According to KBB the average price of an EV is about $10,000 more than a ICE car. So based on your $80 a month that's 10.4 years based on fuel only. Maintenance is 30-50% less on an EV so there is savings there. Equipment like chargers and such are one time expenditures and could possibly ad value to a home. It's not automatic to assume you need a new panel. Average installation of a level 2 charger is around $2000 so that would add another couple years on the payback based solely on fuel savings. You could just use level 1 charging and save that cost though most people would not like the slow charging, but it's an option. There is no offset in the numbers for tax savings or incentives. If you have a solar or wind system it might save you a lot of money.
I think most people that are buying EVs are just as interested in reducing emissions as saving a buck. When you say EVs make zero sense that could apply on a pure economic basis today but assumes that there will be no improvement in costs over time. I bet when the automobile was first introduced it was considered only suitable for the rich. I bet it cost a lot more to operate than a horse. I bet it's still cheaper to operate a horse so maybe we should eliminate all automobiles. A lot of innovation starts more expensive than existing technology. If that was the litmus test for whether a new technology is good or bad we wouldn't have a lot of the things we have. Remember when a VHS player cost $600? It all has to start somewhere.
All that said I think the current administration is trying to make the transition from fossil fuels too quickly. You can't just flip a switch and make it so but in the long haul it will/has to happen.
Ohio is implementing a road tax for EVs and hybrids starting in July, $200 and $150 respectively. Most states are doing the same.Economics will change when road tax is added in. At present EV owners are getting a freebie at the expense of others. I don't know how they will work that in.
Good idea but I heard that it's embattled.Ohio is implementing a road tax for EVs and hybrids starting in July, $200 and $150 respectively. Most states are doing the same.
Of course it's a battle. EV owners thought they would save that money. They wear out roads same as any other car. I read states are already having funding issues just due to lost revenue from cars getting better milage. Use 1/2 the gas pay 1/2 the tax but still drive the same mileage. A bit of a conundrum.Good idea but I heard that it's embattled.
How many kazillionaires has the government created? I know its a lot. Look back over time and the most wealthy people generally have had some sort of government action or legislation that someone capitalized on afterward. Many of those changes came via lobbing. I bet it was even worse 100-150 years ago. I mean you can invent an electrical generation system but unless some government entity says we want to do that in our town and the tax payers will pay for it who else would have ever used one. It would have takes forever to be widely adapted. Tons of government funded R&D was paid for by the taxpayer and was eventually handed off to the private sector to make a bunch of money with. The government is always catering to someone or cause. I suppose that is a role they should pay. Things that take monumental capital to get started are quite often funded by the government. No TVA and some parts of Appalachia are probably still without electricity. Would a private company have built the Hoover dam? Not back in the 30's I bet. Private business seems to always be at odds with the government but they sure make a lot of money from them.I don't know but some say the government by merely catering to the green movement created the incentives that made Elon Musk the wealthiest man ever to live on this planet.
We are lucky we have the Hoover Dam because I personally don’t think it would be possible to build it today. There are a lot of things I don’t think would happen today that are similar. It might not have been pretty but they got things done back then. Look up the LA Aqueduct designed and built by Mulholland opened in 1913. IMO one of the great achievements of all time. Not as well know a project as the Panama Cannel.
I think Ayn Rand had it pegged in 1957 in her book Atlas Shrugged. A great read if anyone still reads novels.
Unfortunately all true. The environmental reviews would take a decade or more for something like it. The other unfortunate thing is we've drawn too much water from the dam and the snow pack isn't refilling Lake Meade fast enough.We are lucky we have the Hoover Dam because I personally don’t think it would be possible to build it today. There are a lot of things I don’t think would happen today that are similar. It might not have been pretty but they got things done back then. Look up the LA Aqueduct designed and built by Mulholland opened in 1913. IMO one of the great achievements of all time. Not as well know a project as the Panama Cannel.
I think Ayn Rand had it pegged in 1957 in her book Atlas Shrugged. A great read if anyone still reads novels.
It is pretty simple to calculate if we know the oil consumption for the country per year and we then compare energy to energy. Someone smarter than me could come fairly close in approximation the demand on the grid. Just like I don’t fill my tank every day I wouldn’t expect to do a full charge every day. The 2 of us use about 20 gallons of fuel a week or about a 1000 gallons per year at today’s prices say we are spending $4000 per year or $333 / month. If apples = oranges and I know they don’t but if they did raising my electric bill by 333 would more than double my electric consumption. If the whole country doubled their consumption would the grid take it and more so what fuels would need to be used to make the extra electric?Unfortunately all true. The environmental reviews would take a decade or more for something like it. The other unfortunate thing is we've drawn too much water from the dam and the snow pack isn't refilling Lake Meade fast enough.
EVs don't solve the problem, they shift it. That said, they will be the future, CAFE standards won't allow manufacturers to ignore going EV for the majority of their fleet and most are heading that way. The impact to the grid won't be as bad as many think because few people will be charging from zero every day. The bigger problem is all the mining for rare earth metals and lithium to make the batteries. Mining is a really "green" activity, or NOT.
That's a good way to look at it I guess. Somewhere out there is the line where it makes sense and where it doesn't. I believe we're going there regardless, I mean there is so much oil then that's it and the harder it gets to extract it the more it tilts the table. I don't know when oil is more valuable for other things beside fuel but it seems like it could happen. It'll be way beyond my years but I think about what I leave behind. The bottom line to me is there are folks that think it's going to happen overnight and it's not. I do think there is growing interest in nuclear again.It is pretty simple to calculate if we know the oil consumption for the country per year and we then compare energy to energy. Someone smarter than me could come fairly close in approximation the demand on the grid. Just like I don’t fill my tank every day I wouldn’t expect to do a full charge every day. The 2 of us use about 20 gallons of fuel a week or about a 1000 gallons per year at today’s prices say we are spending $4000 per year or $333 / month. If apples = oranges and I know they don’t but if they did raising my electric bill by 333 would more than double my electric consumption. If the whole country doubled their consumption would the grid take it and more so what fuels would need to be used to make the extra electric?
I haven’t heard the magic target price for gas to make the switch to EV payback the cost of the EV etc. Once they hit that mark and factor in new taxes etc they should be selling like hot cakes.
Maybe what I should do is set up a wood fired electric generation mini plant just to supply my home and car with power and the waste heat I can use to heat my home also. Firewood is abundant here so no problem there. Now if I get about 150M others to do the same we would be all set.
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