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Most people who can't afford to buy an EV can't afford to buy carbon-neutral synthetic gasoline either. I'd expect it to cost $8-$10 dollars a gallon, at least
by philipkglass 8y ago
Most people who can't afford to buy an EV can't afford to buy carbon-neutral synthetic gasoline either. I'd expect it to cost $8-$10 dollars a gallon, at least with foreseeable near-term technologies.
People who already own ICE gas vehicles and don't drive them very much might still come out ahead buying $10/gallon fuel vs. acquiring an EV. (I put maybe 1500 miles/year on my car.)
- JoeAltmaier 8y agoBiodiesel is just over $3. Citation?
- philipkglass 8y agoBiodiesel is neither synthetic in the sense that I mean (direct chemical synthesis, no biomass) nor is it presently carbon-neutral. It also isn't suitable fuel for legacy gasoline-fueled vehicles. My estimate is based on adjustments to the LANL Green Freedom concept for synthetic gasoline from 2007: http://bioage.typepad.com/greencarcongress/docs/greenfreedom.pdf http://bioage.typepad.com/greencarcongress/docs/greenfreedom... The authors claim that for profitable operation "the price of gasoline at the pump must be about $4.60/gal." This number incorporated the authors' unrealistically optimistic expectations of low-cost Generation III nuclear reactor construction. It rises to $5.69/gallon, adjusting for inflation[1]. The rest of the cost increase comes from my estimate of using renewable electricity sources instead of cheap nuclear power. (It would be even more expensive if I used nuclear power at actually-observed costs of currently-in-progress American reactor construction.) [1] Yes, I used CPI, and I know it's not really appropriate for capital-intensive industrial projects. This is just a back-of-the-envelope estimate.
- ahakki 8y agoSounds cheaper than gas here in Switzerland.