cost - purchase and monthly use

[solarjk]

The average new car cost $ 35,742 and got 24.7 miles per gallon @ a cost of $ 2.88.
Your cost will vary.
So my Niro EV EX cost 8.6 % more with the heat pump/battery heater.
So it could be said that my investment in a electric car is $ 3,062 if I was an average.

My first month of use is 1330 miles. An average fuel cost would be $ 155.08

I used a fast charger twice for about 60 Kwh. Total was 284 Kwh
With the fast charge, cost was $ 62.81. If they had all been at home, cost would have been
$ 46.71, However, home is solar pv and there is a free level two in town/ so cost is lower.

So say average fuel cost ( $ 155.08) less niro ( $ 62.81) = $ 92.27. Yearly savings are
$ 1,107.24 or a return on investment of 36% tax free. I am retired and this is the first month of use

 

[meercatter]

I'd probably agree that a 40k electric car could very well have a lower total cost of ownership than a 35k ICE car.

However, if you are trying to minimize TCO, getting a new electric car for 40k doesn't even come close to the provably best strategy of getting used 3-year-old Toyota Camry's or Honda Civic's for 10k and driving them for 15 years.

 

[solarjk]

I have never been able to keep a car for fifteen years, most of the time it has six or eight years, when I traded to avoid a major repair. Also would the three year old Camry have a lower TCO than a three year old Leaf or BMW I3

 

[TheHellYouSay]

I'd probably agree that a 40k electric car could very well have a lower total cost of ownership than a 35k ICE car.

However, if you are trying to minimize TCO, getting a new electric car for 40k doesn't even come close to the provably best strategy of getting used 3-year-old Toyota Camry's or Honda Civic's for 10k and driving them for 15 years.

You're probably right, although where I'm at north of Seattle, you'll probably pay more like $15K for a vehicle that new.

I'm in a similar position as the OP, going to be retired in 1 year and 1 week. I look at the EVs as a way to greatly expand what I'm able to do on fixed income. It's going to be damned hard to not worry about money and I think saving a few thousand on gas, AND having a newer reliable car will be a good investment.

 

[JasonG]

The average new car cost $ 35,742 and got 24.7 miles per gallon @ a cost of $ 2.88.
Your cost will vary.
So my Niro EV EX cost 8.6 % more with the heat pump/battery heater.
So it could be said that my investment in a electric car is $ 3,062 if I was an average.

My first month of use is 1330 miles. An average fuel cost would be $ 155.08

I used a fast charger twice for about 60 Kwh. Total was 284 Kwh
With the fast charge, cost was $ 62.81. If they had all been at home, cost would have been
$ 46.71, However, home is solar pv and there is a free level two in town/ so cost is lower.

So say average fuel cost ( $ 155.08) less niro ( $ 62.81) = $ 92.27. Yearly savings are
$ 1,107.24 or a return on investment of 36% tax free. I am retired and this is the first month of use

Don't forget the $7500 federal tax credit and any state incentives. That would be lower than your "average new car" cost...

 

[solarjk]

Took my first long trip. From Brattleboro, VT to Cornwall, Ontario. Round trip was 533 miles over three days. Drove about 230 miles of that at 62 mph. 5-1/2 to 6-1.2 hours each way. Maybe fifty minutes of charging in stops. Got another 30 Kwh by plugging in at the motel that I was staying at. ( 120 volt ) stayed two nights Averaged 4.6 miles per Kwh. There were fast charger in Vermont, but not in the area of New York that I drove through.

 

[solarjk]

so believing everything one reads, I did a 220 volt charge from 6% to 100%. It took 67 Kw over about ten hours. So that makes the capacity of the battery to be something like 71.5 Kw. The GOM said 320 when I disconnected. I think the range is closer to the WLTP european standard of 282 miles. The other thing which I have seem in a video is that it charges with no taper. I have a tesla Powerwall which has an app that tracks consumption and production from the PV system or the grid. Here are some pictures

 

[Robert Lewis]

so believing everything one reads, I did a 220 volt charge from 6% to 100%. It took 67 Kw over about ten hours. So that makes the capacity of the battery to be something like 71.5 Kw.

I think you're assuming that L2 charging is 100% efficient (that 100% of the electricity from the wall ends up in the battery), but it's not. It's pretty efficient - somewhere north of 90%. That would mean that the 67kw used in that time probably put around 60 - 62kwh into the battery. At 64khw of usable capacity, if you started with 6%, that means you had a little less than 4Kwh remaining, with around 60Khw available to be charged. So, the math at 90% efficiency lines up pretty well.

 

[solarjk]

After two months, I have driven 2,888 or 48 miles per day. My average is 4.66 Kwh per miles, or 156 miles per gallon.
My longest trip was 266 miles. left with 100%, charged at a 50kw charger for fifteen minutes and got 10.5 Kwh. Arrived home with about 30%
That trip average 4.8 miles per Kwh.
Cost is 4.08 cents per mile if I paid for all the home charging at the utility's rate, but I had enough extra Kwh from PV, so home charging was "free".
Also, I used EVgo fast chargers for about 16%, which was 37% of the cost for the period. This will go down now that I have a home charger.
The PV system is seven years old and I will have recovered it cost by March of next year. Time to buy more PV

 

[solarjk]

It has been almost four months and I have 5068 miles on it and average Kw per mile number is 4.734. Happy with car, every now and then wish it looked like and EV, bit it is very useful getting lumber for projects, or tools to the site. It is Vermont so small roads and not much AC. Started driving in ECO with level 2 region. Last month or so, have been in comfort with 0 region. If I want it, I use it, but mostly in town. sometime when I go to level 0, it seems like the car is released in some way, and yes I am accelerating/

Cost per mile is # .0351, if I paid for the electricity at home, which is supplied by my solar PV. That will change in the winter when I will have to buy of the grid. Fast charging is 15%. Home charging 240 @ 7.2 kw is 56% and "free" is 29%. About half the fast charging is just done to see how it works. Electrify America about eight attempts over two days. Ego and Charge point have worked without issues.

 

[Domenick]

It has been almost four months and I have 5068 miles on it and average Kw per mile number is 4.734. Happy with car, every now and then wish it looked like and EV, bit it is very useful getting lumber for projects, or tools to the site. It is Vermont so small roads and not much AC. Started driving in ECO with level 2 region. Last month or so, have been in comfort with 0 region. If I want it, I use it, but mostly in town. sometime when I go to level 0, it seems like the car is released in some way, and yes I am accelerating/

Cost per mile is # .0351, if I paid for the electricity at home, which is supplied by my solar PV. That will change in the winter when I will have to buy of the grid. Fast charging is 15%. Home charging 240 @ 7.2 kw is 56% and "free" is 29%. About half the fast charging is just done to see how it works. Electrify America about eight attempts over two days. Ego and Charge point have worked without issues.

Were any of those Electrify America attempts successful? I know others have been able to use their network, but some vehicles have problems (like my Spark EV).

 

[solarjk]

Electrify America: Gave up on the first day, with phone help (they were helpful) ( 6 tries) and then went home and check the app was linked correctly to credit card (it was) A week later, tried again. would not work trying to use the charger display. Again with phone help. She directed me to try the app and I was able to get charger started. It did deliver 75 Kw plus for about 30 second and then ramped down to 58Kw. Priced at high level, so will not be my first choice until they charge that.

On Saturday, went to an EV event. The organizer of the event was a mechanic, who trains mechanics to work on hybrids and Ev, so someone with deep knowledge. Look up ACDC Worcester or training.

Drove to a local charging location. Eight Electrify America chargers installed but not operational. Also an EV go with a defective CCS plug. Later on the way into Boston, stopped at an EVgo no problem but only charged at 38Kw. Later tried to go to another EVgo charger, but could not get that on to work, again with phone help, she reset charger

 

[solarjk]

Yesterday, I drove from Brattleboro, VT to Newburyport, Ma and back for an NRC hearing on Seabrook Nuclear Power Station. I had people with me, so drove at a normal speed and talked, instead of paying attention the car. Charged to 100%, and know it, because I got a notice right away that regenerative breaking was not available. I live on a hill. The round trip distance is 246 miles and I returned with 22% on the battery. I got 4.7 miles per Kwh, which is about normal. Consumption would be about 52.3 kwh which ( 64-52.3 ) leaves 11.7 Kwh or 18.2 %. So the battery still seems larger( 22-18.2) by some percent. These are all numbers from the car. That might make the battery 66.3 instead of 64, however these numbers are ruff.

I don't usually charge to 100% or drive 250 miles in a day, so it was a good test and worth sharing the numbers. For me, the big thing is being able to go into Boston and get back home without charging Having mixed results with fast chargers, but it should get better slowly.