One of the many perks of owning an Electric Vehicle is a LOT less maintenance. No oil changes and things of that nature! However, there are some things you need to be doing regularly to keep your ride in tip-top shape!

With your car going in a lot less for checkups, you will have to remember these things on your own!

Wipers and Wiper fluid are one of the few things on an EV that you have to keep in check. Having wipers that are in good shape helps keep you seeing the road ahead as well as having fluid when you need it!

Cabin filter(s) is another important item, especially if you live in a heavily populated area or even out in the country. You want to keep the air you are breathing inside the cabin clean!

Tires! With your car not going in regularly for oil changes, tires are one of the top things that EV owners forget about and that can be a costly mistake! EVs are heavier, which means your tires can wear out a lot quicker, so regular rotation is a must!

EV tires do cost more than tires of similar cars, and may wear out faster than expected for 3 reasons:

  1. EVs are modestly heavier than the equivalent car. That means you need tires with a higher weight rating, and they will wear out a bit faster.

  2. With EVs, you care more about energy-efficient tires. Even though wasted energy costs you less money than it costs in a gas car, you care more because more efficient tires mean more range. The factory tires on most EVs are usually very energy efficient, so the company can advertise a longer range.

  3. EV motors run fairly silent, so you care even more about getting low noise tires and will pay more for this.

Indeed, one of the side benefits of not needing service is not needing to take time out of your day for it. With a gasoline car, you regularly have a service day where you must take your car to the shop for a day, find alternate transportation during the day, and pick it up. Tire rotation still needs a service appointment, but may be short enough to do while you wait and surf the internet — and perhaps may be done with a mobile service van in the future, though probably not for free.

The EV shift will also mean a shift in the future for the ecosystem of service centers and auto parts stores that serve cars today. Cars with fewer parts and fewer things to wear out just won’t need that industry quite as much. Today, EVs are just a few percent of total cars, but they were over 10% of car sales in California, which is the bellwether of the future. That trend will grow around the world.