I never argue with statistics, I can prove or disprove anything using statistics. We all know the unemployment rate is below 6% and improving because the statistics are always right - right?
Get a Volt, make no compromises, and bankrupt the jihadis!
It's mutually assured destruction between oil producer nations and their economies if oil prices continue to slide below the cost of production. In that case, the Jihadis (I assume you mean ISIS) have one up on the rest of the world because they have none or little cost of production and can sell at black market prices until they exhaust their ill-gotten sources.
The Jihadis are already bankrupt (or soon to be) if the laws of economics prevail. Buying an electric version of the Yugo will not drive them into bankruptcy. Besides, where is everybody going to get the $30K to purchase an electric car and who is going to provide the infrastructure to support them. After 40+ years of alternate energy development, I doubt if the electric Bolt is the best we can do to replace the ICE vehicle for the masses.
No thanks I'll keep my old clunker until the cost of ownership clearly favours an electric vehicle of similar size, range, and utility. In the meantime, I may have to get a horse and buggy as we devolve further into third world status. I can always eat the horse and burn the buggy if times get desperate and Global Warming is real.
But if everybody ditched their vehicles for bicycles (or horses), it would drive the oil business closer to bankruptcy and we could lose some weight in the process. In fact I would be nice if every electric vehicle included a bicycle in the trunk for those instances where you are stuck along the free way with a dead Bolt and no extension cord.
Finally all bets for the future of fossil fuels are off if Tesla or LENR technology is proven to exist. In that case I'll be first in line to say "gimme dat". In the meantime I'm not holding my breath.
Well, those weren't technically “statistics.” But I'll show my work, as my teacher taught me to do. In my previous calculation, I assumed 3.5 miles per kWh for the average electric car but let's see what the Volt specifically gets. I also assumed 12¢ per kWh from memory for the average rate in the U.S., but let me look up the current official average.
The Cruze is about the same size as the Volt so I'm choosing it for comparison. People who have driven the Volt fall in love with the its silent, instant acceleration, but let's set that aside. The Cruze gets 30 MPG combined city/highway (oops, I had thought it was 33 MPG) and the Volt gets 98 “MPGe” combined when in electric mode (and 37 MPG in gasoline mode)[1]. MPGe stands for “miles per gallon equivalent” and a “gallon equivalent” is defined as 33.7 kWh. This means that by dividing 98 by 33.7, you can directly convert 98 MPGe to 2.9 miles per kWh.
Now for the dollars and cents. The current national average cost of gasoline is $2.21/gal $2.14/gal as of today's update. Dividing $2.14 by 30 MPG gets us 7.1¢ per mile for the Cruze. The national average electricity rate is 12.6¢/kWh. Dividing 12.6¢ by 2.9 gives us 4.3¢ per mile for the Volt.
Though who really believes that gas will stay this low? For extra credit, at $3.00/gal the Cruze would get 10¢ per mile.
On the Volt's behalf, I should mention that it is common for electricity companies nowadays to offer a “time-of-use” rate that discounts nighttime electricity. These can range from half-price to free electricity at night. The tradeoff is you pay a couple more cents/kWh during the day. With an electric car charging every night, you could save money with a plan like this.
All told it is slightly different than my earlier, back-of-a-napkin calculation, but the point remains the same: it is much cheaper to fuel your car with electricity.
“It's mutually assured destruction between oil producer nations and their economies if oil prices continue to slide below the cost of production. In that case, the Jihadis (I assume you mean ISIS) have one up on the rest of the world because they have none or little cost of production and can sell at black market prices until they exhaust their ill-gotten sources.”
It doesn't just apply to ISIS, but pretty much all of our foreign opponents at this time except for North Korea. That includes Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and a smattering of Arab states. Regarding the black market, as mysterious as it sounds, it can't beat the laws of supply and demand. It will command a price that stays in line with the global price of oil.
If the United States and Europe transition to electric driving for 90% of their miles (which you can do in a Volt) it would put all of these guys in the poorhouse. That is why after spending over a trillion dollars in Iraq, I don't mind a few billion in subsidies to help us never have to fight an oil war again.
All that being said, you have to see it, or feel it in this case, to believe it. I would recommend stopping by a Chevy dealer and taking a Volt out for a spin. I think it would do more to convince you than everything else.