Which Really Costs More: Charging an EV or Filling Up Your Tank With Gas?

[Hersbird]

And I wouldn't be able to go there off peak just to charge, it would have to be on my way home from work. I still kind of want one, but you can see why many non-ev enthusiasts dont.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

TFLtruck on YouTube currently has a Rivian. They were timing a 20-80% recharge at a common Colorado fast charger and it took 42 minutes. That gave them 160 miles of added range. It wasn't the time that caught my attention but the cost of the charge. I think it was 82 kw and .35 per kw. So $28.70 to go 160 miles. Now an ecoboost F150 will pretty easily go 160 miles on 6.4 gallons of $3.50 per gallon unleaded or $22.40.

A friend at the time, who lives at Lake Nacimiento, California was paying $7.00/gallon for his Tahoe, Corvette, and Harley.
With PG&E home charging, a Rivian owner might be looking at a completely different calculus with respect to 'fueling' cost, compared to TFL cars.com.'s experience.
AeroStealth's EcoBoost F-150 only averages around 18-mpg as a daily driver.
And for 50-weeks out of the year, El Paso Electric is selling him off-peak kWhs for 8-hours a night, @ 4.7-cents to home-charge his BOLT.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

And I wouldn't be able to go there off peak just to charge, it would have to be on my way home from work. I still kind of want one, but you can see why many non-ev enthusiasts dont.

I completely understand why the 40% of US households that don't live in single family homes with dedicated off-street parking might not be interested in an EV today.


Of course you also live in Montana - a state with one of the lowest EV market shares. If you lived on the West Coast* in a state with a much higher number of EVs things would likely be different. The more EVs on the road the more apartment complexes install chargers to attract or keep tenants.


*EV market share for new car sales:
25% - California
17% - Oregon
16% - Washington
15% - Hawaii

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by JSH

I completely understand why the 40% of US households that don't live in single family homes with dedicated off-street parking might not be interested in an EV today.


Of course you also live in Montana - a state with one of the lowest EV market shares. If you lived on the West Coast* in a state with a much higher number of EVs things would likely be different. The more EVs on the road the more apartment complexes install chargers to attract or keep tenants.


*EV market share for new car sales:
25% - California
17% - Oregon
16% - Washington
15% - Hawaii

At least the only Tesla supercharger is actually close. It's next door to the closest gas station to me. I wouldn't have to go out of my normal line of travel to charge. The problem is it's the only charger for 118 miles and that's only if you stick to the interstate which I dislike.

[redpoint5]

Montana is most of the reason why my company car isn't an EV. I've been in -15F with blowing snow going over some pass, traveling hundreds of miles at night, and you don't want range anxiety on top of all that.

The drive to Great Falls is 12hrs in a gasser, stopping twice for gas. I wouldn't want the drive to be any longer.

[Hersbird]

If you look Great Falls is the end of the line for Superchargers too. There is an area the size of Washington on the highline of Montana without a single supercharger. Probably why Lewis and Clark took boats through there...

[Xist]

There certainly weren't Superchargers during Lewis and Clark's time, either!

I like the idea of EVs, but I buy 15-20-year-old cars that are reliable for maybe another 5 years.

Maybe I will buy an EV when I graduate, but I plan on driving my Camry for a while.

[oil pan 4]