Skip to main content

Electric and petrol-powered cars could be price-competitive in 2017

New projections from US advocacy group the Electric Coalition indicate that the cost of owning an electric car is on its way to becoming competitive with petrol-powered cars. The coalition teamed with professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to calculate expected costs of several types of compact cars, pitting battery-electric against internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids and hybrid vehicles. Including cost of purchase, fuel, maintenance, federal tax credits and residuals, the data sho
July 29, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
New projections from US advocacy group the Electric Coalition indicate that the cost of owning an electric car is on its way to becoming competitive with petrol-powered cars.
 
The coalition teamed with professional services firm 5019 PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) to calculate expected costs of several types of compact cars, pitting battery-electric against internal combustion engines, plug-in hybrids and hybrid vehicles. Including cost of purchase, fuel, maintenance, federal tax credits and residuals, the data show the cost of owning petrol-powered vehicles continuing to rise through 2024 as costs for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars decline dramatically.
 
“In this analysis, we also saw that battery electric vehicles should have a total cost of ownership that is competitive with internal combustion engines in 2017,” said Jonna Hamilton, the coalition’s vice president of policy.
 
On the production side, that trend is reflected in lithium-ion battery prices, which have dropped from about US$1,000 per kilowatt-hour in 2008, to US$600 per kWh today. Hamilton said analysts expected that price to fall even further, to between US$300 and US$325 per kWh by 2020.
 
The EV market is already showing gains in popularity among consumers as production costs fall and drivers take advantage of remaining rebates and dirt-cheap leasing deals.

Hamilton said more than 110,000 plug-in vehicles were sold in the US over the last two and a half years.
 
Future reports in the collaboration between the Electrification Coalition and PwC will further examine battery costs and sales and evaluate the infrastructure needed to support the market’s growing fleet of electric cars.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS America’s latest report - vehicle electrification and the smart grid
    November 9, 2012
    The latest report from the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), entitled Vehicle Electrification and the Smart Grid - The Supporting Role of Safety and Mobility Services, is to be presented in a webinar hosted by Dr Kenneth Laberteaux, Senior Principal Research Scientist at Toyota Research Institute-North America. The webinar, entitled What’s Driving All This Driving? will be held on 15 November, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Click here for more information and to register. The report is
  • Mobility itself is moving says cubic
    June 9, 2015
    Cubic’s Chris Bax looks at the challenges and benefits of implementing transport as a service. Imagine paying for travel in exactly the same way you buy your phone service. For example, you would pay a set amount in exchange for a monthly travel package covering up to 100km of free taxi journeys in your home city (including a guaranteed 15 minute pickup) and public transport usage within a 1,500km radius of your home. Not only would this option be cheaper than owning and maintaining your own car, you would
  • At-home charging for new Fiat 500e
    August 22, 2013
    Fiat has selected AeroVironment as its preferred provider of home charging stations and installations for its all-electric Fiat 500e. The 2013 Fiat 500e features a 24-kWh Lithium-ion battery that will allow drivers to travel an estimated 108 miles and uses an industry-standard SAE J1772 recharge connector. The 240-volt refuelling station will charge the car in four hours or less versus the approximate twenty hours required using a standard 120-volt charging cable. AeroVironment’s UL-listed station can
  • Let the market decide on green technologies - Global Automakers
    May 21, 2012
    “To encourage wider deployment of green technologies, including innovations that our members have on display at the Washington Auto Show this week, the government should not pick winners and losers but let the marketplace decide,” said Global Automakers’ president and CEO Michael J. Stanton, whose association represents 15 international automobile manufacturers.