|
Yes, the cost of an EV purchase at the moment is too high, in many cases. Robert Llewellyn has the same guesstimate on why that is -- and like any new technology that has yet to get into mass production, it will be much higher than many people can afford. But, I don't think you can dismiss it for this reason either. The maintenance costs of an EV are virtually nil, and the electric motor should last long enough to let you recoup your money.
In fact, if you do the cost comparison of energy to run and cost to maintain, the EV will easily save you enough money in just 100K miles to more than pay for the new set of batteries that you may need. Newer lithium batteries may well last you 200K miles, and in which case the cost of purchase will be easily offset.
But Mike Boxwell's numbers on carbon footprint approximately confirm the numbers mentioned by Robert Llewellyn -- EV's are 50-60gm/km on the existing UK grid. Mike Boxwell adds the "full coal" number that still slightly better than the gasoline alone. and it is the embedded energy in the gasoline that we need to get a handle on.
|