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Am I saving on fuel costs with my MS over my Prius?

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ozweepay

ozweepay

Member
Jul 16, 2015
213
46
Boulder, CO, USA
#1
Back of the envelope calculations:

My Prius gets about 50mpg, and gas around here is about $1.30/gal (at CostCo). So my fuel cost is 2.6 cents per mile. My electricity here at the house is 11 cents per kWh and my MS burn rate is about 300 Wh per mile, or 3.3 cents per mile.

This surprises me: I thought any ICE or hybrid would compare unfavorably with any electric at commodity grid prices, but it appears it's actually cheaper to drive my Prius.

[Of course the MS is a much nicer car to drive, is faster, looks nicer, is safer, etc.]
 
#2
ozweepay said:
Back of the envelope calculations:

My Prius gets about 50mpg, and gas around here is about $1.30/gal (at CostCo). So my fuel cost is 2.6 cents per mile. My electricity here at the house is 11 cents per kWh and my MS burn rate is about 300 Wh per mile, or 3.3 cents per mile.

This surprises me: I thought any ICE or hybrid would compare unfavorably with any electric at commodity grid prices, but it appears it's actually cheaper to drive my Prius.

[Of course the MS is a much nicer car to drive, is faster, looks nicer, is safer, etc.]
Click to expand...

Yeah, at those gas prices, a Model S doesn't compare as well to a Prius. Do you have Time of Use rates that can lower the cost of electricity for charging? I'm at 6 cents per kWh for super off peak, which translates to just over 2 cents a mile. Of course, gasoline is unlikely to stay at these pricing levels for the lifespan of the Model S.
 
#12
ozweepay said:
Back of the envelope calculations:

My Prius gets about 50mpg, and gas around here is about $1.30/gal (at CostCo). So my fuel cost is 2.6 cents per mile. My electricity here at the house is 11 cents per kWh and my MS burn rate is about 300 Wh per mile, or 3.3 cents per mile.

This surprises me: I thought any ICE or hybrid would compare unfavorably with any electric at commodity grid prices, but it appears it's actually cheaper to drive my Prius.

[Of course the MS is a much nicer car to drive, is faster, looks nicer, is safer, etc.]
Click to expand...

My car uses 91 Octane which is $2.20/gallon around here, but if I had a Prius I guess it'd be $2.00/gallon. Calculating: 4 cents per mile for the gas here for your Prius. But our electricity is more expensive, too (there's no set cost, since the government sets the cost).

Other factors come into consideration: survivability and injury in case of crash (depends how much you value your own life and those of your passengers); cost of vehicle, maintenance, repair and accident insurance; size of parking space needed and cost of charging infrastructure; in brand new garage savings from not parking toxic ICE engine in garage; your disposition before and after driving (comfort, enjoyability, etc).
 
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#13
I calculated my wife's Prius at $0.03/mile and my S at $0.05/mile so yeah the Prius is technically cheaper with gas prices so low. But we pay a little extra for wind power so the S is powered by renewable, and both are pretty cheap in terms of $/mile in the grand scheme of things. Plus the S is just a nicer experience overall so we don't feel bad driving it everywhere.
 
#14
ozweepay said:
Back of the envelope calculations:

My Prius gets about 50mpg, and gas around here is about $1.30/gal (at CostCo). So my fuel cost is 2.6 cents per mile. My electricity here at the house is 11 cents per kWh and my MS burn rate is about 300 Wh per mile, or 3.3 cents per mile.

This surprises me: I thought any ICE or hybrid would compare unfavorably with any electric at commodity grid prices, but it appears it's actually cheaper to drive my Prius.

[Of course the MS is a much nicer car to drive, is faster, looks nicer, is safer, etc.]
Click to expand...
No matter the price of "fuel" your MS will always be more efficient than your Prius. Just remember that and forget about the fluctuations in energy prices. Or you could get solar and once your system costs are paid for you could drive for free courtesy of the sun.
 
#15
I don't want to make you more disappointed but you also forgot to count the charging loss (~10%). :eek: But hey... It's a much bigger, more powerful sedan. If you compare a similar big car with a powerful petrol engine to the Prius, you get even bigger (much bigger) consumption. They are not in the same class! That few cents per mile is nothing. No offense, but if somebody can afford a $100,000 car then he shouldn't count pennies IMO. (And on the other side you also forgot to calculate with the free SC.)
 
#17
ozweepay said:
If I had solar panels on my roof, I could feel like the MS power is free (I know... I know...), but here in CO we're mostly burning coal to get our grid power. In some places your MS is powered by fracking.

Feel good now? :) :) :)
Click to expand...
Even burning coal, the worst you can get is about the same as a Prius.

- - - Updated - - -

The Prius I had cost $6,652.45 over 146,689 miles. My Model S will cost $3,638 in electricity over the same distance.
As I have the wind power option, CO is not an issue, but even if I didn't 48% of the power here comes from wind. And fracking can't compete with the current oil prices, so they are mainly shut down.
Also, even in places with 100% coal, the coal pollution is not in the cities where you have to breath it, the way automotive exhaust is. So yes, you are better off with an MS than with a Prius even in a 100% coal region.
 
#18
Fracking here (in this context) is for NG since no one in the mainland US uses oil for electricity generation on a large scale.

NG is still cheaper than oil on a btu basis because of fracking.

Electricity is really cheap. The issue is that the infrastructure for generation and delivery is not that cheap. In a rational pricing scheme, 11 cents is absurd. A rational pricing model charges $50 for every house and then $.06 per kwh - or less in a coal region. But back many years ago, the thought was to wrap the connection charges into a higher rate. So it penalizes higher kwh users - which is why many places have EV rates and some places have electric heat rates. Because the more you use, the marginal cost goes way down.

Yes - I pay about $50 a month connection and $.06 a kwh so I am rational.... ($15 a month + $5 per peak kw - so more like $35 since I manage my peaks really well).

Wholesale electricity is about $.04 using NG or coal. Nuclear is just hard to figure but not that different.
 
#19
Assume not, especially if you take into account any road pricing subsidy you get when not buying gas. (Depends on taxes on eletricity).

You shouldn't expect too much in the way of a run-up in gas prices and in the next couple of decades, you can't have both high market penetration of EVs and expensive gas, because oil prices are so sensitive at the margins.
 
#20
Is my Zero FX Motorcycle more efficient than your Prius? I get 472 MPG(e) in the city and 202 MPG(e) on the highway, but would I drive that everyday? Comparing a 2.5 ton large sedan with 700 HP to a 2900 pound subcompact car with 110 HP is kinda crazy. My PEDEGO Electric bike is more efficient than my Zero FX, my Trek Madone 6.7 SSL Carbon Fiber Road bike is more efficient than my Pedego... etc, etc.:wink:


ZERO FX 5.7 SPECIFICATIONS:


year:2014
Model:FX
price:$ 9495
Engine:Z-Force® 75-5 passively air-cooled, high efficiency, radial flux permanent magnet, brushless motorTransmission:Clutchless direct drive
Horsepower @ RPM:27
MPG(Cty):472
MPG(Hwy):202
Torque @ RPM:70
Top Speed:85 mph
 
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