Electricity cost more than gasoline these days.

I would pay more for electric than gas to keep my money away from big oil and their insane profits as well as opec.

 

In SF a few months ago, did not think I saw as much roof top solar as I was expecting in SF. Don't know if that is more a Southern CA thing. I'm sure you'll get lots of folks challenging your math. I would say $3/gal and 18 cent/KWhr is getting into break even. But you've got strong incentives (HOV and $) pushing the balance to plug-in there, not mention many/most of us $2/gal or less right now. Def getting at least a hybrid in CA, assuming I am putting decent miles on.

 

No EV's allow you to use the full capacity of the battery. For example, the PiP only allows 3 kWh out of 4.4 maximum for an EV range of 11 miles. So extrapolating for the Prime, should be 6 kWh for 22 miles or $0.048/mile on electricity.

The break even is $2.50 per gallon of gas which is a little bit more than what I paid this morning at the Safeway gas stations at $2.35.

 

If cost is your only reason for doing something, that's pretty harsh. I'd much rather pay more to run on electricity even if generated by a dirty source because it is a net benefit. The reality however is that I "pre-paid" my electric bill by buying a bunch of PV. So if gas goes up or down I don't care. If electricity goes up or down, I don't care. I power my main car by sunshine and I don't care what it costs.

 

I am expecting Prime to qualify for the new HOV program in CA...think it is still in negotiation, not sure.

If you know my thinking, I don't think we'd have Prius Prime unless there also is an extended CA HOV program. That's the whole idea of Prime as I see it right now.

Wait for it!......

 

Not certain a diamond lane sticker is worth the extra cost between a Prius and a Prius PHEV anymore. Those lanes are as clogged as all the rest. About the only benefit left now - at least with the stickers - is freeway entrances that have a diamond lane…

 

too cloudy in san fran for solar i'm paying 24 cents/kwh, at 65% ev, it's a little more expensive than $2.50 gas, but there are so many other bennies.

 

Does everyone in MA pay 24 cents or is Boston somehow higher? On most lists they show MA more like 17 cents/kwhr

 

it's different everywhere, not sure how it's broken up. we're about 10 miles west of boston, in the burps.
i'm talking total bill, not the kWh price, that's a farce.

 

For making gasoline vs electric decisions, it is the marginal or incremental cost that matters, not the 'effective' rate computed from the total bill.

 

can you elaborate? i have no idea what that means. i use total electric and gas costs to compute cents/mile comparison.

 

Marginal costs are the same concept as tax brackets. They are the incremental cost of an incremental change in consumption.

Subtract out any fixed account charges before making such comparisons. Those charges don't change when your consumption changes.

If you have a single tier, you can add up all the per-kwh rates for all the components (energy, delivery, taxes, project surcharges, capital improvement plans, and whatever else they throw in). If you have multiple tiers as I do, this needs to be done for the tier you are in. If you energy choice will change which tier you are in, then it gets a bit more complicated, but is still do-able.

 

24 cents/kwh is crazy high. Believe mine is about 10 cents/kwh. There are cheaper plans here in Texas (atleast the parts of Texas that have been de-regulated) but I like to choose the plans that say 100% wind power so they are slightly higher. I routinely use less than 500 kwhs per month so a cent or two here and there doesn't make much difference. Figure it will cost me around $20 a month to keep the Prime charged. Seeing as gas is costing me around $30 per week right now - Electricity is going to be a much cheaper route for me.

 

conservative states seem to have lower rates. my brother pays peanuts in florida.

 

Northeast states NY thru Maine, maybe add NJ are expensive on electric.
They are dis-inclined to generate in-state power, so imports from PA/PJM and Canada predominate. The export states here are PA and WV (and Canada), whereas MD, VA, NJ, NY and rest of New England import power.

Bisco- your elec bill is probably broken down into (1) fixed monthly fee + (2) elec costs cents/kwhr. So your cost of the PiP is only the latter (2) cents/kwhr. Presumably the fixed elec monthly fees are constant, you have to pay that even if you fill your PiP at your favorite gaso station. In the Northeast we don't seem to have usage tiers like they do out West.

 

so, if i look at the last 12 months for instance, you're saying the total cost/kwh should fluctuate?

 

here's my june bill: delivery charge = 10.6 cents/kwh x 707 = 75.24

generation charge = 10.6 cents/kwh x 707 = 76.67

total charges = $151.91 / 707 kWh = 21.5 cents / kWh.

same time last year was 23.7 cents /kwh. yay, rates have dropped. when i bought my pip, it was 16 cents.

looking back through the months, it's pretty much the same. the month we were in florida, and only used 216 kWh, they jacked the delivery charge to 12.7 cents.

 

Some places have a flat, monthly connection fee for electric. I have one for natural gas. You pay it whether or not you use anything. You don't add that flat fee into the usage rates when determining how much the kWh costs for a car or appliance.

But it appears that you are screwed bisco. If it helps, I'm paying over 18 cents.