Quote:
Originally Posted by mpg_numbers_guy
A block charger is not an option electric bill-wise, unless I could somehow rig up a solar powered one...
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A grid charger is just for hybrids. Not a problem for you.
And considering that, if you had a hybrid, you would only need it maybe once or twice per year and you only use about 7-10kW-h per grid charging session (depending on the efficiency of your charger, how much charge you give, etc), it wouldn't make a noticeable mark on your bill. My rates are about 12.5 cents/kilowatt-hour, so with a bad charger all the way from empty I add about $1.25 to my bill once or twice a year.
And my battery isn't that big and my charger isn't that bad, so my bill goes up less than that. It doesn't make a noticeable signal against the noise of everything else.
Things you could consider plugging your car in for: an engine block heater and oil pan heater, so the car starts up closer to operating temperature. You could also consider installing a small - very small - space heater inside the car. Put the whole thing on a timer-controlled outlet in the garage (if you have a garage) so it turns on an hour before you head out in the morning. You start out with a car that's rarin' to go and a cabin that's warm, so you don't need to run the car heater at all, further accelerating the car's warmup process.
The two engine heaters together probably won't pull an entire kilowatt, and one kilowatt-hour adds what, 10, 15 cents to your bill? And if it turns out the car warms up well enough in less time, all the better.
Summertime, don't plug in the space heater. No problem.