Expat Retirees and Electric Vehicles

One of the guests on my April 2019 relocation/retirement tour asked me many questions about electric vehicles in Costa Rica. At present there are only around 500 electric vehicles in all of Costa Rica. The goal is to have 100 million of these vehicles on the road worldwide by the year 2030 in an effort to reduce the world’s greenhouse effect. These vehicles produce zero emissions.

Electric cars have a special ‘green’ license plate and except for the noise of the tires on the pavement, the motor is silent. These vehicles can take on the steepest hills but use a lot of their charge in the process. The motors are simpler than those of internal combustion engines in that they do not have as many parts. They also do not require as much maintenance.

Here is what I know to date.

Basically there are 5 models available at this time.

The BMW 13 has driving range of around 160 to 200 miles. The charging time of the battery ranges between twenty minutes to 8 hours depending on the size and type. The cost is around $50,000 dollars.

The Hyundai lonig has a driving range of around 160 miles. It takes between twenty minutes to 12 hours to recharge the battery again depending on the size and type . The price of this model is around $34,000 dollars.

The Nissan Leaf has a range of about 200 miles. The charging time is from one to ten hours depending on the battery. The price is around $42,000 dollars.

The AudiE-Tron has a range of 260 miles. To charge the battery it takes around 1 to 8 hours depending on the type and size of the battery. The cost is around $90,000 dollars. Very expensive to say the least.

The Dayang CHoK-C is the least expensive of the 100 percent electric cars at about at around $15,000 dollars. It has a range of 120 miles and its battery takes 8 hours to charge.

There are three main negatives about these 100 percent electric automobiles. First, these vehicles are great for city use but if you have to make a long trip it is necessary to figure out how much of the battery’s juice will be expended or used up. It is also important to know where the charging stations or electrolineras are located. Second, there are only a few models of each type available and the technology is very new, so some of the bugs may not be worked out yet. Third, the prices is generally very steep. The replacement lithium batteries are expensive but have come down in cost between 2010 and 2017. The good news is that this type of battery has a ten year factory guarantee.