Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas

Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by metadat on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @05:55PM (#36978208)

Most of us don't live in the state of Washington where the electricity flows like wine*. $0.07/kwh is a good bargain these days. The national average across all of the USA is $0.23/kwh

Financially speaking, charging at home in California is a losing proposition.

* Please forgive me, I couldn't resist the Dumb and Dumber reference :p

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Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by elif on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @06:08PM (#36978413)

Actually 26 states (most) have a billing option which provides cheap overnight rates for EV owners. For me, that means $0.01/kwh.

It seems like business insider's analysis lacks crucial nuance to how things actually work.

In a reality which exists beyond napkin calculations, our 2 EV household, our monthly electricity bill just hit its peak of $185 due to this heatwave. During March/October, it goes down as low as $50.

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Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by darth_avocado on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @06:02PM (#36978313)

I charge at home and it works just fine. I pay $0.25-$0.28/kwh. It puts the cost of a full 75kwh battery at ~$19. That’s still cheaper than paying $4.5-$5/gallon at the gas station.

In fact, even if I charge at the supercharger during peak hours, it costs at most the same as buying gas.

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Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by lotsofpulp on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @06:07PM (#36978400)

Gas prices for most Americans (pretty much all outside of the west coast) are significantly lower than $4.50 per gallon.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGCOVW

But it really depends on type of vehicle and type of usage.

Lots of start and stop miles, and electric might come out ahead. For example, family with kids that need to drive to various places.

Lots of short drives, but not a lot of total mileage, gas might still make more sense. For example, retiree or spare car.

Lots of long commutes at highway speeds, gas might still make more sense.

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Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by WirelessGigabit on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @06:06PM (#36978377)

Even in Phoenix during off-peak hours (on-peak is between 4-7PM) it's ~$.11 (without fees, this is the USA after all).

But... I just looked at my last bill. Apparently Mid peak is $.58 / kWh at SoCal Edison.

Even the cheapest time, Super off peak is $0.33333 / kWh which is more than Peak Usage in Phoenix, which ends up being $.29 / kWh.

I didn't know it was that bad.

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Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by asynchronous on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @06:00PM (#36978280)

Don’t live in Washington state, have the same cost of electricity at home. Vote out your elected officials.

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Re:Most cars still cost more to charge than to fill up with gas by Domenic_S on Wednesday August 02, 2023 @06:06PM (#36978376)

PG&E is charging between 31c - 45c /kWH in CA depending on time of day, season, etc (https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/rate-plans/how-ra...)

so about $7.75 - $11.25 for that 100-mile fillup.

I try to charge during the day when solar covers the charging need, that comes with its own issues too tho.

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