Is Electricity Really More Cost Efficient Than Gas?

You've gotta do your own research - sometimes that means you have to buy one and see what happens after the fact.

There's a lot of special interest trying to muddy the waters too. I was fed a news article yesterday where the author described how terrible it was to drive an EV. He started off by saying he didn't have any charging equipment at home, then described how inconvenient the public charging networks are. (Yeah, I'll concede the point that if you don't have access to home charging, or are taking long road trips the public charging networks are hit or miss...)

There seems to be a concerted effort by some parties that keep trying to tell us that EVs are going to suck. I'm thinking it's the oil and gas companies, as well as legacy car manufacturers that don't want to spend on developing EVs. They're probably taking their plays from the big tobacco guys from the '80s (the ones that haven't died off yet).

As to cost efficient - that's a complex calculation. Especially since electricity rates seem to be nebulous - depending on the time of day, the electric company...

I do know that the efficiency of a gasoline engine is pretty poor (around 35%), where EVs are a lot less inefficient (say 89% Electric Vehicles Are Way, Way More Energy-Efficient Than Internal Combustion Vehicles (motortrend.com))

Practically, we struggle to see what impact our Prime has had on our electric bill (and my wife uses the full 25 miles of EV it gives during the weekdays). But that's where I live, how I charge, and what my driving situation is.

 

If I wanted to buy a car to save money it would be something that goes up in value. FJ40? I spend on the Prime to save peanut money day by day, but mainly because I enjoy getting free charging and like the idea of putzing around in an electric car. Others buy boat haulers and boats on payments, and thoroughly enjoy that life style.
Actually when I bought this 20 Prime used, regular non Primes were more money for some reason. Maybe it’s that extreme rear hatch, which I don’t mind anymore.

 

Just bought my Prius PHEV (it's no longer the Prime officially I guess) last week, so I can't say yet what the exact numbers are, I'm still waiting for break in and for it to level out.

BUT... I owned Gen1 and Gen2 Volts before this, and at .10 cent per kwh to charge, and even adding in some margin for loss in charging, with my Volt's 37~ MPG it was about 3x cheaper ish to drive on EV than HV.

I bought both used, so I don't honestly know what the ROI/Break even period would be. And even then how do you judge? The Volt is a PHEV only, no HV versions. On the Prius I can figure it up once I get some good data. I'm betting it's a LONG time tho, since the Prius gets almost 50 MPG vs my Volts 37.

Straight up comparison of "Is electric cheaper than gas" is a resounding yes for most people. Electric prices would have to jump 4x current levels to make that not true. And in places where electric is already 4x+ what I pay, their gas is also much higher, so I'd venture to say there are few people on the world who would find it MORE expensive to run on electric than gas.

BUT when you add in the additional cost of PHEV or EV at time of purchase.... the question gets cloudy. It's easier to answer when you can compare ICE/HV/PHEV versions of the same car. Or at least HV/PHEV versions like with the Prius. I can get a good idea of how much more I paid for my XSE Premium vs a XLE Limited. Then I can figure out how long it takes me to make up that difference. I can even add in the fact the HV gets better MPG. It is a little foggy for me personally tho as I'd have only been willing to get the AWD had I gone non-phev. So, the difference it a little closer $$$ wise. But that's just me personally.

 

2024 LE
520 miles divided by 8 gallons = 65 MPG
Gas at $2.73 equals $.044 per mile.
It's not that complicated for me. I can do my own maintenance. I can also afford to pay someone else.

 

I did the math here where I live in Canada. with the carbon tax and the carbon tax rebate it was stupid in favour of the PHEV. Now, without the carbon tax its a little less in favour, but its still in favour.

But in terms of how good for the environment it is, the fact we are on hydro electricity means that its significantly more green to run the PHEV as well as cheaper. $15-20 a month in electricity vs $80-100 in gas, it adds up over time.