Philip Greenspun runs an interesting little thought experiment. Cost of converting entire U.S. to electric cars? Zero.
- total oil consumption in the U.S.: 21 million barrels every day (CIA Factbook)
- cost per barrel: $130
- days in year: 365
- total spent per year: $1 trillion
- percentage of oil consumed by passenger cars: 40
- total spent per year on oil for passenger cars: $400 billion
- at 5% interest, how much we could we borrow and pay $400 billion every year in interest: $8 trillion
- number of registered cars in the U.S.: 250 million (Wikipedia)
- cost of a new electric car, if mass-produced: $20,000
- value of a used car, if exported to Latin America or China: $5,000
- cost to upgrade average existing American car to a brand-new electric car: $15,000
- number that could be converted for $8 trillion: more than 500 million cars (i.e., twice as many as we have now)