What's the Slate's maintenance like?

[Teach]

The current EV credit kinda put a dent on deciding if I would move on forward or not. I'm just a struggling public service employee middle class family person and thought this would be our first EV that we could afford.

May I ask what is an EV's maintenance like? Or, specifically, what would be the Slate's maintenance and its cost like?

 

[Neil Nelson]

There is no oil, water or gas wear to worry about. The electric charge cost is lower than buying gas. The battery is the largest cost that will deteriorate over time. EVs weigh more than an ICE vehicle because of the battery. That means the braking and the tires will take a little more punishment. Overall the EV cost is much the same as ICE. We buy EVs because we do not want to pollute the environment.

 

[Trace26]

-Should only be two fluids to maintain(edit: regularly maintain), brake fluid and battery coolant. A quick search says most manufacturers say around 100,000 or 10 years for the coolant and brake fluid is 30,000/3 years. These are basically the same as a ICE car, and easy to do yourself. I'd recommend actually halfing those numbers.
-Then you have tires, most EVs go through tires faster than the average car, but the Slate being so light and having a less powerful motor, I think it should be pretty similar tire tread life as an average car.
-Registration, depending on where you live, might be higher. Reduced fuel cost should offset this.

 

[brian10x]

There is no oil, water or gas wear to worry about. The electric charge cost is lower than buying gas. The battery is the largest cost that will deteriorate over time. EVs weigh more than an ICE vehicle because of the battery. That means the breaking and the tires will take a little more punishment. Overall the EV cost is much the same as ICE. We buy EVs because we do not want to pollute the environment.

BRAKING. Forum spelling NAZI on duty!

And the pollution comes from generating electricity!

 

[Neil Nelson]

Not seeing that solar power will cause any pollution.

 

[Teach]

BRAKING. Forum spelling NAZI on duty!

And the pollution comes from generating electricity!

Not seeing that solar power will cause any pollution.

I do have solar panels. Trying to reduce our carbon footprint to the best we could. Better than not doing anything at all for my children and their children.

 

[brian10x]

Not seeing that solar power will cause any pollution.

Solar charges at a very slow rate. Most charge by plugging in to the grid, and most of the grid is electrified via coal and fossil fuels.

 

[Neil Nelson]

I pay Rocky Mountain Power here in Southern Utah to get wind and Solar power. Their non-Solar power goes into the mix but I am paying for the Solar portion that goes to my residence.

 

[brian10x]

I pay Rocky Mountain Power here in Southern Utah to get wind and Solar power. Their non-Solar power goes into the mix but I am paying for the Solar portion that goes to my residence.

Good point. As an old man, I fart a lot, and I'm seriously considering a flatulence to energy convergence device I recently saw advertised on TEMU. Has to be good if it comes from TEMU. All that Mexican food here in Tucson is going to pay dividends in free electricity, baby!

 

[The Weatherman]

I’ve owned an F150 Lightning for 2.5yrs and have no maintains other than tire rotation at 10k mi. It is basically a commuter and occasional Lowe’s hauler for DIY at home.

My cost of charger has been strictly at home with FCSP provided by Ford and don’t tell anyone (installed by me). My current per KWH cost is $0.11. With current miles per KWH if 2.0 avg., my cost per mile is ~$0.055. Based on my previous vehicles miles per gallon and cost of fuel locally it was costing ~$0.15 per mile.

The cost of charging on the road via DCFC is very comparable to the cost of gasoline.

You will have to make your comparison here.

 

[Bo’sFarmGeneva]

There is no oil, water or gas wear to worry about. The electric charge cost is lower than buying gas. The battery is the largest cost that will deteriorate over time. EVs weigh more than an ICE vehicle because of the battery. That means the braking and the tires will take a little more punishment. Overall the EV cost is much the same as ICE. We buy EVs because we do not want to pollute the environment.

What is an ICE vehicle?

 

[Neil Nelson]

What is an ICE vehicle?

ICE means Internal Combustion Engine.

 

[Teach]

Solar charges at a very slow rate. Most charge by plugging in to the grid, and most of the grid is electrified via coal and fossil fuels.

I know all that and other household power options, sir. Again, it's better to do something than none. Thank you for the information that you share.

 

[KJRaven]

I manage a fleet for a city near Dallas. We've just started down our EV path, so I don't have much data yet, but I can offer an initial comparison.

It's not a perfect one-to-one comparison, but my fleet includes a 2023 F-150 Lightning EV and a 2023 F-150 ICE (2.7L EcoBoost). We have about a year of data for the EV and nearly two years for the ICE truck. Both have been affordable to maintain. The only issue with the Lightning has been some tire damage that required replacement; otherwise, it has needed almost no maintenance.

Even though the ICE truck has been in service longer, both vehicles have similar usage statistics: around 12,000 miles and 500 hours. The Lightning is significantly cheaper to operate per hour, resulting in a total cost of operation that is roughly half that of the ICE F-150. This gives you an idea of how much lower the maintenance on an EV can be, at least for the first year. We'll see how it holds up as the vehicle ages.

What surprises me the most is the stark difference in the hourly operating cost. Many vehicles in my fleet idle for a significant part of the day, which drastically hurts the fuel mileage of our gas-powered trucks.




F150 ICE Cost of Ownership - Pm service is the service costs. Other costs is GPS trackers, state registration, etc.

F150 Lightning EV Cost of Ownership - Pm service is the service costs, and 2x damaged tires

 

[Dorbiman]

That's some great data. I have spreadsheets going for all of my vehicles, and am looking forward to doing a similar analysis in the coming months as our ID4 becomes our primary vehicle.

I manage a fleet for a city near Dallas. We've just started down our EV path, so I don't have much data yet, but I can offer an initial comparison.

It's not a perfect one-to-one comparison, but my fleet includes a 2023 F-150 Lightning EV and a 2023 F-150 ICE (2.7L EcoBoost). We have about a year of data for the EV and nearly two years for the ICE truck. Both have been affordable to maintain. The only issue with the Lightning has been some tire damage that required replacement; otherwise, it has needed almost no maintenance.

Even though the ICE truck has been in service longer, both vehicles have similar usage statistics: around 12,000 miles and 500 hours. The Lightning is significantly cheaper to operate per hour, resulting in a total cost of operation that is roughly half that of the ICE F-150. This gives you an idea of how much lower the maintenance on an EV can be, at least for the first year. We'll see how it holds up as the vehicle ages.

What surprises me the most is the stark difference in the hourly operating cost. Many vehicles in my fleet idle for a significant part of the day, which drastically hurts the fuel mileage of our gas-powered trucks.




F150 ICE Cost of Ownership - Pm service is the service costs. Other costs is GPS trackers, state registration, etc.

F150 Lightning EV Cost of Ownership - Pm service is the service costs, and 2x damaged tires