Only the federal government would spend millions to save thousands. A pilot program in five Americann cities will provide some federal government workers with plug-in cars. In San Diego, there will be 116 of the electric vehicles:
The purchases announced Tuesday are expected to cut gas usage by almost 29,000 gallons a year, saving taxpayer an estimated $116,000 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 257 metric tons, said GSA administrator Martha Johnson.
[. . .]
101 Vots at $38,500 equals $3,888,500. Add to that 10 Leafs costing $33,000 and you get $4,218,500. Now add 5 EV's at 32,500 and the grand total is $4,508,500. At a savings of only $116,000 a year in gas it would take 39 years to offset the costs of the cars. How much sense does that make? The battery life of these cars does not last more than ten years the last time I checked so the costs of buying new “green” cars will never be offset.
This is pretty much the story of the green movement in general: wishful, if not downright delusional, thinking backed by extravagantly wasteful spending, with no interest at all in whether the actual results even marginally represent the promises. It's all about feeling morally superior.
Comments
I think my comment from "Parlor Trick" applies here as well.
Ah, comparing electricity transformed by burning coal at 30% efficiency to converting petroleum fuel is easy on a btu scale. When it comes to CO2, petroleum wins. Coal is dirty, bulky and the results of its burning affect an area most likely hundreds of miles from where the electric car is used.
Unless the charging stations use solar or wind, the environment will be worse off.
We have a $13.4 Trillion debt and we are going to spend more. Congress's only priority is to spend more!
Presumably, an electric car won't need to be going in for oil changes, adjusting the carb, changing points and plugs, replacing mufflers, etc. Those are expensive in a private car, but if it's a fleet car, you need to find another car for the employee to use while his regular car is in the shop.
Add those costs to the cost of gasoline saved - and then compare it to the cost of the electric car MINUS the cost of a gas-powered car. That would give you a reasonable analysis. Comparing ONLY the gas saved with the TOTAL purchase price of the electric car is obviously bogus.
I doubt the electric cars would be cheaper, overall, than gas-powered, but jiggering the numbers makes it look like you're afraid of the real answer.
Although we might be surprised. Dayton used both diesel busses and electric trolley busses in the 1970s, and maybe they do even now. The trolley busses were inflexible because they couldn't, for instance, drive into the left lane to get past a traffic accident, but they needed less maintenance, lasted forever, and even the tires lasted longer, making them a lot cheaper to operate than the diesel busses.
I'm glad the GSA didn't switch its entire fleet of 650,000 vehicles, but this test will probably yield useful information.