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by ZeroGravitas 9 days ago
There's a Jevons Paradox type thing where they ended up spending roughly the same to travel a mile due to Japan or the EU pushing for efficiency due to needing to import the fuel (might be visible in California too due to them fighting their geography that causes smog).

Possibly the EU is pulling ahead on price per mile now with the shift to EVs.
1 comments
hobo123 9 days ago
Wait until you hear about German electricity prices...

(household elec is about 30-35c/kWh, public charging stations for electric cars often charge 60-70c/kWh, no joke, although I think some vendors now offer 40c charging with a subscription)

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ZeroGravitas 9 days ago
Those household prices should still put a German EV substantially ahead of the average new US vehicle in fuel cost per mile.

If they did all their charging at 70 they'd probably lose on cost to a US car (or a German diesel) but be equal to a German petrol car.

I think Germany has a cultural thing with smart meters which are mandatory for the ultra cheap charging available in many EU countries but it appears that you can get still those rates in Germany and pay about half what you quote, expanding the gap with the average US cost per mile.

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nozzlegear 8 days ago
You're comparing EV charging prices to US fuel prices though, that's not a fair comparison. I live in the US and have an electric car, which I charge at home on my municipal's grid. The rate is a whopping 10.5¢ per kw/h.
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trescenzi 9 days ago
That’s what I pay in Connecticut for electricity. I believe most of New England and California are in the price range.

I’ve got a Prius Prime and only at around $4+ a gallon does it start to become cheaper to charge than just use gas since the gas engine is so efficient.

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zelos 9 days ago
Does Germany have anything similar to the cheap off-peak electricity tariffs we get in the UK? Generally 6-10c/kWh.
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myrmidon 8 days ago
Yes. Would currently be "free" (<1c/kWh) around 1400-1530 tomorrow, and go up to ~15c/kWh at night. Fixed costs might distort everything significantly though.
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jjav 8 days ago
Wait until you hear about California electricity prices...

This is from a recent PG&E bill from my house:

Peak pricing: 0.48575 delivery + 0.14920 generation = $0.635 kWh

It seems to have gone down a bit this year though. These are the numbers from 2024:

Peak pricing: 0.53 + 0.183 = $0.71 kWh

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