Posted on 02/22/2014 10:58:52 AM PST by jazusamo
There are two electric cars on the market that have received a lot of attention in the media. One is GM's Chevy Volt and the other is the Tesla Model S. Extravagant claims have been made by both manufacturers to have us believe that these that these automobiles are practical and economical to drive. As we shall see, that is not really true when one takes into account all the factors which contribute to the total operating cost of each of these two vehicles.
Chevy Volt
The manufacturer claims that "The Chevy Volt is the most fuel-efficient car with a gasoline engine currently sold in the U.S. -- and it's easy to see why. While most plug-in cars can make it about 20 miles tops before switching to hybrid mode, the Volt can run up to 38 miles on battery before switching over to its 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine." GM describes their product as follows: "The Volt is powered by an electric motor that's connected to a 1.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine. It runs exclusively on battery power until the charge drops to 30 percent and the gas motor kicks in. There are four modes -- Normal, Hold, Sport and Mountain ....When running on gasoline, the Volt returns 35 mpg city and 40 mpg highway." When all of the energy, battery plus gasoline, is used the total range of the car is 270 miles. At that point one must recharge the battery which takes nearly 10 hours if the car is plugged into a 120 V outlet. The charging time is less if one has a 240 V outlet and a special battery charger.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Think the average American idiot knows what amortize means?
We live in an Idiocracy. We are far outnumbered and swirling down the drain quickly.
Used Tesla S Class cars are now worth more than new models. They have become instant collectors items. I’ve seen them at classic car shows.
Teslas won’t even start to move from must haves of the wealthy —to middle class must haves until their price moves down to 35k in 2016—as promised.
electric car - attached garage - fire - no thanks
The Volt gets 40mpg hwy ... BFD! there are many gas only cars that do the same at 1/3 the cost ... and the Volt , here in Florida , will have the gas engine running 100% of the time as it’s needed for the A/C to operate...
EV’s are perfect for touchy/feely Metrosexual TV commercials.
Has anyone made a comparison of the cost of INSURANCE between the Volt and the Tesla compared to cars they were matched against.
Insurance costs are never ending cost of owning a car. If one drives a paltry 100 miles a year, the insurance costs must still be paid, and factored in.
Yep, and they’re a disaster in below freezing weather.
Do they come with an onboard fire detection and suppression system?
The author is basically right. Currently, electric cars don’t make economic sense. However, there are some other factors that are never considered in comparisons like this one. For example, how nice would it be to never have to spend time at a gas station? Does anyone enjoy their time at the gas station? I doubt it. How much leisure and other productive time is wasted just with the process of purchasing gasoline? Let’s suppose that you spend 20 minutes of your life per week getting gas. That’s like 17 hours per year. Suppose you spent that 17 hours doing something that you enjoy. An economic value should be assigned to that. Do other factors such as the one I’ve mentioned justify purchase of an electric vehicle economically? Probably not, but such factors can’t be totally ignored either.
IOW, a car good for half the year in Minnesota.
Nice if you’re a trust fund leftist like our governor.
The author seeks to gain credibility with his math skill.
“The cost to fill the 9 gallon tank with $4 a gallon gas is $38.”
Being a car guy and a math guy, I lost interest at that point.
Anybody driving a vehicle other than the cheapest to operate, is deciding on non-economic criteria.
Gas-electric hybrid works great. Electric only not so much, with some exceptions.
Do we have any people here that would pick a Corvette over say a Cruze?
A major goal in life for many, is to reach a point where not all decisions have to be just economics.
I would agree that people strive for luxuries and economics should not be the main factor for those people.
However all taxpayers are subsidizing electrics and hybrids for those that can afford them when in fact they themselves cannot afford them, in my view that’s wrong.
Hybrids and electric cars have nothing to do with economics but have everything to do with hipster smugness.
the world’s dependence on liquid fuel from
the middle east is the root cause
of immense human suffering.
...................
electric cars,
you have to start somewhere.
the Volt is a great car,
but it costs too much for
what you get.
The Volt.....Chevies Jubilee
If so, sign me up for the course.
Chevy destroyed its own argument for the Volt when they created the Cruze Eco.
Under $20,000, 46 MPG highway. 500+ mile range. No battery costs in the future.
The Cruze Diesel might make that discrepancy even worse. I hear it has a 700+ mile range.
Can’t imaging being in rush hour traffic in sub freezing and needing to run the heater. Just what is the effective “mpg” for an EV in heavy traffic with the heater running?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.