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Okay. I see now from the linked article that true cost includes costs the government pays through subsidies and such. Now the $17/gallon makes more sense. If I took time to research those details I'd probably agree to a number like that.

And IMHO the tax credits and such that "help" the consumer only harm the consumer because they artificially inflate the up front costs (much like subsidies do in any other industry such as college tuition and healthcare costs). An example of that in the EV world is from some legacy EV makers like Tesla and GM increasing their costs immediately with the passing of the Inflation Raising Act (which removed the 200K max car limit of the old EV tax credit so that car makers like Tesla and GM that already exceeded the limit will have the EV credit apply to their new cars again).

Interesting... how much did your home charging system cost? And how much for the solar system for your home - and how many years until that has to be replaced?

Those details are here: https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4127577/posts?page=51#51. The upfront costs from that post haven't changed, obviously. But that post is almost a year old so my overall cashflow has changed. To date my total cashflow savings is $2,600 (as opposed to being $3,200 in the negative when I made that post almost a year ago). And I now have over a year's worth of experience and data since I got the EV and did the upgrade to solar (so I see how well it all works together in all seasons, including how our driving habits change over the seasons).

The solar panels have 25-year warranties guaranteed to be still working at 70% or 80% in the final year (70% for the first ones I bought, 80% for the ones bought during the upgrade). The batteries have 19-year / 50% warranties. Assuming the stated gradual decline in system performance, and 3% inflation rate in energy prices I'm mostly avoiding (thus saving more in future years than current year), my breakeven point is May 2032 (8 and a half years from now). Obviously if the Dims jack up energy costs faster than 3%, then the breakeven point is sooner.

So I'll still have equipment for many years saving me money after the breakeven point. But it's not for everybody. Just like with an EV, there are many variables in your location and your state's regulations and your lifestyle (if you plan to be there long enough to get the investment back) to look at before going solar. But it's something IMHO that us conservatives ought to look at to help our families to be more self-reliant, particularly on things the Dims try to control us with through their over-regulations (like they do with energy).