Help me with the math

You do realize that if they say it requires a 30 amp circuit it actually draws less than 30 amps, don't you?

EPA rates the Leaf at 34 kwh/100 miles which would be $3.74 in your case.

I do agree with the point you are making, which seems to be TANSTAAFL, even if I don't quite agree with the magnitude of your point
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As you mention, there are many reasons to buy an electric vehicle. Money saving isn't the only reason. But since you are specifically asking about the math...

I see 2 small issues with your math.

1) You assume that the battery charger will draw a full 30A for the entire 7 hours. 30A is more likely a peak draw potential. Throughout most of the charge cycle the charger may use significantly less than 7.2 kilowatts.

2) You assume that everyone pays $0.11 per kilowatt hour. If the charger did draw 30A the entire time it might be a wash for you with your electric power provider, but others with a different source of electricity may well find that it is cheaper to drive the electric car.

 

Does it pull constant current for the whole time, or does the current taper down?

Nissan gives different figures:

• Since the Nissan LEAF solely runs on electricity, would charging from home dramatically increase my electricity bill? A: Based on a US average of $0.11/kWh, a full charge will cost about $2.75. It could be even less, if your area has time-of-use rates and you charge at off-peak hours.
• Q: How much will it cost to charge the car at a charging station? A: The national average electricity cost is $0.1147/kWh. That means the average cost to charge the car would be $2.75 from Empty to Full.

 

What equipment or tools are you using for this monitoring?

 

you're absolutely right. you have to take the total bill and divide by the number of kw used. and we don't have night time charging rates here either.

 

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your electricity is practically free compared to what we pay here in California. In the San Francisco bay area, P,G & E charges us about 12 cents per KWH, for an initial baseline rate. The price rapidly climbs to about 40 cents per KWH. In this area, the typical home owner uses far more electricity than the baseline rate. Consequently, it would cost around 40 cents per KWH to charge an electric vehicle making it far more costly than using gasoline.

Keith.

 

Sure, but it is also misleading in the other direction to just divide the total bill by the total KWH. There are fixed costs on the electric bill that will not go up with the addition of charging an electric vehicle. I know of at least $10.78 per month on my bill that I will get charged for regardless of whether I use 1 KWH for the month or 1,000 KWH. That is a BIG difference ($10.78 per KWH at 1 KWH, but only $0.01078 at 1000 KWH). It really isn't a fair comparison to multiply your predicted KWH usage by a calculated KWH value that includes these fixed charges.

 

true, the utilities have really buggered up the bills to make them as confusing as possible!

 

That's true.
However (comma) I've long suspected that the LEAF really isn't a 100 mile-per-charge vehicle. Despite the fact that it makes the cost per charge calculations reeeeally easy, you cannot assign a 100-mile range per charge.
In fact....I've read (although I've not independently verified) that the true range for the LEAF is closer to 75 miles....less in some climes.
Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/26067/

The good news is that it may not take as long as advirtised to reach a full SOC with this vehicle....something else I've not really looked into, since I have no intentions of paying $33,000 for a DOT-approved enclosed golf cart with climate controlled seating for 5.
Sorry....I just can't use a vehicle with 75+/- mile range.

The true cost of ownership will vary wildly from $0.03 to upwards of $3.00 per mile depending on who is bending the numbers, and how much they want to justify the whole LEAF experiment.

Nice try Nissan! I applaud your effort!!!
Keep working on it, but my next vehicle (as things are now) will be a Prius, an Insight, or an as-yet-to-be-named econobox.

 

that makes it just like a gas car then. every tankfull has a different mpg average based on a number of factors and therefore different cents per mile cost. you really need to divide the cost of a charge by miles driven.

 

you've got my vote!

 

How many kWh does it take to drive a Leaf 100 miles?

Your calculation is based on (7.2kW) * (7 hours) = 50.4 kWh for 100 miles. That is the most pessimistic figure I've heard.