In honor of earth day, which is today in case you didn't know... :)
I read this article this morning:
https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/2015-chevrolet-spark-ev-price-cut-25-995-170000219.html
With gas prices being relatively low, buying a more expensive electric car isn't for everyone. Which is why they make the lease terms seem so attractive. The question is, would you buy/lease an electric vehicle?
There are a number of things about an all-electric vehicle which are appealing. Efficiency is of course the top of the list. With an equivalent estimated gas mileage of 120 miles per gallon, you just can't argue that it's not hugely efficient. I know, there are a number of positive and negative aspects of charging one's car with on-grid electric power supplies (renewable energy systems are much more environmentally appealing). But still... an equivalent gas powered vehicle (the same Chevy Spark but with a 1.2 (!) liter petrol engine) gets an estimated combined gas mileage of about 35 MPG. So roughly three times the energy efficiency...
There are other aspects that are appealing - including noise (there is very little engine (motor?) noise - most of what you'd get in the cabin is road noise), exterior styling (completely subjective, but they look OK), and the overall size (I tend to like small, nimble vehicles). I like that it's a commuter car, designed to get people from A-B without making a grand production out of it.
But the drawbacks are also significant. The biggest in my mind is the range. The EV only gets 82 miles, after which you're stopping to charge up. Even with the quick-charge deal that Chevy offers, you're stuck for 20 minutes to get to 80% charge (which, according to my math, is 66 miles). Assuming you're driving at 65 MPH, that means you are stopping every hour for 20 minutes to charge up. So long distance road trips are pretty much out. That's assuming you can find someplace that will allow you to charge up 66 miles away.
Battery life expectancy also continues to be a challenge. These batteries are the lithium ion type, which allow for fairly consistent on-demand power, and their weight to power ratio is pretty decent (compared with other battery types). But they ARE heavy, and they also wear out quickly (three years is probably all you'd expect out of them, after which they need an expensive and difficult swap-out).
And because they're so heavy, in order to get the efficiency you want, they've had to make everything else incredibly light-weight (cheap). Except, not cheap. At nearly $26K for the non-leather option, it's more than twice the cost of the base gas model.
The thing is, I'd LOVE an electric vehicle. The thought of one day being able to pull into my solar-panel bedecked home and charge up my car is very appealing. Some day we'll get there. In the mean time, here's the hybrid I'll have:
I read this article this morning:
https://www.yahoo.com/autos/s/2015-chevrolet-spark-ev-price-cut-25-995-170000219.html
With gas prices being relatively low, buying a more expensive electric car isn't for everyone. Which is why they make the lease terms seem so attractive. The question is, would you buy/lease an electric vehicle?
There are a number of things about an all-electric vehicle which are appealing. Efficiency is of course the top of the list. With an equivalent estimated gas mileage of 120 miles per gallon, you just can't argue that it's not hugely efficient. I know, there are a number of positive and negative aspects of charging one's car with on-grid electric power supplies (renewable energy systems are much more environmentally appealing). But still... an equivalent gas powered vehicle (the same Chevy Spark but with a 1.2 (!) liter petrol engine) gets an estimated combined gas mileage of about 35 MPG. So roughly three times the energy efficiency...
There are other aspects that are appealing - including noise (there is very little engine (motor?) noise - most of what you'd get in the cabin is road noise), exterior styling (completely subjective, but they look OK), and the overall size (I tend to like small, nimble vehicles). I like that it's a commuter car, designed to get people from A-B without making a grand production out of it.
But the drawbacks are also significant. The biggest in my mind is the range. The EV only gets 82 miles, after which you're stopping to charge up. Even with the quick-charge deal that Chevy offers, you're stuck for 20 minutes to get to 80% charge (which, according to my math, is 66 miles). Assuming you're driving at 65 MPH, that means you are stopping every hour for 20 minutes to charge up. So long distance road trips are pretty much out. That's assuming you can find someplace that will allow you to charge up 66 miles away.
Battery life expectancy also continues to be a challenge. These batteries are the lithium ion type, which allow for fairly consistent on-demand power, and their weight to power ratio is pretty decent (compared with other battery types). But they ARE heavy, and they also wear out quickly (three years is probably all you'd expect out of them, after which they need an expensive and difficult swap-out).
And because they're so heavy, in order to get the efficiency you want, they've had to make everything else incredibly light-weight (cheap). Except, not cheap. At nearly $26K for the non-leather option, it's more than twice the cost of the base gas model.
The thing is, I'd LOVE an electric vehicle. The thought of one day being able to pull into my solar-panel bedecked home and charge up my car is very appealing. Some day we'll get there. In the mean time, here's the hybrid I'll have:
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