It turns out there is a huge difference between owning a Tesla 3 in The USA versus Australia. The Tesla is still way more expensive to own in Australia despite lower operating costs.
There have been a number of articles written recently on the analysis by ARK investments on a Tesla 3 being cheaper to own on a per mile basis than a Toyota Camry. I have done a deeper dive based on a look at the model that ARK has used and also using Australian numbers to look at the application of the numbers for the Australian market
This is where electric cars really go mainstream. The early majority is made up to two sub groups of purchasers
I have split the early majority group in the standard technology adoption model into the very early majority and the standard early majority. I have done this because I believe that they are two distinct groups that are driven by different motivations
I am currently writing a book on the future of electric cars in Australia with a couple of collaborators. I am going to explore a few issues here on this blog. The first of these is the adopter groups which I will explore one by one. This is about the second group – the early adopters
I am currently writing a book on the future of electric cars in Australia with a couple of collaborators. I am going to explore a few issues here on this blog. The first of these is the adopter groups which I will explore one by one. I start with a bit of a polemic on some of the early adopters
If I buy this battery and the government pays for half of it after 15 years I have $2,985 in my pocket but I paid $4,838 so I am still well behind. If I had to borrow the money, then I am even worse off because I have been paying interest all the way along. If instead, I put the money into my house mortgage and assume an interest rate of 4.5% then the internal rate of return is 4.28%. I now have AUD$7,885.94 in my pocket (the saved interest and the original money I have paid off my loan)
Extra panels to “overclock” your panels are a great investment. My overall calculations for the year are that we have made a 14.72% return on our solar system. That means that the return on the extra panels is about 25% due to the reduced capital investment required, which is not too shabby. Over 10 years that is about A$3,000 on an original investment of A$1,239.
Following the Labor Party announcements on electric cars, I was on the open line talkback with Jon Faine at 774 Melbourne Radio this morning talking about electric cars. I suggested incentives for electric car adoption as long as it was paired to new solar rooftop panels, and that Australia should be manufacturing electric car batteries. Jon and I disagreed on a few things. There is little time for nuance on talkback so I thought I would write this letter to put more detail around my expressed views.