Is it cheaper to fill up with electricity yet?

It has been for a long time now. According to Tesla Motors:

Tesla Motors

the cost is approximately $0.02 per mile.

The problem is finding an affordable electric vehicle that meets my personal requirements.

 

Driving an all electric car has been cheaper than gas for years.

EcoWorld - Editor?s Commentary Blog Archive Electric Car Cost Per Mile

 

That 2 cent quote is actually based on California E9 rates baseline rates Time of Use rates.

Typical baseline off peak rates here are about 8 cents / KWh. But, there are some power companies in some parts of the country that have TOU rates from 1 to 3 AM in the morning of only 1 cent / KWh. If you charge your Tesla only during those hours, then it's practically free at just a fifth of a cent or less per mile.

 

Hey, Danny--want to go in together on a Tesla?? "Chicagoland" is a little vague but I'm willing to meet you halfway!

 

We passed that point some time ago.

At about 200 watt-hours per mile in EV mode at reasonable speeds, a battery charging efficiency of about 80% and electric power at $0.10 per kwatt-hour, a good EV costs about $0.02 per mile now (that's less than 1/4 of the gasoline cost equivalent, but we're cheating a little as there are no highway taxes on the electricity). One has to also account for expected battery replacement cost which can be estimated as ($20,000)/200,000miles (2000 full charge lifetime at 100 miles/charge) = $0.10 per mile which at this time appears higher than the electricity cost. Of course an ICE will wear out at some point and also has a replacement or rebuild cost, but this and other major maintenance costs are each smaller per mile than the battery costs at this time.

JeffD

ps. Anyone willing to spend upwards of $110k on a Tesla shouldn't worry about the electricity costs.

 

I think within one to two years you will see viable vehicles designed from the ground up as electric available to the mass market with top speeds upwards of 80mph and ranges around 100miles... for the price of a prius

Most people use their vehicles for less than 20miles per day as is.. and if you have a Prius for long trips..... best of both worlds.

Converting an existing ICE vehicle to electric can be done for under 10k (easily) and would be fast enough and have a long enough range for 90% of MOST people's daily needs.. that's why I'm looking into it..

It's just a matter of what car do I convert or sell to make room for an electric?? not the prius obviously.. the miata has been converted many times to electric.. but only seats two and you'd take away the revving and shifting that makes the miata so much fun.. the rambler is a bit heavy (for a conversion) but has tons of room for batteries... but how many 43 year old cars do you see in original condition?? seems a shame to tear so much of that out...

and I don't have room for FOUR cars!!! lol.... decisions, decisions....

 

Tempting, very tempting.

I've wondered at times what the resale value on one of these is likely to be after 3 years/100,000 miles.

If I could buy one for $100k and then resell it 3 years/100,000 miles later for $80k, I could just about convince myself (especially if I split the cost and proceeds with someone).

By the way, I'm quite a bit closer to Joliet than to Gurnee.

 

Put some PV on your roof and it's even cheaper.

 

In my current situation, owning two cars that are driveable is out of the question.
Now you double insurance costs and need twice as much space to park them in which
is quite an issue in the city.

Until an electric car can go farther distances... i do not think they will ever take off
like a prius did.

my two cents.

 

no different than those in here who argue most people can drive a hybrid year round and just rent something for the rare times you need more space/hauling ability.. for most people, they could drive an EV year round and rent when they need one to go a longer distance.. hell, plenty of people in cities have no vehicle at all...

I happen to live in a city but have a three car detached garage.. so we have the best of both worlds (suburban/urban).. the bus line is 1/2 block away and my husband takes that to work every day. Granted.. we COULD take the bus for shopping, movies.. etc.. but we're just as American as the next door neighbors and are quite used to having our own personal transportation.

 

That is a good point except that I would rather not rent a car every other
weekend when i goto the beach, visit Maine antiquing, travel on holidays, etc..

I say this tongue in cheek.. so be aware...
I feel that any person who could actually rent a car for the once or twice
a year they need to travel more then 100 miles is a very boring person indeed ;-) dont stone me!!

For those who can fit a electric vehicle in their life it sounds great to me...
i just know on monthly basis i need to drive more then 100 miles round
trip to go do "things".

good point though!

 

Already been answered several times, of course. For as long as anybody has cared to check, it has ALWAYS been cheaper to fuel and EV than a gas car. Always. I got my first EV when gas was about $1.50, and at that time, it was 1/4 the cost to fill the EV than the gas car. Efficiency wins this one in a big way. My current EV holds the equivalent energy of one gallon of gas. I have driven 135 miles on that "gallon" of energy.

Yeah. This falls into the category of, "since it won't work for me, it probably won't work for anybody." Please reconsider. There are MILLIONS of people who - unlike you - have at least two cars in the household. Typically one of those cars does NOTHING but commute. So... can you imagine for must a moment that even though an EV might not work for you, that it could work for untold millions of other drivers? Pickups don't work for everybody. Sports cars don't work for everybody. Motorcycles don't work for everybody... and yet they have all "taken off." Few non-EV drivers realize the convenience of ownership. Many would be willing to pay for when when it IS realized.

Oh... and what distance are you assuming that EVs can drive today? Please also consider that we may not HAVE the luxury of long-distance gasoline driving forever. Quick charging every few miles along the highway will be cheaper to install than any sort of Hydrogen infrastructure. Really, there is no technology holding back EVs. It is public perception and car-maker foolishness that keeps us in our gas cars.

If you need MORE reasons for why EVs won't work, please check my list. Congratulations... your comment is #5 on the list.
http://evnut.com/docs/evs-wont_work.doc

 

but think of what you just said.. even if you rent once or twice a month.. wouldn't that be cheaper than having two cars year round?.. granted, not everyone can have two cars year round either. But for MOST people... an EV as a main car could work!

 

An idea I had is that EV dealerships could be your source of super-easy rentals as well. They have all your info and credit history from your vehicle purchase. And since they now love you for buying a car, one of their services is ultra-quick car rental for those long trips. You reserve it online, drive your EV down there and pick up the long-distance car with the swipe of a security card and you are on your way. The current rental process absolutely sucks.

 

I am seeing your point. But is not purpose of getting an EV vehicle to save a bit of money? Renting another car twice a month or having a second vehicle insured
so it is ready to drive at a moment's notice seems to defeat the main purpose I would
ever consider one.

We have not even began to discuss the amount of time it takes to recharge or other
caveats that will become apparent to those who drive it daily.

So lets say you drive to work 25 miles one way and back, run your errands around town
and pick up little billy at practice later on adding another 25 miles. Do you dare use the
car again on only an hours charge to go out on a friday night?

I think this is just debating and I hope people here do not see this as a slam on EV vehicles. If those cars could do 350-500 miles on one charge I would be considering them
right at this moment.

 

I just wanted to say that I think you have a great webpage set up for the Prius in SA. I think I've mentioned it before but my girlfriend is from Cape Town (her parents were from Namibia) and it's cool to see members on PC from way down there.

 

The quoted per-KWH prices are way too low.

I don't have time-of-use metering; since my usage is way above baseline, my top price is almost 33c per kwh.

(I can't go TOU because I work from home so I'm here all day. And to run washer/dryer/dishwasher after 8pm gets difficult, since those appliances require attendance, and that gets quite late.) The electric cost on Peak periods is horrendous.

So if I triple the $3.29/96 miles that gets me down to $3.29/32 miles. That's about equal to $4.20 gasoline in my Prius (41mpg average). It's still a bit cheaper than gasoline...but not by much.