cheaper to operate than an electric car?

[Ecky]

Thing about EVs, is that there's more to them than just economy. Electric torque is FUN, they're silent, almost vibration-free, and I think there's a "cool factor" that gassers don't have.

[oldtamiyaphile]

I did the sums when I bought my Prius, I was considering doing a PHEV conversion.

Turns out it would cost more to run on batteries than it does on ICE, and that's not accounting for the converison cost and eventual battery replacement.

On the OEM front a G2 Prius also works out cheaper to fuel then a brand new Leaf. A G4 just kicks it in the nads.

Most cars sold today have idle stop, so they're already silent at traffic lights, and at higher speeds, it's wind and road noise that predominates. For about $100/year you can offset a V8's CO2 emissions.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

EV driving also has very low wear and tear costs, and therefore lower maintenance.

Not necessarily. With my Insight, the major wear & tear things have been a wheel bearing, tires, windshield wipers, &c - all of which are going to be pretty much the same on an EV, no?

The other major maintenance expense* has been replacement of the 12-volt battery. Curiously enough, both the EVs - Volt and Leaf - that I did a quick search on have 12-volt batteries, and people seem to have problems related to them.

*Which is a major PITA, because it seems to fail without warning (where with a pure IC, you'd notice weak starting), and the Insight won't run without a good 12-volt battery, so the failure leaves you stranded. Luckily the last time was only a mile or so from an auto parts store, so I could walk there, buy a new battery, and be on my way - but it could as easily have been 50 miles, in a place with no cell service :-(

[vskid3]

Most cost comparisons assume the EV will be charged at home or free at work or Superchargers. What about the cost of charging at a charge station you need to pay for? There's a ChargePoint station in my city that is $1/hr the first 4 hours and $3/hr after. It's an L2 charger, so 6.6kw (or ~20 miles/hr according to the app). That's 15 cents/kwh if your car can take that much juice, 30 cents/kwh if your car can only charge at 3.3kw. Do other chargers charge similar rates?

[sendler]

Keep in mind that some of the super cheap electrical prices we see being posted are not based on a "bottom of the bill" price including all of the transmission fees and taxes. My electricity is running about $.125 right now. which is down $.01. Off peak might cut the price of the electricity in half but that would only reduce the total cost to $.105.
.
Upstate NY, USA does have a very low carbon grid though where a gas car would have to make 120 mpg to produce less carbon than an average electric car at 110 mpgE.

[cowmeat]

My electric company (Lakeland Electric) charges 2.33 cents per kWh at night (versus over 12 cents during peak hours), but after factoring in everything else it comes out to 7 cents a kWh, which ends up being 2.359 for a "gallon" of energy.

That's a little more than a gallon of gas costs at the moment here in central Florida, but since my car (Volt) is getting way over double the gas mileage my former (Insight) got, I still dropped my fuel costs by more than 50% when I started driving the Volt.

Not that it matters much, since I was using less than a gallon of gas a day in the Insight anyway

[sendler]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Not that it matters much, since I was using less than a gallon of gas a day in the Insight anyway

Every little bit helps shift the paradigm.

[roosterk0031]

Summer rates for in Iowa (Alliant energy)

June 16 thru Sept 15 0.09732 + 0.055 = 0.15232/kwh

Winter rates

13.6 first 500 kwh/month
11.4 next 700 kwh/month
7.7 everything else

Includes all fees

I think I could get half price rates over night but not till after 9 pm, but price is 1.5 or 2x higher during the day.

Looks like most Leafs are running about 200 w hr/mile or $0.03 summer. Winter $0.0272 21 or $0.0228/mile 2nd tier. At current prices the Cobalts at $0.046/mile

[cowmeat]

Quote:
Originally Posted by cowmeat View Post
Not that it matters much, since I was using less than a gallon of gas a day in the Insight anyway
Every little bit helps shift the paradigm.

I'm pumped about the zero emissions, I've been wanting to make that switch for a while now!

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by sendler

My electricity is running about $.0125 right now. which is down $.01. Off peak might cut the price of the electricity in half but that would only reduce the total cost to $.0105.

You get electricity for just over 1 cent per kWh?

My rates are among the lowest in the nation, at 7 times that amount.