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What Does it Actually Cost To Charge Up An Electric Car?

rhonda

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Thanks! That helped put the costs into a usable framework for me. I know my electricity rates are higher than the national average and the article, with the linked Globally Charged tables, provides a good starting point.
 

bluehende

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Thanks for posting this. I have flirted with getting an electric car. I always wondered how it compared to gas.
 

Passepartout

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It really does matter what your electric rate is. Ours is one of America's lowest at $.08ish per kWh. And the car battery is 17 kWh, so a full charge is a buck or so. We don't even notice it on the power bill. But someone with a full EV (like a Tesla) in Rhode Island or Hawaii will be paying close to $20 per charge.
 

Chrispee

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My rough calculations put me at an electricity cost of $35 per month to do 1500kms (based on 10 cents CAD per kWh) and including some margin for vampire drain. This is assuming I charge 100% at home, but I have been getting a fair amount of free charging while I’m shopping etc.

In my old car my monthly gas cost would have been approximately $200 more so the savings is significant for me. I’m in British Columbia, the land of relatively inexpensive hydro electric and relatively expensive gas, so I’m sure my metrics are different than others.
 
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VacationForever

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We bought a lithium powered golf cart this week to drive ourselves to our golf club 6 days a week and use it on the course 4 of the days. It is very inexpensive, something like less than $1 per month in electricity charge. This is our first taste of an electric powered vehicle.
 

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Electricity costs me about the same as @Passepartout, so driving an EV makes sense. On top of that, there are places like local organic markets that let people charge their EV for free, so it really makes cents, too...,
 

buzglyd

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Thanks! That helped put the costs into a usable framework for me. I know my electricity rates are higher than the national average and the article, with the linked Globally Charged tables, provides a good starting point.

I've guesstimated that when gas is $4, it's cheaper to charge at home (I have a hybrid) and when gas is $3, San Diego electricity is more expensive than gas.

At least this article attempted to use real world range. The range estimates on electric cars are a total joke and border on fraud.
 

DaveNV

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I like the idea of electric vehicles, but haven’t figured out how it would work to drive somewhere of distance, if the car had to be recharged every so often. And even if you could find an outlet, how long does it take to recharge? Seems more practical if you’re just driving locally.

Dave
 

Eric B

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Volt has a backup generator for when the battery runs out. I get 55-80 miles per charge, which works for my commute; if I go further it switches to gas powered, where I get ~45 mpg.
 

bluehende

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I like the idea of electric vehicles, but haven’t figured out how it would work to drive somewhere of distance, if the car had to be recharged every so often. And even if you could find an outlet, how long does it take to recharge? Seems more practical if you’re just driving locally.

Dave
Batteries are getting better. That is our concern too. It seems that the charging stations are getting so frequent that a lunch stop would be easy to get a charge. It is getting feasible even for a single car now. My understanding is that you can get a lot of charge pretty quick.......1/2 hr. But to top off the tank takes a while. I can find a few stops pretty easy on a trip. It is the availability of charging stations at those stops that will make my decision for me.
 

Passepartout

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I like the idea of electric vehicles, but haven’t figured out how it would work to drive somewhere of distance, if the car had to be recharged every so often. And even if you could find an outlet, how long does it take to recharge? Seems more practical if you’re just driving locally.
Where you live, it's probably fairly practical. Our Redmond kids are leaning toward a Tesla. Where they live, you can't swing a cat without hitting a charge point. We have had 2 Priuses (Priui?) so the idea of a semi-electric had appeal, and we'd become used to the performance- quick acceleration and the like. DW wanted her car to be more electric than less, and I wanted to be sure that whatever we bought would replace another vehicle. It makes no sense (for us) to have an 'in-town' car and a 'road car'.

We looked long and hard at all the offerings. The local Toyota dealer wasn't prepared to sell us a Prius Prime. The Hyundai dealer wouldn't even bring in a plug-in Ioniq because then he'd be forced by Hyundai to train mechanics to work on them. The nearest BMW or Lexus or Tesla dealers are between 150 and 250 miles away. Which boils down to the Honda Plug-in Clarity. It goes some 50 miles on pure electric, charges overnight on household current, and can take advantage of freebie chargers at hotels, shopping centers, parking garages when we travel, AND it has a 1.5 liter gas engine and 7 gallon tank which removes any 'range anxiety' over taking an electric car on a trip out of town- especially out here in the low infrastructure Intermountain West.

We simply use the EV mode around town and when we are going to our second home, I switch it to Hybrid as soon as we get on the highway, and save the battery power for in-town driving when we get off the highway. It's user-switchable.
At least this article attempted to use real world range. The range estimates on electric cars are a total joke and border on fraud.
We've noticed this too. Where DO they get those numbers? Honda says our car will give 47 miles of EV range. But if it's winter and super cold, the best it will charge to might be 35 miles, and now, it regularly charges to 55ish miles on an overnight charge. And around town, using regenerative braking (handy little paddles under the steering wheel to convert rolling energy to battery power) we get waay more range, and on the highway at 80 mph, those electrons deplete very fast, probably about 1/3 of it's around town range. I don't know if 'fraud' is an accurate term, but for sure, putting a number on range it a bit squishy.

These are our experiences in the real world. Overall, we like the electric car experience- quick acceleration. virtually instant heat and cooling inside the car, smooth, quiet ride, overall economy- now, after some 10 months, we are at combined over 75 miles per gallon. That's about 30% better than a Prius.

Jim
 
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DaveNV

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I wonder if it's possible to set solar panels on a house that would directly provide recharging juice for an electric vehicle? Seems like the best of all options. ?

Dave
 

Passepartout

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I wonder if it's possible to set solar panels on a house that would directly provide recharging juice for an electric vehicle? Seems like the best of all options. ?
Yes, it's possible. But where you live, and where you are contemplating moving, the payoff would be a long, long time. You'd wear out several cars before it would pencil out. You'd need big honkin' batteries to charge during the day, because MOST people charge the car at night, and most power companies offer lower night time rates, just when you'd want to charge up the car.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Doesn't cost us a dime. Free. Nada. My DH has free charging at work and we have solar at home. We even use the commuter and express lanes for free. :cheer:
 

Passepartout

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If we go all electric, who is going to pay for the roads...

George
We pay a 'Hybrid/Electric' surcharge on our annual registration fee. So it's users who pay- just like now.
 

wilma

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If we go all electric, who is going to pay for the roads...

George
Many people are resistant to change and will never go electric. Also, Electric vehicle owners in California pay a special tax to fund roads.
 

clifffaith

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Many people are resistant to change and will never go electric. Also, Electric vehicle owners in California pay a special tax to fund roads.

I resemble that remark! The closest I'll ever come to electric is the jitney bus at the old folks home!
 

am1

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I wonder if it's possible to set solar panels on a house that would directly provide recharging juice for an electric vehicle? Seems like the best of all options. ?

Dave
Not if you are charging at night and not switching cars in and out all day. Better to send it back to the grid and get a credit.
 

BJRSanDiego

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Yes, it's possible. But where you live, and where you are contemplating moving, the payoff would be a long, long time. You'd wear out several cars before it would pencil out. You'd need big honkin' batteries to charge during the day, because MOST people charge the car at night, and most power companies offer lower night time rates, just when you'd want to charge up the car.
Some people have "net metering". So, during the day when they are generating a bunch of electricity they put it into the grid. At night, when they return from work, they draw energy back from the grid. So, the grid is actually a "big honkin' battery" of sorts.
 
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