THERE IS A REVOLUTION going on – an electric revolution. Carbon based energy is on the way out, and planet-friendly electrons are taking its place. Electricity is not new, of course; it’s just that we don’t need to rely on burning fossil fuels to produce it any more. Electricity can now be produced just as inexpensively with a combination of wind, water and solar sources; without the downside of climate change related to burning coal and natural gas. Electricity is now also replacing gasoline and diesel as a fuel source for our motor vehicles.
My wife and I joined in on this revolution – by purchasing a really cool little car, the all-electric Chevy Bolt. Our initial reason for buying an EV (electric vehicle) was to help diminish our carbon footprint, as the transportation sector currently accounts for 27% of greenhouse gas emissions. But it turns out there are also a lot of other good reasons to buy an EV.
For us, the timing was right. Our youngest son needed a car to take to college, and we were really interested in the EV idea. We handed Elias the keys to our old Honda Civic hybrid and checked out the electric car market.
We knew we would have to pay a premium for being early EV adopters; thinking it was like buying a car and giving a large donation to the environment. Good for the planet, but rough on the pocketbook. We were in for a pleasant surprise. We looked at the economics a little more closely and discovered that buying an EV was actually fairly affordable. I will pencil out the math in just a minute.
We were also in for another surprise. Electric vehicles are fun to drive. The Chevy Bolt is maybe not a Maserati or Porsche kind of fun to drive; but it is still really fun. With most standard internal combustion engine vehicles there is a little lag time before acceleration. You don’t have this with an EV. You get instant torque. You push the pedal, you go – right now. It’s really cool. And when you need to accelerate quickly to merge into freeway traffic, the new EV’s handle this with ease.
The Math
We bought the base model edition of the Chevy Bolt. The dealer was asking $39,500; I offered $35,500; they accepted. A lot of money for a little car, but at least a little better than the asking price.
But the math is not yet over – because until GM sells 200,000 Chevy Bolts (they are getting close), buyers are eligible to receive a Federal tax credit of $7500 (which will start incrementally phasing out next year, down to $3750 by April 2019). This means you can subtract $7500 from your federal tax bill at the end of the year, no strings attached. Unfortunately, this tax credit does not roll over to subsequent years. If you owe less than $7500 in Federal taxes for the year, you will zero out your tax bill; but you can’t use the remainder to offset next year’s tax. Some states offer additional tax incentives.
The tax credit knocks the cost of the Chevy Bolt down to $28,000. This seems like a more reasonable number, but maybe still a little pricey for a small CUV – at least when compared to similar size and quality cars with an internal combustion engine.
But there are still more savings to consider. You should also factor in fuel costs, which are far less expensive for EV’s than gas vehicles. Electricity is much cheaper than gasoline when used to fuel a car. GM conservatively estimates $4000 fuel savings (compared to gasoline using vehicles) after driving 5 years at 15,000 miles/yr.
One other thing to factor in: Low maintenance costs for EV’s. Electric motors have far fewer moving parts than internal combustion engines. There are not nearly as many things that can go wrong with electric vehicles.
Over the life of the car, the estimated total cash outlay for an EV is likely to be at least fairly equal to what would be incurred by a similarly equipped gasoline fueled vehicle – without the associated environmental costs. Not only are EVs planet-friendly and fun to drive, they can also be a relatively inexpensive mode of transportation.
The bottom line: EV’s are now fairly cost competitive with internal combustion engine vehicles.
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Some drivers of internal combustion engine vehicles don’t like the idea that EV owners qualify for tax credits, and that they also avoid the road taxes added to the price of gasoline. They think this offers an unfair advantage to EV owners.
However, it is also not “fair” that gas taxes don’t come anywhere close to covering the costs for human health problems caused by breathing internal combustion engine emission pollutants. Gasoline taxes also do not pay for property damage and human suffering related to superstorms, whose severity and frequency are increased in part due to greenhouse gases emitted from internal combustion engine tailpipes. Driving an EV instead of a gasoline fueled car saves over 5,000 gallons of gasoline over a ten-year period; keeping about 100,000 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
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Charging an Electric Vehicle
There are 3 types of EV charging:
Level 1 charging uses 120 volts, which is what I use for home charging from a regular wall outlet. The Chevy Bolt comes with a heavy-duty charging cord. Level 1 charges the battery slowly – about 4 miles of charge per hour – but it seems to be sufficient for us. I keep the car plugged in at home and it is usually fully charged. If I drive the Bolt 50 miles today, it will be fully charged by tomorrow morning.
Level 2 charging uses 240 volts (the same as a clothes dryer). Some people get their garage wired for this. I haven’t needed one, so I don’t know the exact cost, but I have heard it is usually around $1,000 total for parts and labor. Level 2 chargers deliver about 25 miles per hour of charge, so you can charge a fully depleted battery overnight. These Level 2 chargers are what you see in mall and hotel parking lots, where charging is often free.
Level 3 chargers use DC electricity and are usually located along major traffic corridors. For the Chevy Bolt, these deliver a charge of up to 90 miles for 30 minutes of charging (and up to 160 miles in an hour). I have only needed to use a fast charge twice, and it seemed a little slower than that, as my battery was only partially depleted and charging rates slow down as batteries become more fully charged. It took around 45 minutes to get about 100 miles of range.
In coming years, charging will become much faster.
Some EV owners also choose to create their own electricity, produced by solar panels on their own property. There are of course initial upfront costs with these systems, but the sunshine “fuel” is clean and free – forever. That is awesome.
Issues with Electric Vehicles
What are the downsides of owning an EV? There are a few. There is no free lunch.
There are convenience issues related to range and battery charging. For the most part, this has not been a big deal for us. I charge at home whenever I am not driving the car – which is actually more convenient than fueling at a gas station. The inconvenience comes if you want to take frequent trips over 200 miles. The Chevy Bolt is not a car to take on a long road trip across the country – unless you really want to take your time.
There are other charging issues. Unfortunately, the charging systems for different makes of EV’s are also not all interchangeable. European and American electric cars use a common “CCS” connection, electric cars from Asian manufacturers use a “CHADEMO” connection, and Tesla cars use their own proprietary type of connection.
It is also possible that I may someday have to wait in line to get a fast charge, particularly if people adopt EVs at a rate greater than charging stations are built. Lack of convenience for fast charging on long trips is probably the biggest downside of driving an electric vehicle, but this should become much less of an issue as technology improves.
Prices for fast charges vary. The fast charger that I have used (twice) is run by OpConnect, who charges a flat rate of $10 – whether you charge for five minutes or get a full charge. The process was easy. I inserted my credit card and was ready to go. I have not used any other fast chargers yet.
Are there any other problems? Yes. Batteries don’t work well in cold weather. EV batteries are no different. And using heat (or air-conditioning) is a big power drain. My estimated range when driving at a freezing temperature with the heater on drops way down, to about 180 miles. Range is best while driving at low speeds in warm weather. I begin to notice a slight decrease in efficiency when I drive over 50 mph.
Possibilities
Last fall, I drove 250 miles on a single charge from home, traveling across the state from Northeast Oregon to Portland – and I still had 50 miles of range left over when I got there. However, this trip includes a net elevation drop of 2500 feet. I also drove slowly, averaging about 60mph driving speed most of the time. On the return trip home, I did need to stop for a charge. Climbing hills takes a lot of energy, and will significantly affect the driving range of an EV.
In warm weather, I can drive the Bolt around 70 mph and expect somewhere around 220 miles of range – if I have no strong headwind and I am driving on reasonable flat terrain. However, I usually drive slower than posted speed limits, which improves mileage. Most states permit drivers to drive 10-15 mph below the posted speed limit.
Driving to a 300-mile destination is easy; just stop halfway for a 30-minute charge. Stretch your legs, get a bite to eat, and you are back on your way. Longer trips will be more difficult. In optimal conditions, driving 55- 60 mph, you can reasonably expect to travel up to 400 miles in a day, stopping only once for about an hour or so to recharge (getting up to 160 more miles of range). You can then get a free overnight charge at many hotels. I have not yet traveled more that 300 miles from my home, but I plan to next spring. This will involve some minor compromise; but it does not seem like a big deal for infrequent trips.
The Chevy Bolt is definitely a good option for any person who does not usually make daily driving trips exceeding 200 miles. Most people do the vast majority of their driving within a 100-mile radius of their home, and the Bolt can easily get you to the end of this range and back without any worry. If you want to drive over 50 miles every day of the week, and you want to charge at home, you will need to spend the $1000 needed to get a level 2 charger in your garage, or have access to a nearby level 3 charger (Level 1 chargers deliver only 4 miles range per hour of charge, so a 12-13 hour overnight charge can get you around 50 miles of range).
If you are a multi-car family, it makes sense to have at least one of your vehicles be an EV. You can use the other car mostly for longer trips. If you can get by with one car, probably the most economical (and planet-friendly) option is to just own an EV, renting an internal combustion engine vehicle (or taking public transportation) for long weekend or vacation trips.
Joining the Revolution
Is owning an EV right for you? If you own a car, probably yes, at least in most areas. It works great for us, but at this time we are not yet “all in” the electric revolution. We still own an internal combustion engine all-wheel drive Subaru CrossTrek, which is a little more suited to the cold and snowy winter climate of Northeast Oregon. In the next few years, I bet there will be all-wheel drive extended range EV options available.
We really like the range and affordability of the Chevy Bolt. There are other EV manufacturers that offer cars with limited ranges of around 100 miles or so. This lower range was not quite enough for our needs, and the prices I checked were not substantially less than that of the Chevy Bolt. However, if you are just looking for a city car, you may wish to consider buying a later model used Nissan Leaf or a Ford Focus EV for about $10-15,000.
The new Hyundai Kona Electric is due out in 2019, however it may possibly only be available in certain regions. This car has been getting great reviews and will be priced very similarly to the Chevy Bolt. It also has a slightly greater range of 258 miles compared to the Bolt’s range of 238 miles. Bolt sales will soon exceed 200,000 vehicles and the tax credit will begin to incrementally phase out in 2019 – which will make the Kona Electric an even more attractive option. The Kia Niro EV is also a comparable new car that will be available in some markets in 2019.
If you want an EV with even greater range, you might want to think about the new Tesla 3. This vehicle is available with an extended-range battery, which can be charged to over a 300-mile range. Another benefit of buying this vehicle is that there are a lot of minimally utilized Tesla charging stations available across the country, so you shouldn’t have to worry about range anxiety or long charging lines. This looks like a great car, but with a price tag of over $50,000, it was more than we wanted to spend. The much talked about 220-mile range Tesla, priced around $35,000, is not yet available.
If you are not quite ready to go all in on an EV, check out the new combined gas and plug-in electric Toyota Prius Prime. This car can travel up to 25 miles in all-electric mode – and it also delivers nearly 60 mpg gasoline efficiency when driving distances that exceed 25 miles. If you only drive very short distances, you would only rarely need to fill the gasoline tank. Federal tax credits of up to $4500 are available for the Toyota Prius Prime. The Chevy Volt (not Bolt), uses similar technology; however, GM recently announced that it will soon be closing down the plants that build this car.
The other day, I was wondering why I never see advertisements for the Chevy Bolt on television. I think I have the answer. If I was Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, I might not want to enthusiastically praise the virtues of a car model that comprises less than 1% of my company’s total sales – especially if by comparison it makes the other 99% of my product line seem like yesterday’s news.
Buying an electric vehicle makes a lot of sense when taking a world view, but large car manufacturers prioritize keeping the majority of their shareholders happy. They will continue to build and promote the products that they think will make the most money for the company, which today often means big SUV’s and trucks.
It makes sense to look beyond fossil fuels. Deciding to fill your vehicle with electricity instead of gasoline – while also enjoying a fun ride – is a great start. The result is a happy person and a happy planet.
One more thing. It is imperative that the electricity used to propel EV’s comes from clean and renewable sources. It defeats the purpose to burn polluting coal, natural gas, or biofuels to produce the electricity needed to drive an electric car.
The electric revolution must be fueled by clean wind/water/solar renewable energy technologies. This will be the topic of the next post. If you would like email notifications for future blog posts you can sign up below. Until next time, thanks for reading, and here is a little Beatles nostalgia:
Revolution
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be
All right, all right, all right
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can…….