Is the high cost of gas making electric vehicles a better choice?

A lone electric car charging beside several empty charging stations. Photo: Bruce Forsyth.

May 2022

With the shockingly high, and rising, cost of gas across the country, many are considering buying an electric car. Those who already drive E/Vs and/or advocate for E/Vs are saying the high cost of gas is exactly why we should have abandoned gas-powered cars a long time ago. Those who have drunk the Trudeau Kool-Aid that we must prohibit the purchasing of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 must be living in a state of euphoria right now.

However, there are a few things to consider: if you are having trouble paying over $2 a litre for gas, how is buying an E/V, one that can easily go well over $50, 000 for a lower-end model, going to help with the monthly budget? Oh sure, in theory you will save a lot of money by not purchasing gas for your car, but that’s on the back end. Most people can’t afford to buy a car outright, even a gas-powered car, and thus will still require a large monthly payment to finance it, unless you are able to negotiate a very long amortization period.

Further, don’t forget to include the cost of installing a home charger, unless of course, you don’t have a suitable place to install one, such as those who rely on on-street parking, or those who live in apartments without reserved parking spaces. It’s likely going to be years before apartment management companies and condominium corporations get around to installing charging stations for all residents. Then there will be the eventual replacement of the battery if you keep the car past the 8-year life-expectancy of most E/V batteries, with costs being anywhere from $3000 to $20, 000, depending on the model.

Also, don’t forget that we don’t currently have the hydro infrastructure to allow a large number of people to charge their E/Vs, usually in the evening when people are at home, using electricity for such purposes like making dinner, using dishwashers, lights, TVs and charging cell phones and iPads. When the inevitable brown-outs occur, along with escalating hydro prices due to supply and demand factors and the government having to recoup the lost gas tax revenue that we won’t be paying when we’re no longer purchasing automobile gas, maybe this push to force all of us into E/Vs might not seem like such a good idea after all.

The financial choice to purchase an E/V should come down to whether your monthly car payment is going to be less than the cost of gas, plus the cost of installing a home charger. Otherwise, a more practical option might be to wait for gas prices to come down, as they eventually will, and to vote for governments that will support our domestic energy industry and won’t punish us with crippling carbon taxes.

Although gas prices are partially due to oil being an international commodity, we could mitigate the cost by increasing domestic oil production and refining capacity.

Maybe we should also build more pipelines, despite what David Suzuki and Greta Thunberg believe, so we can get more of our oil to international markets, thus reaping great financial rewards for our economy. We should also make the purchase of E/Vs a personal decision, not one forced upon us by ideological governments.

One day, E/Vs may be the better choice for personal transportation, but we’re not there yet.

As a final thought, for those who feel that Canadians are simply too reliant on their cars for personal transportation, and that we should all take public transit, ride bikes or carpool more often, that’s simply not a realistic option for everyone. Further, when you consider that there are economic spin-offs connected to driving, the situation gets bleaker. Without using their car, people may not go to restaurants or entertainment venues as often when public transit is inconvenient or unavailable.

When going on vacation, some people prefer to take their car for a variety of reasons, whether its for a weekend trip or a longer one. There are many restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations and hotels/motels that benefit financially from car travellers. Those businesses will see a decline in their revenue if people decide to stay closer to home this summer because of the high cost of gas.

Traveling by car is a great way to explore new places, especially those far from home, but some would prefer we go back to the days were you usually traveled only as far as your horse would take you in a day or two.

Construction of new gas stations may indicate that oil companies believe there will still be a market for gas for years to come.