Re: [EVDL] "Payback time" (was:Reaction to US News article)
I don't have the time to quote my references here, but lets look at the
cost over 10 years of an EV and a comparable ICE car.
o The overall energy use of a well designed current EV is about 3.7
mile.KWH, when all losses are included
(charging losses, heating, air conditioning, etc)
o If you drive an EV 12000 miles/yr, your "fuel" costs at the average
$0.115/KWH in the U.S. is (12000/3.7)*o.115 = $373
o Lets say that maintenance costs are $100/yr (tires, windshield wipers,
...)
o So your total cost of ownership over 10 years is: 10*373+10*100 = $4730.
----------
o If an ICE car gets 30 MPG at $3/gallon for 12000/yr it costs: (12000/30)*3
= $1200/yr in fuel
o From one report I saw, the average maintenance cost/yr for an ICE car is:
$600
o So, the operating cost of an ICE car over 10 years is: 10*1200 + 10*600 =
$18,000
---------
So the EV would save you $18,000 - $4,730 = $13,270 over 10 years.
So, in theory one might expect that a $13,000 disadvantage for the EV due to
the battery would make the cost the same. However, there is a big
difference between paying $13,000 up front and saving $13,000 over 10 years,
and so I suspect that many people would go for the lower initial cost..
But at least EVs are within the range of ICE cars in terms of cost. Now if
one were to look at the REAL cost of gasoline (which is very heavily
subsidized) one would likely find that gasoline really costs $7 -
$10/gallon, but that os another story.
-- Larry Gales
I don't have the time to quote my references here, but lets look at the
cost over 10 years of an EV and a comparable ICE car.
o The overall energy use of a well designed current EV is about 3.7
mile.KWH, when all losses are included
(charging losses, heating, air conditioning, etc)
o If you drive an EV 12000 miles/yr, your "fuel" costs at the average
$0.115/KWH in the U.S. is (12000/3.7)*o.115 = $373
o Lets say that maintenance costs are $100/yr (tires, windshield wipers,
...)
o So your total cost of ownership over 10 years is: 10*373+10*100 = $4730.
----------
o If an ICE car gets 30 MPG at $3/gallon for 12000/yr it costs: (12000/30)*3
= $1200/yr in fuel
o From one report I saw, the average maintenance cost/yr for an ICE car is:
$600
o So, the operating cost of an ICE car over 10 years is: 10*1200 + 10*600 =
$18,000
---------
So the EV would save you $18,000 - $4,730 = $13,270 over 10 years.
So, in theory one might expect that a $13,000 disadvantage for the EV due to
the battery would make the cost the same. However, there is a big
difference between paying $13,000 up front and saving $13,000 over 10 years,
and so I suspect that many people would go for the lower initial cost..
But at least EVs are within the range of ICE cars in terms of cost. Now if
one were to look at the REAL cost of gasoline (which is very heavily
subsidized) one would likely find that gasoline really costs $7 -
$10/gallon, but that os another story.
-- Larry Gales
