A new study finds that the average service costs for an electric vehicle after 36 months on the road is three times lower than the service costs for a gasoline-powered vehicle.
On average, it’s costlier to maintain an EV in its first year than it is to maintain an internal combustion engine vehicle, according to Deepview True Cost data out Thursday from analytics and data company We Predict. But that switches when an EV hits that three-year mark.
EV owners shell out $123 on average for service when their car is three months old and $306 on average when their car is one year old. Gas vehicle owners spend $53 and $189, respectively, at those same milestones.
At three years, this flips: EV service costs average $514 and gasoline-vehicle service costs average $749.
“The data shows that maintenance costs are lower and maintaining an electric engine over the medium-to-long term is significantly cheaper and less fraught with larger repairs than ICE engines,” We Predict CEO James Davies told Automotive News.
EV owners spend an average of $77 solely on maintenance in their first three years of ownership, according to the study. That’s less than the average of $228 spent on maintaining an ICE vehicle in the same period of time.
Repair costs for EVs are lower because they have fewer parts than ICE vehicles, according to the study.
We Predict said its study includes more than 13 million vehicles across 400 models. Results are based on 65 million service or repair orders totalling more than $7.7 billion in parts and $9.5 billion in labor costs, the company said.
Calculations included maintenance, unplanned repairs, warranty and recalls, service campaigns, diagnostics, software updates and warranty on factory-installed options. We Predict said costs of gasoline, local and state inspections, seasonal tire changes and insurance were not included.
