DC Charging Seems Expensive

[woody]

The Coal/Oil/Gas/Utility (COGU) syndicate will continue their efforts to fight alternative, renewable energy. They will eventually control alternative energy unless there is a consumer based movement to fight back. Right now there is no such thing, other than a handful of individuals here and there.
I had to fight the local utility(monopoly) in order to install my array (only 10.695kW for now, overall I produce more energy than I consume[100% electric]). I would have to double my production capacity and quadruple my storage to supply winter demand. But that will only happen when solid state is available/affordable.(I hope I survive long enough to see it.)
Utility rates are $.13/kWh. The utility company agreed to pay me $.005/kWh(in other words they take my energy and sell it for 26x what they pay me. The infrastructure costs were all mine). They recently restructured their billing to insure a net positive $ amount for themselves. I used to get checks between $5 and $20/month, seven months(overproduction spring/summer/fall months) a year and pay nothing. Now I pay $5+/ month net to the utility those seven months and of course more in winter. In other words, they no longer pay me anything for my production. I have to go off grid to disown the utility company. Then my extra production when the grid needs it most would not be used.
Only real regulation will make a difference.
Utility companies, since their inception, have been guaranteed a profit even when incurring "losses". That is why great grandpa bought utility stocks for great grandma and kids.
I charge as often as possible using my solar at 110V. Only way to save at all at present. This is not always an option for everyone. It works for us rotating two EVs (MME and Bolt). We use our vehicles primarily for local transportation.

Safe to assume EV owners will be at the mercy of utility companies and others when on road trips. We will have to pay in order to go that way. For now the cost to charge away from home is not that unreasonable. It most probably will not be reasonable in the future.
Only way to keep costs down is to install individual residential alternative energy production, ie. solar. Government subsidized programs would certainly help. Only way to fight COGU.
Remember, you are doing the right thing owning an EV.
Smile and enjoy the ride. I do.

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[Stang68]

Yeah the numbers seem ok at best. I didn’t buy the Mach E to save the environment or save money on fuel, I bought it because it’s good looking, fun to drive, and a Mustang

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

For me DCFC is about the same price per mile as gas.(37 cents/kWh or 12 cents/mile versus $3.20/gallon at 24 MPG or 13 cents/mile). However, I’ve had to use DCFC exactly 3 times in 3 months for longer trips. All the rest of my mileage (almost 3000 miles so far) has been from charging at home on VTOU rates (8 cents/kWh or 2.6 cents/mile) or at work (Free to me).

 

[RedStallion]

My other car, a '16 Edge gets 18 mpg avg and needs super @ $ 3.50 / gal.... It's going no-where !

My other car is Nissan Murano, gets 29mpg on freeway and needs regular at $4.29 last I saw. And on average it was just as economical on recent 800mi round trip. On certain portions Nissan was cheaper than my MME. In the city, there is no contest MME wins.
But frankly, the cost per mile isn't really that important, frequent stops every 100 miles is a bigger a problem. If I could make it to LA with a single charging stop that would have been a significant improvement.
I hope by the time I will need to replace MME the new cars will offer 500-600 mile range.

 

[Gilles]

I get about 520km (320 miles) on a full charge. That's way more than what I can do non stop.
In August we will be going to a canal boat rental that's 345 km away but there is a 150 kw charger about 2 hours out (215 km) with a good restaurant. So our plan is to make a 30 minutes stop each way at that charger. With the ICE (my wife has a Camaro) car, we would do the same stop.
I did a test with the MME at 50% battery and I could add about 120 km range in 20 minutes. So the two stop should give me a total range of 760 km, enough for the 690 km trip.

One point on charging at home is (at least for us in Ontario) the ability to charge at night when rates are lower ( 8.2 ¢/kWh vs 17.0 ¢/kWh peak rate)

 

[dtbaker61]

I'm starting to prepare for the MME and ran some charging numbers. I pay about $.10 per kwh hour at home which is less than gas at $3.50.

DC charging seems to be $.31 or $.41 a kwh which could be more than gas. ...snip... Charging at home overnight seems to be the best bang for the buck.

yup.... charging at home nightly is the way to go, especially of you have grid-tied Solar using the grid for a giant battery during daytime production.

AND the super fast dc-dc charging is really *not great* for your batteries. I would only do it if on a roadtrip.

 

[EELinneman]

The Coal/Oil/Gas/Utility (COGU) syndicate will continue their efforts to fight alternative, renewable energy. They will eventually control alternative energy unless there is a consumer based movement to fight back. Right now there is no such thing, other than a handful of individuals here and there.
I had to fight the local utility(monopoly) in order to install my array (only 10.695kW for now, overall I produce more energy than I consume[100% electric]). I would have to double my production capacity and quadruple my storage to supply winter demand. But that will only happen when solid state is available/affordable.(I hope I survive long enough to see it.)
Utility rates are $.13/kWh. The utility company agreed to pay me $.005/kWh(in other words they take my energy and sell it for 26x what they pay me. The infrastructure costs were all mine). They recently restructured their billing to insure a net positive $ amount for themselves. I used to get checks between $5 and $20/month, seven months(overproduction spring/summer/fall months) a year and pay nothing. Now I pay $5+/ month net to the utility those seven months and of course more in winter. In other words, they no longer pay me anything for my production. I have to go off grid to disown the utility company. Then my extra production when the grid needs it most would not be used.
Only real regulation will make a difference.
Utility companies, since their inception, have been guaranteed a profit even when incurring "losses". That is why great grandpa bought utility stocks for great grandma and kids.
I charge as often as possible using my solar at 110V. Only way to save at all at present. This is not always an option for everyone. It works for us rotating two EVs (MME and Bolt). We use our vehicles primarily for local transportation.

Safe to assume EV owners will be at the mercy of utility companies and others when on road trips. We will have to pay in order to go that way. For now the cost to charge away from home is not that unreasonable. It most probably will not be reasonable in the future.
Only way to keep costs down is to install individual residential alternative energy production, ie. solar. Government subsidized programs would certainly help. Only way to fight COGU.
Remember, you are doing the right thing owning an EV.
Smile and enjoy the ride. I do.

Woody, I too am in Colorado. Unincorporated JeffCO to be exact and have IREA as my electric company. Affectionately known as Intermountain Flash & Flicker, they are one of the worst utilities around. No options other than pure KWH pricing. They work with some solar companies, but are so backward that they really are a tough customer to deal with providing solar. Some of the issues are tied to geography - they do service some pretty remote and difficult areas. That makes upgrades even tougher.

I also ran projects at Tri-State in the past and can tell you that some of the assumptions you laid out in your argument regarding utility companies are flat out wrong. Which utility are you using that is now not paying you for your supply? Have you contacted the state regulator? What have they responded if they have to this point?

I'm not trying to start an argument, just trying to understand your situation.

 

[woody]

Woody, I too am in Colorado. Unincorporated JeffCO to be exact and have IREA as my electric company. Affectionately known as Intermountain Flash & Flicker, they are one of the worst utilities around. No options other than pure KWH pricing. They work with some solar companies, but are so backward that they really are a tough customer to deal with providing solar. Some of the issues are tied to geography - they do service some pretty remote and difficult areas. That makes upgrades even tougher.

I also ran projects at Tri-State in the past and can tell you that some of the assumptions you laid out in your argument regarding utility companies are flat out wrong. Which utility are you using that is now not paying you for your supply? Have you contacted the state regulator? What have they responded if they have to this point?

I'm not trying to start an argument, just trying to understand your situation.

Xcel.
No assumptions. Just my experience. And there is much more to it.

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