your (large) PV array could indeed produce electricity during the day that could be traded against night-time hydropower from the grid. You’d need a high-quality power converter to feed juice into the grid, though. The alternative is a bank of (lead acid) batteries to buffer the energy; deep discharges would severely shorten its lifespan.

Either way, you really could be driving on pure sunshine at zero recurring energy cost. However, you’d still have to amortize its initial cost and incur cleaning overheads plus insurance fees or repair costs (e.g. after a hailstorm).

Btw, the combined cost of Iraq, Afghanistan and homeland security has been over $300 billion so far. A huge number, to be sure, but the US population is around 300 million. Ergo, you’re off by a factor 10.

I did not “miss out on the oil supply and eco issues”, I simply do not have any data regarding how much these are worth to prospective customers. Given the fiasco in Iraq, that number may well be higher now than it used to be, but I suspect it will still be close to zero for *most* consumers as long as the majority gets a free ride on these issues. Raising US gasoline and diesel taxes would make PHEVs attractive even at much higher up-front premiums.

nice summary, thank you. What strikes me is the narrow focus on fuel economy and the energy cost per mile driven.

It would be helpful to also include information about the premium consumers should be prepared to pay for a series production PHEV with similar performance characteristics. IMHO, the ROI horizon for that premium should be on the order of 10 years, since there are fringe benefits (points 4 and 6).

You indicate that the purely monetary energy cost of your PHEV’s gasoline plus off-peak grid electricity is comparable to traditional fuel economy of around 80 mpg (point 3). If we compare that to a ICE-only vehicle that gets e.g. 25 mpg combined, the annual difference at 12000 miles/year would be 330 gallons of gasoline, worth around $1,000 in CA (assuming average gas prices will be about $3 going forward).

Future inflation reduces the NPV of future savings, but also increases their amount, so this cancels out. Ergo, an up-front premium of around $10,000 should be acceptable for a 10-year ROI horizon, assuming that lifetime maintenance costs will not be significantly higher for a PHEV.

However, this sum would have to cover the PHEV battery pack, power converter, electric motor, drivetrain control enhancements and installation cost. It does not include the monetary and psychological value of your contributions to GHG mitigation and energy independence.

Is it feasible to produce a PHEV variant of a regular ICE-only vehicle and sell it at a premium of just $10,000? The mfg cost premium would have to be substantially lower to allow for sales & marketing overheads.