Comments on: Is An Electric Car Worth The Money?

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 16:14:00 +0000

The love of ” a motor’s rumble and roar” is an acquired taste. We learn to love the sound of a motor becaue it signals speed.

A generation or so from now is going to equate ” a motor’s rumble and roar” with Grandpa’s quaint old gasmobile. The “$3k” EV they drive will do laps around the old gas clunkers.

By: Corey Robertson

Corey Robertson — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 16:02:00 +0000

I’m not worried about the money i spend on gas. To people like me, 3.50 per gallon is well worth it to hear a motor’s rumble and roar. I also caught a bargain and paid $3k for my gasmobile. There is no unusual driving. The engine has been tuned and gets between 37-42 mpg depending on the way i drive. At the end of your entire argument though, the sheer value of loving the internal combustion engine can make the EVs not worth it. I think that until there are EVs that can do what the Tesla Roadster does for the price of a 350z, it is going to be popular with one or two crowds. I don’t mock them, fabulous idea, but they don’t have enough variety. The Isle of Mann TT now has the EV class. Once those bikes become cheaper they will fly off the production line because they are fast, have cornering, and are relatively cheap hopefully. It’s all about attracting everyone and that can and will be done one day, just not this soon after its intro.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 23:52:00 +0000

Within a few years we should have 200 mile range EVs for less than $30k.
If you’re a normal driver, driving about 13,000 miles per year, getting about 30 MPG and paying about $3.50/gallon you’re spending $1,500 per year on gas. In no more than 5 years fuel savings should pay for the price difference between a $20k gasmobile and a $27k EV.

If you’re getting 40 MPG you’re doing some sort of unusual driving (or misreporting).

If you’re worried about nickle in batteries, don’t. The nickle is not consumed. That, obviously, is not true for the hundreds of gallons of fuel you put in your Honda every year.

As for the ‘not having the power of a real motor’, why don’t you go to a Chevy or Tesla dealer/showroom and give an EV a test drive? I suspect you will forevermore be disappointed in how wimpy your Honda is getting off the line.

By: Corey Robertson

Corey Robertson — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 23:01:00 +0000

Now, this article is a year old and I don’t expect a true reply but your entire focus for this is…… slanted. The most I see in the EVs are middle aged men that work for the company or hipsters well, being hipsters. I am a young gun so forgive me if I seem wet behind the ears, but most people want something that looks good, is fairly priced, is very comfortable, and gets good MPG. I drive a simple honda civic with the 1.7 liter SOHC, it gets 40 mpg and takes about 25$ of premium to fill it up. The younger generation that are low to middle class workers are pushed more towards gasoline powered vehicles when it comes down to it. I myself almost purchased the Honda CRZ, but I couldn’t stand not having the power of a real motor or not having a 5-speed gear box. But that’s not the slant. personal opinion is not where the slanted facts you have stated come into play. It is what is left behind the curtain. The mining of the nickel in the batteries,the refining of the nickel, the shipping of the batteries to each country, the distribution trucks. All comes into effect on the global warming scale. The first vehicles that should be made electric are Semis, trains, and boats. Just my whole opinion.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 06:44:00 +0000

let’s not make jokes that someone might read and non-fiction. the only way you’d get stranded on a regular basis is if you consistently decided not to plug your car in when you got home. most EV owners charge over night every other day. for those who drive more, every day should be adequate. for a select few, plugging in at work or other public charging stations may be needed.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:02:00 +0000

I suppose that if you’re stupid enough to not pull over for a charge when your car tells you it’s time and gives you a map to a place to charge then an EV wouldn’t be right for you.

Of course, if you’re that stupid you probably won’t figure out what that dial on your gasmobile dash means – the one that goes from ‘F to E’ and turns on a light when you’re pushing the limit….

By: car prices

car prices — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:48:00 +0000

Interesting article with some good points. We think you nailed it thought with "Is it right for you" There is a long way to go before a lot of people can consider electric cars otherwise they may end up stranded on a regular basis when they run out of juice.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 13:52:00 +0000

Thanks.

By: car value

car value — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 06:42:00 +0000

Great insight guys!

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:02:00 +0000

hmm, great point on the caravan parks.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Recently a guy blogged about crossing the US in his Tesla S. He used RV (caravan) parks for part of his charging. They are already set up with metered outlets or charge a fixed use price.

By: Ronald Brak

Ronald Brak — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 10:22:00 +0000

Good point about caravan parks. There are plenty of places to plug in. And I’ll give you some power if you need it. Might need to bring your own extension cord, however.

By: just_chris

just_chris — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 11:05:00 +0000

Ps a leaf draws exactly 13amps, UK standard. The big problem is the laws that make it almost impossible to import cars which means an ev costs insane amounts you can get a quote online for a miev… $55k the Aussie dollar is pretty much the same as the US.

By: just_chris

just_chris — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:47:00 +0000

An electrician would probably put a 15 amp plug in your car port for not much money. if you currently have power I would expect all he would need to do is change the plug. also worth mentioning is that Australia has thousands of charge points. they are called caravan parks each pitch has a 15 amp plug. not so common in the city but worth remembering on a long drive

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Thanks. Yeah, there are really a ton of assumptions that could be modified. I’ve made the spreadsheet available to everyone (in the new post) if anyone is interested in playing around with it. Fun stuff, imho. Of course, I think an EV is worth purchasing now. But I’m not in the market for a car at all, no need for one where I live…

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:11:00 +0000

Out of curiosity, did you try out other EVs before buying it? If so, what’d you think of the diff ones you tried?

By: Neil Blanchard

Neil Blanchard — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:06:00 +0000

I only know what it costs for my Scion – Ford might have different standard amounts. Maybe a call to a Ford dealer would be the way to get up to date info?

Minor Service (oil change plus a few things) every 5K miles is about $80

Intermediate Service every 15K miles is about $250

Full Service every 45K miles is about $475

So, at 90K miles you would have 12 Minor = $960
4 Intermediate = $1,000
2 Full = $950

Total cost for Regular Service per 90K miles = $2,910

Or, at 15K miles per year, you pay $635 in the 3rd and 6th years, and you pay $410 the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th years.

Another point to make is the cost of gasoline will very likely get much more expensive, while electricity will probably not increase as much. And since the huge majority of the cost of driving an ICE car come in the future fuel costs, whereas the bulk of the cost for an EV come in the purchase price.

Neil

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:18:00 +0000

Thanks. Do you happen to have any references on the avg regular maintenance costs?

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 16:16:00 +0000

Thanks. Planning an addendum, and will certainly use and link to this.

By: Kompulsa

Kompulsa — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 12:34:00 +0000

The battery should be factored in. Most notably the warranty and cost (~$12,000), and the fact that you can expect it to last at least as long as the warranty.

If it doesn’t last as long as the warranty, it is to be replaced for free.