How much does it cost to operate a gas engine, without figuring the cost of gas?

Question

Many people are fond of figuring the cost of the batteries when calculating the cost of operating an electric car.  Why don't they do that with gas engines?

A gas engine is warrantied for 100,000 miles, same as EV batteries.  But let's suppose you take good care of it, and you get 200,000 miles out of it, just like you can with your EV batteries.

A crate engine will cost up to $14,000, but lets just say you drive a common car and your replacement engine costs $3000.  Plus another $1000 to have it installed That's an extra 2 cents per mile.

Then you have to change the oil.  You're supposed to do it every 3000 miles, but lets say you're lazy about it and you only do it every 6000 miles.  Jiffy Lube will charge you $30 just for the oil change, and if you change the air filter and service the transmission and cooling system, like you're supposed to, it could cost you as much as $120 for one visit.  But lets just say you let all the other stuff go, and you just change the oil.  That's an extra  0.5 cents per mile.

Then there's the possibility you will experience some seal or gasket leaks, sensor malfunctions, starter or alternator problems, cooling system problems, ignition system problems or exhaust system problems.  It's all but certain there will be issues with one or more of those systems. Conservatively, you should add another 0.5 cents per mile for maintenance.  

So that's an extra 3 cents per mile, conservatively, that never gets talked about when comparing gas to electric cost of operation. 

In a 28 mpg car, that brings the cost from 14 cents, up to 17 cents per mile, if gas prices stay below $4.00 per gallon and who wants to put money down on that happening?  The electric car costs 4 cents per mile plus 10 cents for the battery pack, and electric costs are stable and the battery cost is only going to go down.

Breath on the Wind · Accepted Answer

An interesting analysis.  Ford has presented a comparison of the maintenance costs for the 2012 Focus petrol and EV models.1  They suggest that the life expectancy of the vehicle is 150,000 miles.  They don't list any EV costs that are not already included in the costs of the Petrol version.  The petrol version has the following additional costs:
 
•15 oil and filter changes at $29.95 each – $449.25
•Five air filter replacements at $24.95 each – $124.75
•Two cooling system flushes at $109 each – $218
•One transmission service – $179
•One drive belt replacement – $130
•One new set of spark plugs and installation – $69.95

For a total of $1170.95  This amounts to (1170.95/150,000 =)  about $ .0078 which is close to your figure without the engine.

When you compare the change in price of electricity in the last year and the change in cost of gasoline you will find that an EV that uses .34 KW-hr / mile has an increased fueling cost of about $18 while a petrol vehicle that gets about 35 mpg has an increased fueling cost of over $350 using US national averages.  There are two reasons for this difference.  The electric vehicle is far more efficient and uses very little energy and the price differential in electricity is very small in any event.

One listing of the engine and transmission of a typical modern petrol engine gives a total of over 700 parts. (Engines require transmissions.)  This is a reciprocating engine.  A brushless electric motor might have only one moving part.  You didn't determine the cost of a transmission replacement or work which may be more likely to fail than the engine.  DC electric motors can be seen on conversion sites like KTA services priced at below $1500.  A high performance water cooled electric motor might be purchased from a site like Metric mind for $3000 to more than $10,000.  Mass production will allow the prices to fall but the warranty period for these electric parts may then also more closely follow their potential life.  A motor that is not engineered for the load or one that overheats will tend to cook insulation and lead to premature failure.  Bearings should last.  Brushed motors might have some armature issues and brushes might have to be swapped out every 75000 to 100,000 miles. Electric is very simple and doesn't need a transmission.  Electric motors can be reconditioned with new bearings and rewinding.

Champ · Answer

Very interesting and well presented. Since I know absolutely nothing about electric engines I have a question or two.  

you calculate the replacement cost of a gas engine, however the vast majority of people do not replace their car's engine, they usually sell it or trade it in so instead of an additional cost there would be a reduction in cost.   

What happens to the electric car's engine? Would it be replaced at the end of 200,000 miles?

Are you saying that both gas and electric cost 14 cents a mile? Is this a government standard?

One glaring fallacy is that electric costs are stable, they are regulated but they are not stable as oil cost rise so do electric costs.  Also the cost of operating power plants and delivering power increases as inflation increases.  And as demand outstrips production cost will be increased to provide for more plants. Also gas prices fluctuate while power cost increase but very very very very rarely decrease.

Mr.357 · Answer

The sad thing is that the production of lithium batteries is very detrimental to the environment.

Anonymous · Answer

ddddd

Anonymous · Answer

Dunno.

How much does it cost to operate a gas engine, without figuring the cost of gas?

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