Skip to main content

At what point is it cheaper to make payments on an electric car than to keep using an inefficient, decade-old ICE vehicle?

Nice little Blurb from the WSJ this morning titled ‘Why Electric Vehicles Will Rule the Road’:

I believe EVs are our future. But we also need short-term solutions to move us toward that future. Right now the average vehicle on U.S. roads is over 11 years old, and a 20 year-old car produces over 30 times the smog pollution of a late-model automobile. Between the auto fleet’s overall greenhouse gas impacts (17% of all U.S. emissions), its health impacts ($5.3 billion per year in California alone), and the strain that high gas prices put on our wallets (frequently over a third of household budgets in car-dependent regions), it’s clearer than ever that we need change fast.

I believe economics alone will eventually lead us toward an all-EV society (Combustion will still be used for things like driving to the South Pole or thru the Amazon perhaps). But getting us to that point and countering the Billions in oil company money will be difficult and is indeed why we’re probably not all using EVs right now.

So what needs to happen?

  • Government needs to get involved. The DOT should install fast chargers at all US rest stops and service plazas. Gas Stations should start selling fast charges for a profit.
  • People should be educated that driving a mile on electricity costs about a third of gas. Incentives to drive down the up front costs of EV ownership need to be invested in.
  • Perhaps up the Fed Tax credit $10,000 and make $10,000 no interest loan over 4 years a standard. At that point, some cars start to become cheaper than the price of gasoline alone.

That’s the real inflection point.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Stay up to date with the latest content by subscribing to Electrek on Google News. You’re reading Electrek— experts who break news about Tesla, electric vehicles, and green energy, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow Electrek on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our YouTube channel for the latest reviews.

Comments

Author

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Seth Weintraub

Publisher and Editorial Director of the 9to5/Electrek sites. Tesla Model 3, X and Chevy Bolt owner…5 ebikes and counting