Financial analysis and comparison of compact electric and gasoline cars

Abstract

In the paper, a PESTLE (political, economic, social, technical, legal, and environmental) analysis is used to conduct an initial evaluation for electric vehicles (EV) and gasoline cars. Furthermore, two cash flow models are created to describe the scenarios of both gasoline and electric car respectively. Based upon the proposed models, the equivalent uniform annual cost (EUAC) methodology is used to calculate the cost during the period of car ownership. Four compact EVs and five compact gasoline cars are selected in the analysis. The results expose that the actual return of federal tax credit impacts the EUAC value. The 50% return of tax credit will cause that the gasoline car is the winner during ownership. A EUAC sensitivity analysis against gasoline prices and different return of tax credit is also performed. Our work can help individuals to create some sort of economic awareness on buying EVs or gasoline cars.