Electric Vehicles (EVs) are like the teacher’s pet of the automotive industry these days. They get all the attention in class, but we all know they’re secretly a jerk on the playground. While EVs may sound cool, and the promise of clean transportation is appealing, the truth is that electric cars are not as innocent as they may seem. 

Charging Infrastructure and Additional Fees

A new study titled “Overcharged Expectations, Unmasking The True Cost of Electric Vehicles” was published by the Texas Public Policy Foundation that reveals some alarming figures about EV ownership. 

According to the authors, when you’re calculating the cost of EV ownership, you have to consider the charging infrastructure. These costs are not typically included in reports on EV costs, and this is important because the strain that EVs are putting on the power grid costs around $12,000 per electric car over ten years. This is an additional $1,200 per year per vehicle, and who is paying these costs?

The report shows that these costs are real, and they are often subsidized by American taxpayers, utilities, or the entities hosting the stations.

Public Infrastructure Requirements

The state of the charging infrastructure is sad. There are few charging station options for EV owners, and the existing stations are in rough shape. In fact, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we need around one million more public Level 2 charging stations and 182,000 public Level 3 charging stations by 2025. That’s basically just a year away. 

How much is this going to cost? We’re talking a range of $32 billion to $55 billion, which translates to $1,318 per EV. Another cost that has to be added to EV ownership. 

Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure Costs

As EVs continue to be bought, the demand for residential chargers will also naturally increase, requiring additional transmission and distribution infrastructure. Hypothetically, a demand charge for a residential EV charger could range from $3,750 to $17,280 over 15 years. Dividing this out means transmission and distribution costs add an extra cost of $10,515 or $3.18 per gallon equivalent, according to the study.

So, while it may appear that EVs are coming down in price, it’s important to remember that the full cost isn’t reflected on the price sticker. While EVs may be gaining attention for their zero-tailpipe emissions, don’t be fooled by their sweet appearance. 

Research journalist, Freelance writer, Managing Editor

• Expertise: automotive content, trending topics.
• Education: LeTourneau University, Bachelors of Science in Business Administration.
• Over 400 articles and short news pieces published across the web.

Experience: Madison Cates is a journalist located in the great state of Texas. She began writing over eight years ago. Her first major research piece was published by the Journal of Business and Economics in 2018. After growing up in a household of eight brothers and a dad who was always restoring old Camaros, she naturally pivoted her freelance career into the automotive industry. There, she found her passion.

Her experience paved the way for her to work with multiple large corporations in automotive news and trending topics. Now, she now finds her home at Wealth of Geeks where she proudly serves as Managing Editor of Autos. Madison is always down to geek out over the latest beautiful cars on the market, and she enjoys providing her readers with tips to make car ownership easier and more enjoyable.