Common Electric Vehicle Service Costs What to Budget For

Electric car repairs, servicing and maintenance: a complete guide

There are many benefits associated with electric cars, and one of them is that they generally require less and less frequent maintenance than a diesel or petrol vehicle. The main reason for this is that EVs have much fewer moving parts under the metal.

They do still require maintenance, however, and it's just as important to ensure your EV gets its regular check-ups, in order to preserve manufacturer warranty cover, as well as for safety and peace of mind. Read on for our full guide to electric-car servicing and maintenance.

Electric car servicing: general information

If youve previously owned a petrol or diesel car, the idea of having your vehicle serviced on a regular, predetermined basis will feel very familiar. Youll have a similar experience running an electric car, but thats not to say the servicing schedule is the same.

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In general, electric vehicles require less maintenance and less frequent servicing, and in many cases should be cheaper to run as a result. There are fewer moving parts and theres less to check on an annual or even biennial basis. Careful, though; just because your car requires fewer services, you shouldnt take your eye off consumables like tyres, lights and wipers. These should be checked on a regular basis.

Service schedules are available from your local dealer or direct from the manufacturer. Generally, all cars require servicing after a certain period of time or a given mileage. Keeping on top of this schedule will keep your car in top condition, and will ensure any remaining warranty is kept intact.

Which parts of an electric car need servicing?

While an electric vehicle has fewer moving parts, its still important to get your car serviced regularly. Internal-combustion engines (petrol or diesel) are complicated, potentially including hundreds of separate parts all working in unison, and some of those, like spark plugs, engine oil, oil and air filters, and coolant will need checking and changing on a fairly regular basis.

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Electric cars are generally much simpler in terms of what they need to start and go, but since they still need to roll, turn, and stop, there are also a lot of service items they share with conventional vehicles. The parts that are generally covered by an electric car service include items such as brakes, suspension, tyres, steering (and tracking essentially, the parts that keep your car driving straight and true), plus lights, wipers and cabin filters. This list is by no means exhaustive, and a comprehensive service will cover this and much more.

Remember, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars have engines, and therefore require many of the same checks as a conventional petrol or diesel model.

Many car manufacturers also offer updates for the software and firmware on electric vehicles. A great number of these can be done wirelessly over the air (OTA) but some may still require a physical connection at a dealer. While being serviced your car may not only get a check-up, but come back to you with some improvements even including greater range or performance, in some cases.

Where to get an electric car serviced

If you buy a brand-new hybrid or electric vehicle, chances are youll be offered an all-inclusive service plan thatll take care of many of the costs and concerns associated with running a car fresh off the forecourt. Of course, the best place to get your new car serviced is with your registered main dealer; with your warranty intact, theres likely to be little chance of retribution from the manufacturer should anything go wrong.

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But what are your options if you buy a used car, or youd like to use an independent electric-car specialist? While not all garages are qualified to work on electric or hybrid cars, an increasing number are. The best place to check local garages near you is via the Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Repair Alliance (HEVRA), which has a list of facilities available allowing you to search by town or postcode.

All of the garages have been vetted for the right tools and qualifications, and receive ongoing training and unlimited technical support from HEVRA. A quick search around DrivingElectrics central London office shows three EV-friendly garages in Swanley, Sunbury and Hampton. There are plenty to choose from, in fact, including several in Scotland, Wales, and even the Channel Islands.

Electric-car servicing plans

Like many petrol or diesel cars, electric vehicles are often available with all-inclusive service plans. These will rarely cover consumables like tyres or brakes, but should look after other essentials like brake fluid and battery health as well as checking items like the suspension, steering and electrics.

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Manufacturers offer a variety of deals, most of which will last for between two and five years. Theyll normally allow you to pay up front or on a monthly basis, depending on which you prefer. One thing to note is that you may find your new electric car has longer service intervals (see below), thanks in part to its less complex powertrain.

Of course, you can also pay for a one-off service, though this is likely to cost you slightly more per service than if you were to take out an annual or pay-monthly plan.

Electric-car service intervals

Electric cars often have longer service intervals than their petrol or diesel equivalents, due largely to the fact they have fewer moving parts. This not only helps reduce cost, but relative wear and tear should be minimal, too.

Take the Vauxhall Corsa Electric as an example: this electric small car only requires a check-up every two years or 16,000 miles; buy a petrol version and youll find yourself popping by your local dealer for a service every 12 months or 12,500 miles.

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On the other hand, Europe's best-selling electric car, the Tesla Model Y as well as the Model 3, S and Xdoesn't have a fixed service schedule. Instead, the car will notify you via the infotainment screen when the car is due a service; you can schedule and alter an appointment all via the Tesla app, with the option of going to your local Tesla Centre, or having the technicians come to you.

Electric-car servicing vs hybrid servicing

Electric car servicing is slightly different to petrol or diesel car servicing. An electric motor is much less complex than a petrol or diesel engine, with fewer wear and tear items attached to it that need checking or replacing come service time. That generally means that servicing an EV is cheaper.

By their nature, blending both combustion and electric power, hybrids are typically more like regular petrol cars than electric cars even if they share a few components with EVs, such as their batteries and motors. They still require spark plugs, engine oil and coolant, plus various belts and pulleys to work as intended so servicing is more complex, and you should expect the cost to generally mirror that of regular petrol and diesel vehicles, rather than EVs.

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Thats not universal however some manufacturers, like Vauxhall, group hybrids in with electric cars, making these models cheaper to service than the equivalent petrol or diesel version.

Electric-car service costs

Its often the case that servicing an electric car is cheaper than it is for an equivalent petrol or diesel model. This is thanks largely to the less complex powertrain, but also due to the fact that there are fewer consumables and moving parts. Make sure you do the sums, however, as the longer intervals and less frequent services may mean that these plans actually work out costing a similar amount over time.

Electric-car servicing: exclusions

Like with any car, there will be things that arent covered in an electric car service. However, what is and isnt included isnt all that dissimilar; consumables like tyres will be checked, but will only be replaced at the owners cost, while all the necessary fluids will be subject to a visual inspection.

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Of course, if a major problem is detected and this is true for petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars the garage carrying out the service will flag this and offer you options to have the fault rectified. Depending on what the issue is (and what caused it), will depend on whether this is covered by the service plan or warranty or whether youll need to fork out for repairs.

Electric-car batteries and servicing

Most electric cars come with an independent battery warranty, many of which last much longer than the standard manufacturer warranty for the rest of the car. For example, every Nissan Leaf comes with a five-year/60,000-mile manufacturer warranty, but the battery is covered separately for up to eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes soonest.

In this case, the battery will be replaced free of charge if the maximum capacity drops below nine bars, out of the 12 that are displayed on the Leafs screen. Normally, an electric cars battery will be subject to a health check at each service, with a report on its state of health (SoH) offered at the end.

Richard is editor of DrivingElectric, as well as sister site Carbuyer.co.uk,and a regular contributor to Auto Express. An electric and hybrid car advocate, he spent more than five years working on the news and reviews desk at Auto Express and has driven almost every new car currently on sale.

What It Costs To Charge An Electric Vehicle

The cost can vary significantly depending on where and how you plug into the grid.

In general, it costs less to run an electric vehicle than a comparable internal combustion-powered model. However, depending on how, where, and when you charge an EV, the cost can vary wildly. Charging an EV at home is usually the cheapest way to go, though you may incur some added costs to make the process more efficient. Depending on the type of public charging station you use, replenishing the battery on the road can either be free or surprisingly costly.

Heres what you can expect to pay to keep an electrified ride running:

At Home

Charging an electric vehicle at home, assuming you have a garage and/or access to the power grid, is the most common way to go. Most models include a basic 110-volt charging unit that plugs into a standard electric outlet via a conventional three-prong plug. Called Level 1 charging, this is the slowest way to replenish an EVs battery. It can take between eight and as long as 24 hours to obtain a full charge, depending on the model.

Its well worth it to spend around $250-$400 to have an electrician install a dedicated 240-volt line in your garage to take advantage of whats called Level 2 charging. This can refresh a drained battery in as little as four hours. Youll also need to purchase an external Level 2 charging unit, which is also called the electric vehicle service equipment (EVSE). A good quality EVSE can cost between $300 and around $1,200, and they come in plug-in and hard-wired varieties. If youre choosing a wall-mounted unit, expect to pay another $300-$600 for installation. On the plus side, you may be able to take advantage of state and/or local incentives for buying and having a charger installed.

As for what youll pay in electricity costs to keep a given EV running, you can get a rough idea of what it will cost via the Environmental Protection Agencys fueleconomy.gov website. It lists energy consumption information for all makes and models for the sake of comparison, and that includes electric cars. Each listing will tell you how many kilowatts per hour (kWh) it takes, on average, to drive an EV for 100 miles, and how much it will cost to drive 25 miles, based on average electricity rates. It also states how much youll pay to drive the vehicle for 15,000 annual miles in combined city/highway use.

As an example, the EPA estimates it costs an average of $0.81 to drive a Hyundai Ioniq Electric for 25 miles and $500 to pilot it for 15,000 miles. In contrast, the EPA says the most fuel-efficient version of the 2019 Toyota Corolla costs $2.12 to drive for 25 miles and exacts $1,300 at the gas pump annually.

Importantly, the EPAs website allows you to customize predicted home charging costs according to the number of miles you drive during a given year, and your per-kWh electric rate.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration maintains a chart of average per-kWh electric rates for all 50 states here. According to the agencys latest data, Louisiana residents pay the least in the nation for electricity at an average $0.098 per kWh. It costs the most to keep an EV running in Hawaii with an average cost of $0.331 for every kWh. Keep in mind that these are averages, and every local energy provider sets its own rates. Your electric bill likely states what you pay per kWh for energy, though that figure may not include the cost of delivery, taxes, and fees. A better way to figure this is to divide the amount of your total bill with all charges by the number of kWh you consumed in a given month.

If your provider allows billing for electricity based on demand at various times of the day, you may be able to charge an EV in the middle of the night at a reduced rate.

Be aware, however, that no matter what you pay per kWh it will cost more to keep an EV running during the coldest months of the year. Frigid weather negatively affects a batterys performance and limits its ability to accept a charge. Research conducted by the AAA found that when the mercury dips to 20F and the heater is in use, an average EV loses around 41 percent of its operating range. It also takes longer to charge the vehicle under frigid conditions. The AAAs study found that at 20F with the heater running, an owner will pay an additional $25 for every 1,000 miles driven to keep the battery charged, compared to the cost of running the vehicle at 75F. An EVs range is also adversely affected in extremely hot weather to a certain degree, especially with the air conditioning in use.

Level 2 Public Charging

Level 2 is the most prevalent type of pubic charging, and youll find units installed in retail parking lots, public parking garages, and new-car dealerships, typically in or near larger cities, college towns, and other areas where theres a higher concentration of EVs.

Some Level 2 public charging stations can be used at no cost, while others charge a fee. This can either be on a pay-as-you-go basis using a credit card, or via an account with a charging network like ChargePoint or Blink. The cost to charge an EV differs from provider to provider and from state to state. Some states allow pricing based on the kWh of electricity used, while others only allow providers to charge on a per-minute basis. While the ChargePoint network allows the property owner where the charger is situated to set rates, Blink charges between $0.04-$0.06 per minute or from $0.39 to$0.79 per kWh, in states where thats permitted.

Chevrolet says its Bolt EV will get back an average 25 miles of operating range per hour of Level 2 charging. Thats a cost of between $2.40 and $3.60 at the above rates, compared to the EPAs estimate of $2.15 to drive a gas-powered Chevrolet Cruze for 25 miles.

Level 3 Public Charging

A much less common but far quicker alternative is to access a Level 3 public charging station. Also known as DC Fast Charging, it can bring a given electric cars battery up to 80% of its capacity in around 30-60 minutes.

EVgo maintains the nations largest network of Level 3 charging stations in major metropolitan areas, and offers free charging for two years to buyers of the BMW i3 or Nissan Leaf in select markets. Meanwhile, Tesla Motors maintains its own Supercharger network of fast-charging stations across the U.S., though their use is limited to Tesla vehicles. For its part, Porsche will give buyers of its full-electric Taycan three years of unlimited 30-minute charging at Electrify America charging units when it debuts for the 2020 model year.

Unfortunately, while Level 3 is the fastest way to charge an EV its also the costliest. As an example, we were recently billed $0.29 a minute for DC Fast Charging in the Chicago area via an EVgo station. (Its $0.25 a minute for EVgo subscribers.) A 25-minute session that added around 50 miles of added range to a Volkswagen eGolf cost $7.25, which comes out to $3.62 for 25 miles. By comparison, the EPA says it costs an average of $2.26 to pilot the standard gas-powered VW Golf the same distance.

Tesla says it charges an average $0.28 per kWh to use one of its Superchargers in states where that type of billing is allowed. Where per-minute rates are mandated, its at $0.26 while cars are charging at or below 60 kW, and $0.13 while cars are charging above 60 kW. As with all types of chargers, rates vary by location and can change periodically.

All of the used EV listings here at MYEV.com provide average per-session costs to obtain a full charge and estimate an owners expected monthly cost to keep running.