Electric cars don't seem to make sense yet

Tag : cargo pant


The problem is that the premium you pay for the battery technologyobliterates any gas savings.
Chevy claims that if you drive less than 40 miles a day, you'llnever have to put a drop of gas into your Volt.
But the Volt is expected to cost around $40,000 or so when it goes on sale (which could be as soon as 2010).
At that price, gasoline makes much more financial sense.
Let's say the Volt ends up with sticker price of $40,000.
Compare that to the Chevy Malibu LS , which starts at $20,550, seems about equal in size to the Voltand is considered an exceptional vehicle.
That's a price difference of $19,450.
Let's say gas jumps to $5 per gallon (which seems pretty likely by2010). At that price, $19,450 would buy you 3,890 gallons of gas.
The LS is rated for 22 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway.
Most people probably do a mix of city and highway driving, but letssay you do only city driving.
That means your 3,890 gallons of gas would allow you to drive85,580 miles.
The average American drives about 12,000 miles per year.
So that means you'd have to own a Volt for more than seven years(and never use a drop of gasoline) to make it a better financialdecision than a run-of-the-mill gas-powered car.
And that's not even counting the spike in your home electric billfrom charging up your Volt in your garage every night.
The technology of electric vehicles is enticing and promising.
But it's not ready for prime time.