This is behind a paywall, but they do give you a few free articles. An interesting comparison and curious that the EVs were not always cheaper.
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Reasonable view of the costs. Unreasonable view of the future.
Renewables will not decrease the cost of energy. Renewables increase energy costs.
Since the efficiency of EVs is already quite high, there is only a small window of possible improvement.
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We are shopping for a hybrid for my wife’s daily driver. In this case a Corolla Hybrid. With the same money, I can buy a used Kona EV with a 250 mile range with around 25K miles on it. Gas in CA is $5/gallon. If I pay the highest tier on my electricity, the cost to drive a mile would be half in the EV. But there are other confounding factors; one plus for the EV is the minimal maintenance required (that would free me up to attend to the other 4 cars we have!). The negative for the EV is the unknown longevity and resale value. The Corolla Hybrid will probably go 200K miles and even then sell for some money. Not sure about the EV.
So, even though in the beginning the math is easy, when I get into it, it gets complicated.
What’s the cost for adding charging to your house? I think hybrids are a real good option, total cost-wise.
Headline= ask question. Make people read story.
Better? Evs are cheaper. Here’s why.
As with anything, the cost/benefit analysis boils down to how large and powerful of a vehicle we are trying to obtain.
If we are comparing the cost of charging a subcompact EV such as the Mitsubishi iMIEV to the cost of fueling an economy car such as a Hyundai Accent, the electric car is probably cheaper. With such a small battery capacity, you could charge it overnight from a standard 120V outlet, which is not expensive.
If we are comparing the cost of charging an electric truck or SUV with a large-capacity battery versus fueling a gasoline-powered truck or SUV, I am sure the gasoline-powered version is cheaper. It is also cheaper to buy, and can last for many more years. People looking to own such a vehicle have to install a 30A 240V circuit for the charger, and using that much electricity–especially during the summer when rates are higher–is expensive.
The truth of the matter is that the majority of vehicles you see on the road only have one or two occupants, and are carrying minimal cargo. We as a nation would be much better off if everyone started driving compact cars with a fuel-efficient NA 4-cylinder engine, than trying to push massive electric trucks and SUVs. What we need is a modern-day Ford Escort, Dodge Shadow, Toyota Tercel, etc. Not huge battery-powered trucks and SUV’s costing upwards of $80k!
kWatt-hr cost is the same for 120v and 220v. It just take longer to recharge at 120v. That only applies if all your driving is local and well within the range of the batteries so you can recharge at home. Also assume you CAN recharge at home. Apartment dwellers often don’t have that choice.
The article did the calculation for long distance trips that would require the use of commercial chargers that charge far more per kWatt-hr than you pay at home. It did ignore the additional time you’d spend recharging extending the trip time to include a night at a hotel.
The cost of adding a charger with higher speed would be around $800 as my panel seems to have two slots for more breakers and we have 220 close to the garage.
Now if I wanted to add solar, the whole math is a mess.
I also agree with @bcohen2010 ; right now on vacation in a few small European towns and so far have only seen two Teslas. Even the gas stations are tiny. My kids felt that the Fiat Panda is a decent size car because everything else is smaller.
When you want to rent a car, they classify a Fiat 500 as being able to carry 4 passengers and 3 pieces of luggage. Try that in US.
Well, we HAD small cars, but people BOUGHT the big ones and left the small ones on the lots. So carmakers quit building them for the US market.
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Even all (or most anyway) of the mini trucks went to mid size trucks…
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As an exchange student in Japan in 1969 I saw and rode in a lot of tiny 360cc cars. One family I stayed with had a tiny Mazda 360cc station wagon that was adequate for around town and we even took it on a couple longer trips. I’d like to see a special designation for tiny cars in the US that would exempt them from many expensive requirements of bigger cars.
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It is really hard to compare YOUR actual cost of ownership with articles like these as they rely on specific scenarios that probably will never apply to your situation.
I truly believe in freedom of choice. EVs should compete with ICE vehicles on their own merits, without government incentives and a fair and equatable road tax. For some people, an EV will be the best economic choice, especially as a daily driver, local only, second vehicle, that is charged at home during the off peak hours with a 240V charger. The ICE vehicle would still be needed for long road trips.
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Or, someone could simply opt for a plug-in hybrid, as I did. Its current 56 mile EV range is sufficient for all of my typical errands, and if I go on a longer drive, I simply put it into HV mode which runs either the gas engine or the electric motors, depending on how it is being driven at the moment. In total, it has an estimated range of 568 miles (512 in HV mode, 56 in EV mode).
I’ve only done it a couple of times, but using the gas engine and the electric motors simultaneously unleashes 304 total hp, and the effect was… let’s just say… quite impressive.
I recharge it overnight, in my garage, from a regular 120v line, but if I go on a long trip–as I hope to do this autumn–then I will avail myself of commercial chargers for the first time.
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Does it recharge a depleted battery overnight on 120v?
Yes
While it is rare that I run the battery down to its minimum, the longest that it ever took to recharge it from my 120v outlet was 11 hours. Since I’m not going anywhere between the afternoon of one day and the late morning of the next day, the length of the charging time is not an issue for me.
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How long does it take to fully charge a Tesla on 120V?
four days
Charging a Tesla battery with a 120-volt outlet at home is actually the slowest charging method out there. With only around three miles of range per hour, it can take up to four days to get the job done. Using other adapters or visiting a public charging station can bring your charging time to as low as 20 minutes.
Many homes have 230v and it’s not expensive to run line to garage.
Maybe I misunderstand the meaning of hybrid I always thought the gas engine would charge the baterry on a road trip.
Or use regen charging while going down a long grade. I was always annoyed when my battery monitor said 100% and I was going downhill.
It does do that, but the rate of recharging while on the road is fairly slow. If, for example, I drive for 6 miles in EV mode on my way to the expressway and then switch to HV mode for 2 hours, I only regain 2 or 3 miles of range while it is in HV mode, during which either the gas engine or the electric motors run–depending on conditions.
The essential difference between a “regular” hybrid and a plug-in hybrid is that the driver of the “regular” hybrid can’t decide to run it exclusively in EV mode, simply because the battery range of a regular hybrid is something on the order of 2 or 3 miles, and the gas engine and the electric motors run alternately, in order to recharge the batteries.
I can choose EV-only, and I can run the battery right down to its minimum (currently 56 miles) if I choose. At that point, the gas engine kicks in automatically, or I can recharge it, either at home or with a commercial charger.
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Speaking of variables. Friend was having a hard time convincing spouse to take the EV on a long road trip-until spouse found out that the charging stop would be at a fancy outlet mall with a nice coffee shop. Needless to say, they stop took more than what was needed to charge the car and ended up costing a lot more.