Which Really Costs More: Charging an EV or Filling Up Your Tank With Gas?

yahoo news ^ | December 27, 2021, 5:27 PM | Andrew Lisa

[RicocheT]

Compelling new evidence reveals a disconnect between the metrics used to analyze fuel costs and the realities that EV drivers face on the ground.

The More You Consider, the Worse EVs Look Again, the new research is just the first installment in a larger series, but its results are undeniably head-turning. The study found that:

Commercial charging rates are two to four times higher than residential rates.

Level 1 chargers cost an average of $600 to install and can take 20 hours to fully charge an EV.

Level 2 chargers are much faster but cost $1,600.

“Full charge” is a misleading term because charging past 90% is slow, difficult and unadvised, which means you get far fewer miles than the advertised ranges would have you believe. Gas vehicles, on the other hand, are good for 300-400 miles per tank.

Considering all of those factors, and presuming a greater reliance on commercial charging, it would cost $8.58 to fuel a mid-priced gas car that gets 33 mpg for 100 miles at $2.81 a gallon. Comparatively, a mid-priced EV — Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt — would cost $12.95 per 100 miles.

Annually, presuming 12,000 miles driven, it would cost $1,030 to drive a gas car versus $1,554 for an EV.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Which Really Costs More: Charging an EV or Filling Up Your Tank With Gas?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I did an Excel trade study of Prius vs. Corolla around 2005 and for me the break even point was gasoline at $6.45/gal, so I am not sure my friend ever really got his money back. He is not now, nor was he ever, an environmental whack job, but I guess he felt a smidgen of guilt about the long commute. His job moved about 30 miles south, and he bought a home even further south to be nearer to his parents and siblings. When the job moved back north, he kept his home. He still lives there. He retired in 2018, shortly after getting his second Prius.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I bought a plug-in Rav4 hybrid. It only has a rated 38 mile range on battery, but gets the full boat $7500 federal tax credit, and a $1500 rebate from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With the $9000 discount (and the fact that the plug in is peppier) it was a good deal. Without the $9000 of taxpayer money, no way.

[fireman15]

I was at a gathering of my wife’s friends over the summer. Two of them were talking about how great their Prius cars were. I butted in and said that Prius cars were so yesterday and that they should be looking at the new Teslas and other electric cars if they wanted to stay part of the in crowd. They actually did look a little hurt.

At this point new Prius cars have not escalated in value as much as many other vehicles. With the current price of gas they may have reached a breakeven point for a lot more people. My wife and I actually did purchase a used hybrid Ford Escape years ago. It got almost no better fuel economy than a normal Escape and cost a small fortune in repairs. There were so many problems that we got rid of it after a very short time.

[CodeToad]

I look at cars like the Toyota Corolla, which was selling loaded for about $23,000. At about 34mpg, that is an excellent value. A similar EV being $30,000+, it would seem the Corolla is the better value.