It goes without saying that the cost of filling up a vehicle with gas is expensive and adds up over time. Still, is buying a new electric vehicle any more practical?
According to a OneNewsNow reader's comments on a recent story about the Chevy Volt, the answer is yes.
"The Ford Focus Electric costs about $2 to $3 to recharge during off-peak hours -- a bit more if not off-peak -- maybe $4," the reader explains. "That gives you a range of about 76 miles. A regular Focus with a full tank gets you about 380 miles. At $4 per gallon, [with] a 14-gallon tank, that's $56 in gas."
The reader goes on to explain that the "same number of miles on electric costs about $10 to $15. While producing the electricity (unless you have the solar array) does generate some pollution, producing gasoline creates significant pollution. And then you have the gas engine producing some pollution -- nothing with the electric, plus no oil. So, no used oil, no oil changes," he sums up. "Based on 12,000 miles a year driving at $4 per gallon for gas, estimate for break even on the price of the vehicle is about three and a halve years -- sooner if gas goes higher, longer if gas goes down."
But Marita Noon, political commentator and executive director of Energy Makes America Great, does not see it that way.
"If one only cares about gasoline cost, how much you're paying to fill up the tank, then it might be a worthwhile comparison," Noon admits. "But when you look at how much more it costs to purchase an electric car than it does a non-electric car, the payoff is considerably bigger than what your reader is talking about."
In 2011, an article in Forbes magazine counted the cost of an electric vehicle, saying, "At $0.11/KWH for electricity and $4.00 per gallon for gasoline, you would have to drive the Nissan Leaf 164,000 miles to recover its additional purchase cost. Counting interest, the miles to payback is 197,000 miles."
"Because it is almost impossible to drive a Leaf more than 60 miles a day, the payback with interest would take more than nine years," the article continues.
Regardless, Forbes states that the cost is not the biggest problem, rather the recharging time. It takes 20 hours to completely recharge a Nissan Leaf from a 110V house current. More powerful chargers shorten the time, but they come at an extra cost, and Nissan cautions that using them too often will shorten the life of the car's batteries.
As for the Ford Focus Electric, the webpage for that vehicle tells readers, "If you purchase the available 240-volt charging station, you'll be able to fully charge your Focus Electric in about half the time of the 2012 Nissan Leaf."
However, another article in Forbes titled "Why I didn't buy a Ford Focus Electric" takes issue with the car's hefty sticker price and the fact that the author's hometown of Berkeley, CA would not let him install an outdoor charger.
"That's amazing, especially considering we're talking about Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay area," Noon comments. "The charging time is one of the big issues. For some people, an electric car may really be a great option. If you have a really small range of travel, you live near your work and you stop at the grocery store, maybe the doctor on the way there and back, for some people it may be a really viable option. But the charging time is a big drawback, and in order to have a fast charger, you're talking of thousands of additional dollars to bring your charge time down."
Noon also takes exception to the fact that electric cars get their power from electricity. At the present time, most of the nation's electricity comes from utility companies and coal-fired power plants. The energy expert agrees with those who want to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil, and she points out that there is oil in the United States that is not being pursued.