Oh boy! I’m about to step in a big pile of … . In the news this week, the state of Washington passed a law requiring that all 2030 or later vehicles sold, purchased or registered in the state must be all-electric vehicles. Good luck to you poor folks in Washington. I personally am now chalking up Washington as another wacky woke state I do NOT want to live in.
So, here are some of my thoughts.
What about all the supporting businesses to gas/diesel powered vehicles? Repair shops; parts houses; gas stations; petroleum producers; petroleum drilling and exploration; etc.? We’re talking about a LOT of jobs that will be lost. Also, perhaps multiple trillions invested in all that just abandoned? Where will all those folks go to work and make a living?
What will state vehicle registration systems charge EV owners per mile to have them pay their fair share of road taxes that were previously collected at the gas pump? That will take down a lot of the “savings” of EVs who brag about not purchasing any gas. You do realize that a huge part of the price per gallon is taxes mostly used to maintain roads?
What about the cost to charge an EV when travelling out of town? The average charging station costs about $20-$40 and you usually have to sit around for up to 45 minutes waiting for that charge. Not as much as a tank of gas, but pricy enough in terms of dollars and time to make one take a deep breath and say, “Hmmm! I didn’t know about that.”
Of course, your home electric bill is higher than us “evil” gas car owners. Going back to “wacky Washington” where is all that new electricity going to come from? CO2-emitting power plants? That’s really going to “save the planet” … NOT!
How long do those batteries last and how much will it cost to replace them? It’s too soon to know the answer to this, but the same batteries in a Tesla home battery pack suggest replacement every four years at a cost of about $4,000.
I recently learned that tires wear out faster on EVs. Comes from the fast starts and braking. One person told me his tires only last about 1/3 as long as gas vehicles.
In my puny accountant brain, I come up with too many costs that I don’t hear mentioned when comparing gas to electric vehicles. For now, I chalk it all up to “feel good about saving the planet” emotions rather than real cost-benefit analysis. Just like solar panels (see my previous articles on why I don’t see solar panels as being cost effective yet either), EVs are not for me… at least not yet.
Hey! You want to buy an EV? Do it for fun. Not to save money or the planet. They are fun to drive.
Have you heard? Prov 23:18 says, “Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Kelly Bullis is a Certified Public Accountant in Carson City. Contact him at 882-4459. On the web at BullisAndCo.com. Also on Facebook.
