Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Solar Electric Car vs Gasoline Powered Car: Total Cost of Ownership


In this video I compare the total cost of ownership between an electric car (the Nissan Leaf) powered by rooftop solar panels and an equivalent gasoline car (the Nissan Versa Note). I find that the solar-powered electric car will become cheaper than the equivalent gasoline powered car over the next 5 years. I put the model on Github for anyone who wants to play around with the assumptions: https://github.com/willmartindotcom/peakoilproof.com

The conceptual framework:

Solar-powered electric cars are far better for the environment than gasoline-powered cars, both for air quality and for climate change.

Rooftop solar prices are expected to continue to decline:

Gasoline prices are expected to continue to rise:

In 2012 it became cheaper to drive an electric car with rooftop solar than to drive a gasoline powered car.

Electric car battery costs are expected to continue falling:

The total cost of ownership of a gasoline powered car will likely continue to rise:

The total cost of ownership of a solar-powered electric car will likely continue to fall:

By 2016 it should be cheaper overall to drive a subsidized electric car than it would be to drive a gasoline car. By 2020 it should be cheaper to drive an unsubsidized electric car.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Rooftop Solar eGallon Price Versus Gasoline

How much would it cost to drive an electric car that you charged using rooftop solar versus driving a gasoline car?

In this video I do the calculation.