The i8 makes up for it.
Posted on 01/22/2015 7:14:12 PM PST by jazusamo
Drivers trying to calculate whether it's practical to own an electric car are facing a new math.
U.S. gas prices have fallen more than $1 per gallon over the last 12 months, to a national average of $2.06, according to AAA. That makes electric cars — with their higher prices tags — a tougher sell.
"Fuel savings are not top of mind to many consumers right now," says John Krafcik, president of the car shopping site TrueCar.com.
Automakers have responded by slashing thousands of dollars off the sticker price of electrics. Incentives averaged $4,159 per electric car last year, up 68 percent from 2013, according to Kelley Blue Book. The average for all vehicles was $2,791.
The discounting, combined with new vehicles such as the BMW i3, the electric Kia Soul and the Mercedes B Class, boosted sales of electrics 35 percent last year, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. But the gains came before gas prices plunged in the second half.
So the discounting will likely continue. In January, the electric version of the Ford Focus was selling for an average of $25,168, or 16 percent lower than the sticker price of $29,995, according to TrueCar.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
But most used cars don’t need an engine or transmission rebuild. Those are called scrap.
The i8 makes up for it.
Electric powertrains are 90% efficient with regenerative braking.
At best gasoline powertrains are 25% efficient.
Prius, with hybrid battery system, is 30% efficient.
A Tesla P85D will do 0-60 in 3.1 seconds and 11.5 1/4 mile.
And can fit 5 adults plus 2 children with optional jumper seats.
And does not aid in transferring $1 Trillion dollars in wealth from the West to Czar Vladimir and Islamic Terrorist.
I wasn’t thinking of the lease in terms of your per mile cost. I was thinking of it in terms of the other poster who said that resale value on electrics would be bad due to high cost and high probability of battery wearing out by that time.
What you would lose is any equity in the car, so figure 6 years later the car is worth about 13,000 if you buy the car, but you’ll only get 10,000 on a trade-in because they’ll point out dents and scrapes and battery wear. So, a 30,000 car would have cost 20,000 after 6 years, 24000 when you count interest. That’s a 4000 a year payment, so roughly 333 a month.
You will pay less without the headache of trade-in cost, but you have the mileage limitation.
Sounds like lease is definitely the way to go with an electric.
That it does. Cool car!
Thanks for your post. I may need to add a car in the next 6 months and I hadn’t considered those. As you pointed out, used hybrids might be good to look at. Only one Avalon around here - close to $30k. A couple of C-Maxes. I’ll keep my eyes open.
You’ll never benefit really from buying. Here in GA, we get a $5,000 State Tax Credit for leasing/buying an EV. Based on that and the cheap “fuel” it’s a free car if you think about it.
The battery is a Lithium Ion battery like the cell phone battery. As time goes on it’ll die on you and the replacement cost is mucho dinero. I know some folks who bought and can’t get theirs to go past 80 miles on a full charge (mine can get 110 on a full charge but I have less than 8,000 miles on it).
The key is to NOT charge it to 100%, if you can live with getting it charged to 80-85% you extend the life of the battery heavily.
The technology is getting better and will be superb in about 5 years. KIA has their EV Soul version available in CA and it gets 125-130 mpc (miles per full charge) which is much better than the Leaf).
I figure if I continue to lease an EV every two years I’ll still come out on top no matter what gas prices are. It’s not for everybody and i’m no tree hugger by any means but I absolutely love this car and I’m still kicking myself for not getting it sooner.
Can’t speak for other manufacturers but the Toyota hybrid system and battery pack has done heavy duty for over a decade, not uncommon in taxis overseas. The battery pack holds up well, the electric assist takes a lot of wear and tear off the engine. Fears of replacement with that one at least are somewhat excessive, it’s not common until the vehicle itself is very well-used. The 2013 to current year Avalon hybrid I mentioned upthread is being sold in a “Livery” model targeted to commercial private car service. Of all of them, the Toyota setup is time-tested and unlikely to have the expensive battery pack replacement so commonly feared until well up in the hundreds of thousands of miles.
There should be no subsidies for electric vehicles
I’m in cold Ohio. I hear cold affects performance. You in cold California or warm California?
You should pay for all of it though, no tax incentives
I agree in no subsidies at all, but I’m like the state governors on that. As long as they’re taking my tax money, I’m going to do all I can to get it back. In addition to what they take each year, I have to write them a hefty check each April.
I’m glad I do it that way. It keeps me hating taxes.
I’m in temperate NC, North Carolina. We get winter weather but it’s infrequent enough not to be a chore, just an unplanned snow day holiday a few times each winter, everything shuts down.
Cold does affect efficiency. Running the climate control for heat or A/C reduces electric-only range. That’s why the plug-in C-Max was interesting, it can be warmed or cooled while still plugged in. That’s going to add to the cost on the electric bill, but at about a third of the cost of doing so with a gasoline engine even at today’s gas prices.
Even worse, Classic BMW in Plano likes to hold those "Cars and Coffee" shows on Sundays. These plug-in electrics are sprinkled around the parking lot, amongst the classics, antiques, exotics and musclecars. Talk about suffering by comparison.
Yes it does. The Leaf has a seat heater and steering wheel heater that runs on a secondary battery so you can feel somewhat comfortable without running the heat in the car and getting your range.
I try not to use the heater in the winter. You can also run it in “ECO mode” which helps your range too.
Yes in a perfect world, but the incentive was the gotcha for me. The incentive will probably be gone by next year.
On the C-Max check the build date and if it’s an early 2013 you’d need to be certain that all the warranty work has been done. Later in the model year would likely be a better bet, and there’s not that huge of a cost hit looking at 2014 model year.
Short answer: ‘round here, I’m paying $0.054/mile for gas and $0.013/mile for electricity.
Long answer: Electric cars are efficient. They have narrower operating limits than gas cars (i.e.: range), but for common uses within that range they’re cheaper to run. At worst-case electricity pricing ($0.15 per kW/h at a public charger), I’m still paying 70% of local current equivalent gas prices ($1.90/gal, and assuming a comparable 35MPG car), and closer to 23% when charging at home (equates to $0.45/gal gas). For “commute under 60 miles per day” use, that’s quite efficient.
Given that the EV will be more expensive, the break-even per-mile cost is at $4,100 more. And that’s still assuming $1.90/gal gas and 35MPG efficiency; make that a 20MPG SUV burning $3.50/gal gas, the break-even is $16,250 more for the EV (ok, that’s stretching a bit, but changes the buying options to “do I buy another SUV or a BMW i-series?”).
Yes, it’s still a second-car solution relying on my gas-guzzling SUV for longer trips. But since I’ll have two cars anyway, might as well get the EV for commuting around Atlanta.
That's not real an apple to apple comparison, is it? Or is the Leaf a lot bigger than I think it is?
Note my prior response: depending on gas prices and fuel economy of alternatives, buying an EV makes the break-even premium $4000-16000 for the EV worthwhile.
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