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

  • Travel information is heading towards smartphones
    January 30, 2012
    Travel information services are undergoing a step change as rapid increase in sales of smartphones brings ITS technology to consumers' fingertips. A virtuous circle of expanding capability is under way in traffic and travel information services, promising much for drivers and reduction of road congestion. A recent rapid rise in sales of smartphones has boosted numbers of vehicles carrying GPS enabled devices and so brought expansion of traffic data available for analysis and dissemination. Greater numbers o
  • Uber clean-up - those all-important facts and figures
    September 11, 2020
    Ride-hailing giant says it can switch to all-electric vehicles 'in any major city' by 2030
  • Transport management systems market ‘offers opportunities for emerging players’
    May 23, 2017
    Dominance in the global transportation management systems (TMS) market lies with a few companies, despite which the market exhibits considerable opportunities for emerging players, according to a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). Currently, companies such as SAP SE, Oracle Corporation, Descartes Systems Group, JDA Software Group, and Manhattan Association hold dominance in the global transportation management system market, says the study. The report also identifies companies such as BluJa
  • IAM RoadSmart: Auto emergency breaking could save hundreds of lives
    September 28, 2017
    Private and fleet car buyers could save hundreds of lives a year by insisting the cars they purchase are fitted with auto emergency braking (AEB), according to UK motoring organisation IAM RoadSmart and coalition partners. The coalition, which comprises car and road design experts, said AEB systems (which automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes if pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles are detected ahead) could save 1, 100 lives and 122, 860 causalities over the next ten years. In addition, the insuran