Is it cheaper to fill up with electricity yet?

[fcc]

In my current situation, owning two cars that are driveable is out of the question.
Now you double insurance costs and need twice as much space to park them in which
is quite an issue in the city.

Until an electric car can go farther distances... i do not think they will ever take off
like a prius did.

my two cents.

[MagneticGrayIndy]

Originally Posted by fcc

In my current situation, owning two cars that are driveable is out of the question.
Now you double insurance costs and need twice as much space to park them in which
is quite an issue in the city.

Until an electric car can go farther distances... i do not think they will ever take off
like a prius did.

my two cents.

no different than those in here who argue most people can drive a hybrid year round and just rent something for the rare times you need more space/hauling ability.. for most people, they could drive an EV year round and rent when they need one to go a longer distance.. hell, plenty of people in cities have no vehicle at all...

I happen to live in a city but have a three car detached garage.. so we have the best of both worlds (suburban/urban).. the bus line is 1/2 block away and my husband takes that to work every day. Granted.. we COULD take the bus for shopping, movies.. etc.. but we're just as American as the next door neighbors and are quite used to having our own personal transportation.

[fcc]

Originally Posted by MagneticGrayIndy

no different than those in here who argue most people can drive a hybrid year round and just rent something for the rare times you need more space/hauling ability.. for most people, they could drive an EV year round and rent when they need one to go a longer distance.. hell, plenty of people in cities have no vehicle at all...

I happen to live in a city but have a three car detached garage.. so we have the best of both worlds (suburban/urban).. the bus line is 1/2 block away and my husband takes that to work every day. Granted.. we COULD take the bus for shopping, movies.. etc.. but we're just as American as the next door neighbors and are quite used to having our own personal transportation.

That is a good point except that I would rather not rent a car every other
weekend when i goto the beach, visit Maine antiquing, travel on holidays, etc..

I say this tongue in cheek.. so be aware...
I feel that any person who could actually rent a car for the once or twice
a year they need to travel more then 100 miles is a very boring person indeed ;-) dont stone me!!

For those who can fit a electric vehicle in their life it sounds great to me...
i just know on monthly basis i need to drive more then 100 miles round
trip to go do "things".

good point though!

[darelldd]

Already been answered several times, of course. For as long as anybody has cared to check, it has ALWAYS been cheaper to fuel and EV than a gas car. Always. I got my first EV when gas was about $1.50, and at that time, it was 1/4 the cost to fill the EV than the gas car. Efficiency wins this one in a big way. My current EV holds the equivalent energy of one gallon of gas. I have driven 135 miles on that "gallon" of energy.

Originally Posted by fcc

Until an electric car can go farther distances... i do not think they will ever take off

Yeah. This falls into the category of, "since it won't work for me, it probably won't work for anybody." Please reconsider. There are MILLIONS of people who - unlike you - have at least two cars in the household. Typically one of those cars does NOTHING but commute. So... can you imagine for must a moment that even though an EV might not work for you, that it could work for untold millions of other drivers? Pickups don't work for everybody. Sports cars don't work for everybody. Motorcycles don't work for everybody... and yet they have all "taken off." Few non-EV drivers realize the convenience of ownership. Many would be willing to pay for when when it IS realized.

Oh... and what distance are you assuming that EVs can drive today? Please also consider that we may not HAVE the luxury of long-distance gasoline driving forever. Quick charging every few miles along the highway will be cheaper to install than any sort of Hydrogen infrastructure. Really, there is no technology holding back EVs. It is public perception and car-maker foolishness that keeps us in our gas cars.

If you need MORE reasons for why EVs won't work, please check my list. Congratulations... your comment is #5 on the list.
http://evnut.com/docs/evs-wont_work.doc

[MagneticGrayIndy]

Originally Posted by fcc

That is a good point except that I would rather not rent a car every other
weekend when i goto the beach, visit Maine antiquing, travel on holidays, etc..

I say this tongue in cheek.. so be aware...
I feel that any person who could actually rent a car for the once or twice
a year they need to travel more then 100 miles is a very boring person indeed ;-) dont stone me!!

For those who can fit a electric vehicle in their life it sounds great to me...
i just know on monthly basis i need to drive more then 100 miles round
trip to go do "things".

good point though!

but think of what you just said.. even if you rent once or twice a month.. wouldn't that be cheaper than having two cars year round?.. granted, not everyone can have two cars year round either. But for MOST people... an EV as a main car could work!

[darelldd]

Originally Posted by fcc

That is a good point except that I would rather not rent a car every other
weekend when i goto the beach, visit Maine antiquing, travel on holidays, etc..

An idea I had is that EV dealerships could be your source of super-easy rentals as well. They have all your info and credit history from your vehicle purchase. And since they now love you for buying a car, one of their services is ultra-quick car rental for those long trips. You reserve it online, drive your EV down there and pick up the long-distance car with the swipe of a security card and you are on your way. The current rental process absolutely sucks.

[fcc]

I am seeing your point. But is not purpose of getting an EV vehicle to save a bit of money? Renting another car twice a month or having a second vehicle insured
so it is ready to drive at a moment's notice seems to defeat the main purpose I would
ever consider one.

We have not even began to discuss the amount of time it takes to recharge or other
caveats that will become apparent to those who drive it daily.

So lets say you drive to work 25 miles one way and back, run your errands around town
and pick up little billy at practice later on adding another 25 miles. Do you dare use the
car again on only an hours charge to go out on a friday night?

I think this is just debating and I hope people here do not see this as a slam on EV vehicles. If those cars could do 350-500 miles on one charge I would be considering them
right at this moment.

[F8L]

Originally Posted by bredekamp

Thanks guys. I thought as much.

I just wanted to say that I think you have a great webpage set up for the Prius in SA. I think I've mentioned it before but my girlfriend is from Cape Town (her parents were from Namibia) and it's cool to see members on PC from way down there.

[auricchio]

The quoted per-KWH prices are way too low.

I don't have time-of-use metering; since my usage is way above baseline, my top price is almost 33c per kwh.

(I can't go TOU because I work from home so I'm here all day. And to run washer/dryer/dishwasher after 8pm gets difficult, since those appliances require attendance, and that gets quite late.) The electric cost on Peak periods is horrendous.

So if I triple the $3.29/96 miles that gets me down to $3.29/32 miles. That's about equal to $4.20 gasoline in my Prius (41mpg average). It's still a bit cheaper than gasoline...but not by much.

[bredekamp]

Originally Posted by F8L

I just wanted to say that I think you have a great webpage set up for the Prius in SA. I think I've mentioned it before but my girlfriend is from Cape Town (her parents were from Namibia) and it's cool to see members on PC from way down there.

Thank you.