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Electric Cars Are Already Cheaper To Own and Run Than Petrol Or Diesel, Says Study (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Electric cars are already cheaper to own and run than petrol or diesel cars in the UK, US and Japan, new research shows. The lower cost is a key factor driving the rapid rise in electric car sales now underway, say the researchers. At the moment the cost is partly because of government support, but electric cars are expected to become the cheapest option without subsidies in a few years. The researchers analyzed the total cost of ownership of cars over four years, including the purchase price and depreciation, fuel, insurance, taxation and maintenance. They were surprised to find that pure electric cars came out cheapest in all the markets they examined: UK, Japan, Texas and California.
Pure electric cars have much lower fuel costs -- electricity is cheaper than petrol or diesel -- and maintenance costs, as the engines are simpler and help brake the car, saving on brake pads. In the UK, the annual cost was about 10% lower than for petrol or diesel cars in 2015, the latest year analyzed. Hybrid cars which cannot be plugged in and attract lower subsidies, were usually a little more expensive than petrol or diesel cars. Plug-in hybrids were found to be significantly more expensive -- buyers are effectively paying for two engines in one car, the researchers said. The exception in this case was Japan, where plug-in hybrids receive higher subsidies. The study has been published in the journal Applied Energy.
Pure electric cars have much lower fuel costs -- electricity is cheaper than petrol or diesel -- and maintenance costs, as the engines are simpler and help brake the car, saving on brake pads. In the UK, the annual cost was about 10% lower than for petrol or diesel cars in 2015, the latest year analyzed. Hybrid cars which cannot be plugged in and attract lower subsidies, were usually a little more expensive than petrol or diesel cars. Plug-in hybrids were found to be significantly more expensive -- buyers are effectively paying for two engines in one car, the researchers said. The exception in this case was Japan, where plug-in hybrids receive higher subsidies. The study has been published in the journal Applied Energy.
Maybe there should be a healthcare tax on diesel.
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Considering the lurking question mark that exists the moment over your head when you buy an EV, "Will there be a situation where my car is not charged when I really need it?", I consider this an even trade-off. The thing that makes it uneven (and even unfair) is the fact that the public is paying for your use of that vehicle in terms of road maintenance costs you aren't contributing to and subsidies you are getting. The whole situation stinks. EVs should stand on their own in the market or not exist.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Think of it as another way to subsidize new technology that may improve our future lives. Currently, there's not enough drivers using the free charging stations to create a taxing imbalance. When tax revenue is ultimately an issue for highway maintenance, one thing you can count on your local, state, and federal governors to do is figure out a way to tax electric vehicle usage.
Advantages:
The delivery logistics alone for petroleum-based fuels cannot economically compare to the efficiency of the national electrical grid.
Electric vehicles can be charged during off-peak generation hours.
Environmental savings alone by reducing/eliminating ICE emissions would more than offset electrical general pollution even if all new power was provided by the dirtiest coal buring plants.
Battery technology is currently in its infancy, and whatever current efficiency projections are, it seems a safe gambit future electric vehicles will improve in efficiency dramatically.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Or instead, instead of playing amateur scientist on the net, the GP could listen to actual scientists who've studied the issue. ;)
Pinkypants -- my favorite!
On our side of the pond, most of the diesel is now ULSD.
Oh lol. Talk about picking on the spec that wasn't a health hazard and holding it high above your head. *golf clap* But since you're so proud of it, let's compare. ULSD in the USA contains 15ppm sulphur, introduced in 2006. A commendable effort. On our side of the pond the requirement was ULSD be 10ppm and available as of 2005 and was mandated as a requirement from 2009. No doubt by the time you'll shave off those 33% we'll have banned diesel vehicles.
And to reply to your quote out of order:
Guess what? That's inferior to US spec
You're not even close. Never were. The USA has been a very distinct follower rather than a leader in the west when it comes to fuel standards. Not just in sulphur spec, but also in your much lower cetane (where the EU was 17 years ago), higher ash content (where the EU was 12 years ago), higher water content (this was actually at one time better in the USA), and the GP was right your thick diesel gunk has much more in common with bunker fuel than the higher cut-point EU specs.
where you wind up having to have a catalyst and inject DEF
You see you're conflating two issues. The diesel in the USA is garbage compared to that in the EU, but all of that is actually not relevant to NOx, or PM2.5 emissions which is the battle against diesel. These are a direct result of vehicles in the rest of the world focusing on fuel economy. So while a european car will produce more NOx and more PM2.5 emissions regardless of if you buy your diesel in europe or the USA, your lovely all American soot mobile will blast PM10, CO, and that wonderful global warming inducing CO2 out the tailpipe like it's going out of fashion.
Just like your large CocaCola in the USA is much larger than the large in the EU, so are your vehicle's insatiable thirst for fuel. I'm sure in 5 or 10 years you guys will catch up too, start producing fuel efficient engines, realise NOx is a problem, start peeing in the exhaust pipe to try and control the emissions and then stand there wondering why the EU fought a war against diesel vehicles (my own city has gone from 730000 registered diesel vehicles in 2006 to 120000 in 2016 and we're much better for it).
Join the craze man, being able to breath is like cool and stuff.