Save on gas
Electric cars are a great investment for your future. They’re cheaper to run than gas-powered vehicles, better for the environment, and can even save you money on insurance costs.
Electric cars typically cost about half as much to maintain over their lifetime compared with traditional cars, according to Edmunds.com — in other words, they’re cheaper to maintain than their gasoline-powered counterparts. Plus, electric vehicles have fewer parts that require periodic replacement because they don’t need oil changes or brake pads like gas-powered cars do.
Electric vehicles also emit far less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than standard internal combustion engines do — up to 35% less per mile driven based on energy input (the amount of energy required to move one mile). When it comes time for servicing your vehicle or paying insurance premiums down the road, these savings make a huge difference in what you’ll pay each month!
Get tax credits
In addition to the cost savings you’ll enjoy, you can also save money on your taxes. In fact, there are multiple ways in which electric cars can help decrease your tax bill:
- Purchase an electric car and get a $7,500 federal income tax credit. This is a one-time credit for new vehicles purchased between January 1st, 2010, and December 31st, 2017 that qualify as “alternative fuel” or “advanced technology” vehicles (i.e., an EV). However, this credit only applies if your vehicle has at least four seats or if it carries less than 7 passengers if it’s a van or pickup truck. If you have an older vehicle with three seats or fewer that were manufactured before 2006 that qualifies under this rule then you may be able to qualify for some other kind of exemption!
- Charge at home: Allowing your EV to charge at home will save a lot of money over time because many utilities offer discounted rates for charging during off-peak hours—usually overnight when no one else needs power anyway! But even during peak hours, those costs will be lower than what they would otherwise be because EVs use so little electricity compared with gas cars (0% vs 100%).
Get free charging
If you’re lucky enough to work for an employer that offers free charging, take advantage of it. The same goes for any public charging stations in your area—they’re often free for the first 30 minutes, 10 minutes and so on. And even if you don’t get free electricity at work or around town, many electric car owners charge up at home overnight when their power is cheaper and the grid load is low.
Use those carpool lanes
In most states, carpool lanes are reserved for vehicles with two or more occupants. But even if you don’t have a second person in your car, there’s still a way to use them: find someone who does.
Carpool partners can either be friends or co-workers whose schedules match yours, and they may even live close enough to share a ride home after work. If that’s not possible, there’s always the option of joining an existing carpool group on social media (like Facebook or Meetup) or asking around at work if anyone needs help sharing the driving responsibility with other commuters.
This is also one advantage of buying an electric vehicle: it doesn’t put out any emissions when it’s running on battery power alone—meaning you’ll never have to worry about getting pulled over by police for having too many people in your car!
Be a good driver to lower insurance rates
- Drive less
- Drive more slowly
- Don’t speed
- Don’t drive drunk or high (if you do, please don’t drive at all)
- Don’t let anyone else ride with you
Find a way to commute that doesn’t use your car
- Take public transportation. If you live in a major metropolitan area, chances are that the bus, subway, or light rail will come to your doorstep at some point during the day. This can help you avoid paying for parking and gas.
- Bike or scooter it to work instead of driving a car. You may not realize this, but many electric bikes and scooters offer an equivalent amount of power as a traditional gas-powered vehicle—and they’re usually much cheaper than buying a new car! Plus its great exercise too! Just be sure not to wear headphones so that you can hear any important announcements made over loudspeakers by train conductors or street signs alerting drivers about road hazards ahead (like potholes).
- Use ride-sharing services such as Lyft Line instead of owning your own car outright; these services allow riders who live relatively close together (within one mile) to share one vehicle between them so they don’t have to spend time waiting around while someone else finishes up their business before finally getting out on their way back home again after work hours end each day – often saving money while also reducing pollution levels within cities across America too!
Electric cars are actually cheaper to own than gas-powered ones, but they’re more expensive upfront
Electric cars are actually cheaper to own than gas-powered ones, but they’re more expensive upfront.
The cost of running an electric vehicle is much lower than you might think. If you’re currently driving a car that takes premium gasoline and has an average fuel economy, then you could save thousands of dollars by switching to an EV.
But when it comes to the initial price tag for an electric vehicle (EV), there’s no denying that most models cost more than their comparable gas-powered counterparts. You’ll also have to factor in additional costs like charging stations, home solar panels, or roof panels if you want to charge your car at home without paying electricity bills every month and other costs like insurance and registration fees which vary widely depending on where you live.
