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Costs and Benefits of Electric Vehicles - A 2010 Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Carlsson, Fredrik

    (Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University)

  • Johansson-Stenman, Olof

    (Department of Economics, School of Economics and Commercial Law, Göteborg University)

Abstract

This paper undertakes a social cost-benefit analysis regarding an increase in the number of electric vehicles in the Swedish transport sector by year 2010. Battery cars are generally found to be socially unprofitable, even though their private life-cycle costs and external costs are lower than those of petrol cars. One important reason for this is that electric vehicles are heavily ‘subsidised’ by having, in comparison with taxes on fossil fuel, a very low electricity tax. ‘Hybrid’ cars are more likely to be socially profitable, especially for city-based delivery trucks, which may be both privately and socially profitable without subsidies.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlsson, Fredrik & Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2002. "Costs and Benefits of Electric Vehicles - A 2010 Perspective," Working Papers in Economics 73, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0073
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/2873
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Elisabeth Windisch & Fabien Leurent, 2012. "L'acceptabilité potentielle des voitures électriques : Quelle profitabilité financière pour l'usager privé en Ile-de-France?," Post-Print hal-00680973, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    electric vehicles;

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy

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