What is a Plug-In Electric Vehicle?
A Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) is a motor vehicle that can be recharged from an external source of electricity, and the electricity stored in the rechargeable battery packs drive or contributes to drive the vehicle.
Buying a PEV
Before buying a PEV you should consider your daily miles driven and frequency of lengthy trips. This will help you determine if a pure Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) or a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PEHV) would be more beneficial for your lifestyle. Install a home charger so you can charge your car while you’re home. Even though this requires you to use more electricity, studies have shown that electric cars still have a lower cost of ownership than gas powered vehicles
You may also want to factor in workplace charging facilities to potentially extend your range on a day-to-day basis. It is becoming increasingly more common for workplaces to be installing charging stations and your employer may be one of them.
If you’re concerned about the range of your PEV, no need to worry, the typical electric vehicle offering 80 to 100 miles of driving range, is enough to cover 90 percent or more of common trips. You can also download various mobile apps to help manage your PEV battery charge. Many mobile applications offer a variety of helpful tools including start/stop charging, monitor battery charge, and the location of charging stations all from the tip of your fingers!
PEV’s have become popular in recent years, providing more and more models with extremely affordable costs. According to plugincars.com, some of the popular best-selling electric vehicles include:
Further, it’s always important to consider potentially negative side effects of owning a PEV. While they do provide 80 to 100 miles of range, they also take hours to recharge any lost battery from usage. The average recharge time commonly regains 20 to 25 miles worth of range in an hour of charging. Therefore, it is important to plan out your routes to assure that you are always making a trip within range. While PEV’s have made a great stride in offering different makes and models, unfortunately they still lack a wide variety of options compared to regular gasoline vehicles.
The cost per mile to fuel an electric vehicle is approximately a third to a quarter of the cost of gas. Also, because they don’t have exhaust systems or don’t need a regular oil change, maintenance costs are reduced. And with home or work charging stations, you will never have to go back to a filing your vehicle at a gas station ever again! Go out and test-drive a PEV today to see if it may be fit for your lifestyle!
Sources:
DriveClean.ca.gov
PlugInCars.com
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