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

[Xist]

No? Hey freebeard, does that rule apply, have a corollary, or something?

It found that the national average to charge an EV is $0.15 per kWh, which DOE determined translated into savings of as much as $14,500 over 15 years on fuel costs alone.
On top of that, EVs are cheaper to maintain — $0.04 cheaper per mile, according to the DOE — which adds another $8,000 in savings for EV drivers over the course of 200,000 miles.

The Anderson study, however, challenged the presumption that EVs are cheaper to drive — or even cheaper to fuel. It found that powering EVs comes with four hidden costs: the purchase of a home charger, the greatly inflated price of commercial charging at public stations, “deadhead miles” spent driving to find far-flung charging stations and registration taxes that states slap on EV drivers to make up for the fact that they don’t pay gas taxes. The study also factored in the cost of time spent searching for reliable charging stations, which — even when located — can take a half-hour for a charge of 20% to 80%.

Commercial charging rates are two to four times higher than residential rates.
Level 1 chargers cost an average of $600 to install and can take 20 hours to fully charge an EV.
Level 2 chargers are much faster but cost $1,600.
“Full charge” is a misleading term because charging past 90% is slow, difficult and unadvised, which means you get far fewer miles than the advertised ranges would have you believe. Gas vehicles, on the other hand, are good for 300-400 miles per tank.
Considering all of those factors, and presuming a greater reliance on commercial charging, it would cost $8.58 to fuel a mid-priced gas car that gets 33 mpg for 100 miles at $2.81 a gallon. Comparatively, a mid-priced EV — Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt — would cost $12.95 per 100 miles.
Annually, presuming 12,000 miles driven, it would cost $1,030 to drive a gas car versus $1,554 for an EV.

https://share.newsbreak.com/dda5aqn8

[freebeard]

Why am I being dragged into this controversy? My standard for comparison would be the Xbox or Aptera.

Or an Arcimoto on a 110V outlet.

[Xist]

Sorry, searching for "it's been a week" didn't yield relative results.

I like my signature, but I was tempted to change it.

[JSH]

Pretty hilarious this is still circulating. It is like the Hummer is more environmentally friendly than a Prius article from 20 years ago that was debunked shortly after it was written. To my knowledge the Detroit Free Press was the first to publish this article back in October 2021. About a week later they published a follow-up that acknowledged that the Anderson Study is basically the very worst case scenario for charging and EV and does not represent how the vast majority of EV owners charge their vehicles.


Just some absolutely crazy claims like:

"Level 1 chargers cost an average of $600 to install and can take 20 hours to fully charge an EV."

Every EV or PHEV sold in the USA comes with a Level 1 EVSE that plugs into a standard 120V socket. Even if you were to buy a replacement EVSE they are $200 or less.

"Comparatively, a mid-priced EV — Tesla Model 3, Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt — would cost $12.95 per 100 miles."

I have a Bolt. Even in winter were I'm getting the worst efficiency possible I'm getting 3.2 mile per kWh but lets make it a round 3. 100/3 = 33 kWh. $12.90 / 33 = $0.39 per kWh. That is what you would expect to pay at an Electrify America DC Fast charger IF you don't sign up for a $4 a month membership to drop the rate to $0.31 per kWh.

So the study is basically based on a lead-footed EV driver, that lives someplace were they can only charge using DC fast chargers, but for some reason doesn't sign up for cheaper rates.

[redpoint5]

I never like any conclusion where x is cheaper than y because it assumes a ton of variables that vary for each individual. That's why I have a cost of ownership calculator and don't make decisions based on factors that don't apply to me from "studies" that have an agenda.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I never like any conclusion where x is cheaper than y because it assumes a ton of variables that vary for each individual. That's why I have a cost of ownership calculator and don't make decisions based on factors that don't apply to me from "studies" that have an agenda.

Which is the way to do it. I've had my Bolt for 2 months. I've driven 2,355 miles and consumed 338.89 kWh charging at home with a cost of $44.63. That works out to 1.9 cents per mile.

[redpoint5]

2 cents per EV mile is what I had worked out when I had the Prius plug-in. 6 cents when running in hybrid mode. 10 cents driving the 30 MPG Acura. Electricity for me was 1/3rd to 1/5th the cost of gasoline depending on what I was driving.

As a generality, an EV charged mostly at home will cost much less per mile in "fuel" than a gasoline counterpart.

[freebeard]

No? Hey freebeard, does that rule apply?

The answer is always no.

Betteridge's law of headlines
Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." It is named after Ian Betteridge, a British technology journalist who wrote about it in 2009, although the principle is much older.Wikipedia

[Xist]

Okay, I bookmarked that, but I still don't think it will help me!

[freebeard]

To conform to Law, the answer would be framed as "None of the above." Looking at you, wood gas/steam hybrids.