Battery electric vehicles, or BEVs, use electricity stored in a battery pack to power an electric motor and turn the wheels. When depleted, the batteries are recharged using grid electricity, either from a wall socket or a dedicated charging unit.

Home Charging Level 1: Electric cars come standard with a 120-volt Level 1 portable charger. Yes, these chargers can be plugged into a simple household outlet, and don’t require any special installation.

Because residential charging is convenient and inexpensive, most plug-in electric vehicle (also known as electric cars or EVs) drivers do more than 80% of their charging at home. Charging in a single-family home, usually in a garage, allows you to take advantage of low, stable residential electricity rates.

Most electric car owners charge their cars at home overnight. In fact, people with regular driving habits need not charge the battery fully every night. In short, there is absolutely no need to worry that your car might stop in the middle of the road even if you did not charge your battery last night.

All mass-produced electric vehicles today include a charging unit which you are able to plug into any standard 110v outlet. This unit makes it possible to charge your EV from regular household outlets. The downside of EV charging with a 110v outlet is that it takes a while.

According to Plugincars.com, there are a few disadvantages of owning an electric car, including: Electric cars have a shorter range than gas-powered cars. Recharging the battery takes time. They are usually more expensive than gas-powered cars.

“Absolutely, it’s safe to charge in nearly any weather condition,” he says, matter-of-factly. That’s because electric vehicles are purposefully engineered to withstand rain and water intrusion, not to mention pesky dust particles that could wreak havoc on an electric system.

Electric Car Charging Station Costs

Over the anticipated 15-year life span of a vehicle, the electricity required to run a battery-powered electric car can be as much as $14,480 cheaper than fueling up an internal combustion vehicle. Then there are electricity costs, which make the notoriously unstable costs of gasoline look simple by comparison.

“What happens if my electric car runs out of electricity on the road?” Answer: In the case of a gas car, a roadside service truck can usually bring you a can of gas, or tow you to the nearest gas station. Similarly, an electric car can simply be towed to the nearest charging station.

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.

Electric cars can – in general – be more expensive to insure than an otherwise directly comparable petrol or diesel counterpart. In 2017, research by price-comparison website Comparethemarket found that some electric cars can cost as much as a 45% more to insure than their conventional counterparts.

The average cost of a fully installed level 3 EV charging station is around $50,000. This is because the equipment costs are significantly higher plus they require the utility company installing a transformer. Level 3 EV charging stations refer to DC Fast Charging, which offer the fastest charging speeds.

“No oil to change, no engine to manage, with fewer parts to wear down, electric cars are cost-efficient and easier to maintain than internal combustion engine vehicles.”

Most manufacturers have a five to eight-year warranty on their battery. However, the current prediction is that an electric car battery will last from 10 – 20 years before they need to be replaced.

The answer is yes, in the long run, you absolutely save money. When you buy an electric car there is a high up-front cost, but your electric vehicle ends up costing less over a lifetime. What’s more, electric cars don’t cost a lot to run, with big savings on fuel costs, servicing and car parking.

An electric car does need servicing at the same intervals as any car. Tyre wear and tear, windscreen wiper replacement along with brake fluid changes will all still be needed.

Because of poor range, high battery degradation coupled with high battery replacement cost, and boring design makes Nissan Leaf an undesirable vehicle. So, the majority of the people don’t want to buy a used Nissan Leaf. This hurts the resale value, thus making a used Nissan Leaf very cheap.

While it’s possible to jump start a car using an electric vehicle, it’s highly recommended that you don’t. However, the 12-volt battery in an electric car lacks the punch required to crank an internal combustion engine and you risk damaging it if you attempt to jump start another vehicle.

Globally, electric cars made up around 2 percent of new-car sales in 2019. Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained offers an explanation for why EV adoption may be stagnating. The main issue, according to Fenske, is that batteries simply aren’t as energy dense as gasoline.

Hybrid and electric cars may be cancer-causing as they emit extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMF). Thus, even if EMF measurements comply with the ICNIRP guidelines, occupants of hybrid and electric cars may still be at increased risk for cancer and other health problems.

All-electric vehicles are built to meet international standards on water leaks and must be built to survive floods and extreme weather. These vehicles are built with safety features to avoid cars from cutting out or short-circuiting in small amounts of water.

Back in 2016, Elon Musk famously tweeted that the “Model S floats well enough to turn it into a boat for short periods of time,” adding it gets “thrust via wheel rotation.” In the years since, we’ve seen quite a few videos of Teslas being driven in flood waters and, while the EVs may be able to survive, that doesn’t …

EV cars generally only have three key fluids that need to be topped up regularly: coolant fluid, brake fluid and windshield washer fluid. Coolant fluid is also required for the EV car’s thermal management system and will need to be topped up from time to time.

Driving through high water can have a disastrous effect on your car’s engine. Water close to one foot deep can float cars and two feet of water can sweep away most vehicles, not to mention road visibility disappears when there’s flooding, which can lead vehicles off the road.

4. Drive Slowly. The last thing you want to do is drive fast over watery roads. If you do have to cross water on the road enter at 1-2mph then drive at 3-4mph to avoid engine flooding.

Never drive through deep, fast-flowing water and don’t drive through flooded roads if you can avoid them. It’s better to add an extra 10-15 minutes to your journey rather than risk your car’s engine and electrics being ruined, or even worse the vehicle being swept away.