160
submitted 1 year ago by nitneroc@lemmy.one to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

When the very first cars were built, only the rich could afford it, but now a large part of the population (in developed countries) has one or more.

What do you think will be such an evolution in the future?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] bstix@feddit.dk 10 points 1 year ago

It's already past the point where only rich people have them. It's currently one of those things where it's actually more expensive to be poor.

I bought an EV because it's cheaper over a few years than getting the cheapest gasoline beater car. It's a bigger cost up front, but the total cost is smaller over few years.

If anything, only rich people will be able to afford keeping the gasoline cars. Similarly to todays vintage lead fueled classics.

[-] haych@lemmy.one 7 points 1 year ago

I don't know where you are, but in Europe it's much cheaper to buy a used Gasoline car. I just got a 1L petrol car for the equivalent of $10k, I can't find a good electric car for anywhere close to that.

[-] kloppix@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Hello, fellow European. The starting price of electric cars is definitely the biggest issue (and there isn't a sizable second-hand market yet).

If you want to spend even less find out if you can convert your car to LPG. I have been driving with LPG for about 2 years and I couldn't be more satisfied.

According to the german Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, there is not much difference in operating costs between an electric vehicle and a CNG/LPG vehicle. Source: PDF from June 2023

But this does not take into account the price of the vehicle as such. In this case, lpg is much cheaper.

[-] bstix@feddit.dk 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I am in Europe. You have to look past the purchase price.

What I did was to compare the price of buying €3k beater cars throughout the next ten years versus getting an only slightly used EV for €21k that I expect to drive for the same period.

The purchase price is 7 times higher, yes, but the savings on fuel, taxes and financing makes up for it it less than 6 years in my case.

So in short, I had a pretty easy choice in getting an almost new EV instead of continuing buying and repairing scrap cars as I'd previously done for the same reasons.

[-] haych@lemmy.one 4 points 1 year ago

My car tax (VED) is £20 a year, Vs £0 on electric. Fuel and the extra £20 tax a year doesn't equate to the cost of an EV just yet.

EVs are definitely still a luxury, poor people aren't going round with EVs.

[-] bstix@feddit.dk 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah well, I'm absolutely not saying that EVs are always the cheapest option. In my case it was.

There are many variables to account for when making the decision. I'd just advise people to do the calculations whenever they need a new car. Generally, It's still not that much cheaper that it pays off to get an EV if you already have a functional car, but whenever you need a new one.

I've been thinking about making a webpage to compare car purchases with all kinds of variables, but it's quite a big project to do.

[-] Xanvial@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Well that's also what they said, electric cars have expensive upfront cost, but in the long run it's cheaper (gas vs electric cost

this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
160 points (94.9% liked)

Asklemmy

44151 readers
1155 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS