It is a sure way to protect your investment and it will help to extend its life. Detailing an electric car is very similar to detailing a traditional gas-powered vehicle, with just a few things to look out for. Take a look at what you need to know.

Yes, It Can Go Through a Car Wash

Some new electric car owners wonder if they can take their EV through the car wash. The answer is yes. Just like a gas or diesel-powered vehicle, it is safe to bring your EV through a car wash. Automatic car washes will not cause any damage to the battery or electric system because they are all designed to prevent water from getting in.

If you prefer to wash it at home, you can do that too. You’ll need the same type of equipment to wash your EV as you would any other vehicle. Make sure to use soap made for washing cars, microfiber cloths to prevent paint damage, and two buckets of water, so you have one that will stay clean for rinsing. If you use a pressure washer, don’t use it near the charging port. The extra pressure could cause the water to get inside the port.

Cleaning the Charging Station

When it comes to electric vehicles and car detailing, the charging port and charging station need some attention. Before you do anything, make sure the charging station is turned off. You can then use dry cotton swabs to wipe away any dirt and grime that has built up on the charging ports.

Use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe away dirt from the outer housing, and then once you’ve removed the dirt you can use another dry microfiber cloth to dry it off. If you don’t take this step, make sure you give it plenty of time to air dry before you use it to charge.

Detailing the Interior

You can detail the interior of the car much like you would any other vehicle. Gather any trash and debris and throw it away, and then wipe down the dashboard and other surfaces with a damp cloth or spray a cloth with a car surface cleaner before wiping down the surfaces. Vacuum the seats, carpets, and floor mats. If you have removable floor mats, take them out and clean the carpet underneath them. You can then wash the floor mats outside of the car before putting them back in.

Don’t Forget the Wheels!

Car detailing means you take care of everything, including the wheels. Start by spraying them with water, and then apply a wheel cleaner. Use a soft brush to dislodge the dirt, grime, and brake dust before rinsing it off. Wash and rinse one wheel at a time.

The post What to Know about Detailing an Electric Car first appeared on Ride4Watts.com.

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Charging an electric car isn’t as easy or as straightforward as pulling up to a gas pump. There’s a lot more technology and things to consider when you need to plug in to recharge your EV batteries.

What happens if you charge your EV to 100% every time you charge? Should you use DC Fast-Charging exclusively? Can you still use a regular 120-volt outlet to charge your electric car? Where are the nearby electric charging stations?

Prior Proper Planning Prevents Problems

Even before you buy your new electric vehicle, you should know where the public charging stations in your area are located. Whether you’re heading out for a road trip that will take you away from home for several days or you’re taking a different path than normal, it’s important to know where the charging stations are so that you don’t end up stranded.

There’s An App For That

Thankfully, most charging networks provide apps to customers, and many electric vehicles have charging station locations programmed into the GPS system. Still, you need to have a charging plan before heading out in an EV. Electric vehicle charging stations aren’t as plentiful as gas stations for ICE vehicles yet.

Overcharging Your Battery – Reduces EV Battery Lifespan

Electric car batteries aren’t like smartphone batteries. They don’t need to be charged to 100% every time, and charging them past 80% can reduce the lifespan of the battery. Although 80% is the sweet spot for EV charging, most owners will plug in the EV overnight to ensure the battery hits 100% while charging.

Fast Charging, Slow Charging, Which Cable?

Electric cars come with various charging cables, each designed for a specific purpose. Using the wrong cable can slow down your charging time and damage your car’s battery. This could be a costly mistake, especially if you repeat it several times over. Make sure you have the right charging cable for your vehicle.

In most areas, the overnight time is considered the off-peak hours, which is also when electricity is cheapest. This is why many homeowners will run a clothes dryer at night because they can save some money. An electric vehicle uses the same amount of power to charge as an electric clothes dryer, which makes overnight charging a smart financial decision.

Less Frequent Maintenance Doesn’t Mean No Maintenance

Although EVs require less frequent maintenance, there’s still a schedule to follow, which is necessary when you drive any vehicle. This schedule is meant to help you keep your car running smoothly and avoid costly repairs. The battery pack is typically under warranty for eight years, but that coverage ends if you don’t keep up the vehicle’s maintenance.

Frequently Charging Your EV To 100% – The Optimum Level Is Less

Automakers list the driving range of a vehicle when it has a full battery, but they don’t add that you don’t need to charge it to full every time. If you’re planning a road trip, you’ll want to start with a battery at 100%, but this isn’t optimal for daily overnight charging.

Short Commutes Require Less Charging

If you want to optimize EV battery life, you’ll need to understand what your daily and weekly driving habits are. If you know that you won’t drive more than 40 or 50 miles in a given day, it’s not necessary to charge the batteries to 100% or to plug the car in every day. EV batteries will last longer when recharged less frequently, but if you’ve got a long journey coming up, by all means, charge the EV to 100%.

You Can’t Go To The Nearest Station For A Gallon Of Electricity

What used to be a pretty common sight is a person walking along the road toward the next gas station with a gas can in their hand. These drivers thought they could make it to the station, but that wasn’t the case. Unlike this inconvenience, you can’t just walk to the nearest EV charger and pick up a gallon of electricity. It’s important to watch your battery level and keep it in the sweet spot between 20 and 80% charge at all times.

Rapid Charging Reduces Battery Life

Some drivers swear by rapid charging or are still in the mindset that they must go to a station to refuel their vehicle. Current electric vehicles are made to be recharged most effectively at home using a 240-volt charging port. Although some people can’t avoid using rapid charging exclusively, if you have an at-home charger, plan to use it for almost all of your EV charging needs.

The post Maximize Your EV Battery Life: The Dos and Don’ts of Charging first appeared on Ride4Watts.com.

The post Maximize Your EV Battery Life: The Dos and Don’ts of Charging appeared first on Ride4Watts.com.

Electric vehicles are creating a divided feeling in the automotive world. Some people love the EVs and their silent driving, cheap electric power, and clean burning features. Others feel that EVs cost too much, use far too many rare-earth metals, and require new charging stations, which only add to the ruin of the world’s landscape.

Should you drive an electric car, and are they cheaper to maintain and own than ICE models? Let’s explore.

What are we being told?

Most automakers tout lower maintenance costs for electric vehicles while also promising owners won’t need to visit service centers nearly as often with EVs as ICE models. Overall, fewer visits mean you’ll spend more time driving and less time at the service center, but the cost per visit could be greater for EVs. Electric cars are relatively new in Israel, and some owners are learning that these infrequent visits can be costly compared to what they paid per tip for gas-powered vehicles.

Still, the overall maintenance costs could be less for electric vehicles during a specific time period. The best way to learn about this is to compare gas and electric versions of nameplates that offer both types of vehicles. For this comparison, we’ll use the data collected by Car and Driver concerning the Hyundai Kona and Ford F-150, which offer gas and electric versions.

What are the maintenance cost comparisons?

When electric and gas versions of the same vehicles are compared, electric cars are cheaper to maintain. The three-year timeline provided for the Kona and F-150 shows the electric models cutting costs by almost $900 for the Kona and $600 for the F-150. The actual maintenance costs after 45,000 miles of driving are:

• Hyundai Kona: $0.0984 per mile/$4,428
• Hyundai Kona Electric: $0.0794 per mile/$3,573
• Ford F-150: $0.0933 per mile/$4,199
• Ford F-150 Lightning: $0.0794 per mile/$3,573

How much does the fuel cost for each vehicle type?

This is where comparisons become murky, and it’s hard to know how to gauge exactly what it costs to fuel different vehicle types. For the gas-powered versions of these two vehicles, Car and Driver used $3.70 per gallon for regular fuel, which was the national average fuel price at the time of their study. This means the gas-powered versions cost:

• Hyundai Kona: $5,162
• Ford F-150: $8,325

When looking at the electric versions of these two vehicles, the average rate of $0.1546/kWh is used for at-home charging. Of course, there are other factors to consider as well. Some drivers will use public charging exclusively, while others might never need to plug in at a DC fast-charger. We know these public chargers are much more expensive than at-home charging.

Tossing the figures in a bucket to figure out how much it costs to charge the electric versions of the Kona and F-150 for 45,000 miles, the total comes to:

• Hyundai Kona Electric: $2,548
• Ford F-150 Lightning: $4,529

What have we learned?

Are electric cars cheaper to maintain than gas-powered vehicles? In this example, the answer is a resounding “yes.” The difference we find is that EVs don’t have to visit the service center nearly as often as gas-powered vehicles, which is a plus, but those visits can be more costly each time, which is a negative.

Driving EVs is much less expensive than driving gas-powered vehicles, especially in areas where gasoline costs nearly $4.00 per gallon. It’s also much cheaper to recharge electric vehicles at home than out on the road.

Why are some drivers avoiding electric vehicles?

Typically, when you buy a vehicle, you’re familiar with how it drives, what to do to fuel the vehicle, and how to maintain it. Transitioning from a gas-powered vehicle to an electric model creates a challenge for most drivers. Where are the charging stations in your area? If you don’t know the answer to this question, you’ll need more information to change from a traditional model to an EV.

Another reason some drivers aren’t ready to make the change is the need for an at-home charger. Some people live in apartments and don’t have electric chargers at their buildings, while homeowners with garages might avoid an EV because running a 240-volt electric line and plug can be expensive.

Electric cars are cheaper to maintain so far, but we only have a few years and a small sample size. We won’t know everything about EVs until some have lasted for 20 or 30 years to prove they can stay on the road as long as some gas-powered vehicles. Still, EVs are cheaper to fuel and maintain, and they are cleaner to drive, which are only a few of the benefits of EVs.

The post Debunking Myth or Fact: The True Maintenance Cost of Electric Cars first appeared on Ride4Watts.com.

The post Debunking Myth or Fact: The True Maintenance Cost of Electric Cars appeared first on Ride4Watts.com.

Strangely, everything associated with the gas vs. EV conversation doesn’t come down to simple math. During the vehicle’s life, an EV is much cheaper to fuel and maintain, but they come with a much higher initial cost. Gas cars cost less at the dealership but require more maintenance and will cost a lot more to fuel during their lifespan. Is there a bottom line we can follow for these two vehicle types? Let’s find out.

Direct comparisons provide the proof

For this comparison and some solid numbers, we’ll turn to Car and Driver. They compared two vehicles that offer both gas and electric versions. These vehicles are the Hyundai Kona and Kona Electric, and the Ford F-150 and Ford F-150 Lightning. Using these two vehicles offered with both an EV and gas version, we can find the underlying cause of this question. In addition to utilizing these two models, the Car and Driver team used a three-year cost analysis to create hard evidence of what each vehicle costs.

How much did each vehicle cost?

The starting point for cost analysis between an electric car and a gas car has to begin with price. Using the base trim of the two Hyundai SUVs and the XLT trim for the F-150s, we find that the starting purchase price of each vehicle is:

• Hyundai Kona: $22,595
• Hyundai Kona Electric: $35,295
• Ford F-150: $40,960
• Ford F-150 Lightning: $54,769

As you can see, the electric versions are much more expensive than the gas-powered models.

How much does each vehicle cost to fuel?

Using the three years of ownership an average of 15,000 miles-driven per year, each vehicle would drive for 45,000 miles during the testing time. The gas price used is $3.70 per gallon, but understanding the cost of charging electric vehicles is much more complicated.

Electric vehicles can charge at home and at public charging stations. Typically, the cost of using public chargers is much higher than what’s spent at home. Using the $0.43/kWh for DC fast charging and $0,15/kWh for at-home charging, we’re coming closer to a solid number. If electric car drivers charge at home 80% of the time and only 20% at public chargers, the calculations become clearer.

Overall, the cost to fuel these four vehicles during the first three years of ownership is:

• Hyundai Kona : $5,162
• Hyundai Kona Electric: $2,548
• Ford F-150: $8,325
• Ford F-150 Lightning: $4,529

These figures assume the EVs are charged to 100%, but most EVs only charge to 80% at public charging stations, which is not part of this calculation.

EV maintenance costs are much lower

The first three years of a vehicle’s life should be the most affordable in terms of overall maintenance and repairs. Still, gas cars are more expensive to maintain than electric cars. The figures for these four vehicles might surprise you because there’s not as wide a difference than some might expect.

The cost to maintain these vehicles is:

• Hyundai Kona: $4,428
• Hyundai Kona Electric: $3,573
• Ford F-150: $4,199
• Ford F-150 Lightning: $3,573

Which vehicles are cheaper to own?

Using fuel costs, maintenance costs, and depreciation over the three years of owning these four vehicles, the cost of ownership is:

• Hyundai Kona: $19,385
• Hyundai Kona Electric: $21,426
• Ford F-150: $26,505
• Ford F-150 Lightning: $23,840

Depreciation adds quite a bit to these figures. An item that hasn’t been considered yet is the Federal EV Tax Credit of $7,500, which would only be applied to the electric cars and not the gas cars.

From this figure, not counting the starting price of each vehicle, the Ford F-150 Lightning is much more affordable to operate than the gas-powered Ford truck. Conversely, the Hyundai Kona is more affordable than its electric counterpart.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, the figures for this comparison don’t produce a clear winner when trying to understand whether electric cars are cheaper to operate than gas cars. Also, the starting price wasn’t considered in the final calculation. If you toss those numbers in the mix, gas-powered vehicles are more affordable to operate during the first three years of ownership. Still, during time on the road, fuel and maintenance costs favor the EVs over gas-powered vehicles.

Although the goal was to find a clear picture, much like the conversations surrounding EVs vs gas cars, the results using two models are still clear as mud. Finding the right solution could mean performing your own comparison based on the vehicle considered.

The post Is an Electric Car Cheaper Than a Gas Car? first appeared on Ride4Watts.com.

The post Is an Electric Car Cheaper Than a Gas Car? appeared first on Ride4Watts.com.

For most people, the answer to the initial question is a desire to save the environment with less pollution. Some might say they are tired of paying the high price of gas, which makes sense, while others are looking for a way to get into a new vehicle and know that the government expects a transition to electric vehicles in the future.

Let’s look at some things to consider when you want to buy an electric car.

Why do you want to buy an electric car?

Starting with our initial question, which is the most important question in car buying. If your answer is that you want to reduce pollution and save the environment, the advice given might surprise you. In this case, you should drive your gas-powered car until it dies. If you trade it or sell it, another person will drive it, and the EV you buy only adds to a climate-negative industry. Of course, the other answers given are sensible reasons to switch to an EV.

Will the EV be your only car?

Some households have two or more vehicles parked outside, but if yours isn’t one of these, you’ll need to think about what you need in your new EV. If this is the only car you own, it’s important to have enough driving range for more than a single day of driving. On average, most EVs offer between 250 and 300 miles of driving range, with some reaching over 400 miles of range. Choose the EV that can deliver enough driving for a few days.

Is your EV going to be the second car?

If the EV is meant to be the second car in your household, you’ve got a lot more flexibility. In this case, you can choose a used model with as little as 150 miles of driving range, and it should be a great fit for your family. A pre-owned EV should come at a much lower price point and give you enough driving range to handle your weekly errands and running the kids to their activities. An EV as a second vehicle is a great choice for fuel savings.

Where will you change your EV?

Public charging stations aren’t located on every corner of America like gas stations. Although the infrastructure of public chargers is growing, most EV owners are expected to have at-home Level 2 charging stations. If you live in an apartment building or condo, it can be difficult to have an at-home charger installed. Before you purchase an electric car, you’ll need to know where you will charge, especially when you need to charge your batteries to 100%.

Do you like to take road trips?

Some people travel across the country every year in their vehicles, but some prefer to fly, ride on a train, or take a bus. If your new electric car is your only vehicle, road trips become challenging. Most EVs take more than 30 minutes to reach 80% of the maximum driving range at public charging stations. This means an EV with 300 miles of driving range is reduced to 240 miles. An alternative option that still meets most EV standards is a plug-in hybrid which uses a gas-powered engine and electric motor.

Where will you charge the EV during a road trip?

Most electric cars include apps that can help you locate public charging stations along your route, making it easy to find a place to refuel your EV. That said, some chargers lack proper maintenance and might not connect to your EV as easily as a gas pump. It’s important when heading out on a road trip to consider a primary and secondary location to charge the batteries.

Are there any incentives to buying an EV?

Most electric vehicles are much more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. With an average price of more than $60,000 before incentives, you’ll want to know how to reduce the cost of an EV. Currently, some EVs qualify for the $7,500 Federal EV Tax Credit, which reduces your tax liability when you file. If you don’t normally owe at least $7,500, this credit might not be of much value to you. Still, fueling an EV with electricity is much cheaper than gasoline, which is a huge benefit to driving an EV.

Before you dive into the electric vehicle world, you should understand what it means to drive one of these new vehicles. You’ll find many benefits but also some warnings when switching from a gas-fueled vehicle to an all-electric model.

The post Choosing the Right Electric Car: What You Need to Know first appeared on Ride4Watts.com.

The post Choosing the Right Electric Car: What You Need to Know appeared first on Ride4Watts.com.