Is it cheaper to fill up with electricity yet?

[bredekamp]

With gas prices sitting where they are and with no likelihood of going down, I was wondering....

A typical Prius gets 48 mpg. That's
48 miles per gallon = 0.0208333333 US gallons per mile


At $4.00 per gallon that's $0.0833 per mile. How much electricity would an electric car use to go one mile? How much would that electricity cost?

All I'm saying is that there comes a point where driving an electric car is cheaper than using gas.

[Danny Hamilton]

It has been for a long time now. According to Tesla Motors:

Tesla Motors

the cost is approximately $0.02 per mile.

The problem is finding an affordable electric vehicle that meets my personal requirements.

[Rockville1]

Driving an all electric car has been cheaper than gas for years.

There are 32.91 kilowatt-hours of energy in a gallon of gas, and the market cost consumers pay for kilowatt-hours is about $.10 (this varies widely, but for recharging at night during off-peak rates $.10 is probably on the high side), which means for $3.29 you can drive an electric car 96 miles. That equates to 2.9 miles per kilowatt-hour, or 3.4 cents per mile. Compared to gasoline powered cars, all-electric cars use far less energy to drive the same distance, and consequently cost far less to fuel.

EcoWorld - Editor?s Commentary Blog Archive Electric Car Cost Per Mile

[bredekamp]

Thanks guys. I thought as much.

[sorka]

Originally Posted by Danny Hamilton

It has been for a long time now. According to Tesla Motors:

Tesla Motors

the cost is approximately $0.02 per mile.

The problem is finding an affordable electric vehicle that meets my personal requirements.

That 2 cent quote is actually based on California E9 rates baseline rates Time of Use rates.

Typical baseline off peak rates here are about 8 cents / KWh. But, there are some power companies in some parts of the country that have TOU rates from 1 to 3 AM in the morning of only 1 cent / KWh. If you charge your Tesla only during those hours, then it's practically free at just a fifth of a cent or less per mile.

[orracle]

Originally Posted by Danny Hamilton

It has been for a long time now. According to Tesla Motors:

Tesla Motors

the cost is approximately $0.02 per mile.

The problem is finding an affordable electric vehicle that meets my personal requirements.

Hey, Danny--want to go in together on a Tesla?? "Chicagoland" is a little vague but I'm willing to meet you halfway!

[jdenenberg]

We passed that point some time ago.

At about 200 watt-hours per mile in EV mode at reasonable speeds, a battery charging efficiency of about 80% and electric power at $0.10 per kwatt-hour, a good EV costs about $0.02 per mile now (that's less than 1/4 of the gasoline cost equivalent, but we're cheating a little as there are no highway taxes on the electricity). One has to also account for expected battery replacement cost which can be estimated as ($20,000)/200,000miles (2000 full charge lifetime at 100 miles/charge) = $0.10 per mile which at this time appears higher than the electricity cost. Of course an ICE will wear out at some point and also has a replacement or rebuild cost, but this and other major maintenance costs are each smaller per mile than the battery costs at this time.

JeffD

ps. Anyone willing to spend upwards of $110k on a Tesla shouldn't worry about the electricity costs.

[MagneticGrayIndy]

I think within one to two years you will see viable vehicles designed from the ground up as electric available to the mass market with top speeds upwards of 80mph and ranges around 100miles... for the price of a prius

Most people use their vehicles for less than 20miles per day as is.. and if you have a Prius for long trips..... best of both worlds.

Converting an existing ICE vehicle to electric can be done for under 10k (easily) and would be fast enough and have a long enough range for 90% of MOST people's daily needs.. that's why I'm looking into it..

It's just a matter of what car do I convert or sell to make room for an electric?? not the prius obviously.. the miata has been converted many times to electric.. but only seats two and you'd take away the revving and shifting that makes the miata so much fun.. the rambler is a bit heavy (for a conversion) but has tons of room for batteries... but how many 43 year old cars do you see in original condition?? seems a shame to tear so much of that out...

and I don't have room for FOUR cars!!! lol.... decisions, decisions....

[Danny Hamilton]

Originally Posted by orracle

Hey, Danny--want to go in together on a Tesla?. . . .

Tempting, very tempting.

I've wondered at times what the resale value on one of these is likely to be after 3 years/100,000 miles.

If I could buy one for $100k and then resell it 3 years/100,000 miles later for $80k, I could just about convince myself (especially if I split the cost and proceeds with someone).

By the way, I'm quite a bit closer to Joliet than to Gurnee.

[Godiva]

Put some PV on your roof and it's even cheaper.