Comments on: Jim Kenzie’s electric-car roundup http://www.wheels.ca/news/jim-kenzies-electric-car-roundup/ Mon, 20 May 2013 11:48:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jay Yu http://www.wheels.ca/news/jim-kenzies-electric-car-roundup/#comment-57917 Jay Yu Sun, 02 Sep 2012 17:45:40 +0000 http://ec2-107-20-15-173.compute-1.amazonaws.com/?post_type=news&p=27549#comment-57917 Interesting to make a comment like it will take you 400,000 kms to save $20,000 without showing the assumptions or calculations that led to that comment. If you drive 20,000 kms a year divide by 40kms per charge which gives you 500 recharges at about a $1 each. Cost to drive/recharge for one year is $500. According to National Resources Canada it would cost you $1596 in fuel to drive a Cruze for the same distance. Savings are $1100 per year. Therefore it would take approximately 20 years or 400,000 kms as Kenzie states. The flaw in this thinking is that cars are not appliances. People buy cars because the want to make a statement, not just for transportation. The Volt makes a statement, just like buying a Jeep YJ, or a Fiat 500, or a BMW 3 series. By the yardstick Kenzie uses, most cars are a ripoff compared to a Chevy Cruze. Interesting to make a comment like it will take you 400,000 kms to save $20,000 without showing the assumptions or calculations that led to that comment. If you drive 20,000 kms a year divide by 40kms per charge which gives you 500 recharges at about a $1 each. Cost to drive/recharge for one year is $500. According to National Resources Canada it would cost you $1596 in fuel to drive a Cruze for the same distance. Savings are $1100 per year. Therefore it would take approximately 20 years or 400,000 kms as Kenzie states. The flaw in this thinking is that cars are not appliances. People buy cars because the want to make a statement, not just for transportation. The Volt makes a statement, just like buying a Jeep YJ, or a Fiat 500, or a BMW 3 series. By the yardstick Kenzie uses, most cars are a ripoff compared to a Chevy Cruze.

]]> By: McTavish http://www.wheels.ca/news/jim-kenzies-electric-car-roundup/#comment-57755 McTavish Sun, 02 Sep 2012 14:18:23 +0000 http://ec2-107-20-15-173.compute-1.amazonaws.com/?post_type=news&p=27549#comment-57755 Personal vehicle emissions ARE significant. Driving a sedan 20k a year would emit 5 T CO2, which is about 25% of the emissions of the average Canadian, so if you can use an electric vehicle for most of your driving (ex. for one of two cars for the family) that will probably be the biggest single action you can do to reduce your emissions (and specifically local air quality, which had sig. health impacts.) Any action requires broader adoption to have a huge impact, so comparing a single vehicle to the entire country is deliberately misleading. In terms of cost, they are coming down. the new Electric ForTwo will be under $19k after the rebate, which will make the payback period (compared to the gasoline version) around 140 000 km, which means it WILL be cheaper. Personal vehicle emissions ARE significant. Driving a sedan 20k a year would emit 5 T CO2, which is about 25% of the emissions of the average Canadian, so if you can use an electric vehicle for most of your driving (ex. for one of two cars for the family) that will probably be the biggest single action you can do to reduce your emissions (and specifically local air quality, which had sig. health impacts.) Any action requires broader adoption to have a huge impact, so comparing a single vehicle to the entire country is deliberately misleading.

In terms of cost, they are coming down. the new Electric ForTwo will be under $19k after the rebate, which will make the payback period (compared to the gasoline version) around 140 000 km, which means it WILL be cheaper.

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