On the CO2 calculations for an electric vehicle, How does it assume power generation from what sources? For instance, if you're on the east coast, a lot of power is generated through Coal. If you're on the west coast, there's lots of hydro-electric projects that provide power. I am also curious to know how many kilowatt hours it really takes to charge a battery on a car such as the leaf. I understand it has roughly a 25kwh battery, but with the inefficiencies when charging, it has to take more power to charge it from dead doesn't it? And if electricity becomes more in-demand, wouldn't the rates expect to increase, especially since electricity can be a pretty in-elastic commodity? Just like present-day fossil fuels? Also, do electric vehicles not require lubrication for gears and other moving parts? It would be nice to know more about the model.

My URL certainly is valid- get with it! freedex@rogers.com- oh you need the www??

Talk about a gorilla in the ... How 'bout a 2500 pound dinosaur in the driveway. Why do we need a second "car"? How bout a plug in electric recumbent weather protected tricycle for shhoppping, doctor appointments, hosppital visits using virtually no power, providing choice of exercise, virtuall no space on the road/sidewalk, saving time, parking space (drive right into the store, hospital..... Let's get with it!!!!!

Additional comments:
1. CO2 calculation for Civic GX is wrong too, does not factor 25% reduction from CNG vs Gasoline.
2. Cannot show "barrels of oil saved" when comparing anything to a Civic GX, since it uses none. So oil used on GX would always be 0bbl.

Thanks again!

Good idea here, but has several big flaws. Using example comparing Chevy Volt to Honda Civic GX CNG.
1. Advanced options shows you are not taking into account the Civic GX uses NO gasoline, hence CNG is much cheaper than gasoline. Please add a CNG fuel price option since it is Apples (Volt on Gasoline) and Oranges (GX on CNG) Of course Kwh does not apply to GX so that part is fine.
2. Driving profile needs expansion, assumes all short trips. My daily commute is 75 miles round trip, which is not an option.
3. Fed Subsidies option did not apply to GX. ($4,000) Needs to factor that in too.
Thanks!

Would be nice to someway include use of installed PV as an option for energy source as well.

What is the expected change in price for both oil and gas for the ICE vehicle and electricity for the BEV? Can these expectations be changed?

Also, soon there will be battery swapping what would be the profile of a car with swapping?

Very helpful tool.

Could you please expand a little about your assumptions for maintenance and service for conventional and advanced vehicles?

Thank you!

That is correct, Elizabeth. Thank you.

TCO = total cost of ownership (?) I don't know for sure , but just a guess.

Thanks for your site. I'm interested in exploring it in more detai. One quick question:
What is TCO?

Latest update - you can now select to use historical '08/'09 average energy prices by state or current energy prices by state (gas/diesel prices updated daily and monthly average energy prices as often as the EIA has them).

Made a new update where selecting your state fills in energy prices based on 2008 EIA data. You can better tailor the calculation to your location.

Charles, thanks, updated.

You may want to update the Brammo Enertia price on this site... it's now $7995 (you have it listed for $11,995).

larry - We do include the option of the federal $7500 incentive. You could potentially use the Maintenance Savings box to include additional incentives - I'll look into adding another cell.

Steve - we do not currently have a way to add this cost. I will add a new cell re: larry's comment above where you could do this. Battery replacement is hard to estimate right now, but the rule of thumb is that lithium ion batteries cost at least $600 per kilowatt-hour so you could use that to estimate replacement.

Currently we don't have a method for entering in your own numbers for a vehicle, but we're working on it.

TimeHorse - In the advanced options you can choose a driving profile with large ranges which will help make the calculation more realistic for your situation.

Pete - Yes, it does factor in recharging costs.

A Robinson - it is difficult to correctly account for every driving situation. I will review the calculation to make sure it is accurate for range extending plug-ins. If you have any code corrections, they are welcome.

This calculator is not very accurate or trustworthy. Let's say I travel 40 or less miles every single day. That would be 14560 miles or less per year. Now select Chevy Volt and see how much oil I would use. It should be zero because the Chevy Volt has a 40 mile range in which it would use electric power only, yet this calculator shows up to 8 bbl of oil used. Obviously wrong!

I also checked the error console when loading this page and it is chock full of programming errors (javascript). I see lots of "test for equality mistyped as assignment" errors, which is a beginning programmers mistake. I'm surprised with all those errors that the page even runs!

Does this factor in the cost of electricity to recharge the battery in a vehicle like the Chevy Volt?

I usually drive about 75 miles PER DAY because my work is 37.5 miles away! How do I calculate that?

Also, is there anyway to determine EV kits lifetime cost for Civics, Porsche, etc...? For example www.evPorsche.com sells Electric Porsche...how can these type of vehicles be accounted for?