[LogicDesigner]

“The big problem with that is battery replacement. For my car at 25 MPG so I would spend $14,000 in gas ($3.50/gallon) for 100,000 miles. Electricity would be less, but at around that point I would expect a very expensive battery replacement which would chew up most or all of my gasoline savings. Even adding some other maintenance costs like oil, coolant and transmission fluid changes I wouldn't have in the electric car wouldn't balance that.

Tell me I can run the batteries for 250,000 miles so realistically won't have to replace them in the useful life of the car and I'll admit it is cheaper to run it.”

Well you would spend about one-third on electricity than you would spend on gasoline, assuming average electric rates. However, a lot of electric companies have started to offer discounted or even free nighttime charging so you could end up saving more.

I tend to prefer the Chevy Volt over pure electric cars. You get 40 miles of electric range plus 340 miles of gasoline range when your battery is low. The internal battery prevents charging over 80% and it switches to gasoline mode when you get down to 30% state of charge. The battery also uses active liquid cooling instead of passive air cooling found in most electrics. The anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that these two things turn out to dramatically increase battery life. For example:

http://insideevs.com/op-ed-point-will-chevy-volt-battery-show-signs-range-loss/

GM indicated that their 8 year, 100,000 mile battery warranty would cover any loss of capacity below 70%. However, they have test Volts with 200,000 miles on them that have not fallen below that threshold. Even in the hypothetical worst case scenario where the battery falls to 70% a day after the warranty expires, you would still have 27 miles of electric range followed by 340 miles of gasoline range. You would not have to actually replace your battery. Also, the battery packs are highly modular so if one component fails, it can be replaced alone.

If you are up for a more detailed article on the subject, you might want to check this out:

http://www.hybridcars.com/what-happens-when-your-volt-or-ampera-battery-gets-old-46185/

[palmer]

Well you would spend about one-third on electricity than you would spend on gasoline,

14 cents per kWh times 12 kWh (full charge) to go 38 miles in a Volt is $1.68 .

Electric utility taxes are minimal, adding at most 10 cents to the above. In contrast gasoline taxes are 36 cents here in relatively reasonable Virginia, and added to that is 5.3% sales tax. At 3.09 / gallon the 38 MPG conventional car costs $2.57 to go 38 miles.

Your 1/3 number is BS.