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by metadat 1051 days ago
Most of us don't live in the state of Washington where the electricity flows like wine*. $0.07/kwh is a good bargain these days. The national average across all of the USA is $0.23/kwh

Financially speaking, charging at home in California is a losing proposition.

* Please forgive me, I couldn't resist the Dumb and Dumber reference :p
5 comments
elif 1051 days ago
Actually 26 states (most) have a billing option which provides cheap overnight rates for EV owners. For me, that means $0.01/kwh.

It seems like business insider's analysis lacks crucial nuance to how things actually work.

In a reality which exists beyond napkin calculations, our 2 EV household, our monthly electricity bill just hit its peak of $185 due to this heatwave. During March/October, it goes down as low as $50.

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Domenic_S 1051 days ago
PG&E is charging between 31c - 45c /kWH in CA depending on time of day, season, etc (https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/rate-plans/how-ra...)

so about $7.75 - $11.25 for that 100-mile fillup.

I try to charge during the day when solar covers the charging need, that comes with its own issues too tho.

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darth_avocado 1051 days ago
I charge at home and it works just fine. I pay $0.25-$0.28/kwh. It puts the cost of a full 75kwh battery at ~$19. That’s still cheaper than paying $4.5-$5/gallon at the gas station.

In fact, even if I charge at the supercharger during peak hours, it costs at most the same as buying gas.

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lotsofpulp 1051 days ago
Gas prices for most Americans (pretty much all outside of the west coast) are significantly lower than $4.50 per gallon.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGCOVW

But it really depends on type of vehicle and type of usage.

Lots of start and stop miles, and electric might come out ahead. For example, family with kids that need to drive to various places.

Lots of short drives, but not a lot of total mileage, gas might still make more sense. For example, retiree or spare car.

Lots of long commutes at highway speeds, gas might still make more sense.

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WirelessGigabit 1051 days ago
Even in Phoenix during off-peak hours (on-peak is between 4-7PM) it's ~$.11 (without fees, this is the USA after all).

But... I just looked at my last bill. Apparently Mid peak is $.58 / kWh at SoCal Edison.

Even the cheapest time, Super off peak is $0.33333 / kWh which is more than Peak Usage in Phoenix, which ends up being $.29 / kWh.

I didn't know it was that bad.

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asynchronous 1051 days ago
Don’t live in Washington state, have the same cost of electricity at home. Vote out your elected officials.
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