Driving your car until it dies is a horrible idea

The most common reason we hear from friends, family and colleagues for why they are not buying an electric vehicle today is because they “drive their car until it dies.” Ah, the timeless Yankee virtues of prudence and frugality! We have been taught that to trade in a car that has life in it is the best decision for our personal finances, and we fear both the specter of a new car payment and painful process of car shopping. Plus we fear the unknown – transitioning to a mode of transportation that is better for the planet, but wholly different from our known experience with a car.

But here’s where I tell you in no uncertain terms: you’re thinking about it all wrong. Your gas car (yes, even that hybrid!) is costing you much more money than you think. 

Let’s say that you have a 10-year-old Prius with 170,000 miles on it. Depending on a few factors, that car might be worth $4,000 or more as a trade-in! But in 2 years, at 200,000 miles, it will be worth half that (or less). And if the precipitating factor for trade-in at 200,000 miles is rust, or a transmission replacement, or even an air conditioner failure, that car is now worth only $500 and may be sold for scrap.

• Your depreciation in this scenario – which is costing you money – is $145/month. ($3500/24months)

Plus, when your car finally dies, you will probably need to get it towed ($500), diagnosed ($100), and then you will need to rent a car for a week or more while you try to find a new one ($500).

• Your end-of-life costs should be factored into your monthly cost between now and then – at least $45/month ($1,100/24 months)

Then, let’s talk about how much money you are spending on fuel and maintenance over the course of those two years. If you’re driving 15,000 miles per year in that Prius with an MPG of 45 miles per gallon, you are spending $1,000 per year on gas, and about $300 per year on oil changes. You will probably also need an $800 brake job in that time period. 

• Your vehicle operating costs in that time period are about $3,600 in total.
• EV operating costs, using $.18/kWh electricity costs, 4 mi/kWh EV efficiency, no oil changes and no brake jobs (regenerative braking!) is $1,350.
• Your extra costs for your Prius work out to $2,250, or about $94/month.

So in total, your old Prius is not costing you nothing. It’s costing you $284/month IF your car lasts 2 years.

Meanwhile, if you traded in that same car today, you could get:

• A 2020 Chevy Bolt for $19,000
• Get $4,000 off with the used EV tax credit from the IRS at point of sale.
• Get $4,000 for your trade-in.
• Finance $11,000 with no cash out of pocket at current best available rates for 66 months, and get a payment of $195 per month.

In this scenario, you would be saving $2,136 over the course of the next 2 years… and driving a much more fun, newer, more reliable car in the process.

But you would not just be doing something better for your wallet. You would also be doing something better for the planet. In this scenario, over the course of 2 years you would be generating 2,962 kg of CO2. Whereas if you were charging your car with clean energy (you can choose your supplier in New England and get 100% clean and renewable electricity), your carbon footprint would be 0 kg of CO2. And if you are driving anything other than a Prius, your financial savings and your carbon footprint reductions will be larger when you make the switch to an EV.

Bottom line: driving your car until it dies is penny wise and pound foolish, for your wallet and for the planet. Go EV today!