# How long until electric cars become cost-competitve with gasoline? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 24, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555 "2016-05-24T16:34:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555/81 "2016-05-30T21:11:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Magiver** : > > It will require a significant upgrade to our electrical grid so that will be added to the bill. Our electrical grid is already well past due for a major upgrade, just from the things we already use electricity for. But adding electric cars to the use won’t actually make the problem any worse. Electric cars will mostly be charging during off-peak times, and we already have plenty of surplus off-peak capacity. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555/82 "2016-05-30T22:54:01Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > Mazda was working on such a system. I don’t know if it’s on market yet. Neat. Thanks for the link. I wonder how it ensures the cylinders stop in the right position–maybe variable drag from the alternator? Or, they could use the starter motor on shutdown to pre-position the cylinders. Wouldn’t save overall lag, but what you really care about is the start time, so it’s a net win. Apparently they’ve waited on deploying this in the US since the EPA test cycle doesn’t show much of an improvement. Not sure if the EPA accounts for sitting in traffic jams for long periods… ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555/83 "2016-05-31T00:05:30Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Neat. Thanks for the link. I wonder how it ensures the cylinders stop in the right position–maybe variable drag from the alternator? Or, they could use the starter motor on shutdown to pre-position the cylinders. Wouldn’t save overall lag, but what you really care about is the start time, so it’s a net win. > > Apparently they’ve waited on deploying this in the US since the EPA test cycle doesn’t show much of an improvement. Not sure if the EPA accounts for sitting in traffic jams for long periods… my guess is it just “knows” where the crankshaft is, and fires whichever cylinder is after top-dead-center on the power stroke. I don’t know if auto stop/start is enabled for the tests, since in most (all?) vehicles the operator can disable it. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555/84 "2016-05-31T00:09:52Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > No, the Tesla _cools_ the batteries. During discharge, they already produce enough waste heat that all they have to do is stop cooling them or cool them less. They have to heat them for charging in cold weather, or to warm them up for driving, but they do not have to heat them while tooling down the road. Can they channel that waste heat into the cabin? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555/85 "2016-05-31T00:27:59Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > my guess is it just “knows” where the crankshaft is, and fires whichever cylinder is after top-dead-center on the power stroke. Doesn’t seem like that would work reliably on a 4-cylinder, though. You have just one cylinder on the power stroke, and it might be at 0° after TDC (obviously a problem), or somewhere in the last part of the range, like 150-179°, where there’s not a whole lot of stroke left. Might be ok on a 6-cylinder, though, and almost certainly ok on a V8. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-until-electric-cars-become-cost-competitve-with-gasoline/755555.md?page=4)