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

  • High capacity and low diesel prices further decrease transport price index
    May 25, 2016
    The twenty-seventh edition of the Transport Market Monitor (TMM) by Transporeon and Capgemini Consulting reveals that transport prices decreased by 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the fourth quarter of 2015; when compared to the first quarter of 2015, the price index decreased by 3.2 per cent. In the first quarter of 2016, the capacity index increased to 110.7 (25.0 per cent), the highest value since the first quarter of 2014 (index 114.4). The diesel index dropped to the lowes
  • Mexico City seeks solutions to improve air quality
    December 6, 2017
    David Crawford ponders prospects for one of the world’s most congested and polluted cities. In 1992, the United Nations named Mexico City as the world’s most polluted urban centre. In the first half of 2016, following the updating of pollution alert limits to meet international standards, Mexico recorded 115 days where ozone concentrations exceeded the acute exposure health limit.
  • Gogoro unveils Taiwan e-scooter battery-swap station
    October 3, 2019
    Taiwan-based Gogoro Network has unveiled a battery-swapping station which it says retains more than 200kWh of energy and supports 1,000 electric scooters per location. The company is utilising artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced algorithms to help ensure batteries are always available for riders in the cities of Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, Taoyuan, Kaoshung and Tainan. Gogoro founder Horace Luke says: “Gogoro Network is utilising its real-time AI for cloud data analysis to roll out a variety of e
  • Leaders call for US to accelerate autonomous cars
    May 20, 2016
    A group seeking to improve American oil security through domestic production, fuel competition, driverless technology and anti-cartel measures has called on policymakers to remove regulatory hurdles in order to accelerate the deployment of self-driving cars, as well as revise tax incentives to boost sales of less expensive electric vehicles. Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), chaired by FedEx Corporation chairman, president and CEO Frederick W. Smith and retired US Marine Corps Commandant James Con