An interesting article and representation of data here: http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/electric-cars-green
It all comes down to how green the power is in your Country. Some Countries are so non-green that a normal engined car would be way better than a hybrid/electric. Some obviously vary by area, such as states in the USA - giving good reason for Elon Musk's endeavours starting in California.
In the UK you could always chose a green power supplier, and you would undoubtedly be doing some good with a hybrid if charging at home.
Or has anyone delved into the 'free installation' home solar panel schemes?
Our house faces due South, with unobstructed access to the sun, and no scope for anything to be built in front of us, but those solar panels are so damn ugly and no-one else in the street has them. It's rather off-putting to be the first.
I do find the green agenda to be a bit of a con, a few on the ball companies are making a killing on the home charging points scheme alone.
Up until Sept 14, you could have had the full cost of a home charging point (up to the cost of £1000) paid for by a Government grant. How much do they cost? £1000 of course. After Sept 14, the government will fund 75% of the cost (up to 75% of £1000). How much do they cost now?
Well now they'll fit you one for an invoiced £1000, but they won't need your £250, but will still get £750 off the Government. Overnight these companies were happy to lose 25% of their money.
The unit itself (little more than a transformer and a waterproof plug point with lead), tapped into your exterior electricity meter takes 40 mins for a single electrician to install and would cost you around £140 from a specialist Electrical factor. Massive profiteering. On the open market with no grant the whole process wouldn't bring in more than £250.
As grants diminish with the solar panels, so does the cost to the consumer. So much money to be made by the installers.
Around 40% of our workforce was made redundant in Sept (the rest of us due in June 15), and a few lads clubbed together to set up their own renewable energy installation company (heat pumps and solar panels) - they're doing well and say the margin on an installation is huge(they could fit a new system for £2500 and still make a healthy profit based on what hourly rate a sparky should command + scaffold costs etc) . Regular replacement of the inverters is an ongoing cost to take into account, and to really get the most out of the electricity you're generating you should be using it while you're generating it during the day (using the washing machine and tumbler, electrical heating etc), as there's no way of storing it without one of those ancient electricity meters that can run backwards and remove digits from your reading.
