higher side. Electric cars do not have the engine but many components are similar which we have discussed earlier, so those parts can get damaged and wear and tear can occur. Those needs to repair in servicing. The Battery cells may get replaced if there is any problem in that but what about the systems like suspension, breaking system, break module, break cylinder, break booster, coolant, tyres, electric motors (not the main motor but other motors like in windows), ac compressor, ac lines etc.

Running Cost Of Electric Car in India

Running cost of an electric car is around 0.80-1.0 rupees per km but only when charging at home charger. Also it depends on the battery size and the motor. It costs higher than it for big cars which have bigger motor and can costs up to 1.5-2 rupees per km.
For using the Public charging stations it may costs up to 3-5 rupees per km. Fast charging is more expensive.