Strangely enough, although electric cars and hybrid vehicles come with all sorts of innovative features, perhaps the one thing that drivers expect isn’t included. Spare tires have saved many motorists from having their cars towed when their tires sprung a leak. Changing a flat tire in the dead of night isn’t for the faint of heart, but when compared to the money it costs to have a professional tow company come out and complete the simple 5 minute job many do just that.
Unfortunately, Ford, Nissan and even General Motors have stopped including spare tires in the trunks of their new hybrid cars. Instead, motorists will find tire inflation kits. The problem is, most people don’t know how to use them. Most auto experts believe that car companies are attempting to keep their production costs lower by offering consumers inflation kits instead of the spare tires that they are used to receiving.
So far, there haven’t been many electric car owners complain about the inflation kit fiasco. There’s no telling what car makers will do in the future, but it is possible that they will start including spare tires again. The average price for a new electric car is $30,000, and at that price, buyers expect to find some kind of emergency roadside supplies in the trunks of their cars. Even though they assume that they will find spare tires, few actually look before they drive off the lot. After car companies start to recover from the financial crisis perhaps spare tires will become standard in electric cars once more.
