Friday, November 11, 2011

Eco Cars

Canadians will soon be able to buy all-electric vehicles.  I decided to compare one to the hybrid and an inexpensive car with good fuel economy.  I'll calculate the cost of 20,000km of highway driving with gasoline costing $1.25/L.  Vehicle prices are SRP.

The Mitsubishi i-MIEV will sell for $33K, at a claimed 1c/km for electricity.  Total driving cost: $200.

The Prius is $28K and has a fuel economy of 4.0L/100km.  Total driving cost: $1000.

The Kia Rio 5 is $14K and has a fuel economy of 4.9L/100km.  Total driving cost: $1225.

Dividing the cost of the vehicle over 10 years (excluding financing & maintenance costs) puts the Rio5 on top:
Prius:  $3800/yr
i-MIEV: $3500/yr
Rio5: $2660/yr

I often drive a motorcycle in good weather, so for fun I calculated the annual cost for a Honda Shadow 750: $1975.  A smaller CBR125R: $1050.