My Mile/MPG Break Even Point - Volt vs. Prius

That's called a spreadsheet overlap, where I accidently added 2 refill rows twice... which means my stats are even better than I thought!

Of course, you have a typo too. I was 3,399. Regardless, thank you for the catch.

The proper value is 3,130 and dividing that by 1,138 does indeed workout to 2.75

 

Here's the update, since for some reason editing the original message doesn't show it. The old file must be cached...



Shoot. Still doesn't show. Whatever the case, the new "per 100 miles" values are 8.4 kWh and 1.36 Gallons.

 

Not for me. I pay 18 cents per kWh and $2.50 per gallon.

To go 100 miles, 100 MPGe EV would cost me $6 (33.7kWh).

50 MPG gas engine would cost me $5 on gas to go 100 miles.

I would need 121 MPGe for EV to equal to gas. So it makes sense to use EV miles for city driving and gas for highway.

Using that strategy and per PiP design, I averaged 132 MPGe on EV and 53 MPG on gas.

If you do calculation for emission, you'll get the same conclusion. EV highway miles can't compete with 50 MPG gas.

 

I was referring to Greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O). EPA converts CH4 and N2O to CO2 equivalent and provides the total CO2e (see pg.1) .

The average cost of electricity is on the rise. It is no longer 11 cents per kWh. It is now 13 cents.

Many CARB states have 17+ cents / kWh. California average cost is 18 cents. Basically, the cleaner the electricity, the higher the price. Of course, there are exceptions like those near hydro dams like Dave or work places that provide free electricity.

 

Puget Sound Energy just announced a price DROP starting Dec 1st. My average to charge my car which is ONLY the cost of the power itself ignoring connection fees since those I have to pay for my home whether I charge my car or not is just over 8 cents per kwh after taxes are added. I do include all tier two charges since I would not be tier two if not for the car (its rarely over 50 kwh) so without that, it would be closer to 7.7 cents per kwh.

The drop is expected to lower the average bill by like $3 so nothing major. FYI; my bill is WAAAY below average. all my outdoor lighting is solar and all but the main kitchen light inside is LED and I do not have the 2nd largest user of power in my region which is a cable box.

 

LOL. Amazing how much people waste, eh ?

 

Now that I know what "esoteric" means, I agree, F8L.

 

What about tax credits and "free charging" at work? Don't buyers also consider that?

DBCassidy

 

The point I was trying to make is, to find out the cost, you also need esoteric measure of efficiency.

If electricity is given free to you, it is a no brainer.

I thought the discussion was for someone looking to buy a plugin and trying to figure out which is cheaper for them to operate.

In order to find out (prior to buying it and getting the first utility+gas bill), you need to know consumption of both fuels and the efficiency of them.

 

We have a 2010 Prius and a 2014 Volt. The Volt's break even point is about 130-150 miles while leaving with a full charge. With 87 Octane gas
in the Volt going to work last week I averaged a little over 40 mpg just on gas. The Prius gets 45-48 or so during the winter with 87 octane gas when I go to work. But the Volt goes 40 miles or so for about $1.40 on electricity alone. Don't forget the Volt weighs nearly 4,000 lbs, the Prius less than 3,200 lbs..