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?

  • haych@lemmy.one
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    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.

    • bstix@feddit.dk
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      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
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        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.

    • kloppix@kbin.social
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      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.

    • Xanvial@lemmy.world
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      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