Devin and I have had our electric cars now long enough to see the effect of cost and energy consumption it takes to eliminate Big Oil from our daily lives that I feel I can post some insight about our choice.
Devin has had the Nissan Leaf since June 2011 and I've had my Chevy Volt since August 2012. Devin's previous car was a 2006 Honda Civic, mine was a 2008 Hyundai Elantra. Both averaged around 28MPG. We drive to and from Oakley and Martinez/Concord on average five times per week.
I'll start with our original costs. Pre-electric, gas cost us $250 EACH per month - that's $500 a month we spent on gas alone. At the time, our PGE bill for our 4bd/2ba/1700sq ft house ran around $200 in the summer time, when we use the most electricity. Our bill on energy consumption each month totaled about $700 for gas and PGE.
Since having both of our cars charging on our house electricity, our PGE went up to $350 per month. We also spend $0 on gas. $0. Devin's car is fully electric, he can travel appx 100 miles on a single charge. My car is fully electric then hybrid when the battery runs out. I can go 50 miles on a full charge then an additional 250 miles on a 7 gallon gasoline/electric hybrid engine. Based on my daily commute, I never dip into the gas engine in my car.
The biggest difference we noted was our cost for energy consumption going DOWN from $700mo to $350.
I've already heard many questions and concerns about other factors that may come into play when it comes to the cost of an electric car. First is the monthly payment on an electric car that costs roughly $30k-$40k. Devin's Nissan Leaf was purchased. Sticker price was roughly $32k but the state of California offers a $7500 federal rebate as well as a $5000 state rebate, bringing the price down to $19500 - no more than the cost of his Honda Civic we're used to paying for each month. My car is being leased for 27 months. My monthly payment on a $40k car is $200 - $100 cheaper per month than my Elantra, which was a $19k car. In other words, we're saving an additional $100 per month by having electric cars. I'm leasing because they're only going to come out with something even more efficient than the Volt is now and I don't want to be stuck with a hybrid if they come out with a better range electric.
Another factor I've heard rebutted is the actual carbon emissions savings earned on having a car powered by electricity versus a gas powered car. In California, our homes are powered by multiple sources - namely wind and coal. Charging Devin's fully electric vehicle in our home and driving 100 miles is equivalent to a gas powered car that gets 65 miles per gallon due to the emissions created by PGE when we have to charge the vehicle. Still, there are not many cars out there that get this type of emission rating that fill up at the pump, so the electric car is still better for the environment.
A major factor to take into consideration when dealing with an electric car is the maintenance. Devin's car has no engine, no radiator, no oil, etc. The Leaf only uses 3 fluids - brake fluid, windshield wiper fluid, and coolant for the AC. The motor is magnet operated and the magnets need to be replaced once every 15 years. The batteries will maintain their full ability to hold a 100 mile charge until 7 years, then they slowly depreciate and will need to be replaced. My Volt has a miniature generator engine as well as a battery pack. Based on the number of miles driven on gas will determine how often oil is used or changed. I've had my car pushing 3 months now and I've had to fill my 7 gallon gas tank one time. Once. I've driven 3300 miles and used only 7 gallons of gas. I need an oil change once every few years at that rate. Again, we are saving money and being more environmentally friendly by not requiring any oil for our cars as well as other fluids like radiator fluid.
In order to adjust our carbon emissions based on our PGE bill and home usage, we decided to opt into a 6kwh solar panel set for our house. This system costs $130mo (lease) and will bring our PGE down, including our vehicle charging and home use, to $60mo. In other words, our energy consumption will drop from the original $700 to $350 to $190mo. This will also eliminate any carbon emissions from our cars as solar power emits zero carbon.
We are by no means rich. If you do your homework, you'll see how simple and cost effective it is to save money and help the environment.
