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First you need a 220 outlet. Then you need 30+ thousand dollars, which is what it cost me for all 3 of my cars, with the majority of that money spend on the wife's Rogue. Then you need to pay the property taxes on the total number of cars you own.
After the average family has met those criteria, then you need someone to make sure it is charged. You need a daily mileage routine that guarantees you never need to travel more than 100 miles a day MAXIMUM under ideal conditions. No emergencies, or other over the mileage budget reasons to drive it until the battery is dead.
Then you need to calculate the total cost of ownership and see if there is any real benefit to ownership, including the always deteriorating and exorbitantly expensive battery to consider, unless you are paying a monthly lease on that battery.
For some, maybe even many of the "average people" this may be practical. I just don't see it as a solution for the average motorist. I know my wife would never tolerate the additional demands of an electric car, even though she only uses an average of 8 gallons a week of fuel in her Rogue.
I think Nissan quoted their estimated cost per mile to be 6.5 cents, but I don't think that included the battery. The battery alone could set you back another 10 cents a mile, which makes it much more costly than either of my cars. Also add depreciation to the equation and the cost per mile gets pretty high.
Centuries and billions of battery development and we still are not there as far as a practical replacement. Think 12,000 miles a year, or 120 full cycles of the battery, or 240 50% cycles, but then you get into climate conditions shortening the cycles, as well as the reduced battery capacity, over time, that still falls into the "acceptable'" category.
The shrinking fuel tank syndrome, every winter, and year after year your useable range is reduced.
Now has anyone here driven a pure electric car 100,000 miles in the last ten years. I would sure like to read about the total cost of ownership for a 10 year 100k mileage period.
Now I do own 3 cars for my family, and one of those could be an electric car and it would be practical for us in our situation. Pop already told me he would buy a Leaf when they become available but he only drives about 4k a year, and it would be perfect for him, because he keeps his car in a garage and has 220 right where the car would sit.
Even though I can afford to buy a 30k electric car, and even though we could incorporate a limited range vehicle into our routine and it would be practical, it would not reduce our total cost of ownership, and in fact would significantly increase that cost.
Now, if you can get the range to 200 miles, and the cost of ownership comparable to a conventional sedan of equal size and versatility, then I would probably be waiting at the dealership with a check in hand.
Right now we drive about 2500 miles a month total, and it cost about $200 per month in fuel.
I do believe that the Leaf, with a 100 mile range will sell, especially to those urban dwellers that don't drive more than a few thousand miles a year and have the power accessibility, and probably would keep the car in a garage. I don't really call that average. How many here would consider a 30k car with a 100 mile range?
regards
Mech
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