Posted on 03/21/2022 1:53:25 PM PDT by Beave Meister
It has been true for years: Mile for mile, it’s cheaper — generally much cheaper — to recharge an electric vehicle than it is to refuel one with an internal-combustion engine.
That has been a key selling point for Tesla and other EV makers, particularly in times when gas prices have soared, such as now. But this time there’s a wrinkle: While gas prices have indeed soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so have electricity prices — particularly in some parts of the U.S. that have been big markets for Tesla’s EVs.
That raises a question: Is it still true that it’s much cheaper to “refuel” an EV? The charts below, which show how much the cost to add 100 miles of range to the average EV or internal-combustion vehicle has changed in different markets over time, help us find the answer.
The first chart, using nationwide figures, provides a baseline. The others use data specific to Boston and San Francisco, two markets where EVs are popular — and where electricity tends to be more expensive than the national average.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
” I honestly don’t know where the closest charging station is”
In your garage.
Gallon price of gas displayed at the pump, but comparative price for unit of electricity for an EV fails to include cost of converting that energy from coal. Follow the science cuz green energy isn't immune to conservation of energy principle.
Comparing the cost of driving 100 miles in a conventional gas/diesel vehicle vs an EV requires nailing down a lot of variables:
Fuel mileage - they used 25 mpg and change. That's horrible. My turbo 4 door gets roughly 40 mpg in mixed driving, it has topped 55 mpg on the highway. (and low 30s if I'm playing with the turbo...)
Fuel cost per gallon - of course this has to be the cost for the fuel you used. It would be unfair to rate mileage from "good" gas and look at prices of cheap gas. With modern ECUs it can (does) make a difference in mpg.
Similarly, EV efficiency - how many miles can your EV (or potential EV) actually get per kWh of juice? How is that impacted by things like cold weather? Heaters in gas/diesel powered vehicles are practically free - they use waste heat from the engine and only a little electric power for a fan. For an EV running the heater is a significant hit.
What does it actually cost to charge the EV? If you're only using home charging at night when rates are low that's one thing. If you're paying for public fast charging that's going to be far more expensive. Maybe you can use just the cheapest electricity, maybe not. Sometimes you might need a quick boost.
There are just too many variables to make blanket statements like EVs are (still) cheaper per mile. I can just about guarantee you that if I got an EV here, where it gets cold, and I was having to use public pay-for-charge fast chargers a couple of times a week it would be more expensive than running my gas car.
I'm not going to bother running the numbers because I don't have a spare $20,000 to $30,000 laying around to invest in an EV as a second car. And it would have to be in addition to my car, not a replacement. There are some things I need my car to do that an EV would make completely impractical. My time has value too.
soon enough, the Dems will start taxing recharging stations equal to the fuel taxes levied on fillups; costs to run EVs won’t look as rosy then ...
“And regarding the market for the Blech-E faux Mustang - it’s not a free market, but one tainted by fedgov. Wonder how many sales it would be if there were no subsidies by fedgov. Has fedgov subsidized ICE cars?”
No federal subsidies for Tesla and GM. Toyota and Ford to be phased out this year.
As far as energy capacity to charge these things. The solution might be for everyone to have their own family windmill in the back yard.
What about risk of having an EV and the power company turning off your charger or the government not allowing it to be charged—recall last summer when they ‘asked’ people to not recharge their cars?
Additionally, ethanol was a lot more prevalent, as was kerosene. I know that gasoline was available, but not in nearly the availability of ethanol and kerosene. Of course, ethanol pretty much disappeared after WWII, while kerosene hung around for a lot longer, I think till the 60’s.
Ignoring of course the cost of TIME for the recharge.
At 6-9 hours for a full charged to go maybe 300 miles if it’s flat and you don’t need hear or air, vs 10 minutes to go 420 miles with the ac or heat on hilly terrain.
“Wonder how many sales it would be if there were no subsidies by fedgov”
Tesla sold almost a million in 2021, about double 2020 sales.
“At 6-9 hours for a full charged to go maybe 300 miles”
Tesla: 15 minutes for 200 mile charge.
‘Much cheaper’ only if one doesn’t factor in the cost of buying the expensive EV in the first place.
And if everyone on your block charges one EV overnight, your neighborhood transmission wires and transformers are not sized to handle that load regularly, like every day.
Yea, and they claimed you could swap out the batteries in 15 minutes too if you needed to way back when.
Go look at those real world outcomes of that 15 minute charge….
It’s still a 6-9 hour charge in a Tesla to full charge and max out around 300ish miles if flat terrain and no heat or air.
Marketing claims mean bupkus
Bravo! Well said.
you know the home ones don’t... and they should
That EIA chart is about 6 cents low for central CA (near FR HQ)...more like 30 cents/kWh here. Kind of hard to figure an average because it is complicated by “Baseline Tier” quantities that change seasonally...my baseline tier (~300 kWh) is @ 28.24 cents/kWh and “Reg. Tier” above 300 kWh is priced at @ 35.5 cents/kWh. My basic calculations show that at CA electric prices gasoline is cheaper to use than electricity at about $2.09/gallon...probably never get back to $2.09/gal. in CA tho...taxes are $0.85 to $1.20 per gallon depending on how you figure it.
It’s about the cost of the car too. I can buy eight 15-year-old Camrys for the cost of one lectric car.
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