The average costs for electricity from APS or SRP is around $0.12 per kWh. Imagine paying $450 per kWh for electricity. That’s what most of today’s electric vehicle (EV) owners are paying for a battery to power their cars. To put this into perspective, the Chevy Volt will cost owners 2 cents per mile to drive compared to the 12 cents per mile on gasoline at a price of $3.60 a gallon. Or a trip from Phoenix to Tucson would run a measly $1.98 on electricity or almost 6 times that at $11.88 on gas.
Shocking as the $450 per kWh may be, a decrease to $300 per kWh is considered the tipping point to mass market uptake. An article published by webtech company, GigaOm, sites that leasing the battery is one solution to bring down the battery costs. If you have thought about installing solar panels for your home, you’ve probably heard about solar leasing programs or PPA’s for larger solar applications, some groups are applying this concept to the electric car market. It will be interesting to watch if and how automakers and startup companies adopt the electric vehicle lease; and also how the EV infrastructure is built-up to meet demand.
