Filling a gas-powered vehicle can still be cheaper than charging an electric one

[MachErik]

Nobody in their right mind would get an EV if they can't charge at home. Or they can't get an ID4 or ioniq5 and charge at ea for free.

I have to disagree.

I live in a high rise which until last week had no L2 chargers. I have the EA sub and that is about it. I just did the math and total for almost 20k of driving I've paid 437.65$ for charging. I hit the free chargers when I can which luckily in PNW there are alot. Coming from a Range Rover and an M5 that's huge. Finding free chargers is actually kind of a cool meta game.

I work remotely so admittedly if I had to do my old commute to Boston when I live just south of the NH border not having home charging would suck but electricity in MA was ridiculous expensive so...

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[Red Baron]

I assume you are just joking, since the electrical circuitry that can switch such high amperage current to different cables, the power electronics, and four parking spaces are a lot of extra costs and complications. Just a single parking space is already a premium cost item to allocate to one car for 30-60 mins to get a full charge.

Just a technical problem ?

Seriously, when charge is complete, send alert to owner to move the car. Give them 15 minutes and then start charging a hefty connect fee per minute. That should help a lot.

 

[TGIF]

Just a technical problem ?

Seriously, when charge is complete, send alert to owner to move the car. Give them 15 minutes and then start charging a hefty connect fee per minute. That should help a lot.

That solves one problem (parked, charged cars) but creates another (people not adopting BEVs for fear of the inconvenience and high cost of non-home charging). I don’t know what the answer is except to say that common courtesy and development of norms of charging etiquette seems to be in order.

 

[Mach1E]

I have to disagree.

I live in a high rise which until last week had no L2 chargers. I have the EA sub and that is about it. I just did the math and total for almost 20k of driving I've paid 437.65$ for charging. I hit the free chargers when I can which luckily in PNW there are alot. Coming from a Range Rover and an M5 that's huge. Finding free chargers is actually kind of a cool meta game.

I work remotely so admittedly if I had to do my old commute to Boston when I live just south of the NH border not having home charging would suck but electricity in MA was ridiculous expensive so...

Doesn’t that feel a bit like urban foraging?

https://freegan.info/what-is-a-freegan/freegan-practices/urban-foraging/

 

[Illinibird]

A better charge network will make BEVs “not as bad” for road trips.

It won’t make them “best.”

To be best they must:
1. Have the longest range
2. Refuel in the most places
3. Refuel for the least money
4. Refuel in the fastest time

BEVs have a very long way to go to become best for road trips.

100% agree. They're not ready for prime time yet but in the foreseeable future that will change hopefully. This weekend we took the Mach E to my daughter's house and usually with a 100% charge we can go round trip. Saturday was only 17 degrees out and we arrived with only 25% SOC which was not enough to get us home let alone to the fast DC Electrify America charger about half way (according to GOM). So I had to plug into a Charge Pointe level 2 charger and sit there for an hour + to charge the battery enough to make it to the DC charger which we did and then charged the battery enough to get home. Very inconvenient but with gas prices as high as they are I'd rather put up with this then pay for a fill up in our Acura.

 

[PaulA]

Since the news reported it must be true.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/filling-gas-vehicle-cheaper-electric

Anyone want to buy my First Edition RR MME?

I just can't stand charging anymore, such a waste of my time and money.

You can't make this stuff up, but they hide the small print which maybe lets them print this stuff.

"Fast Charging Stations High Rates"

PS - Nice picture of a MME as the example in the article.

We just returned from a roughly 1,400 mile round trip to the Florida panhandle. We used the balance of the 250kWh from Ford for the trip down. We used EA to DC fast charge for the return trip of 650 miles. The total cost was $54.00. I figure that a 4,800 lb. ICE vehicle would do well to get 30mpg. The $54.00 would have purchased enough $2.49/gal. gas to make the journey. I didn’t see anyone offering gas at $2.49, so I’m glad we were driving the MME. The charging experience both going and coming was flawless.

 

[Alan UK]

Let me just say I have a Mach on the way and for the most part I will charge at home. I have seen some comments that charging at a public charger can cost around $0.40/kWh. So let’s compare. A car that gets 33 MPG will cost $4.25 to get 33 miles right now. An EV that get 3 miles/kWh would cost $4.40 for the same distance. In cold weather the ICE will be even a better price as the mi/kWh goes down on the EV. Then on top of everything you do pay more for the EV. Maybe I am in right field but the article is essentially correct. If saving money is the only driving force and a person can’t charge at home an ICE can be cheaper. I believe there is a bigger picture than just cost for the decision to go EV though. Just my thought here and feel free to pile it on if you believe I am off base.

It's easier to justify in the UK where a gallon of gas is equiv of 9.65 dollars ?

 

[Red Baron]

We just returned from a roughly 1,400 mile round trip to the Florida panhandle. We used the balance of the 250kWh from Ford for the trip down. We used EA to DC fast charge for the return trip of 650 miles. The total cost was $54.00. I figure that a 4,800 lb. ICE vehicle would do well to get 30mpg. The $54.00 would have purchased enough $2.49/gal. gas to make the journey. I didn’t see anyone offering gas at $2.49, so I’m glad we were driving the MME. The charging experience both going and coming was flawless.

Don't understand your calculation. 1400/30 mpg = 467 gallons. at $2.49/gallon that computes to $116 using the ICE vehicle for the 1400 miles. At today's $4.50/gallon it would be $210.

 

[Paddy]

the article raises some important questions.

Does the author realize that the edge case they cite is unreal and therefore the thrust of the headline and article are completely misleading?

Or are the author and editors morons?

It's FOX and they are morons.

 

[Mach1E]

Don't understand your calculation. 1400/30 mpg = 467 gallons. at $2.49/gallon that computes to $116 using the ICE vehicle for the 1400 miles. At today's $4.50/gallon it would be $210.

He’s only using the math for the part he paid for, the return trip of 650 miles for $54.

 

[Eagertrader]

Only charge my MME at home. Average monthly cost $100 x month. On my Toyota Avalon at today’s gas prices it would be between $250 to $280 for the same use. Need I say more?

BTW, didn’t go electric for the fuel savings, it would take me over 30 years to break even. Got it for the latest tech, instant torque, fun to drive and my little contribution to help save our Earth.

 

[ToD]

Let me just say I have a Mach on the way and for the most part I will charge at home. I have seen some comments that charging at a public charger can cost around $0.40/kWh. So let’s compare. A car that gets 33 MPG will cost $4.25 to get 33 miles right now. An EV that get 3 miles/kWh would cost $4.40 for the same distance. In cold weather the ICE will be even a better price as the mi/kWh goes down on the EV. Then on top of everything you do pay more for the EV. Maybe I am in right field but the article is essentially correct. If saving money is the only driving force and a person can’t charge at home an ICE can be cheaper. I believe there is a bigger picture than just cost for the decision to go EV though. Just my thought here and feel free to pile it on if you believe I am off base.

Over $9 a gallon here in the U.K. I charge mine at home off-peak at night at $0.06/kWh or $0.27/kWh peak rate. Charging costs zero to $0.33 locally.

 

[Alan UK]

Let me just say I have a Mach on the way and for the most part I will charge at home. I have seen some comments that charging at a public charger can cost around $0.40/kWh. So let’s compare. A car that gets 33 MPG will cost $4.25 to get 33 miles right now. An EV that get 3 miles/kWh would cost $4.40 for the same distance. In cold weather the ICE will be even a better price as the mi/kWh goes down on the EV. Then on top of everything you do pay more for the EV. Maybe I am in right field but the article is essentially correct. If saving money is the only driving force and a person can’t charge at home an ICE can be cheaper. I believe there is a bigger picture than just cost for the decision to go EV though. Just my thought here and feel free to pile it on if you believe I am off base.

Less of an issue in UK where petrol (gas) is £1.60/litre works out at $9.65/Gallon. Electricity is a bit dearer too but nothing like the gas. You guys have it so easy and higher average salaries too.

 

[Chuck518]

In additions to the many comments panning that article, I want to emphasize that for many of us, we can get loads of free electricity at many level 2 sites. For example, when I do grocery shopping in Lake Placid, NY, I plug in and get free electricity for as long as I'm willing to leave it there. There are several other sites where i can do this as well in my vicinity.

I do wish somebody would explain to me the business model that allows them to give away energy! It can't be to bring in business at those stores, because they're under-used.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We went on an approximately 1,000 mile round trip roadtrip from northern Arizona to southern California. We stayed several nights at a house with only 120V trickle charging. Overall our trip cost us about $11 in electricity for a single charge we did at an EVGo charger, which doesn't seem to be in the BlueOval Network. We charged a total of:
DCFC EA: 164 kWh ($0.00--worth $70.52).
DCFC EVGo: 19.691 kWh ($10.24).
L1: 49 kWh ($0.00)
L2: 16 kWh ($0.00)

If we had paid for the L2 charging at Electrify America rates, and if we had paid for the EA DCFC charging, we would have paid about a total of about $108.71.

If we had brought our only other vehicle, a Tacoma pickup truck, we would have paid a minimum of $295.00 in gas, assuming $5.00/gallon average.

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