I think EVs might be a better deal (at least the smaller ones like iMIEV and Leaf) than solar arrays. Solar needs subsidies to be a good economic deal for the owner, hte going rate for electrons makes a difference too.
You didn't account for the roughly 75% reduction in fuel cost to own an EV. If you compare to a small good quality ICE getting 30mpg, over its life the EV may save you $15k, $20k more if you drive a lot and the the cost of fuel rises. THere is a lot od foregone maintenance as well with EVs. Solar at this time, where I live with low cost electrons (<$0.10 /kWh), is not a great investment without subsidies. Those are threatening to go away. But my 2.5 year old system, might pay back like a decent dividend stock - but only because I got 30% back from the fed and 35% from the state of NC. Without the subsidy, it would be more like barely keeping up with inflation and it better give me 20+ years of trouble free service. Of course, YMMV; but OEM EVs, if you are the right use case, may be a good deal. On Wed, May 27, 2015 at 10:11 AM, tomw via EV <[email protected]> wrote: > “/The things that we like about EVs - the smoothness, the silence, the > instant torque, zero emissions, "refuel" at home - just don't seem to be > all that important to most people. Besides, in the last 20-30 years, ICEVs > have gotten better at a lot of these things./” > > They sure have! Ice powered vehicles today are very reliable, quiet, and > powerful compared to a few decades ago. If maintained properly they can > remain in service for decades and hundreds of thousands of miles. You can > purchase a used one with 30k miles on it for less than half the new cost > and > expect to drive it for at least 100k miles relatively trouble free. That > is > very hard for today’s EVs to compete with. I don’t expect the market for > EVs to increase much until they can offer similar performance and price. > > “/They shouldn't lose on cost, but most buyers don't think long-term and > see > only the up-front cost./” > > That is very much my experience. Solar panels are a great example. I live > in an area that historically has had around 200 sunny days a year. Solar > panel cost has dropped to less than ¼ what I paid in 2008, making return on > investment very short here. For years I’ve had people remark that I am > “lucky” that I don’t have to buy fuel, to which I respond that I just paid > up front, they could do the same. But they look only at up-front costs, > and > can’t get themselves to spend that money even though they could afford it > and the investment would pay for itself in less than 10 years. Those same > people will purchase the most expensive new car they can afford, an > "investment" that will depreciate quickly, but that they will derive more > pleasure and status from. I think that is a big part of Tesla's success, a > sexy, cool, high status car. > > But that is for the people who have the discretionary spending. Most here > don't. For them its a "no-brainer" to buy that used ice car and drive it > for > more than 100k miles rather than a more expensive EV that has limited range > and requires purchase of an EVSE. > > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Re-EVLN-Open-Source-Street-Legal-affordable-long-range-EV-4the-masses-tp4675590p4675788.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -- To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. Thomas A. Edison <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed125362.html> A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought. *Warren Buffet* Michael E. Ross (919) 585-6737 Land (919) 576-0824 <https://www.google.com/voice/b/0?pli=1#phones> Google Phone (919) 631-1451 Cell [email protected] <[email protected]> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20150527/691f0efe/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
