Antique & Classic Cars Blog

The hard copy paper today has some stats on electric cars, particularly the Zenn, which we discussed here several months ago. They reveal operating costs, for anyone considering options to pump gas.

The piece mentions a St. Paul resident who drives a Zenn 700 miles a month, which costs him $20 in electricity. The article, by Neal St. Anthony, also puts the Zenn’s cost at $17,500, plus $1500 worth of new batteries every three years.

So, ignoring consumables like tires, brake pads and wiper blades, the Zenn costs the described owner about $740 per year to run for 8,400 miles (12 x $20 + $500/year in battery use).** A gas vehicle averaging 20 miles per gallon would need $1680 in gas at $4/gallon, to cover the same mileage.

The Zenn is cheaper to insure than a typical car, but has a range, according to the article, of about 35 miles. It is thus not a full substitute for a regular vehicle, but a partial one.

**The article indicates that the owner of the Zenn vehicle delivering these figures “tops off” his battery while he’s parked at work. The piece does not clarify whether that electricity figures into the $20/month. If it does not, drivers whose employers don’t have a free electrical hookup will have to pay more. Note too that these vehicles are for use on roads with a speed limit of 35 or less, according to the piece.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am and is filed under Car stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.