Electric vehicles make no economic sense
– do the math
theAspenbeat.com,
by
Glenn Beaton
Original Article
Posted By: Big Bopper,
3/15/2026 3:49:36 PM
Electric vehicles are probably the vehicle of the future, but they are not the vehicle of the present. Let’s look at the numbers.
An EV uses about six cents of electricity to go a mile. That’s if you charge it at home with inexpensive residential electricity rates. It’s more if you use a charging station, and it’s more if it’s a large vehicle like a Rivian. And by the way, be prepared to leave it plugged in for several hours to get it charged.
Gasoline-powered cars use about thirteen cents of gasoline to go a mile, assuming gas is something over $3/gallon and you get something like 25 mpg.
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
DVC 3/15/2026 4:19:42 PM (No. 2080714)
Not the vehicles of the future, either.
13 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
jeffkinnh 3/15/2026 4:25:14 PM (No. 2080715)
If the break even point is about 13 years, just about the time you break even you need to replace the batteries and you're back in the hole.
But beyond all this, the raison d'être of the EV is environmental and the sad reality is that if you take a hard look at the manufacture and use of the EV, they are not all that environmentally friendly. Sure, they don't have exhaust issues. But the manufacture of the vehicle can have many harmful environmental effects. You end up trading one type of pollution for another.
And of course there is the nasty issue that the batteries can catch fire in an accident and be almost impossible to extinguish.
EVs may be useful to some people but we should not be subsidizing them. They should compete on their own merits. If they improve, more people will buy them.
17 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Mcscow sailor 3/15/2026 5:22:29 PM (No. 2080726)
I bought one. Local use, charging at home, takes less of my time (3.5 minutes per week) than filling my ICE car each week. The purchase was not virtue signaling, it was the reality that its assisted driving is safer for me on a highway than any other driving application. I do not care about long term depreciation…and the capital cost was at the midpoint of all new car sales.
2 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
bpl40 3/15/2026 5:34:12 PM (No. 2080729)
A ‘modern’ lithium battery doubles the amount of energy stored in an old fashioned zinc battery. Which is what made EVs feasible. But the same volume of gasoline when burned produces 43 TIMES that energy. Not only the economics but the physics isn’t there.
8 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Mcscow sailor 3/15/2026 6:08:51 PM (No. 2080736)
Comment 4. The ratio by kWh is 12-13x more gas energy per cubic whatever than a Tesla y battery pack. A gallon of gas will go about 25 miles, a gallon of battery more like 50. So the effective space ratio is closer to 6 to 1, not 43 to 1. That said, adjustments also have to be made for engine, drivetrain, muffler, radiator electric motor (s). And you sre right overall, even if the numbers are arguable. My very spacious y has about 2/3 of the operable range of my former, similar size, Rex.
1 person likes this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
msts 3/15/2026 7:13:06 PM (No. 2080744)
It was all control. With electric vehicles, the government could shut down power and so travel at will. If there was a serious thought, all vehicles would be hybrids
0 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
stablemoney 3/15/2026 7:40:06 PM (No. 2080750)
EV's are heavier, and tires wear out much faster. The insurance cost is also up to 50% more, as any damage to the battery in an accident renders them totaled. Then, half the country are renters. I don't think they would want to spend their weekends waiting for their vehicle to charge at a charging station.
0 people like this.
From a bigger-picture perspective, let's take the 25 miles that gallon of gas will transport an ICE vehicle. Now, burn a gallon of distillate fuel in a commercial power plant to generate the heat to drive the turbine to generate the electricity that then gets transported over hundreds of miles to reach a charging station and that EV will roll something far short of 25 miles. There's already concern about feeding the server farms needed for all the coming AI wizardry that will be part of everyone's life - POV's would best be served by internal combustion.
1 person likes this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
mc squared 3/15/2026 7:54:09 PM (No. 2080757)
Does anyone know the value of a 10 yr old EV? Probably less than ICE scrap value because of the lithium batteries. Do they event last that long?
1 person likes this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
davew 3/15/2026 7:58:13 PM (No. 2080758)
If you live in California, as I do, the math is a little more favorable. I needed a new car, and I could spend $40,000 on a nice ICE SUV, or spend $50,000 on a Tesla Model Y. Gas is at least $1.60 more in California than anywhere else in the country. Right now, a gallon of unleaded is $5.99 a gallon. I also spent $20,000 on a solar electricity system with a Tesla Powerwall. SoCal uses a time rate system that charges $0.43/kWh between 6am and 4pm, and $0.57-$0.60/kWh for peak times from 4pm to 9pm. The national average is about $0.14/kWh.
This allows me to generate all the electricity I need for my house and car from the sun using the Tesla Charging on Solar function and exporting surplus power to the grid to offset my costs on those rare cloudy days in SoCal. Without the solar power and EV, I was spending roughly $300/mo on electricity and $200/mo on fuel. So, for my $30,000 investment ($20,000 + $10,000 additional cost for EV), I am effectively generating $6000/yr in addition discretionary spending, which gives me a 20% return. You can't get that kind of rate in a bank. This doesn't include the lower maintenance costs of the EV and the satisfaction of looking at my Tesla app and seeing I am 98% self powered and off the grid.
0 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
kono 3/15/2026 8:10:38 PM (No. 2080761)
The math never justified EVs; but the zealots cared nothing about the math. And their "zero emissions" ruse never admits the emissions from generating the electricity to recharge them.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Californian 3/15/2026 8:15:47 PM (No. 2080762)
9, I sold my 7.5 year old model 3 with 65k miles on it for 17k. I paid 50k for it new 8 years ago.
I replaced it with the current model 3 which has longer range and some other quality of life improvements. 50k.
Math: $33k / 7.5 years is about $4400/year = $367/month.
I could have kept it longer as there was nothing wrong with it but I wanted the new one.
I charge at home off my solar. Net meeting here is only 3 cent/kwh so I'm losing almost nothing from the net meeting loss vs my other car with gas running about $4.50/gallon and getting about 20mpg combined average.
The regular car is 8.5 year old but has had about 10k in repairs, new tires, etc.
The Tesla cost me about 2k in tires and repairs over its 7.5 year life.
The regular car also cost 85k after taxes, rebates, shipping, etc, etc vs 50k for the model 3.
It's just math.
The reasons for buying an EV or not are about your life style and driving requirements. If you can't charge at home or your home electricity is at California rates then an EV is probably not for you. If you drive very long distances fairly often, not for you. But for people who own a home, have reasonably priced power and mostly drive the typical 10-30 minutes commute, etc, an EV is a reasonable choice.
0 people like this.
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