Wow, I was just thinking in terms of a mental exercise. You know, something you can do in your head while your Tesla drives you home from Home Depot. You can’t even use a phone when you’re behind the steering wheel in Iowa these days. But I managed enough assumptions and math in my head to tell that you were definitely on the right track and got home in one piece. Ha!
I didn’t mean to suggest that you needed to create a spreadsheet and check your math, but I’m glad you did. It was good to see the numbers I approximated in my head to three decimal points. Wow! That’s dedication to your craft.
One thing I would like you to consider though is how to get the message in terms that are easy for the non-technical people to understand. For example: An EV that is charged at home will travel about 3 times further than an ICE for the same money spent on fuel.
Conversely, an ICE vehicle will cost about 3 times more than an EV to go the same distance around town.
However, if you’re on a road trip, the charging stations on the road are going to charge you 3 times more than what you would pay at home. So, when charging on a road trip, EV and ICE mileage costs are about the same. Cheers, Jim
Jim, I have a Powerpoint presentation on residential electricity rates in my collection of works in progress. I think I will move it to the top of the list and use EV charging as a case when such an analysis might come in handy.
I had picked out a Texas REP offer of a fixed cost per kWh, the Ames municipal utility with winter/summer rates and a fuel pass-through charge, and Arizona Public service as an investor-owned utility, and its four choices for its residential customers.
I think I will shoot for 20 slides for a 30-minute presentation, record it and post it on Substack and Youtube, and pick a time to present it live.
I think I could do a comparison of how far you can go for $50. That is about what I pay for filling my 17 gallon tank with 15 or 16 gallons. That might be something people can easily grasp from their personal experience.
I can look up some home kWh rates, and add a little nuance. California has an overnight EV rate at some utilities and their off-peak rate ends at 3 or 4 pm so daytime charging is less expensive than evening charging. Arizona Public Service has a residential rate with a demand charge and a lower kWh rate. Several utility companies or Retail Electricity Providers in Texas offer some kind of time-base rates, time of use within one day or some in Texas offer free weekends.
You would know better than me but I read the Level 2 charging rate per kWh is lower than the Level 3 rate. I don’t think EV charging is ever more expensive per mile than gasoline but I will look for exceptions.
Wow! We’re doing pretty good compared to Europe. I wonder if they’re using a gas tax to subsidize their conversion to electricity.
I’ve never seen the conversion from kWh to gallons of gasoline stated so succinctly before. I’ll have to run the numbers on that.
Thanks for the encouragement, Jim, and pushing me to re-run my numbers.
Just now I made a spreadsheet and found that these assumptions lead to $1.30 per gallon at 15 cents per kWh:
EV at 0.346 kWh per mile, a published average
ICE 25 miles per gallon from life experience
I use the cost per 100 miles as my comparison.
EV
34.6 kWh per 100 miles, or 0.346 per mile as it is commonly stated
at 15 cents per kWh that is $5.19 per 100 miles
ICE
4 gallons per 100 miles, commonly stated as 25 miles per gallon
At $3.50 per gallon that is $14.00 per 100 miles
Equivalent cost per gallon to get $5.19 per 100 miles
$1.30 per gallon x 4 gallons = $5.20
I will go back and state the equivalency as 15 cents per kWh = $1.30 per gallon.
Wow, I was just thinking in terms of a mental exercise. You know, something you can do in your head while your Tesla drives you home from Home Depot. You can’t even use a phone when you’re behind the steering wheel in Iowa these days. But I managed enough assumptions and math in my head to tell that you were definitely on the right track and got home in one piece. Ha!
I didn’t mean to suggest that you needed to create a spreadsheet and check your math, but I’m glad you did. It was good to see the numbers I approximated in my head to three decimal points. Wow! That’s dedication to your craft.
One thing I would like you to consider though is how to get the message in terms that are easy for the non-technical people to understand. For example: An EV that is charged at home will travel about 3 times further than an ICE for the same money spent on fuel.
Conversely, an ICE vehicle will cost about 3 times more than an EV to go the same distance around town.
However, if you’re on a road trip, the charging stations on the road are going to charge you 3 times more than what you would pay at home. So, when charging on a road trip, EV and ICE mileage costs are about the same. Cheers, Jim
Jim, I have a Powerpoint presentation on residential electricity rates in my collection of works in progress. I think I will move it to the top of the list and use EV charging as a case when such an analysis might come in handy.
I had picked out a Texas REP offer of a fixed cost per kWh, the Ames municipal utility with winter/summer rates and a fuel pass-through charge, and Arizona Public service as an investor-owned utility, and its four choices for its residential customers.
I think I will shoot for 20 slides for a 30-minute presentation, record it and post it on Substack and Youtube, and pick a time to present it live.
Thanks for the idea.
Thanks, Jim.
I think I could do a comparison of how far you can go for $50. That is about what I pay for filling my 17 gallon tank with 15 or 16 gallons. That might be something people can easily grasp from their personal experience.
I can look up some home kWh rates, and add a little nuance. California has an overnight EV rate at some utilities and their off-peak rate ends at 3 or 4 pm so daytime charging is less expensive than evening charging. Arizona Public Service has a residential rate with a demand charge and a lower kWh rate. Several utility companies or Retail Electricity Providers in Texas offer some kind of time-base rates, time of use within one day or some in Texas offer free weekends.
You would know better than me but I read the Level 2 charging rate per kWh is lower than the Level 3 rate. I don’t think EV charging is ever more expensive per mile than gasoline but I will look for exceptions.
Thanks again.
Great Information.