Since I first found the website of the Tesla Roadster, the electric supercar has never been far from my thoughts. It's about time I got to making some calculations of just how far this dream is from reality. Don't worry, there are anyways too many confounding factors for this to be really serious.

SAAB 9000 2.0 CSE fuel efficiency
Unit Value Comments
L/100km 9.5 According to the dashboard, not calculations
€/L 1.1 Cheapest gasoline around here
Work days/Y 230 ~6 weeks vacation+holidays
km/day 130 Work is too far away
€/Y 3125 =9.5/100*1.1*230*130
Tesla Roadster fuel efficiency
Unit Value Comments
W·h/km 110 From Wikipedia
€/kW·h 0.1092 From EDF (Update: sorry, the link is dead)
€/Y 359 =110/1000*0.1092*230*130

With a minimum price of US$80,000, and an exchange rate of 1.28468 against the Euro, it would take 80000/1.28468/(3125-359) = 22.5 years to break even when only counting the gas.

Confounding factors include

  • Transport price (they are not selling to Europe yet)
  • Taxes
  • Efficiency in cold weather
  • The ultimate coolness of the Tesla
  • Cheaper electricity because of increased use
  • Change in mileage
  • Longevity / MTBF
  • Repair costs
  • Resale / collectible value

All in all, still under consideration. That is, until I revolutionize alchemy.

If someone has done more comprehensive studies of the cost of this car compared to a gas-guzzling giant, please leave a comment. Thank you!