I thought that they would have overlooked taxes. In fact, I can't see how this is anything other than stacking the deck: "Each vehicle’s price is based on its

I thought that they would have overlooked taxes. In fact, I can't see how this is anything other than stacking the deck: "Each vehicle’s price is based on its official manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) without tax. In addition, we evaluate the impact of federal tax refunds on the lifecycle costs of PHEVs, BEVs, and FCVs. The federal refund scales with the capacity of the battery up to a maximum value of $7500.45 Finally, we inspect the added effect of a best-case state tax refund. Assessed for the case of California, this contributes $1500 for PHEVs, $2500 for BEVs, and $5000 for FCVs.46 Some other states have similar programs, but they were not analyzed in detail." In California, sales and license taxes are about 18% of purchase price (half up front, half over the next 11 years). But they've chosen to take California for the rebate, but not include higher taxes on the purchase price (hybrids have higher purchase price but lower operating costs). Similarly a caption on one of the charts. "(d) a BEV-friendly energy price scenario, using average inflation-adjusted prices from Washington State in 2012 ($3.88/gal for gasoline and $0.086/kWh for electricity) and combined federal and state (CA) tax refunds." This analysis is cherry picking pieces of the equation from different scenarios, and so paints a more rosy picture of the cost of alternative energy than any single consumer could possibly have faced. I don't doubt that electric cars will get there, but saying they are there now is a lie.