Electric cars are getting as cheap as gasoline rivals

[tinrobot]

In California, at least...

What would it take to get you into an electric car today?

Forced by state regulators to sell more zero-emission vehicles, automakers are tripping over each other to offer consumers rock-bottom lease deals. For the first time, electric vehicles are penciling out cheaper than their gas-powered counterparts.

Honda joined the price war this week by dropping the lease on its Fit EV from $389 to $259 a month. It threw in collision and vehicle theft coverage, maintenance, roadside assistance — even a charging station at your house. Factoring in a state rebate, a customer can drive off the lot with an all-in, three-year commitment of less than $7,000. That may make the Fit EV the cheapest $37,000 car in history.

Still, the Honda will have to compete with recently announced $199-a-month leases on the Nissan Leaf, the Fiat 500e and the Chevrolet Spark. Ford is offering its Focus EV for $284 a month


http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-0601-hy-autos-electric-cars-20130531,0,131053.story

[DinahMoeHum]

1. To get me into a totally-electric car, I would need a reliable. . .

. . .charging system close by (I live in a condo, not a regular house) as well as charging stations along my usual routes (commuter, etc). Perhaps a system where the car roof is like a PV panel whereas one could charge up the car while it's sitting in a parking lot, soaking up the sun.

Otherwise, and until the aforementioned items come to pass, I will still opt for a hybrid like the Toyota Prius. For me, that will be the bridge to totally-electric cars.

Still, I DO support EVs. AFAIC, as the EV technology expands and becomes more affordable, gas-combustion engines will go the way of the horse-and-buggy.

Let's be patient and get used to the fact that there will still be obstacles and setbacks along this path. But it's getting there. One step at a time.

[ellenfl]

8. also a condo owner. would love to buy the new rav4 ev but no plug! eom

[kristopher]

9. I live in the country

The reason I mention that is to tell you about streetlights around here - we generally don't have any. However, if a homeowner wants a streetlight or two or a couple of high illumination lights out behind their house, the local utility is happy to put it in for, get this, just $10.
That's right, they put in the wires and the pole and the light for just $10. The customer then pays (pretty much forever) $3.50 extra per light per month.

The moral of the story is, there are economic incentives to get charging stations to everyone. You might accelerate the process by calling your local utility and putting a bug in their ear.

[Demeter]

2. Considering how FEW moving parts in an electric car

(a lot of the gas engine and drive train and brakes wears out by moving or exploding, and there are extra costs are for anti-pollution gizmos)

the Electric Car should cost LESS than the gasoline or diesel model. That would mean battery costs and weight coming down.

[NYC_SKP]

3. I'm the biggest fan of EVs, but still managed to turn a Ford Focus EV into a paperweight.

I had a loaner for one week and on the last day when I went out to use it, the thing was dead as a doornail.

Worse, you couldn't lock it up because the door lock design depends on there being power.

It turned out that the common 12V battery was faulty and it runs the whole show.

Yup. I bricked a brand new $42,000 EV. Picture below. Note the tow truck coming in behind it.

[tinrobot]

12. Fords seem to have that issue...

A friend of mine bricked her C-Max Energi by draining the 12v battery.

All you need is a 12v jump to get bring it back to life, but still. Ford needs to fix this.

[wtmusic]

15. Not good.

The Focus EV got some bad press because they were so anxious to get into the game they didn't start from scratch - they took a standard Focus ICE chasis, body, and frame and adapted it for an electric drivetrain. Looks like their testing got shortchanged as well.

Too bad, I hope they invest the resources it's going to take to be competitive.

[OnlinePoker]

4. Only because the government subsidizes it by a third.

If those were gone, they would still be prohibitive for most people. What I don't like is I can't afford a new car at all but my tax dollars are subsidizing those who can. It's the same with the renewable energy rebates for my house as well.

[Warren Stupidity]

6. Yes exactly, that is the crux of the problem: consumer subsidies for renewables.

Never mind the mind bogglingly huge decades long subsidies to big oil, the road system built with public funds to drive demand for cars and trucks, the gigantic subsidies to the nuclear power industry, and the 70 year gigantic funnel of tax dollars to the military industrial complex, the problem is that some other peasant got a small rebate on a hybrid or electric car, and you didn't.

[Vincardog]

10. This /\

[NYC_SKP]

13. And the benefits to fossil fuels are ongoing. nt

[tinrobot]

11. The point is that they are affordable...

$199/month is the cost of filling your tank here in California.

And yes, some of that is govt. incentives, but look at how much the govt. gives to big oil.

[wtmusic]

14. Electric cars have dropped in price by a factor of 5 because of those subsidies

and there's no reason why they won't drop more.

If you need somehow to feel reimbursed, the government doesn't charge you a penny for the smoke your car emits which causes cancer and a host of other lung ailments.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Range and money...

As a second car, I might take the Honda or Fiat for local driving. If I had the money I might take the Tesla for my main car. But probably not because there are better options out there. I put on up to a hundred miles a day for work, and couldn't have a car with such limited range as most electrics.

While the Volt, Fusion, and other hybrids are pushing the limits of style, comfort and drivability, all-electrics just don't cut it yet. The market has shown the public hates them for some reasons and the only reason to make them at all is because California makes them make them. So they're giving them away just to show mandatory sales figures.

Eventually, they'll see their day but right now they're just toys.

[kristopher]

7. Consumer Reports is calling the Tesla Model S the best car it has ever tested.

"The market has shown the public hates them" - You cannot support that comment because it is false.

Consumer Reports is calling the Tesla Model S the best car it has ever tested. The Model S, an all-electric plug-in car, earned a score of 99 out of a possible 100 in the magazine's tests.
The score would have been higher but for the fact that the all-electric car does need to stop and recharge during extremely long-distance drives.

"If it could recharge in any gas station in three minutes, this car would score about 110," said Jake Fisher, head of auto testing for Consumer Reports. Fisher called the car's performance in the magazine's performance tests "off the charts."

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/09/autos/tesla-model-s-consumer-reports/index.html

Owner surveys for EVs tell the same exact story.

[TreasonousBastard]

16. If they love them so much, why aren't they buying them? The article says...

Honda and everyone else is losing money on them just to get some sold to meet the quotas. Of course owner surveys are going to say the cars are great-- but since there are very few owners,
why do the many non-owners surveyed say they didn't buy one?

CU says a $100,000 car that can't be refueled in most places is a great car. OK, so it's a great car, but so's a $100,000 Mercedes.

[tinrobot]

21. There's a minimum technical standard that needs to be met.

The 100 mile ranges and 4 hour recharges of the low-end cars don't quite hit that standard for a lot of people. Those cars are usually second cars or urban vehicles and excellent for those needs.

Tesla, with a 200-300 mile range and sub-hour charging hits a higher standard (or they wouldn't be selling). A Tesla can completely replace a gas car for most people.

When the lower-end cars increase their ranges and charge faster, then they will be in big demand.

[Socialistlemur]

17. They are not cheaper...they are subsidized

The California state legislature is typical of government getting into prescriptive solutions while lacking the brains to do so efficiently. Electric cars are a dumb idea. They are cheaper only because the industry is forced to sell them so they can sell other cars. This means car buyers have to finance this really dumb idea. How is the electricity generated for these cars? The marginal generation is done using COAL. So, as they say in Indiana, this is all sheer baloney. A much better solution is a hybrid, or a high efficiency diesel with a manual transmission. I drive one and I get 40 miles per gallon. If all of you did the same we could cut our fuel consumption by 30 to 40 % easily. And please stop building those huge houses and drive two miles to the grocery store. I walk to mine and I live in a smallish dwelling. But I do live in Europe, where energy use is more rational.

[Kolesar]

18. Zero emission electric cars are supported to prevent smog in California.

have a nice day

[Socialistlemur]

19. It's dumb

They should subsidize vehicles if they are high efficiency and low emissions. They won't get too many electric cars sold. And the coal to generate electricity does put co2 in the air. I think Californians just failed to think it through.

[tinrobot]

20. Umm.. Electric cars are high efficiency and low emissions...

They should subsidize vehicles if they are high efficiency and low emissions

So we agree they should be subsidized.

Good to know.

[diane in sf]

23. We hardly burn coal in CA and in places that do, running EVs still creates much less CO2 than ICEs

[happyslug]

22. I would need something that goes 100 miles without recharging.

I am sorry, when I do drive, I drive 50-100 miles at a clip. I need a car that can do that. On trips less then 20 miles I tend to ride my bicycle.

Worse, It has to operate in sub-freezing weather AND do 50-100 miles. Most batteries lose power in cold weather, I would need assurances that such a loss of power will NOT occur.

This is in addition to a charging station, for I live in an older part of town and have no outside electrical outlet.

And it would have to get better then 40 mpg (or the electric equivalent). I picked my present car for fuel efficiency.

And you will have to intervene with my Rural Electric Co-op that does NOT want any electric cars hooked up, for they do not have the capacity to provide that power. Please note, Rural Electric Co-Op are Federally formed and as such NOT subject to state PUC law.