I dunno... to me that's like saying "That Cancer treatment isn't expensive because it will extend your life by 10 years and you can earn that kind of money at your job in the extra 10 years you get" But that still doesn't make the Cancer treatment cheap.
An alternative fuel car is ****ING expensive to purchase. Its much cheaper to operate. Does it eventually balance out? Probably. Does that mean anyone can afford one over a "normal" car? Hell no. Shelling out 40k up front and maybe 15 bucks a month beyond is a hell of a lot different then shelling out 2,000 - 13,999 up front and then an extra 60-100 bucks a month beyond. In the place I live (I like to call it "The Real World") the Second option, while more expensive in the long run, is the more affordable of the two plans.
Now, when I can go to a police Auction and pick up an alternative fuel car for 1800 bucks cash like I did my current car, we can talk.
Well, I don't think it's anything like cancer treatment, because it's a car and we're not talking about medical treatment or the possibility of death. I'm a little surprised you didn't bring up the nazis... that was someone else with their reference to the VW. Nothing like alarmism and association with things that are negative to strengthen one's position, eh?
Second, it's not anything like the math in your analogy. There's no "possibility you can earn that kind of money at your job in the extra 10 years you get." Rather, it's like, I paid X and now I pay X-$200.
But I'll gladly talk to you about my "real world" experience with both ICE cars and an EV, because, you know, in the real world, I actually have owned both. What about you? Here in the real world, where we both apparently live, how much ACTUAL experience do you have driving alternative fuel cars? Ever even seen one in person? I paid $25k for my Nissan LEAF, out the door, including tax, title and licensing fees (which can add thousands depending upon your local sales tax). It would have been $32k without the $7500 tax credit.
Also, I'm not sure where you live or how much you drive, but gas in Washington is the most expensive in the country right now. We were up into the $4/gallon range and have recently dropped back down to the $3.10 to $3.25 range per gallon. Now that they've broken the $4/gal mark, it will make its way there for good within a year.
It's about apples to apples. If you're in the market for a new car, $25k isn't that expensive, particularly if you consider cost of ownership. And I've posted the statistics in another thread about new car ownership and the average monthly car payments. This is not an issue of what people can afford. It's about priorities. And that's okay. The original premise of this thread was tongue and cheek. I certainly don't think that the government should mandate that everyone drive the same car. Drive what you want and pay what you can. If you can afford to pay gas prices that will be up in the $4/gallon range soon, more power to you. I can't. I have three kids and would rather spend my money on other things.
My comment was strictly to point out that there are some myths about alternative fuel cars and EVs that aren't true. That they are expensive is one of them. They just aren't, and if you are truly frugal, you'll understand that the car literally pays for itself in savings on fuel, if you can drive it for 15 years. The batteries have a 10 year warranty, so if I drive the car for just the 10 year period, I'll have saved somewhere in the area of $20,000 on gas, and that's if it stays in the low to mid $3/gal range... which it won't. I, frankly, can't understand how you can say that $20,000 in 10 years is other than enormous savings. It's mindblowing, to me.
Ultimately, you should be free to drive whatever the heck you want. But, I personally had reached my threshold dealing with the monopoly that the oil companies have on gas and fuel prices. It literally pissed me off to fill up my car. My threshold was $3 per gallon. I predict that most peoples' threshold for the same will be the mid-$4s to $5/gallon range. At that point, I see the rhetoric changing from reasons (true or not) to not buy an EV or other alternative fuel car.
The phenomenon is interesting to me. It's like telling some people that they don't actually need to get their oil changed every 3000 miles on a new car. Use synthetic oil and you can go 15,000 miles, but they insist. "Nope. Jiffy lube says every 3000 miles, and that's what I'll do." Waste of money? Yeah. Is it true? Maybe for some cars... I know that my air cooled VWs needed frequent oil changes, but for most people? No, it's a blatant falsehood. You just flat out don't need to change your oil that often. Most car manufacturers recommend 5000 for conventional oil and between 10 and 15k miles for synthetics. the entire thing better resembles superstition than any actual consideration of cost. And that's okay. Just don't confuse superstition for, you know, the real world.
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