Why is an electric car cheaper to maintain?

Let’s get straight to the point: an electric car is considerably cheaper to maintain than a petrol or diesel car. This is again confirmed by After Sales Monitor of BOVAG and RAI Association , published in March 2022.

This large-scale study into maintenance and repair at Dutch car companies shows that in 2021, measured over an entire year, an average of €529 per car will be spent on maintenance and repair costs. With an electric car, that amount was a lot lower: an average of € 340 per year.

Why lower maintenance costs?

A regular fuel car mainly needs maintenance because such a car contains many rotating parts. Most moving parts are subject to wear and therefore require lubrication. Due to the development of heat, many parts also need to be cooled. However, coolant and engine oil should be replaced over time.

Oil and fuel filter systems also need to be replaced periodically. There are also parts that can break over time due to wear or aging and according to factory regulations must be replaced after a certain number of kilometers or years.

In an electric car powered by a  electric motor  none of this applies. The drive system of an electric car is significantly less complicated and there are far fewer parts that move and wear out. An electric car doesn’t even have a gearbox. An electric car therefore has no liquids and filters on board that have to be replaced over time.

Regenerative braking

The brakes of an electric car also wear out less quickly than with a fuel car. This is because an electric car has a  regenerative braking system, where the car brakes on the engine. This means you don’t have to use the brake pedal as often – especially in city traffic – and the brake pads and discs wear out less quickly than usual.

Specialist staff

There are of course all kinds of other things that need to be checked during the regular maintenance of an electric car and for which specialist staff is needed. Think, for example, of the advanced high-voltage system and the strict safety requirements involved. An electric car is not completely maintenance-free, but the fact that you save on maintenance costs has been proven time and again in practice.