{"id":8140,"date":"2024-11-11T11:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-11T03:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carro.co\/my\/blog\/?p=8140"},"modified":"2024-11-11T10:54:05","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T02:54:05","slug":"are-evs-cheap-maintain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carro.co\/my\/blog\/are-evs-cheap-maintain\/","title":{"rendered":"Are EVs cheaper to maintain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government has recently announced the new Road Tax regulation for EVs. This announcement adds a new price tag for prospective EV car owners to consider before buying their dream car. So, is it worth it? In this article, we will compare the yearly ownership costs of several EVs and see how they compare with a Carro Certified car.<\/p>\n

\"EV<\/p>\n

EV maintenance costs<\/h2>\n

When it comes to maintenance, petrol cars have a greater variety of options. You can go to your brand’s authorised service centre or find any local mechanic to get everything sorted out. No matter the brand and make, if your car runs on petrol, you will be able to find a mechanic for your petrol car.<\/p>\n

\"Car<\/p>\n

However, EVs were introduced to the market relatively recently, so local mechanics lack the know-how to fix and maintain these vehicles, not to mention the lack of parts. This leaves authorised service centres like BYD, Chery, and\u00a0GWM<\/a>. Tesla also has a service centre but the pricing has not yet been made public, so we will be using the numbers obtained<\/a> from servicing it at a local mechanic.<\/p>\n

The EVs will be compared with the standard\u00a0Mazda <\/a>services as a comparison. Labour fees are included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Car\/
\r\nService<\/th>		BYD Atto 3<\/th>Chery Omoda E5<\/th>GWM Ora Good Cat 500 Ultra<\/th>BYD Seal Performance<\/th>Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD<\/th>Carro Certified 2023 Mazda 3 Sedan High Plus Skyactiv-G 2.0L<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
A\/C filter<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A\/C refrigerant<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Brake fluid<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Comprehensive inspection<\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Coolant<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Engine oil, filters, gasket<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spark plugs<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Transmission oil<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wheel alignment, balancing and tyre rotation<\/td><\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>X<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wiper replacement<\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td><\/td>X<\/td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yearly cost<\/td>RM561<\/td>RM660.6<\/td>RM327<\/td>RM1,061<\/td>RM1,367<\/td>RM386<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Surprisingly, servicing an EV is significantly more expensive than servicing a Mazda 3 for 7 years, despite the latter having many more items requiring servicing. The exception is the Ora Good Cat, which has neither labour costs nor SST for the first 5 services which makes it slightly cheaper to service than the Mazda 3.<\/p>\n

EV battery replacement costs<\/h2>\n

Next up is battery replacement. Although expensive in 2024, prices are expected to become more affordable as more countries develop their own battery production facilities and technology improves. For example, prices dropped 14%<\/a> from 2022 to 2023.<\/p>\n

\"EV,<\/p>\n

Since the estimated price of a battery is $80\/kWh or RM377.56\/kWh in 2030, we will use it to compare the average yearly cost over 7 years<\/strong> between the BYD Atto 3, BYD Seal, Chery Omoda E5, GMW Ora Good Cat and the Tesla Model 3 with a full battery replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Vehicle<\/b><\/td>\nTotal battery replacement cost<\/b><\/td>\nAverage yearly cost<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BYD Atto 3<\/td>\nRM22,835<\/td>\nRM3,262<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chery Omoda E5<\/td>\nRM23,031<\/td>\nRM3,290<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
GWM Ora Good Cat 500 Ultra<\/td>\nRM18,047<\/td>\nRM2,578<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BYD Seal Performance<\/td>\nRM31,148<\/td>\nRM4,450<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tesla Model 3 Performance All-Wheel Drive (AWD)<\/td>\nRM21,709<\/td>\nRM3,101<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As you can see, battery replacement pushes EV maintenance costs of all<\/strong> the EVs into the four-digit range. Compared to the Mazda 3’s RM386\/year, that is a rather steep price to pay.<\/p>\n

EV road tax<\/h2>\n

\"Road<\/p>\n

For now, EVs are not required to pay any road tax, but this will change in January 2026 when EV owners will start to pay road tax for their electric cars. The car’s electric motor’s power determines the road tax you have to pay. You can see the full chart below.<\/p>\n