Electric Vs Gas Auto Calculator

[Donnyboy]

Since many people are considering an electric vehicle I thought I'd post a nice calculator I found online. It actually works much better than my homemade spreadsheet.

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

In most cases you'll never breakeven if you drop all that cash upfront on an electric car. And the calculator doesn't even factor in the cost of replacing the batteries later on or the lost opportunity cost of what you could have earned if you invested the difference in purchase price over 10 to 15 years.

 

[slinches]

Neat calculator. A used Nissan leaf turns out to be a pretty good value. About on par with an Elio after about 5-7 years.

 

[airforceguy6]

Since many people are considering an electric vehicle I thought I'd post a nice calculator I found online. It actually works much better than my homemade spreadsheet.

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

In most cases you'll never breakeven if you drop all that cash upfront on an electric car. And the calculator doesn't even factor in the cost of replacing the batteries later on or the lost opportunity cost of what you could have earned if you invested the difference in purchase price over 10 to 15 years.

Replacing the battery cost? If you want to factor that in, then you should also factor in replacing the water pump/fuel pump/oil/spark plugs/timing belt/need I go on...There are hundreds of components that fail or need replacing/maintenance on gasoline/diesel vehicles that aren't required on electric cars because of their design.

If you want to compared the costs to just make the car go (ie gas fuel vs electric charging), that's one thing. But if you actually want to compare it for total cost of ownership, you need to understand maintenance of a vehicle, and yes, what normally needs to be replaced after 10 years of use. Sure, a battery pack could need replacing after those ten years, but so would all those items on the above list depending on the car/truck which can easily add up to more than a battery pack.

 

[Donnyboy]

My 2005 Nissan Sentra has honestly been very cheap to maintain. It's got about 165,000 miles with the same major components. There is no timing belt to replace. I have a major service done every 60,000 miles. So I've had 2 of those in 13 years. Even if it's not as cheap to maintain as an electric car, it's not drastically higher either. I was only trying to point out how long it takes to breakeven, and that the old internal combustion engine is still king.

 

[Rob Croson]

Replacing the battery cost? If you want to factor that in, then you should also factor in replacing the water pump/fuel pump/oil/spark plugs/timing belt/need I go on...There are hundreds of components that fail or need replacing/maintenance on gasoline/diesel vehicles that aren't required on electric cars because of their design.

In general, I agree. It's really hard to make an accurate guess, though. People's experiences with cars are highly variable. Some people will never have to replace major components, and others will be constantly going to the shop, even with the same model of vehicle.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Replacing the battery cost? If you want to factor that in, then you should also factor in replacing the water pump/fuel pump/oil/spark plugs/timing belt/need I go on...There are hundreds of components that fail or need replacing/maintenance on gasoline/diesel vehicles that aren't required on electric cars because of their design.

If you want to compared the costs to just make the car go (ie gas fuel vs electric charging), that's one thing. But if you actually want to compare it for total cost of ownership, you need to understand maintenance of a vehicle, and yes, what normally needs to be replaced after 10 years of use. Sure, a battery pack could need replacing after those ten years, but so would all those items on the above list depending on the car/truck which can easily add up to more than a battery pack.

And you don't need to replace whole pack, just the bad cells. which usually comes out to $100

 

[AriLea]

Well, everything changes if...... if this can be believed, and be volume manufactured.....

MIT's new flow battery breathes air to cut costs of renewable energy storage
http://newatlas.com/air-breathing-battery/51720/

Basically, 20% of the initial cost(vs LI), ??1500 hours usage, or is that 1500 cycles?? (very important distinction) and same density as LI.
Plus the inherent benefits of flow batteries. That is, they scale and package well in various forma, and you can cycle out the fluid if that is of use. So life-cycle replacement could come down to pumping and chemical costs.

There are some other factors relating to suitability for transportation not yet noted, but there ya are. Most importantly, even though you can choose the size and extent of charge and discharge components, will these be scale to a vehicle context? Will they fit, price and be shake-durable?

This article says 1/30 of the cost.. which is it then???
(also a "slow discharge rate")
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2017/10/12/mit-researchers-develop-air-breathing-sulfur-flow-battery/

-any 'rate' would be dependent on the scale of the related and interfaced components.

 

[Donnyboy]

The article said the battery's working life is 1,500 hours. That sounds like it has to be replaced. They said they are working to extend the life. But it is good to see people are working hard to make battery technology cheaper. If it gets cheap enough Elio could consider it for an EV.

 

[Made in USA]

Don't forget to consider how the government is going to make up for lost gas taxes by taxing the electric meter of EV owners. Will probably require a separate meter per local codes sometime in the future. In the end the cost per mile for gas might be the same for electricity. (Unless you install solar cells, but then you have that cost to consider as well.)

 

[Sailor Dog]

The article said the battery's working life is 1,500 hours. That sounds like it has to be replaced. They said they are working to extend the life. But it is good to see people are working hard to make battery technology cheaper. If it gets cheap enough Elio could consider it for an EV.

Don't forget to consider how the government is going to make up for lost gas taxes by taxing the electric meter of EV owners. Will probably require a separate meter per local codes sometime in the future. In the end the cost per mile for gas might be the same for electricity. (Unless you install solar cells, but then you have that cost to consider as well.)