Compare Electric Car to Hybrid, Diesel & Gas Cars

http://www.befrugal.com/tools/electric-car-calculator/

Cost/CO2 calculator for a selection of energy-efficient cars.

Comments/criticism?

Their calculations mirror my own pretty closely. For the limited amount of driving I do, the Volt would not use much gasoline, but would still produce more CO2 than the LEAF. And of course there is a huge difference in price, especially when I include the $5000 California rebate, which I am fairly confident I will be able to get.

This is an interesting tidbit from the site (maintenance estimates not included). This is just initial cost plus projection of gas/electric over 15 years :

Chevrolet Volt Nissan Leaf
Year Total Cost Total Cost
Buy $33,500 $26,220
1 $36,376 $27,014
2 $39,252 $27,808
3 $42,128 $28,603
4 $45,004 $29,397
5 $47,881 $30,191
6 $50,757 $30,985
7 $53,633 $31,780
8 $56,509 $32,574
9 $59,385 $33,368
10 $62,261 $34,162
11 $65,137 $34,956
12 $68,013 $35,751
13 $70,890 $36,545
14 $73,766 $37,339
15 $76,642 $38,133

You may want to recheck total LEAF ownership costs using the calculator, entering current or future (?) gas prices.

http://www.befrugal.com/tools/electric-car-calculator/

Entering my own anticipated driving pattern and electricity costs (PG&E off-peak, $.06 per kWH), and entering $4.00 gas, results show total 15 year ownership costs of $32,200 for a LEAF, vs $46,300 for a PRIUS and $51,800 for a Ford (gas) focus.

Outright purchase, with Federal Tax credit and CA $5,000 rebate included, default maintenence cost estrimates as provided.

I believe these figures may understate the LEAF ownership cost advantage, as the residual/resale value (which is not included in this calculator) of all EV's will likely be superior to ICEV's.

I don't think anyone can make such a pronouncement with any reliability as this point. The opposite could just as well turn out to be true...

edatoakrun said:

I believe these figures may understate the LEAF ownership cost advantage, as the residual/resale value (which is not included in this calculator) of all EV's will likely be superior to ICEV's.

Click to expand...

I didn't see anywhere in those calculations the cost of a new battery replacement during the 15 year ownership.

Train said:

I didn't see anywhere in those calculations the cost of a new battery replacement during the 15 year ownership.

Click to expand...

Yes, people forget this and they also make assumptions about pack capacity life.

what if you daily driving needs are consistently less than 40 miles a day... in 15 years you might still be on the OEM pack.

plus, i fully believe that charging options will be plentiful and i dont think it will take 15 years to get there

So you really can't calculate the cost because there are a lot of unknowns. What if natural gas or other fueled vehicles become more popular than EV's in 15 years and there are still limited charging stations? What if hybrids are more accepted and the need for charging stations aren't as great? Can't assume EV's will be accepted by the masses.

I think that as you try out your the calculator, the greatest "known unknown", as our late unlamented secretary of (oil) war put it, is the question of what future gasoline prices will be.

If my $4 a gallon average gasoline price over the next 15 years turn out to be low, the already huge cost advantage of the LEAF in the examples I posted this AM,
increases dramatically.

The calculator cannot provide projections regarding battery life, depreciation, or obsolescence of either ICEVs or EVs. It is simply a tool allowing you to enter your best estimate as inputs. I gave you mine, fell free to use your own.

The calculator includes maintenance, not repairs. You can use this tool to add amortized battery replacement costs-if you think these will exceed the cost of the multitude of additional of repair costs an ICEV will require over 15 years.

My comment on depreciation is based on my own expectation that an EV with a significant proportion of it's original battery capacity, either the factory battery or perhaps a low-priced used/rebuilt/reconditioned replacement, will command a high price due to its relative scarcity and great utility to a large market segment, those to whom even a lesser range will not be seen as useless.

People with shorter commutes, or those who need second cars, should find the far lower fuel prices particularly attractive, and raise the bid on the secondary market, relative to 15 year old ICEV's, which now generally lose 80-90% of their value. It may cost more to fuel one of these cars for a year, than it does to buy one. Think of the premium people now pay for old diesels, over gas cars, for a far smaller benefit in operating costs, than will be provided by an old EV.

I have to say that I think it's complete and utter crap. It's a simplistic spreadsheet with questionable defaults.

Gasoline futures were up another 8 cents a gallon today.

I said goodbye to $4 a gallon Tuesday. Anyone paying close to $5 a gallon for gas, yet?

Plug $5 (or more) into the calculator, and see what sort of BEV savings you get.

http://www.befrugal.com/tools/electric-car-calculator/

Googler said:

I have to say that I think it's complete and utter crap. It's a simplistic spreadsheet with questionable defaults.

Click to expand...

Defaults are just that. Not difficult to put in your own assumptions.

If you know of a superior calculator using less "simplistic" criteria, please post. I'd like to try it.