Tracking EV versus Gasoline miles

R

Robert_Alabama

Well-Known Member
I had posted this in another thread, but it was rather long and this was off it's topic, so I decided to start a new post and post it again. Several have asked about tracking EV versus Gasoline miles, o I thought I'd show what I do. Not saying it is the best method, just what I do.

I keep an Excel spreadsheet with all the gallons of gasoline purchased and miles driven. With it, I can tell with reasonable accuracy the number of gasoline miles driven (gallons x 40 - I use 36 for the Volt), which leaves me with the number of miles on EV. Also with the estimate of number of gasoline miles driven, I can approximate the number of hours on the gasoline engine (estimated gas miles divided by average speed when burning gas). I also use this spreadsheet to estimate the kWh of electricity that the car has used. Here is a screen shot of the spreadsheet for our 2019 Chevrolet Volt:

index.php


This should give you an idea of what can be done to approximately track stuff just by keeping up with gallons of gasoline purchased.

If anyone is trying to figure out the strangeness of this history...
In Feb 2021, my wife had to start driving it to help out with her parents every week. This caused an increase in the gasoline use from highway miles on the trips. Then in late May it was in a collision which put it in the shop for nearly 6 months. There are about 3 gallons in the Volt's tank now. She started driving my Clarity in June which put more gasoline usage and highway miles it. Hooray! I have my Clarity back now!
 
I use pretty much the same methodology, but I also keep track of actual kWh (reported by the EVSE). I believe the miles per kWh approach 4 in the summer (seems to be what you assumed), but this can drop to more like 3 in the winter for me. I tend to use 42 as an assumed gas mileage (very close to your 40).

Many have complained that the Clarity provides no means to report EV vs. gasoline miles, but I thnk your estimation method is more than adequate for any purpose I can think of.
 
You are right. It helps that I live in the south. Lately I've been getting 50 miles per charge on the Clarity. The Volt routinely gets 10 miles more per charge than the Clarity (part of the reason may be my wife driving the Volt vs me driving the Clarity). I just checked the spreadsheet I use for the Clarity and I use 3.5 miles per kWh for it. I may still be a little optimistic for the average for the Volt, though. I can't readily track my kWh usage as my daily charging at home is from an EVSE built in 1997, not very sophisticated by today's standards. Also, I charge a bunch at work and we have a reasonable amount of free charging available near where I live, also from a dumb charger.
 
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End of Year Summary time for my 2018 Clarity Use: I'm retired in VA and drive my Clarity exclusively as an EV, since I don't drive out of its electric charge range per day. I charge at home exclusively, which today costs me: $ 0.125 per KWH. (that's total cost, taxes, etc included) For year's mileage, I just subtract Dec 31st odometer readings. To calculate KWH/mi I use prior experience of living in VA. I estimate that ≈ 7 months of the year my car averages 45 mi/charge while during the 5 colder months the car averages ≈ 32 mi/charge. This means the year's avg mi/charge ≈ 39.6. As I drove 7,269 mi in 2021, this would mean it took a total of 7,269/39.6 = 192.7 full charges. The car's full charge energy = 15.5 KWH, which means the total electrical energy used = 15.5 x 192.7 = 2987 KWH. My total 2021 energy cost of driving = 2987 x $ 0.125 = $ 373. If I take an average of 40 mi/gal for this car, the gallons of gas (equivalent) = 7269/40 ≈ 182 gal. Thus to break even using gas, the cost per gallon would have to be 373/182 = $ 2.05 P.S: I know the car turns on its engine if accelerated to quickly, and also occasionally just to keep the engine and fluids moving once in a while. So, yes, there was some gas useage over the year but it didn't amount to more than a single gas tank (7 gal).
 
I'd love to both get the ranges everyone else does around here, as well as the low pricing... I get ~30mile range and pay ~30cents kwh.

I do like that the car lets you auto-reset the trips based on usage, such as trip a for electric and trip b for gas... but I do wish it remembered them somewhere as I never remember to write them down before recharging/filling :P
 
dnb said:
I'd love to both get the ranges everyone else does around here, as well as the low pricing... I get ~30mile range and pay ~30cents kwh.

I do like that the car lets you auto-reset the trips based on usage, such as trip a for electric and trip b for gas... but I do wish it remembered them somewhere as I never remember to write them down before recharging/filling :p
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At those rates and ranges its costing $4.20 for a full (14kWh) charge and the per mile cost to travel ~30 miles would be around $.14. That’s equivalent to $5.60/gal gas, assuming 40mpg.

When I collected trip data, I learned to live with the shame of manually resetting the trip meters. Of course it’s necessary to remember that step as well, but it provided a trigger to write down the numbers. It can also be done before or after a charge/fill up so there are 2 opportunities to record the numbers. Fortunately, with the tinted windows, it is believed that no one observed my primitive data collection methods.
 
Under menu settings you can have trip meter reset at each full battery charge, with each fuel tank charge, or manually. You can also use trip meter B. The car also keeps track of the last trip mpg under a different menu screen; this is seperate from trip A or Trip B.
 
Landshark said:
At those rates and ranges its costing $4.20 for a full (14kWh) charge and the per mile cost to travel ~30 miles would be around $.14. That’s equivalent to $5.60/gal gas, assuming 40mpg.

When I collected trip data, I learned to live with the shame of manually resetting the trip meters. Of course it’s necessary to remember that step as well, but it provided a trigger to write down the numbers. It can also be done before or after a charge/fill up so there are 2 opportunities to record the numbers. Fortunately, with the tinted windows, it is believed that no one observed my primitive data collection methods.
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Yeah, GAS is expensive here too so its... ugh... wish I could get good deal on solar panels :'(
 
dnb said:
Yeah, GAS is expensive here too so its... ugh... wish I could get good deal on solar panels :'(
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I have 2850 watts (15, 190W Mage [German made] panels) stored in a greenhouse on my property in S Oregon, along with a 60A charge controller, an inverter and all cables and mounting hardware. Originally installed in 2012, it was removed last summer when we had a new roof installed. We upgraded to a 4.5kW system with new components.
 
Mowcowbell said:
Guess I should count myself lucky to have $2.59 gas and .12 per kWh electricity.
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I think much of the general public may have a misconception that EV's are always much cheaper to operate then conventional vehicles. While it is true for many (myself included), there are definitely those with circumstances that make an EV more expensive. I have a very similar situation as @Mowcowbell where electric rates are low. I can charge whenever it suits me, and EV operation has always ben lower cost than an ICE.
 
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