After doing some calculations I found that my Tracker has cost me $418.52 less than my XJ to operate over the 16 weeks I have been driving it.
That means in theory I only have to drive it for another 16.5 months to "recover" the initial investment.
Together with my motorcycle I have $1100.56 saved just fuel costs over 4934 miles. This alone was almost enough to fund my e-bike project.
All stats came from my vehicle tracking app acar. I am using average fuel prices, average MPG for each vehicle and the total mileage. I am planning on using my Jeep for recreation, towing and casual use and my Tracker and motorcycle for DD commuting. I also will use my E-bike for transportation. My ultimate goal is to slice my gasoline bill in half this year.
I know what you're thinking... stepping over dollars to pick up dimes am I right? Yes in the small picture it is 100% true I have invested almost $4000 in my motorcycle and Tracker.... That's a lot of gasoline I could put in my Jeep! However in the big picture the gasoline is a consumable where as the vehicles are an asset. Adding up the reoccurring fixed costs they are still a lot less than the savings in fuel...which means as long as one of the vehicles don't need a costly repair, they are a viable cost saving investment.