I know we have been talking about electric vehicles for a while, but this article really made me do a double take
- Base model Wheego for $ 18,995.
- Federal income tax credit up to $ 7,500
- Charging time and cost if fully depleted - 4 hours (47c) on a 220 volt or 8 hours (94c) on 110 volt outlet
- Driving range of 35 to 100 miles, depending on model
- Almost maintenance free – no oil changes etc - 2c a mile to maintain compared to 40c for gas powered cars
Now we all know in the auto industry reality is often different from advertised values, and there are the usual tax, title, dealer add-ons. But compare this to the dawn of the auto industry when Ford EVs cost almost 3X gas powered models and we have come a long, long way.
Vinnie -
Not too sure about the math here. By my calculations, regular maintenance for a typical low end gasoline-fuled car (equivalent perhaps to this low end electric car) is going to be around $40 every 10K miles for oil, and $200 every 30K miles for an overall tune up - the oil etc. services seem to be much more like $0.01 per mile for gasoline-powered cars. I'm not sure that the electric car you're comparing to is really going to prove to be maintenance free, as there is little history to go on (as compared to the VERY predictable costs of gasoline-powered cars) - electric cars also have motors, transmissions, brakes, windshield wipers, tires, etc.
Additionally, the gasoline-powered car, at about 30mpg, would be about $0.13 per mile, and of course there would be essentially no limit to the distance you could travel per trip, no scrimping on radio or air conditioning, able to travel up hill without losing speed and with a top speed in excess of the speed limit in every state, and I'm guessing that crash survivability (and repairs costs) are much better for the gasoline-powered car.
This electric car that can travel (slowly) on a highway is priced around $30K, according to the article. This compares to a Smart Car, the most similar gasoline-powered car to this electric car, which is priced at around $13K. That $17K difference in price would pay for well over 150K miles' of gas and maintenance.
Depending on how you value your life, this could be the most expensive cheap purchase of one's life ...
Posted by: Dennis Moo | May 22, 2011 at 02:50 PM
Dennis, as you say we are in the early, hype stage so EV economics will likely not be as compelling. But compared to back in the days of old Henry (Ford) we are in a different ball game today...
Posted by: vinnie mirchandani | May 24, 2011 at 12:47 AM