One of the common beliefs surrounding Electric cars is that you don't need to buy fuel anymore and that very quickly negates any added costs to the vehicle. Thus making purchasing an electric car both an emotionally appealing purchase and an economically sensible purchase as well.
Well, why don't we have a look at the numbers and see exactly how long it will take to reimburse these costs.
First, some assumptions
-Gas cost is $3/gallon
-Electricity cost is $0.08/kWh
-Recharging Batteries is 80% efficient
Now the vehicles and their quick specs.
Nissan Leaf
$32,750 -> Corrected to $25,280 thanks to the American tax payer
24kWh battery
100 miles per charge
$2200 Quick Charger
Chevrolet Volt
~$40,000 -> Corrected to $32,500 again thanks to the American tax payer
16kWh battery -> Run at 8.8kWh to ensure battery life
40 miles per charge
~$2000 Quick Charger (note, prices not revealed, but since it has to store less of a charge I allotted a smaller price tag.)
Tesla Model S
$57,400 -> Corrected to $49,900
~90kWh battery
300 miles per charge
~$5000 Quick Charger, (price not released but the thing is gonna be massive to store enough energy to charge a ~90kWh battery)
And their competition...
Toyota Prius (Hybrid Competitor)
$22,800
50mpg Combined
Ford Fiesta (Economy Car Competitor)
$13,320
33mpg Combined
BMW 5 Series (Model S's luxury Competitor)
$45,950
25mpg Combined
Now for the calculations...
Nissan Leaf
24kWh/(80% charge efficiency)=30kWh to charge
30kWh*($0.08/kWh)=$2.40 Per Charge
$2.40/(100 miles)=$0.024 Per Mile
Chevrolet Volt
8.8kWh/(80% charge efficiency)=11kWh to charge
11kWh*($0.08/kWh)=$0.88 Per Charge
$0.44/(40 miles)=$0.022 Per Mile
Tesla Model S
90kWh/(80% charge efficiency)=112.5kWh to charge
112.5kWh*($0.08/kWh)=$9 Per Charge
$9/(300 miles)=$0.030 Per Mile
Toyota Prius
($3/gallon)/(50miles/gallon)=$0.060 Per Mile
Ford Fiesta
($3/gallon)/(33miles/gallon)=$0.091 Per Mile
BMW 5 Series
($3/gallon)/(25miles/gallon)=$0.12 Per Mile
Clearly the Electric cars do hold an advantage for every mile they drive, but how long will it take to get their fuel economy advantage back?
Check The Graph Below.
Things to note from it
-The quickest payback is the Tesla when compared to the 5 series, but this only happens after a whopping 100,000 miles.
-The Nissan Leaf beats the Prius in monetary terms after about 140,000 miles.
-Then the Nissan Leaf beats the Fiesta after a about 250,000 miles.
-The Chevy Volt, Ford Fiesta, and Toyota Prius, all hit the same cost to own just over 300,000 miles.
Unfortunately, the jury is still out on the lifespan of these new batteries. But from my perspective, electric cars are feasible this day and age, but they still haven't beaten good old fashioned gasoline.