Featured Cost to operate BEVs through Diesels

I guess if you want to use the wrong tool, you can get 'er done ;-) I think the ruler may break if you try to weigh a car.

You can build a distribution after you collect what each person put in their car in terms of money for electricity, gasoline, or diesel, miles driven in that year, and type of car. Unfortunately those numbers are hard to come by. It also would not help make individual decisions.

People know there driving habits and electricity and/or gas or diesel rates or they can easily find them out. There is also insurance and maintenance to consider.

Hill's solar and mine are also quite different. I put up a 7.07 kwp system in 2018 that provided me with 9040 kwh last year. The systems cost before federal and local incentives $18,000 but after these incentives $9100. My municipal utility charged me an average of $0.112/kwh for green wind power and paid me $0.097/kwh for solar or $877 for the year. If you don't include the $10/month grid hook up fee and the money to subsidize low income customers they paid me more than the variable cost of their energy mix. I'm happy paying this difference. Hills system definitely is a better investment but that is because I'm sure he produces more kwh/year/kwp of his panels being in a better location, and electricity prices where he lives are much higher. Still I wanted solar and the system is guaranteed for 25 years, although the mom and pop installers that I used might not be around that long.

 

Since the numbers in this report's data came from the Fueleconomy.gov page, an individual can easily put in their specific fuel costs with the personalize link in the model to model comparison page.

 

That totally negates the value of the original report. You have to figure out your local costs for your particular car and still don't have a chart to compare it to anything else.

 

Again, it doesn't negate the value of the original report, it is a different focus than the original report.
The original report dealt with averages. You can't apply it to individual costs. Each person would need to run the numbers for themselves.

Just because an individual's costs are higher, or lower, isn't an argument that the average is incorrect

 

I'm surprised that no one noted that average gasoline price used, is also very unrealistic for California.

Whereas for my area, those national average figures overstate the cost of plug-ins, and understate the cost of gassers.

 

You are probably correct about the gas price in CA being substantially higher than the national average. But as I commented, for my area, the gas price has been either right around the national average or slightly below, making BEV even less favorable economically. One caveat is that while the electric rate is somewhat more stable but the gasoline price is very volatile, making the prediction of future operating cost difficult.

 

The report is nearly 3 months old, and the average gas price that Fueleconomy.gov is now using as its default is now higher. Anyone hoping for a third party to cater such a report to their individual circumstance is SOL. Perhaps a state agency or university will put one out that uses local averages, but even that won't account for how an single person actually uses their car.

The combined MPG/e rating used is based on 55% city and 45% highway doesn't apply to everyone. The EPA doesn't even use it in one of their other programs; GREET, IIRC. This report didn't even use a daily drive distance, so the PHEV numbers may or may not be totally based on the EV efficiency.

 

It's been all of CA for a little while now. TOU supercharging is mostly in more dense metropolitan areas. Indeed, if you don't need to supercharge in a pinch on a road trip during peak rates, off-peak is a nice deal and helps balance the grid.