As I was sighing over my high local electricity costs, I figured that others might be interested to know whether it's more cost-effective to run your Prime exclusively in EV mode, or whether you'd be saving money running in hybrid mode. External and long-term costs to society of higher emissions not included. This presumes Toyota's specs - 25 mile range on a full charge, 6.2 kwh per full charge (8.8 kwh battery not using the bottom or top 15% of its capacity by design), 54 MPG overall from your gas. The break-even point where running in HV costs as much as running in EV is ($/gallon) = 13.392 x ($/kwh) When figuring your electrical cost, be sure you include all charges, supply and delivery! If you spot an error in my back-of-the-envelope calculations, let me know. I'm in the red at present. I hope you fare better!
My landlord charges me $15.00/mo and I can charge my car as many times as I want. So, the more times I charge the more cost effective charging my car becomes.
what are you paying down there? we're around 24 cents/kwh. i'd be better off with a gasser, but i love ev.
Ugh, sorry to hear that. We're at about 20 cents/kwh. Still pretty painful. But I just keep reminding myself, not as painful as the dying old ICE car I just traded up from. I'll try to keep reminding myself of it next time we get another 20% cost hike for the winter.
Of course there is always the Tesla justification: 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. There are quiet, high torque that electric propulsion provides that engines have difficulty matching. And then this showed up: Tesla Driver’s Accelerator Snaps Off While Driving Bob Wilson
Nice chart! It gets complicated when you can plug in sometimes for free, like at work or some stores. But for most of us, that chart makes it very easy to get a handle on the relative costs. I would estimate that I only pay for about 2/3 of the kWh I use in my PiP.
Handy, thanks! Hmm, not quite a match, but really close. For instance, I found break-even 10 cents/kwh to be at 1.3392, vs. 1.37 in the chart. I wonder what the distinction is between the calculations? MPG at 54 for both, so presumably slightly different amounts of battery being used, or slightly different distances traveled on a full charge.
I'm still in the "it's cheaper for EV" range category. My cheapest electric tier is 16c (that so far I've never exceeded), and gas here is about $2.80 right now. If it were vastly more expensive, I'd have to think about it... but even if it were just slightly more, I'd still stay with EV (cleaner, as grid is cleaner here, nice feel, etc).
Aha! Good call, that's probably it. I set mine up like this: ($ per kwh * 6.2) / 25 = $ per gallon / 54
$3.60/gal here (down from $3.83/gal two weeks ago). Electricity is definitely less than 28¢/kWh. Wonder why there's not as many EVs (as there were hybrids when hybrids were first launched).
It's a good question. I kind of wonder to what extent Tesla is to "blame," glad though I am that they've played a role in bringing EVs to market. What I've been finding as I've been telling people which car I bought is that they've been shocked that I could "afford to splurge" like that. My salary is pretty middle-of-the-road, middle-class stuff. EVs are perceived as being really high-end, people think of them as being $80k+ spaceships that are luxuries for the elite: splashy but impractical, and expect the additional cost of the car to far outweigh fuel cost savings. The mainstream introduction to hybrids, though, was... the Prius, which was not hugely out of step with other compact and midsized cars. If my experience has been representative, folks might not realize that there are models like the Prime that are very reliable, high-ranging, net cost is no greater than the popular sedans, that could be saving them real money.
Our home electricity cost is just under .10 per kwhr and current gasoline is about $2.40 per gallon. So far in the almost a month that I've owned my Prime I have charged it 6 or 7 times at home. I did sign up for the $100 Toyota give away but haven't yet used it. I am retired so don't spend 8 hours anywhere except at home and the nearest ChargePoint place is a bit over a mile away. It is a junior college and I might take a book, plug-in then go to the student union building on campus for a mocha and to read. Even if I didn't stay a full two hours at 240v it would add a few miles to my battery and the first $100 is sort of free to me.
U.S. average gas price is around $2.50 per gallon (GasBuddy.com). U.S. average electricity is about $.13 cents per kWh (USenergyInformaitonAdministration). Here in Denver, CO I pay about $.12 cents so unless gas is under $1.50 EV mode is cheaper.
Yep, looks like most of the country should be pretty safe to be getting good savings out of EV! The only states that are above 15 cents/kwh on average are Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, and... the entire Northeast. EIA - Electricity Data ...Go us?
It's a catch-22. On one hand, they made EVs desirable. People want electric cars. It was difficult with the Prius. But on the other hand, that basically set the stage of "Tesla or bust" which can impede EV growth. Most things start on the racing level and migrate down. The Prius started from the bottom (fuel efficiency) before hybrids became used for supplemental power (Accord V6, HiHy/RX and then more recently, all the European manufacturers). If hybridisation started with improving power (and as a by-product efficiency), would that have helped? who knows.
Granted, but the Jersey Shore is not a state. Celebrate, though, for your state's average is apparently $.1575, so your neck of the Garden is apparently sitting pretty! You have my envy. And Pennsylvania should have been exempted from the list, that was an oversight. Rejoice, Pennsylvanians! For your electricity costs a paltry $.1446 on average. Revel in the jealousy of your neighbors to the north! Our many sportsball trophies are little consolation for the highest electric rates in the continental 48.
