1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Plug In Cost

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by jeffg369, Jul 6, 2008.

  1. jeffg369

    jeffg369 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2007
    8
    0
    0
    Location:
    midwest
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Has anyone calculated the gas equivalent cost of driving a plug in electric vehicle with electricity cost at $.10/kwh and $.15/kwh ? I was told that $.10/kwh is equal to $4.25/gal gas when your mileage is 50 mpg av. If this is true than the only advantage to a total electric vehicle is that we trade imported oil for domestic coal in powering the US transportation fleet.
     
  2. paulccullen

    paulccullen New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2006
    276
    3
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius

    Here in the Pacific Northwest, we'd be trading foreign oil for zero-emission hydroelectric power :)
     
  3. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2008
    6,312
    4,301
    1
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    Model:
    N/A
    It all depends how far the car goes on a charge.
    As an example, a Tesla Roadster has a range of 220 miles on a full charge. It has a 52Kw battery pack so goes about 4 miles per Kw. That would mean 50 miles would be about 12.5Kw. At 10c/Kw that would be $1.25.
    Different cars will get different ranges, however I would want have a tough time believing an EV got only a third to a quarter of that efficiency.
    My guess is the person that told you that was either mislead themselves, or was possibly talking about outdated batteries (lead or nickel?).
    Of course, not everyone pays that rate for electricity. I am paying about 7 cents/kwh, so EVs even make more sense for the area I am in.