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.

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