http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_29386351/jim-shapiro-electric-cars-are-cheaper-operate Jim Shapiro: Electric cars are cheaper to operate 01/14/2016 Jim Shapiro
Concerning the recent article [ http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_29364161/toor-make-electric-vehicles-priority-boulder ] about Will Toor's recommendation that the city [Boulder-CO] encourage more electric vehicle use, I'd like to add some numbers to those recommendations that compare electric vehicle efficiency to gas-powered vehicle efficiency. I have cars of both types and I keep detailed records of each vehicle's efficiency. My electric car is a Nissan Leaf [EV] and my other car is a relatively efficient (for gasoline cars) Toyota MR2 [ice] that averages almost 37 mpg. Efficiency for cars is measured in how far they travel for each unit of energy. Scientific units for this measure are kilometers per megajoule, but for comparison purposes the units chosen don't matter. In addition to raw efficiencies I'll also include cost per kilometer comparisons, as well. Again, the units are irrelevant for comparison purposes. It should be pointed out that when gas costs $4 a gallon, it's about the same price per unit of energy as the electricity delivered to your home at 12 cents a kilowatt-hour. So now gasoline is less than half the cost of electricity, giving traditional cars a head start, at least in terms of driving costs. And here's the bottom line. The Leaf averages 2.38 km/MJ, the MR2 0.49 km/MJ, a ratio of about 4.9 favoring the Leaf. In terms of costs, the numbers are 1.41 and 5.05 cents/km, respectively, a ratio of 3.6, again favoring the electric car. (Note that much of the fuel for the MR2 was bought when gas was more expensive than it now is.) There are other factors — range anxiety and maintenance to name two — to take into account, but what's clear is that electric vehicles, and in particular electric motors, are much more efficient [than] gasoline engines, close to five times as efficient. And even at today's very low costs for gas and with a relatively efficient gas-powered car, it's still cheaper to drive the electric car. Jim Shapiro lives in Boulder [CO]. [© 2016 Digital First Media] ... [dated] http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/will-sun-ever-rise-on-solar-powered-cars- Aug 11, 2008 ... Swiss Man Drives Around World To Prove Solar Power ... Jim Shapiro, a long time hybrid driver. "With gas prices up, everything's changing. The whole game has changed. And everybody knows it." ... http://www.solartaxi.com/ For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Even-with-low-ga-hi-mpg-ice-it-s-still-cheaper-to-drive-the-Electric-car-tp4679919.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
