zener said:
Well, its actually cheaper!
But most ppl can't calculate.
Just calculae what u would spend the next 8 years for gasoline and oil. (and the additional more maintenance).
Spending 10k or 20k more for the battery is like buying a credit.
Some ecar sellers also offer to rent the battery witha little monthly payment.
Okay. Here are the numbers. Sorry for the poor format from copying from a spreadsheet:
18000 km/yr
1.5 $/l
8.5 Avg. Fuel economy l/100km
1530 Fuel cost/yr $
16995 Gas vehicle price
34995 Electric vehicle price $
8000 Tax Rebate $
10000 Cost delta $
175 Electricity fuel economy Wh/km
0.1 Electricity cost $/kW/h
315 Electricity cost/yr
300 Gas vehicle added maintenance (oil changes, etc.) $/yr
300 Electric vehicle battery maintenance cost $3000/10yr
1215 Fuel cost savings $/yr
1215 Total cost savings $/yr
8.2 Payback period yr
Some things to note:
This assumes the two cars (Soul and Soul EV) are both kept for at least the payback period.
I assumed equal absolute depreciation even though the higher cost of the EV and recent history would suggest more absolute depreciation on the EV.
I assumed a fairly low cost of electricity ($0.10/kWh)
I assumed a battery replacement cost of only $3k 10 years out.
I assumed other incidental costs such as insurance are the same.
I assumed a generous government tax credit - this may or may not apply in future.
I assumed a higher cost of gas ($1.50/l) than is current ($1.10/l).
I used my average distance/yr - people who drive more get a shorter payback and those who drive less get a longer payback
Let me know if I got anything seriously wrong. I really want an electric car to work for me and for the average person. I think it will - maybe in just a few years. But right now it doesn't. An 8.2 year payback (or, say, 7.4 year payback for someone who drives the 20000km/yr average) is way too long.