The Price of Zero Emission

Michael's Nissan Leaf averages 4.6 miles per kilowatt hour (kWh). He drives his car to work and back 5 days a week. The distance is about 23 miles each way. He charges the car at night when the rates are the lowest. The off-peak rate is 7.7 cents per kWh. How much does it cost Michael to travel to work and back each day? What would be the equivalent cost in gasoline if he drove his other car, a Subaru Outback that averages 23 miles per gallon? How much does he save in energy costs each day? 

If you are expecting me to give you the answers, dear reader, forget it. I made the problem so easy you shouldn't need a calculator or even a pencil and paper. And even though I deliberately made the numbers easy to calculate, they are very nearly accurate. Of course, the point is that the cost of electricity to “fuel” this EV is cheap cheap cheap! (Speaking of cheap, or actually cheep, see the photo and caption that accompany this post.) 

Recently Rocky, one of our hens, spent several days in the aviary hospital for a problem affecting her posterior parts. When Rocky came home she had to be isolated from the other chickens while she continued to heal. We put her cage in the garage, right in front of the Leaf. There was barely enough room to park it and still close the garage door. Maybe the electromagnetic field emanating from the charging Leaf helped poor Rocky to heal.

I just received my electricity bill for the month of July. It went up about $20 over the previous month, and that time period corresponds almost exactly with the time I've had the Leaf. Coincidentally, the average daily temperature for July 2011 was 66°, the same average daily temperature for July 2010. Last year I averaged 9.6 kWh per day at an average daily cost of $1.08. This year my average kWh per day use was 22.5, and the average cost per day was $2.08. That calculates to an increase of $29 for July 2011 compared to July 2010. (This is based on a 29 day billing cycle.) About $20 of the increase is attributed to the cost of charging the Nissan Leaf. Perhaps the remainder is because our son, Nathan, has been living with us this year. Increased use of the washer and dryer, and perhaps the dishwasher, probably account for the extra energy expenditure. 

Nathan. He’s worth it.

Electricity isn't the only cost involved, however. The Leaf is the first brand-new car I have purchased since 1986. Unless you absolutely have to have a virgin car, it's far more cost-effective to buy a late model one with low mileage. So I paid a lot more money for the Leaf then I would have for a slightly used car in excellent condition. Of course, there are not too many used electric vehicles for sale, and the ones that are use older technologies, tend to have mucho problems, and don't come with a warranty. Also, none of them are nearly as cool as the Leaf. (I've heard that Leafs occasionally can be found for sale on Craig's List for between $5000 - $10,000 over MSRP.) I don't really own this car though. I have some equity in it, but the credit union holds the title. If I forget this fact, I can remind myself by listening to the Cake song Waiting: “But the car that you are driving doesn't really belong to you.” So the largest cost factor for me is the extra $210 per month in car payments I'm making compared to the monthly payment on the Subaru. I expect to get a $7000 tax credit next year for my investment in this energy efficient, nonpolluting car of the future, and when I apply the credit toward the amount I financed I will be back in car payment la-la land.

But I'm not complaining. Really. I have a good job, a satisfying career, and I think that some things I do may actually help other people. So the costs of being a new adopter of this technology are worth it to me. Besides, what are my alternatives? I could chain myself to an endangered old-growth tree or perform some other questionably worthwhile act of civil disobedience. However, I think the opportunity costs of this type of activism far outweigh my current expenditures.