The purchase price for electric cars is coming down. In 2017, the average electric car transaction price fell by 11% from 2016. But that is only part of the math: fewer parts, repair, and maintenance as well as lower fuel costs, mean that EV’s are already cheaper to own than a conventional ICE vehicle. And the EV evolution is just getting started. As with everything, costs will drop further as market penetration continues to spread.
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Not only that, but utility companies are starting to allow parked electric vehicles to deliver power to the grid. Win, win: owners can make money while their cars are parked and the grid benefits from increased reliability and resilience. See: The bottom line on electric cars: They’re cheaper to own:
Power delivered by electric vehicles onto the grid would allow for more flexibility during peak demand times for less cost. Electric cars could charge their batteries when prices are low and sell electricity onto the grid when rates are high. Balancing the supply and demand of electricity with electric cars could result in avoiding costly upgrades, such as investing in new power plants.
A year-long study in Denmark conducted by Nissan and Italy’s largest utility Enel SpA demonstrated that electric vehicles could be utilized to benefit the grid. Nissan and Ovo, one of the United Kingdom’s largest energy suppliers, will offer the vehicle-to-grid service to buyers of the Leaf next year.
Then there are the estimated 9 million avoidable human deaths a year from air pollution (largely caused by fossil fuel burning)–more than wars, obesity, smoking, and malnutrition combined.
Most of all, do it for you:
If you buy an electric vehicle rather than a gasoline-powered one, you are probably going to save a lot of money during the time you own it. You don’t need to be a member of the Sierra Club to see the appeal of going electric.
