Economic Benefits of an Electric Car
The economic benefits of an electric car are rarely discussed, though they should be.
For a consumer interested in reducing overall fuel costs, an alternative fuel vehicle or a battery-powered vehicle is ideal; it also reduces cost of wear and tear during routine maintenance.
Comparisons between Electricity and Gasoline Powered Vehicles
Given the battery-powered vehicle’s mileage of 280 watts/hour/mile and an arbitrary electricity price of $0.10 kilowatts/hour, driving a Tesla Roadster 40 miles a day, for example, would cost $1.12. Driving a car with an internal combustion engine with a mileage of 25 mpg the same 40 miles would require 1.6 gallons of fuel and, at a cost of $3 per gallon, would result in a cost of $4.80. This is approximately 4 times more expensive than charging the electric car. This cost advantage varies depending on the costs of gasoline and electricity, the mileages of the vehicles, and the type of driving under consideration. In essence, as the distance driven increases, so does the cost of charging the battery.
In a documentary by Nissan, it was estimated that the 5-year operating cost for a standard battery-powered vehicle to be around $1,800, while the 5-year operating cost of a gasoline car is $6,000. This was computed by comparing the parts that require replacement in both gasoline-powered cars and Nissan EV1s when one visits a garage to perform tune-ups, rotate tires, fill the windshield washer fluid every 5,000 miles. One of the reasons behind the substantially low price of maintaining an electric car is the fact that they usually feature hydraulic brakes that require less maintenance.
Though the environmental effects of the battery-powered vehicle may be dubious, the economic benefits of purchasing an electric car are realized in both the less wear-and-tear and the cost of saving on gasoline.
